Sleep Study Results - Should I hire a CPAP?
Just got my sleep study results! But the appointment with the sleep specialist is 2 months away. Should I just hire a CPAP machine to trial in the meantime? Appreciate any insights or advice while I'm waiting to see the doc. Results attached.
My sleep apnea looks mild. Suspect I may have UARS and not sure if it would show up on the sleep study results? My symptoms are not mild. Severe fatigue, disabling daily headaches, cognitive problems. I had a car accident the other week which I attribute to being so tired and my brain not working.
I'm in Australia, and thru Resmed we can hire an Airsense 10 Autoset including different masks for $35 a week, which sounds like a good deal. Is this worth doing or should I just wait to see the specialist first?
Also, this was a home study (type 2). When I do see the doc, should I ask for an in-lab study? During the home study, the chest band monitor fell off, and I was awake long stretches, although the sleep study indicates I had an OK night's sleep.
Many thanks for any advice. Reading through this board has been really helpful in getting to this point and advocating for myself.
RE: Sleep Study Results - Should I hire a CPAP?
Categories of sleep apnea are defined by AHI: <5 is normal, 5-14 is mild, 15-29 is moderate, 30+ is severe. Your AHI is just barely into the "mild" category. If you would prefer to trial an AS 10 AutoSet, then you could do so. BUT look at the cost. 2 months until appointment with sleep specialist. 8 weeks x $35 is $280 (I assume Australian Dollars). How does that compare to the part you would pay to buy the machine outright?
At an exchange rate of 1 Australian Dollar = 0.6736 US Dollars, an outlay of AUD$280 equates to roughly USD$188. Here in the US, AS 10 AutoSet is USD$913. If your co-pay is 20%, then your portion would be USD$182 -- which is pretty close to the USD$188 rental for your for 8 weeks. Given your low AHI, it may make sense to wait to see the specialist rather than paying rental that could be used to purchase. Of course if you could trial and later apply your outlay toward purchasing the machine, with insurance paying the remainder, that would be another strategy.
I'm not arguing that the cost is the ONLY thing that matters. Just something to consider. If your AHI were 20-30, things would be different.
RE: Sleep Study Results - Should I hire a CPAP?
Your AHI is nearly completely composed of hypopneas, and no mention of RERAS, RDI (AHI + RERAS), or flow limitations which are rarely mentioned.
I suspect that you have a good number of Flow Limitations that are also restricting your breathing but no proof here.
If I could see some sign of flow limits in this study I'd say you have a form of OSA that some call UARS, Upper Airway Restrictive Syndrome.
IMHO you would likely benefit from either BiLevel such as Reeds VAuto (preferred because it can provide a greater difference between inhale and exhale pressures or pressure support, or the ResMed AutoSet, any version because it's version of EPR can provide a difference of 3cmw between inhale and exhale.
You IMHO need one of these. Insist on a ResMed.
It is the EPR or Pressure support that is best at treating your hypopneas and the flow limitations we currently have no indication of but suspect they are there.
If it your me and I had those results I would buy ne of those outright. My preference is for the VAuto as I would not need to replace the AutoSet if its 3cmw were insufficient.
RE: Sleep Study Results - Should I hire a CPAP?
For clarity, I believe Gideon means the ResMed VAuto here, as elsewhere in his post.
And I agree with his recommendation. UARS is very difficult to diagnose clinically, but fairly easy to to deduce from a pattern of flow limitations.
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RE: Sleep Study Results - Should I hire a CPAP?
Thanks everyone for your input!
I have gone ahead with the trial of the ResMed AutoSet, as it was only option available to hire.
I have noted your comments about the ResMed vAuto being preferable if/when I'm ready to buy a machine, thank you, it does look like it would be suitable. What do you think about the ResMed AutoSet For Her? (I am female).. I guess I will wait to see the sleep doc before I make a final decision about which machine to purchase.
So far I've had the machine for about a week and not sleeping great, though I've managed to keep the mask on each night, but waking up a lot and feeling pretty terrible in the mornings. I've currently got the AutoSet with the minimum pressure of 4. Having done some further reading on this board I will try setting it to a min pressure of 7 to start with, and work my way to a higher minimum pressure to see if it helps.
I'm just getting started with understanding OSCAR and I will try to post some screenshots tomorrow so you can see the flow limitations.
Thanks again!
