Opinions on heart rate during sleep - no classic apnea?

[Konfucius.data]

Hello everyone, 

I don't know when the last morning was that I woke up refreshed. I went to the sleep lab. Unfortunately, there is no clear picture for classic apnea it seems. The data was apparently analyzed using an outdated method (not AASM).

REM phase seems to be low: 7.49%
AHI : 3.3/H
AHI-REM: 10.3/H – possible rem related apnea? 
Mainly hypops during the night No scoring for RERAs (hence low RDI?)

Male 37, around 85 kg, 1,85 cm, I live in Germany

In my opinion, there are at least two conspicuous phases where my heart rate rises sharply. So far no doctor has found this conspicuous, I don't understand that.

My symptoms are daytime sleepiness, night sweats, brain fog, lack of concentration, lack of energy... I think that since my oxygen saturation does not drop, I am not a classic case of sleep apnea. Maybe more like UARS?

What is your opinion? After this experience with the sleep lab and the extremely long wait, I'm frustrated. Could it be a way to try CPAP on my own in order to gain more insights with the data generated?

Thank you for your opinion!

[GreenAvocado]

Sorry I can't answer your question about the heart rate. But did you notice that it happens when you are on your left side in the study? There aren't any numbers attached to that HR graph (at least not that I can see) but it's interesting that there are two sections of wildly higher HR and you are on your left side for both of them.

Also your AHI is 7.8 while on your back, which I think is usually considered a positive test when > 5.

[THEVGE]

I would say UARS. It explains the HR issues as well, I have the same HR issues and diagnosed UARS. CPAP is most likely not going to help you but try EPR3 fulltime (reduces flow limitations) and see how much you improve. You can expect you will need bi-level at some point if CPAP does not relief you.

[Konfucius.data]

Yes, I saw that correlation between lying on the left side and having the heart rate spike, could be a positional issue, but could also be random I think. I will try to get a BIPAP machine to experiment.

I don't understand why the doctors just send me away with this unclear data. There's something wrong with me, I'm not imagining the symptoms.

[srlevine1]

Doctors today have little patience with tracking down transient or suspicious symptoms. You may wish to consult a cardiologist, ask for an echocardiogram, and see if he can provide advice about sleeping on your left side.

[THEVGE]

My heart has become more stable since I know I have UARS and took steps to treat it. I would not expect much from your cardiologist, except if you just want to test your heart and main arteries. They will not look for a root-cause if the heart is fine. And with UARS there is a big chance your heart is fine, yet still you have problems. I tried 3 medicine to control it, none worked. Treating UARS did.

When lying on your left side you put more stress on the heart. Most people with heart rhythm issues will tell you this. For me the same, so I sleep in on my right side.

Your best cause of action in my view is to figure out experimentally or via ENT where the restriction in your airway is. For example, I figured out my left nostril is narrow and I started using Alaxo 60 mm nose stents and my heart is now much more stable. Still not good, but I still have a huge restriction somewhere according my bi-level data.

Please do not wait for doctors, and start your self. It took me 3 years to let them acknowledge I have UARS and in the mean time they did nothing for me. UARS is not accepted in Europe for some reason. Only the specialized sleep centers "know" it exists.

[Deborah K.]

If you do decide to get a bilevel machine (that's the correct name for a bipap), make sure you get a ResMed AirCurve 10 Vauto.  My husband and I both started with Philips Respironics Dreamstation machines.  When we switched to the ResMeds because of the recall on the Dreamstations, we could not believe how much better we felt sleeping with the ResMeds!  There are other brands as well, but lots of them are not Oscar compatible, so it's more difficult for us to offer advice.  Oscar is our free apnea reporting program that creates wonderful charts that allow us to help each other.

Best wishes for solving your sleep problem!

[Konfucius.data]

Hey everybody,

thanks for the replys. I managed to get a used RESMED 10 Aircurve ST machine (Mask is on the way - F30i).

With what settings should start? I read somewhere Exhale 4 inhale 7?

I am going to get an SD Card, collect some data and will update when I slept the first nights.

[Dormeo]

"Night sweats" caught my eye. Here's an excellent article on the subject:

https://www.aafp.org/pubs/afp/issues/202.../p427.html

You may want to follow up with your doctor with questions about further testing that might be appropriate.