3 Months Until Sleep Study

[NewToSleepApnea]

Yup I may try the collar again.  But currently I have a double sided mouthguard to keep my jaw in place - and I make sure to keep my chin up when going to sleep on a CPAP pillow.  I may try to go without the pillow tonight tho.

My CPAP / OSCAR say that it is an Obstructive Apnea - but I've had a sleep tech tell me its actually a Central.  And it looked exactly the same as what Oscar marks as Central.

Sleeprider - these are pretty much the same thing right?  

OA
   


CA
   

[Sleeprider]

NTSA, to my eye the OA looks more like CA and the CA like OA. I usually look for flow limitation which is a flattening of the inspiratory wave, as an indicator of obstruction. There are some odd anomalies, and my impression was positional apnea. Your result may be complicated by the use of the MAD. I think we should resume any discussion of this in your thread rather than jump into Hoagie's

[Hoagie73]

I've attached the results of my sleep study. It says I had a lot of RDI events but very few AHI events. Not sure what I'm looking at though.



  Study 1.jpeg (Size: 296.5 KB / Downloads: 88)


  Study 2.jpeg (Size: 238.1 KB / Downloads: 102)

I'm not sure how to post the images on here. I just saw where I could attach files at the bottom.

[Sleeprider]

This is a good basic presentation on how to interpret a sleep study https://www.thoracic.org/professionals/c...primer.pdf

Your AHI is low, but the RDI (respiratory disturbance index) is the sum of apnea, hypopnea and RERA, where RERA is the predominate event for you. A respiratory effort related arousal is the child of flow limitation, and occurs when increasing respiratory effort or flow limitation leads to an arousal as indicated by the EEG. Your sleep study does not offer any clue as to the nature of the respiratory effort, just the arousal. Your blood oxygen and pulse remain fairly steady, so we don't know if the nature of your RDI is actually obstructive or central. This is where it gets tricky; RDI does not qualify under most insurance for treatment unless combined with enough apnea and hypopnea to qualify for positive air pressure therapy. Your sleep study barely qualifies for therapy, provided your comorbid conditions are such that the doctor can conclude you may benefit from therapy. Fatigue, dysfunction and tiredness are all qualifiers.

Once you start on CPAP, preferably with a Resmed Airsense 10 Autoset, we can use Oscar to interpret the flow rate charts, and try to optimize therapy for the arousals or flow limitation. A step above CPAP is bielvel which has more pressure support (the difference in pressure on each breath between inhale and exhale. The Airsense 10 Autoset allows for up to 3 cm of pressure support but the Vauto is not limited, and is a better tool for treating inspiratory obstructive flow limitation. If the source is central, the next level of bilevel is ASV, however, we will just say that is a fairly uncommon progression, and no one starts above CPAP.

[Hoagie73]

Thank you Sleeprider! The ResMed 10 autoset is scheduled to arrive tomorrow.

I actually prepared for that test. Studied for 2 nights (made sure I got very little sleep) so I would be able to sleep long enough for results. Looks like it worked. I hope it's obstructive and nothing neurological. I was diagnosed with Lyme Disease 3 years ago after being bit by a tick. Ever since then it's been problem after problem. I do have neurological issues from Lyme. I'm just hoping this isn't one of them.

At this point, if the VA doesn't cover it I'm not going to make much of a fuss. It would be nice, but if not, I still have a machine. I've been reading about RDI vs AHI and think I may have UARS. I've also read that some people with UARS have success with the autoset, but that the VAuto is the gold standard. Does that sound about right? 

Do I need to get a special cleaner for the CPAP? Or can I grab something at one of the big box stores?

[SarcasticDave94]

OK maybe you and Sleeprider can share notes on Lymes. I recall him mentioning having had it sometime it the past too.

On PAP cleaners, do NOT buy an accessory cleaner unless you personally want to. It is not needed. My own RT at Lincare told me not to bother with SoClean as an example. These cleaners threaten your machine warranty as well. It is your choice, but I'd advise against it. Most here on the forum just use dish soap like Dawn and warm to hot water and wash the parts in the sink.

[Sleeprider]

Welcome to the club. I had Lyme's Meningitis in 2014 that truly messed with me, from Bell's Palsy (bilateral), vision problems, loss of abdominal core strength and a lot more.

Once you have some data off the Airsense, we will be able to make a lot more conclusions and help you to interpret what is going on.

[Hoagie73]

OK maybe you and Sleeprider can share notes on Lymes. I recall him mentioning having had it sometime it the past too.

On PAP cleaners, do NOT buy an accessory cleaner unless you personally want to. It is not needed. My own RT at Lincare told me not to bother with SoClean as an example. These cleaners threaten your machine warranty as well. It is your choice, but I'd advise against it. Most here on the forum just use dish soap like Dawn and warm to hot water and wash the parts in the sink.

Thanks Dave!

[Hoagie73]

Welcome to the club. I had Lyme's Meningitis in 2014 that truly messed with me, from Bell's Palsy (bilateral), vision problems, loss of abdominal core strength and a lot more.

Once you have some data off the Airsense, we will be able to make a lot more conclusions and help you to interpret what is going on.

Sorry to hear about you getting Lyme. It's interesting that you mention abdominal core strength. Among all my symptoms, this is the symptom that has been the most debilitating for me. It has affected my gait where I can't even run around the block. I'm glad you are doing better.

Thanks for all your help.

[Hoagie73]

Good Morning!

Should the autosense automatically write data to the SD card as long as the card is inserted?