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+--- Thread: Misdiagnosis? (/Thread-Misdiagnosis)
Misdiagnosis? - rdavis - 11-17-2014
I need advice on whether I should get a second opinion from another doctor about my sleep apnea diagnosis, and so I'm hoping someone on the forum may have had a similar experience to my diagnosis.
I have no symptoms of sleep apnea. No daytime sleepiness, no morning headaches. My husband cannot sleep with snoring in the room, and in 8 years of marriage, he says I've never snored. I went to the doctor because sometimes when trying to fall asleep, I would suddenly wake up and take a big breath. My husband occasionally noticed this (he stays up late working on his laptop next to me in bed), and he said it might happen a few times per hour. So I went in for a sleep study, assuming that if I had OSA, it would be mild to moderate.
At the sleep study, they gave me a sleep aid beforehand...which I thought was weird, because I'd heard that sleep aids can make sleep apnea worse, so I wondered if it could affect the results of the test regarding how severe my sleep apnea is.
I slept poorly the night of the test (as expected, since I don't sleep well away from home), and only got about 2 hours (the first 2 hours after taking the sleep aid). The results came back as very severe--apparently I was having an apnea episode about once per minute. I'm very concerned that the sleep aid may have impacted the results. When I asked my doctor if this were possible, he just said, "No, not typically" and prescribed a CPAP mask.
Should I be concerned that my doctor made such an extreme diagnosis based on 2 hours of broken sleep with a sleep aid that my body was not accustomed to?? Has anyone else ever been diagnosed with severe OSA despite having no symptoms and no snoring?
Thanks so much!
R
RE: Misdiagnosis? - surferdude2 - 11-17-2014
I would go along with the docs advice since it makes little diff. if diagnosed with mild, moderate or severe apnea at this point. The important thing is, you DO have sleep apnea that requires treatment if you want to live long and do well. Get an AutoSet machine since it can/will determine what level of apnea you have and apply the necessary and proper pressure therapy to treat you.
BTW,
If you're using CPAP and getting good results already, fine and dandy. If not, read on...
The key to getting help here is to fill in all the necessary details in your profile about your equipment - make, model and current settings. You will also benefit greatly by downloading and installing one of the softwares, either ResScan or Sleepyhead, that allow you to view your daily results as recorded on the SD card in your machine.
RE: Misdiagnosis? - Crimson Nape - 11-17-2014
First off, Welcome to the Board!
In addition to Surferdude's recommendations, may I suggest you obtain a copy of your sleep study and post your results or at least your AHI and RDI.
RE: Misdiagnosis? - rdavis - 11-17-2014
Thanks for the responses! I am going to get my first mask today. I think they may be giving me something like an AutoSet machine, so I'm hopeful that will give me some peace of mind regarding the severity of my diagnosis.
RE: Misdiagnosis? - trish6hundred - 11-17-2014
Hi rdavis,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
Hang in there for more answers to your questions.
I wish you much success as you start your CPAP therapy.
RE: Misdiagnosis? - Galactus - 11-18-2014
Welcome to the forum. You shouldn't be too concerned with whether or not your case is severe or mild, the fact that you have been diagnosed and can be treated is what is important and what to focus on. It's like being a little bit pregnant, you are, how far along isn't so important here.
RE: Misdiagnosis? - vsheline - 11-18-2014
(11-17-2014, 01:19 PM)rdavis Wrote: I am going to get my first mask today. I think they may be giving me something like an AutoSet machine, so I'm hopeful that will give me some peace of mind regarding the severity of my diagnosis.
I recommend you take the machine back (or inform them to pick it up or exchange it) if the machine is not fully "data capable."
Sometimes we just need to be assertive. Please see these recommendations:
http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php?title=Archangle:Machine_Choices
Take care,
--- Vaughn
RE: Misdiagnosis? - Ghost1958 - 11-18-2014
If anything the trouble sleeping usually causes ones test to come up with results that are less severe than what one actually is.
One tends to have worse Apnea when in a deep sleep like REM sleep. Sleeping fitfully you may never have reached REM so you may actually be worse than the test showed.
There are several machines out there the two most have is the ResMed Apap machines and the Respironics PRS1 Apap machines.
Both are full data capable, both can be run as auto paps or straight cpaps. Both do the same thing with the PRS1s being a little more battery/generator friendly.