OSA too mild to treat with CPAP? other sleep issues?

[SarcasticDave94]

I'd ditto the other gentlemen. Get one on that list with ZERO run hours or it's not acceptable. Get what's best for your wallet but following that machine list. Best to ya

[70sSanO]

You have to be armed with a model number, so you know what you are getting. Just saying CPAP is giving a DME too much leeway to give you a bad machine (non-data brick), or an older model.

For Resmed Airsense 10 here are the models...

1) Airsense 10 CPAP - Model 37204 - Will have the name CPAP on the front. Do not accept this machine as it will not give you any data. It is a brick.

2) Airsense 10 Elite - Model 37206 - Will have the name Elite on the front. If you are forced to get a straight pressure CPAP machine get this one.

3) Airsense 10 Autoset For Her - Model 37210 - Will have flowers and Autoset For Her on the front. Unless you need a machine for more complex apnea, push your doctor to specify this one.

4) Airsense 10 Autoset - Model 37208 - Will have Autoset on the front. If you can't get a "For Her" model, take this over a straight CPAP machine.

Note: 37203 is the same as 37204 without ClimateLineAir. 37205 same as 37206 without... 37207 same as 37208 without... 37209 same as 37210 without ClimateLineAir. Hopefully someone will correct this if there are any errors. And maybe someone knows the Repironics machines to get.

John

[Hydrangea]

As far as your dreamlike episodes when you close your eyes... I do agree that it could be part of Narcolepsy. But I'll throw a curveball at you, and perhaps it could be this: wi-fi, bluetooth, cellular phones, and smart meters do that to me.

You might consider shutting off (just at night) your wi-fi, powering off your cell phone, printer, fitbit/GPS watches, etc. Of course, if you're in an apartment or condo, you're getting pelted with your neighbors' EMFs.

I know that's a weird suggestion... but perhaps this is part of the picture? (It is for me!)

[SorryIamNormal]

You can't buy masks without a prescription but you can buy mask parts.  Since funds are tight and you don't have insurance you can look to online auction sites (and others) to buy masks parts then just assemble them yourself.  I have no idea what the retail markup on a cpap mask is (especially the simplier pillow design) but I have a feeling it's astronomical.  Since it's the insurance company normally fitting the bill.

You can also generally find the mask 'fitment' guide online too.  All of the ones I've seen have a template you print from your printer.  You cut it out then fit that to your face.  That way you'll know which size to get.  Of course it's always best to have a DME, RT, etc do that for you, but this would be cheaper.

[Hydrangea]

My in-lab sleep study showed an AHI around 6-12. (I don't remember the exact number.) My sleep doctor said I have very mild OSA. He said I should lose some weight, and to get lost.

I told him I've had these symptoms since high school / college, when I was barely 100 pounds. I said if there's any chance a machine could improve these symptoms, I'd like to explore it. He VERY reluctantly agreed to schedule a titration sleep study.

When I woke up the morning after the sleep study, I felt "refreshed", and realized I'd never before felt "refreshed". All that day I was energized, productive, and thrilled! I could not wait until my follow-up appt so I could get a machine of my own and feel like that every day!

Sure enough, as soon as I got a CPAP, I felt amazing from day 1! It has Changed My Life!!!! And to think I got the blow-off from my sleep doctor who had no desire to help me because my OSA was so very mild.

I'm SO glad I advocated so strongly for myself. xPAP therapy has changed my quality of life.

My heart palpitations are gone!
My brain fog is mostly gone.
I'm not dead tired every day of my life.
It used to take me hours to wake up each morning; now it takes mere minutes.
I used to get 5 hours of sleep, and have insomnia; now I fall asleep at a normal time, and I sleep 8 hours each night.

So please don't be turned off or discouraged if your doctor is saying your OSA is so mild or doesn't need to be treated. In my opinion, if you're at the point you're looking for help (ie: willing to do a sleep study), and if they see *any* OSA, why not explore the treatment and see if it helps you?

[SleepyTexasGirl]

You can't buy masks without a prescription but you can buy mask parts.  Since funds are tight and you don't have insurance ...

No, I do have insurance, I was just wondering how much the new machine would cost after my coinsurance. And that my dad’s new machine was already on order and I was wondering how safe it was to use his old one.

I know some people try a CPAP and don’t like it. I guess I was worried about spending money on something I don’t use.  

My bigger question was whether I needed to treat the apnea if it was “mild”. I was also wondering about whether I needed to do other things first, like sleep on my side consistently. 

Don’t know. The CPAP is on order.

[SorryIamNormal]

You can't buy masks without a prescription but you can buy mask parts.  Since funds are tight and you don't have insurance ...

My bigger question was whether I needed to treat the apnea if it was “mild”. I was also wondering about whether I needed to do other things first, like sleep on my side consistently. 

Don’t know. The CPAP is on order.

I'm sorry I assumed since you said you were unemployed that you didn't have insurance.  This isn't meant to be snarky but I'm not sure anyone can tell you if your mild apnea needs to be treated or not.  I think it would all come down to how you feel and how you score on the Epworth sleep scale, along with a conversation with a hopefully openminded sleep dr.   

If you find relieve with cpap, great!  If you don't then get prepared to do your own research.  So apnea is define as a cessation of breathing for 10 seconds, what if you stop breathing for 8.7 seconds?  So the sleep apnea causes arousal (your brain wakes up to tell you to breath).  What if having a giant mask on your face to fix your apea arousal, causes arousal?  Btw the 10 second thing is totally arbitrary.  Look I understand you have to start from somewhere.  Just don't take these 'sleep tests' as the end all be all. 

There is a great thread on the board about how central sleep apnea is being 'redefined'.  It reminds me of the supressed studies on antidepressants where they 'reclassify' a suicide as something else. 

Mild sleep apnea standard treatment is suppose to include a recommendation for a dental sleep appliance.  You would need to someone credentialed in Dental Sleep Medicine.  

Cpap.... better than a tracheotomy.  But that's not saying much!

[JoeyWallaby]

Don't have to use a giant mask...

[SorryIamNormal]

Don't have to use a giant mask...

It can be a small mask.  My point is that having anything on your face can wake you up.

To the OP I realized my reply wasn't very helpful.  You want as much objective data as possible.  The cpap machine will be the main source.  You may always want to consider getting a pulse oximeter with usb (works with OSCAR), a fitbit or similar (to track movement), an nightvision camera (if you really suspect PLMD), and or a zeo sleep manager (now discontinued).  Zeo is an interpolated EEG.  When I had mine it always said I slept great so I didn't find it very useful. 

The best ;you can do is collect the data and look for patterns.  Somethings are obvious like a low o2 for a prolonged period of time.  Lots of stuff isn't.