Basic interpretation - help for newbie

[Dottydog]

No.

Sleep apnea is not just a sleep disorder. It is a whole body thing. He needs to go to at least his GP and get checked out. Sleep apnea can effect his heart and brain.

What he is doing is akin to having a car problem and turning the radio up to cover up the noise. Or dumping the gas tank full of injector cleaner instead of taking it to a mechanic.

Just the fact YOU are here instead of him means he isn't going to take care of himself. You are. He has to do this himself. Even if you got a used machine and we walked you through the process of finding the best treatment pressure, it is still us and you doing everything for him. He needs to do this for himself because he wants to. He doesn't want to go to the doctor even though his oxygen in his blood drops down to freakin' 60%? He wants to die then, right?

I think he's scared of the diagnosis. It doesn't help that when he finally got the courage up to talk to his doctor they told him that if his snoring didn't wake up then it wasn't sleep apnea so he is now using that as his argument.

We have just had one of the worst arguments of our 30 year relationship and after a very tense time he is now looking at second hand cpap machines online and doing snore tests questionnaires. I'm tempted to send the oximetry results to the GP to see if he is still happy with his advice......

[FrankNichols]

No.

Sleep apnea is not just a sleep disorder. It is a whole body thing. He needs to go to at least his GP and get checked out. Sleep apnea can effect his heart and brain.

What he is doing is akin to having a car problem and turning the radio up to cover up the noise. Or dumping the gas tank full of injector cleaner instead of taking it to a mechanic.

Just the fact YOU are here instead of him means he isn't going to take care of himself. You are. He has to do this himself. Even if you got a used machine and we walked you through the process of finding the best treatment pressure, it is still us and you doing everything for him. He needs to do this for himself because he wants to. He doesn't want to go to the doctor even though his oxygen in his blood drops down to freakin' 60%? He wants to die then, right?

I think he's scared of the diagnosis. It doesn't help that when he finally got the courage up to talk to his doctor they told him that if his snoring didn't wake up then it wasn't sleep apnea so he is now using that as his argument.

We have just had one of the worst arguments of our 30 year relationship and after a very tense time he is now looking at second hand cpap machines online and doing snore tests questionnaires. I'm tempted to send the oximetry results to the GP to see if he is still happy with his advice......

I am a "don't go to the doctor unless I am dying" kind of guy, I blame my Grand Father who didn't believe in doctors at all.

I had 2 wives tell me I stopped breathing while asleep and never went in to the doctor. After turning 65 and getting medicare I found a local doctor to use as a primary (mainly to get my wife to stop bugging me) and the doctor scheduled me for every conceivable test I should have gotten in the past 20 years of not seeing a doctor. One of those tests was a sleep study.

I am so glad to have taken that test. The diagnosis is I have OSD. That is as bad as it gets for me, and when the Sleep doctor told me, I broke out is a smile and thanked him, he looked at me like he misunderstood, and I explained - it is great to KNOW why I am so tired all the time, and now we can fix it!

The point being, the diagnosis is not a bad thing with SA, it is a GOOD THING, because in most cases it can be treated with a CPAP machine and the results are getting your life back.

Try a positive approach with him, I bet he is tired of being tired. To me, this is a new lease on life!

[Asjb]

I think he's scared of the diagnosis. It doesn't help that when he finally got the courage up to talk to his doctor they told him that if his snoring didn't wake up then it wasn't sleep apnea so he is now using that as his argument.

We have just had one of the worst arguments of our 30 year relationship and after a very tense time he is now looking at second hand cpap machines online and doing snore tests questionnaires. I'm tempted to send the oximetry results to the GP to see if he is still happy with his advice......

Hello Dottydog.

I'm sorry. this must be very stressful for you.

Not a good combination - what sounds like a stubborn, likely scared, person with significant symptoms, and a GP who is clearly, what shall I say, ignorant about sleep apnoea and unhelpful...

Also not a good combination - oxygens below 70% with a pulse of 200. *Seriously* not good, but it sounds as if sadly you know that already.

The ideal, proper, route given those oximeter data is of course a GP referral for an urgent appointment with a competent sleep doctor and then a home-based, or sleep laboratory, diagnostic test as soon as possible. But this route doesn't seem to be viable at the moment for him.

So - my first suggestion is for you to go with your partner to see a different doctor soon. Doesn't have to be a GP to write a referral letter for a sleep doctor. Could even (why not) be his dentist, or anyone else medical. Go directly to a sleep doctor privately if you can afford it - likely to be quicker.

