Disturbed sleep
Hello friends,
I have had a medical condition Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary disorder (COPD) for the past few months. I am under medication. Off late I get up at night with a feeling as if I am not breathing and I sit up for some time and then try to go back to sleep. But it a disturbed sleep.
I have one question. Does a long use of CPAP machines reduces the lung's capacity to breath on its own?
Thanks and regards
Ravi Dutta
RE: Disturbed sleep
Hi Ravi, welcome back to Apnea Board.
I don't think use of CPAP reduces your lungs' capacity, especially if you're using a fixed pressure machine such as the Escape.
I think COPD is one of those things that comes on a lot of people as they get older. There are quite a few threads on here about people with COPD - in many cases they were able to improve their condition by going onto a bilevel device such as the Resmed Aircurve VAuto.
RE: Disturbed sleep
The purpose of the method of delivery that we call PAP is to keep airways open...or maybe 'inflated' is a better term. It isn't foolproof, but if you are sleeping in a good position, not chin-tucking, or have congestion, whichever pressure delivers you the air you need is going to get to your lungs. If the airway is open and the machine produces air at mild pressures, I would guess that there would be a mild salutary effect for people with COPD, but that's just a guess...no evidence to call on because it's not up my alley health-wise.
It would be helpful to those of us who would like to help you to see data. If your machine can produce data and have it uploaded and interpreted in OSCAR (see the top marquee), and if you keep a record of your patterns of wakefulness, we might be able to associate your waking events with something in your CPAP data.
RE: Disturbed sleep
Unfortunately your S9 Escape Auto doesn't provide any data. I don't want to venture a guess as to what would be the best route to go with COPD. Hopefully others who have that condition can give you guidance if you need to move from your Escape.
John
RE: Disturbed sleep
Dear Friends,
Thank you for your valuable suggestion. I appreciate your quick response.
Sincerely
Ravi Dutta