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What else could be wrong with me?
#11
RE: What else could be wrong with me?
I agree with Zonk. I see lots of flow limitation, which might mean your airway is partially collapsing. Not enough to count as a hypopnea or apnea, so it doesn't show up in your AHI, but it could be preventing you from getting the deeper restorative sleep you need to feel better when you wake up in the morning.

Your CPAP is set at a fixed pressure of 7? Your machine is capable of being set to a range of pressures, and what it will do is automatically raise the pressure in response to flow limitation.

You mentioned that you're not even sure if you need the CPAP machine? Didn't you have a sleep study where you were diagnosed with mild, moderate, or severe obstructive sleep apnea?
Sleepster

INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
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#12
RE: What else could be wrong with me?
(07-19-2014, 07:36 PM)Sleepster Wrote: I agree with Zonk. I see lots of flow limitation, which might mean your airway is partially collapsing. Not enough to count as a hypopnea or apnea, so it doesn't show up in your AHI, but it could be preventing you from getting the deeper restorative sleep you need to feel better when you wake up in the morning.

Your CPAP is set at a fixed pressure of 7? Your machine is capable of being set to a range of pressures, and what it will do is automatically raise the pressure in response to flow limitation.

You mentioned that you're not even sure if you need the CPAP machine? Didn't you have a sleep study where you were diagnosed with mild, moderate, or severe obstructive sleep apnea?

I've always noticed that my flow limitation values didn't look right, but I'm not exactly sure of how to read them. I'd like to experiment with auto set but I don't want to get fussed at by my doc when they read the data. I maybe try to raise the pressure a small amount and see if that helps.

Here's the thing about my sleep study/studies. My first was a 'mail order' test from a cpap supply company that turned up negative. My second was another home test that showed that I MIGHT have apnea, but it was mild or non existent but we went ahead and tried the cpap machine. My third test was when I actually went in to their office for an overnight test. However, (and this is what I don't understand) they tested me WITH a cpap machine on, then determined that it was controlling the apnea. My thoughts are that how do they know it was being controlled if they tested with mask on, maybe it wasn't there to begin with?

But anyways, my experience has been a bunch of experiments that were cost effective to me at the time. I never had insurance (though I will soon) so we always had to go with what I could afford.

I failed to mention before that I was prescribed adderrall and it worked pretty decently. I haven't been on it for a couple weeks because I ran out and refuse to pay an office visit just to get an $80 prescription. Thank God insurance kicks in soon Wink
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#13
RE: What else could be wrong with me?
I recommend getting a copy of all 3 studies if you can but definitely the COMPLETE sleep study that you had last. It will or should give you a lot of information on what they did during the sleep study as well as detailed info on events, etc.
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#14
RE: What else could be wrong with me?
(07-20-2014, 08:36 AM)jbuchanan6196 Wrote: I failed to mention before that I was prescribed adderrall and it worked pretty decently. I haven't been on it for a couple weeks because I ran out and refuse to pay an office visit just to get an $80 prescription. Thank God insurance kicks in soon Wink

That could be a bit important. If your system/brain thing is used to adderall and now you aren't taking it, it could take some time to get back to "normal."

The advice suggesting you might want to increase your pressure a little bit (stressing little) sounds like a fine idea, so you could try that. Setting your machine to think for itself as it was designed to do, with a low pressure of probably 6 and a high of maybe 9 to begin with would also seem like a fine thing to do. It is not likely the doc would fuss at you if your apnea is being controlled. It is more likely he would not notice unless you told him.

But I would seriously seek his advice on the issues, and especially whether or not to go back on drugs.
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#15
RE: What else could be wrong with me?
Thanks for all the replies folks! I'm setting my machine to autoset tonight, with a minimum pressure of 7 and max of 8...nothing too drastic right now. We shall see how this turns out.
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#16
RE: What else could be wrong with me?
(07-20-2014, 08:20 PM)jbuchanan6196 Wrote: Thanks for all the replies folks! I'm setting my machine to autoset tonight, with a minimum pressure of 7 and max of 8...nothing too drastic right now. We shall see how this turns out.

My guess is that your machine will jump to 8 rather quickly and stay there all night. I look forward to hearing back from you.

This video is an excellent simulation of what might be happening to you. Note that they refer to the condition as SDB (sleep disordered breathing) of which sleep apnea is but one type.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ehb7U78P5w

And the first post in this thread explains the condition and the issues associated with its diagnosis:
http://www.apneaboard.com/forums/Thread-...56#pid5556

Fortunately, you're in a good position to treat this because you have the right kind of machine and you've proven that you are capable of tolerating it. Many people are not so lucky.
Sleepster

INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
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#17
RE: What else could be wrong with me?
I took a quick glance at the data this morning and my pressure topped out at 7.9 and stayed there the majority of the time. I'll hold with these max and min pressures for another day or two then think about raising it slightly.
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#18
RE: What else could be wrong with me?
If you find the higher pressure less comfortable, or even if you don't, you can set the EPR to lower the pressure on exhale. It's a comfort feature and can be set to 1, 2, or 3.
Sleepster

INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
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