[Diagnosis] Had at home sleep study done not sure about results

[Bobbyjones]

Well my PCP (nurse) said the pcp couldn't prescribe anything due to not knowing how basically and I tried the sleep clinic I had the home study with and wanted to a trial cpap for a week, which is what they do if you test positive for apnea. They basically said you don't have sleep apnea again. I'm not even sure if sleep apnea/uars is causing all these symptoms. Just recently my brain fog has gotten worse, could apnea/uars worsen over time and eventually cause insomnia? That's what happened like 5 or 6 months ago. I still want to try cpap but those guys are unhelpful.

So first your doctor prescribes a home sleep study and says he doesn't believe in the results, and even though you had mild apnea indicated, they said you dont have it. On top of that they don't listen to your symptoms and complaints.  This doctor is a waste of time.

You have two choices.  Find another doctor, or just take this into your own hands and get the job done.  For about $500 you can have a top of the line auto CPAP and mask. Or, you can find another doctor, make an appointment to explain your need for a sleep test, take the test, wait for the results, possibly take a second test for titration, get referred to a DME, and hopefully end up with what you want by sometime around August.

Search Dreamstation Auto CPAP DX500T11 and Resmed Airfit P10. The choice is yours.  I usually just suggest Amazon, but nothing is showing up there right now.

Yeah I was thinking about just getting an auto cpap but I sure as heck don't want to wait months longer. I almost feel like I have something else, like a parasite or whatever. I do hate all this waiting around for results, I might have to just try and buy a auto cpap on my own. I feel awful.

You have any idea what happened to DX500T11 that was on amazon? Does it sometimes disappear then reappear?

[Sleeprider]

There are multiple vendors that sell through that channel, and this is the first time I have not seen anything. Prices fluctuate and last week were under $400 If I had to guess, I 'd say they got a complaint and suspended sales. Don't count them out. A Google search on the terms I posted still gets $449.

[Bobbyjones]

Ok update, I bought a second hand like new airsense 10 autoset with 38 hours on it and dreamwear nasal mask. The first few nights I had trouble with breathing stopped upon drifting to sleep and couldn't figure it out then I saw a post about the medium wide and noticed the medium I was using didn't open wide enough so I used the medium wide last night and slept for 4 straight hours and had to use the bathroom.

The issue I've been having for the past 6 months is one day I went from sleeping fine for 8 hours to insomnia where I keep waking every rem cycle, I usually sleep for 3 or 4 hours then wake and urinate then wake after every dream. I am hoping it was my breathing issues that is whats waking me. I have other issues too like persistent dizziness/head swimming feeling and some eye strain but anyway I do feel a little better today however I had a hard time falling asleep after the initial awakening but fell asleep again and woke up with dry throat and dry nostrils so I took the mask off at that point and went back to sleep. I hope to be rid of all these symptoms of what is I hope due to breathing issues during my sleep. Any feedback is welcome, thanks.

[Sleeprider]

The session looks outstanding other than the break. If you want to feel like you're getting more air, you could change EPR from 1 to 2 and it may help. I use the same humidity setting but have a 24 degree setting on the hose. The only events showing in this chart are from arousal before you got up. I think as you adapt more to the feel of this, your arousals and need to get up may gradually go away. Old habits don't go away immediately, but this looks pretty good. If you ever feel air-starved a minimum pressure of 8 may help, although there is nothing in the data that says you need it.

[Bobbyjones]

The session looks outstanding other than the break.  If you want to feel like you're getting more air, you could change EPR from 1 to 2 and it may help.  I use the same humidity setting but have a 24 degree setting on the hose.  The only events showing in this chart are from arousal before you got up.  I think as you adapt more to the feel of this, your arousals and need to get up may gradually go away.  Old habits don't go away immediately, but this looks pretty good.  If you ever feel air-starved a minimum pressure of 8 may help, although there is nothing in the data that says you need it.

Yeah thanks, I actually can't remember waking more than 2 or 3 times last night, once to pee then again after the dry throat then again after sleeping without the mask (i did have to pee again but I ignored it), so that is an improvement  and I only remember 1 dream, usually I wake 5 times or more and remember all the dreams. I will try higher temp too, not sure what caused the dry throat and nose though, was very uncomfortable, I don't think I had mouth leaks.

I'm not sure how to read the charts but when the machine ramps to 8.5 pressure, does that mean I am heading towards an event and it is preventing it? So this could be towards the end of a REM cycle when I would usually awaken? Oh and it can kind of show when I fell asleep again after the initial awakening at 3am by the pressure increase too? Thanks.

[Sleeprider]

The machine increases pressure when it senses your airway becoming more obstructed, and the increase may prevent an OA or H events. It may use flow limitations, snores or volume changes to determine the condition of your airway. Lots of black magic.

You can tell if you're sleeping by zooming in on the flow rate line. Sleep looks like a more regular breathing rate, while arousals usually appear erratic and disrupted with variations in flow rate, and wave form shape. Once you have looked at the wave forms enough, you will readily see the difference. For example zoom in on 23:30 where there appears to be an arousal, vs 01:45 where it looks like a REM cycle, or 01:25 which looks like steady N1, N2 sleep. Looks like a good return to sleep at 03:40, but hard to see at this full night zoom level, the point is to see the individual wave form.

[Bobbyjones]

I'm having an odd issue now, I couldn't sleep with the machine last night because for some reason every time I drifted to sleep my tongue (I think) would relax and shift away from the roof of my mouth and air would leak into my mouth puffing my cheeks out then waking me up, this happened 5 times or so until I just took the mask off and slept without it. Why would this not be a problem before but now is a problem? This actually did happen before but only once or twice and eventually stopped the times I slept through the night with the machine.

[Sleeprider]

Even if your mouth is not opening, your jaw may be relaxing just enough to relieve that pressure. Sometimes a neck roll or soft foam collar can put just enough pressure on the jaw to help keep things in place. Chin straps are another approach, but I think something that supports the back of the jaw, from the sides is actually much better.