[Diagnosis] Ridiculously-high AHI - I Comply or I Die an Untimely Death

[Fats Drywaller]

But yeah compliance is tough for me so far as it has always been, even more so because of the high pressure. If I could snap my fingers and comply 100% , easy - but building strong commitment has only been half the battle.

Right. I was careless when writing and didn't intend to imply that it's easy for everyone. And your "alarm machine" to catch unconscious mask-off events is certainly ingenious. That's a new one on me. (I had that problem a little bit when starting out, but I guess I'm lucky that it wasn't persistent.)

As for whether the twilight-sleep phenomenon will get better, I don't know but I always think that with this stuff there's plenty of room for optimism. CPAP is an amazingly great invention, no doubt about it. For a lot of us, beginning to use it was the beginning of a major rebound in health ... like the old saying that when you're at the bottom, there's nowhere to go but up.

[Angstromicus]

No prob Drywaller , its definitely no fun having to be one of the unlucky CPAP (Bi-Pap) patients struggling against the odds (even if such odds drove me to create a nice contraption, thx ), but I'm sure all the advice here will prove to be invaluable (again, thanks everyone for the warm welcome and speedy responses !) in motivating me to do better and better. Winning is indeed the only option with untreated sleep apnea this severe. If the twilight sleep problem doesn't go away I'll just mull through it until I see my dr. beginning of January, but it's possible having a high AHI while being on treatment is the main inciting factor.

Speaking of which, those were indeed some interesting test results I posted here having such a severe AHI after taking clonazepam when even on prescribed therapy. Maybe klonopin just isn't for me. Anyways, the first order of business tomorrow is to check out getting one of those collars shipped; I never would have thought of that one myself   .

[SarcasticDave94]

Just a thought on your January appt. If the option exists, ask to be notified if an earlier appointment opens. Maybe you can get bumped to a closer/sooner appointment.

BTW on the collar: don't get the spiked model, not really comfortable to sleep in those...

[ardenum]

My psychiatrist prescribed clonazepam for sleep because vraylar wasn't sedating enough. It might be making my AHI worse so I'll be trying my backup medicine olanzapine unfortunately. Will just have to figure out how to lose weight on it like some of his other clients do.

Clonazepam for sleep is a bad choice especially if you got Sleep Apnea. Clonazepam is a good drug for anxiety, with less 'issues' then an antidepressant, but bad for Sleep apnea because its a CNS depressant.

I'd switch to a Z-Drug for sleep and take clonazepam for anxiety during the day if you have it.
If you have trouble falling asleep try either sonata or ambien, if on top of that you have issue with staying asleep try a combo of melatonin+tryptophan. You can also use a generic over the counter antihistamine like cetirizine hcl like zyrtec on top of any or all of them.

I use sonata myself because it has the shortest half-life, with 1mg of melatonin and 500mg of tryptophan(fermented version) and 5mg of zyrtec each night. Sometimes I take sonata a second time during the night if i wake up.

[Angstromicus]

Unfortunately, my appt is tied to my insurance agreement . I could even lose the machine or at least have to pay for it, and losing the machine isn't an option. I have just a few days to start sleeping 4 hours a night 70% of the time at least for the rest of next month with the machine (my compliance should go way up suddenly hehe, I'm sure the Dr. will be proud because the device has a modem and sends data real-time I think). Last night, my flu shot unfortunately gave me a mild case of the flu and I couldn't sleep well (but I still wore the mask until I woke up and stayed up, refusing to sleep without the machine ). Eventually, I will have to sleep and, with this rig I got, that will not be without the machine .



So, as far as cervical collars go, would something like this be what I need?

TOROS-GROUP Ergonomic Cervical Collar/Neck Support Brace / 100% - Cotton Liner

A lot of the products use female models, but they're unisex / who cares right?

[Fats Drywaller]

... I'm sure the Dr. will be proud because the device has a modem and sends data real-time I think)

The modem sends the compliance data only once every 24 hours, an hour after the sleep session has ended.

I think the moderators will remove your Amazon link because commercial links aren't allowed in this nonprofit venue, but it's OK to post a search string instead so people can easily find the product. I just copy the Amazon page title and post that.

[Sleeprider]

The Toros will not fit an 18" neck.  A lot of members use the Caldera Releaf, but the large is for a 17-1/4 neck size.  The key is to have a comfortable fit, and many collars do not fit those of us with 18" plus necks.  You must get one that fits without choking you.  The Dr Dakota Snoring Stop is a wedge rather than full collar and fits up to 18" for small and 21" large.  Size is based on neck length, not circumference.  Tnere are many choices, so rather than recommend one, I'll give you a link to another thread.

Be sure to read this thread Best Soft Collar

In your case, the best suggestion may be to take Greggor's advice http://www.apneaboard.com/forums/Thread-...#pid262743

No need to take my word for it...$15 and a visit to the corner drugstore can get anyone started; fine tuning with the "collar of your dreams" can come later. Good luck and good sleep!

[Angstromicus]

I ended up buying another one and then saw your post so I bought the large version of what you suggested too .

I'd like to take a higher-resolution look at the breathing graph after doing some research on abnormal breathing patterns. My breathing pattern during this cycle of sleep seems to resemble the cluster breathing variant of a rare breathing pattern known as Biot's Breathing. Could someone with more expertise than me analyze the data ? I don't want to give into Dr. Google's health anxiety. I plan to sleep tonight and will take 20mg olanzapine, so I will do my best to get more data .

   

[ardenum]

You dont have biots respiration, thats a long OA , in biots the line would be completely flat as there is no breathing reflex at work due to brain damage. You'd also probably be unable to read or type in this forum, or are you using a brain implant to communicate with us?

[Angstromicus]

Ok rgr rgr thx . Yeah no brain implants or brain damage (though it sure feels like it sometimes with schizoaffective disorder and the med side-effects lol).