Finally had a PSG instead of a PG and the result shocked me

[TechieHippie]

That's hard and overwhelming, I'm sorry. Keep fighting with both the shipping company and the seller.

It's true that on paper, your stats aren't "that bad;" meaning it isn't to the point where it's probably causing you long term health issues according to the medical industry... but how you feel is important too, and "not so bad" doesn't mean good.

You also probably have depression - I know from experience that it's really hard to tell from inside of it but I can hear how disheartening this is for you.

Because your oxygen stats are not awful, another route you could consider is an overnight oxygen monitor, cheaper than a CPAP, less invasive, and it could help you know what sleep positions work best, what other things in your life is effecting sleep, etc. you wouldn't have to wear it every night.

But I think you should consider stress again. Commuting is stressful, heck trying to figure all this out is stressful. Try to really focus on self care and getting out of your head as much as you can. Walking, hiking, yoga, Tai chi, the occasional weed candy..Just because everyone has stress doesn't make it "normal"for your body, and you may need a pretty detailed self care plan to feel better.

Keep us updated if we can help.

Lisa in CO

[mugen4u]

thank you for your kind message.

the depression part could just be because i feel so sleepy non stop, same goes with driving a car. After taking a 3 week vacation and just relax i don't feel any better at all, not even just a little bit. Also took 2 out of 5 work days of from work for 6 months without any changes whatsoever. Same goes for taking public transportation for 3 weeks.

also tried 3 different types of anti depressants as suggested by my doctor but it doesn't do anything for me.

so all that's left is sleep apnea (or as i suspect: UARS). So yeah it's kind of a struggle and insecurity about what to do as nobody knows.

[mugen4u]

That's hard and overwhelming, I'm sorry. Keep fighting with both the shipping company and the seller.

It's true that on paper, your stats aren't "that bad;" meaning it isn't to the point where it's probably causing you long term health issues according to the medical industry... but how you feel is important too, and "not so bad" doesn't mean good.

You also probably have depression - I know from experience that it's really hard to tell from inside of it but I can hear how disheartening this is for you.

Because your oxygen stats are not awful, another route you could consider is an overnight oxygen monitor, cheaper than a CPAP, less invasive, and it could help you know what sleep positions work best, what other things in your life is effecting sleep, etc.  you wouldn't have to wear it every night.

But I think you should consider stress again. Commuting is stressful, heck trying to figure all this out is stressful. Try to really focus on self care and getting out of your head as much as you can. Walking, hiking, yoga, Tai chi, the occasional weed candy..Just because everyone has stress doesn't make it "normal"for your body, and you may need a pretty detailed self care plan to feel better.

Keep us updated if we can help.

Lisa in CO

sorry i quoted you, hope that's fine.

my sleep position does not matter, all apnea events happen on every given sleep position. 
even after taking 3 weeks vacation from work and just relax and enjoy things my symptoms don't change at all.

i finally received the device, DHL lost the package but the seller send me another one free of charge! i am so glad that there are still people like her on this planet.

However if my AHI actually increases with this machine no matter the setting, does this mean that my fatigue problems are not caused by sleep apnea? i dont feel depressed and still enjoy life, i just had feeling sleepy 24/7, it ruins the fun.

[Sleeprider]

If you have the new device in-hand we can discuss settings. Some European models of the Vauto do not have a trigger sensitivity setting. If you do, then we will want to make use of that. Please check and get back.

[mugen4u]

no it doesn't have that setting. i have the resmed airsense 10 autoset device

[mugen4u]

i tried to sleep with the device for a few days now but i get 0 hours of sleep, last night i tried a sleeping pill my doctor gave me but still 0 result.

I use a white noise device that goes off automatically after 1 hour, since i had to go to work early i removed it after trying it for 2 hours.

The report said i had an AHI of 4.7: both OSA and CSA and 'total AI. but how can i have these events while i was still awake?

how do people even sleep with it? i read that a lot of people with mild sleep apnea never get used to it.

[Sleeprider]

What are your settings?
AHI does not count if you're not sleeping. With over 5-pages of discussion, we still have no clue what your therapy looks like or what you're trying to accomplish. No Owcar charts, no sleep data. I really don't know how you expect us to help with nothing to work from.

[TechieHippie]

FYI, is better not to quote the posts you reply to it only quote a snippet. We can just scroll up to remind ourselves what was said.

Adjusting to a new machine can be very tricky, for everyone not just those with mild apnea. My theory though is most people don't have detailed setting help so you have an edge up on those folks Don't read the negative stuff right now. Stick with this board and search threads for adjusting to CPAP advice. Right now your brain is in resistance mode which is totally normal.

But, first, tell us what your settings are, what you experience. Do you know how to change settings? Long hold home and center round button. MAKE SURE you have the right mask and hose type set. I suspect you are someone who will need lots of fine tuning of the settings, meaning little differences will matter and it will take time. Hang in there! It will get better in almost all cases.

The events while you are awake don't count, disregard them. It's normal to have erratic breathing with pauses while awake.

If you haven't changed default settings, I would probably start settings on pressure 7 with EPR 3 (or 6 and EPR 2) adding a long ramp when ready to sleep; you won't get as much therapy with the ramp and we'll reduce it later but it really helps with adjustment. One would think starting at 4 would be the right approach (lowest settings first) but because of how EPR works, 7 with EPR 3 makes inhale pressure a 7 and exhale the minimum, 4. This difference often feels more comfortable because exhaling to lower pressure is easier.

Once you make a settings change (I prefer to do this early in the day/evening not right before bed where it will stress me out) try it out awake (without ramp or with a short ramp), really "meditating" on relaxing your body and your breathing, your jaw, tongue, and neck. It'll take time but you want to establish a pattern of breathing with your abdomen not forcing with your nose. The machine responds to you, it doesn't control you. If your breathing is anxious it will respond with more assertiveness (if you are in auto mode or using EPR). It's trying to find your breathing pace and support it.

You can get a good mediation app for free or I really like the audio download from Sounds True, called Resist Nothing, disc 2 (sic) has great guided relaxation tracks that I go back to again and again.

Right now you need to stay positive as best you can and take it one step at a time. Don't let yourself get in an Eeyore mindset even sleep deprived making it very hard. Remind yourself of what you are grateful for, do things for joy, and try to stay on top of self care. Don't look for failure; it takes time and perseverance. Remind yourself that this has been building a long time, so you are further along in treatment than you think.

I recently read here something that resonated with me; the idea that at first, people are afraid of wearing a CPAP. Then, soon, they're afraid of not wearing the CPAP. It's taken me a couple months to get to that point but I'm there now.

Lisa

[DaveL]

Lisa your comments are perfect.

I used to travel more than I do now. I make sure that I carry a surge suppressor with a long cord. I travelled into the US from Canada and my surge suppressor saved my machine.

Point is, the way I feel is that if my machine quits on a trip I can't get another. I would be forced to travel back home to get a loaner and then a new machine. Yes, "I'm afraid of not wearing the cpap."

I wonder how countless generations of humans survived before cpap.