Second suggestion - there are commercial organisations in some countries that offer direct access to home testing & consultation with their company doctor. Other people on the forum will know more about that route than I do.

However - given your partner's reluctance, the usefulness of his GP, and the objective urgency (pulse rate, oxygen levels) I'm going to be a devil's advocate and suggest that your partner buying a machine to try, without a sleep test, could possibly be (third choice) the best way forward in the circumstances.

Providing he (1) chooses a good auto-adjusting (APAP) machine with full data capability - very useful article at:
http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php...ne_Choices

then (2) downloads Sleepyhead CPAP analysis software and learns how to manipulate it (it's very user-friendly):
http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php...SleepyHead

and (3) finds a mask that might suit him (lots of threads on this forum)

Then (4) asks for early and frequent advice from this forum as to suitable machine settings. Given no formal diagnostic test it will be particularly important to establish early on via Sleepyhead what proportion of any apnoeas he is still having are central (clear airway) apnoeas, and what proportion obstructives. If he has lots of centrals he may need to see a cardiologist or pulmonologist soon.

and (5) continues to use the oximeter each night to obtain important information

- he could start very soon the treatment he seems highly likely to need (based on your descriptions of oxygen levels and snoring etc).

And maybe if all goes well when he starts CPAP/APAP treatment and he feels much better because of it, your partner might then be in the right frame of mind to have the energy to find another doctor to refer him for a proper diagnostic test (which will not be affected to any significant degree by the fact he has already started APAP).

Please bear in mind that my comments are *not* medical advice just a non-specialist personal opinion. It's up to you and your partner to decide on the way forward. I just don't think it would be a disaster if he starts using a machine without a diagnostic test first.

I wish, wish, I had taken some action when my partner gently mentioned for decades that I stopped breathing during sleep. It would have been good to have been diagnosed and treated with CPAP *before* my heart attack and subsequent crazy heart rythyms...

Hope things work out for you both
.............................................................................................
My current pressures: Auto-ASV. EPAP 11-14. PS 3-10

[Dottydog]

Amazing advice thank you! I have downloaded his specs and I am now using the oximeter on myself at night to get a graphic picture of what his body os going through while he sleeps - it's quite interesting! I think I may book an appointment with the same doctor and take the facts with me and ask him to call John in for a consultation, or see if John will go with me to a consultation once he see how very different our sleep stats are.
I really appreciate the time you've taken in your reply and will be moving things forward somehow soon - even that means buying a machine and mask.

[Asjb]

Amazing advice thank you! I have downloaded his specs and I am now using the oximeter on myself at night to get a graphic picture of what his body os going through while he sleeps - it's quite interesting! I think I may book an appointment with the same doctor and take the facts with me and ask him to call John in for a consultation, or see if John will go with me to a consultation once he see how very different our sleep stats are.
I really appreciate the time you've taken in your reply and will be moving things forward somehow soon - even that means buying a machine and mask.

Hello again. Yes, it does seem a really good idea to <move things forward> soon. I hope John's oxygen is not still dipping below 70%? and his pulse not nearing 200 again? (Not to worry either of you unnecessarily, but those results really, really, do need further investigation soon by a doctor).

And I hope maybe he feels more settled now about going ahead and getting a diagnosis and treatment?

Just a small point but it could possibly be relevant - if you are interpreting his pulse oximetry graphs as compared with yours, you need to be certain that you have no reason for yours to be abnormal too! *Both* partners having sleep apnoea is of course not unknown, and symptoms can be more subtle in women. You might want to search the internet for examples of normal traces, unless you are already confident that you know yours is normal.

Please come back to the Forum with news of progress, or questions, when you need to.

Good luck to you both!
..............................................................................................

My current pressures: Auto-ASV. EPAP 11-15. PS 3-10

[kwhenrykerr]

My first cpap was a second hand unit from a yard sale. I wanted to see if it made any changes. The help it gave me told me to see a doctor. I got a home sleep study and am now working with a sleep doctor. The improvement had been felt mostly in less head pain. I am learning a lot from this form. I wish I had done this 20 years ago. Mom said "Son if your are going to be stupid you had better be tough". Tough is wearing out...Stupid is maybe fading a little also.

[eseedhouse]

As we age our youthful stupidities fade, only to be replaced by brand new stupidities.