I wonder how many Apnea titrations are wrong?

[Marnid2014]

Personally, I am beginning to wonder about sleep studies in general. We all take the information we get and then live by it and don't have a clue when things go awry. THANK GOODNESS I FOUND YOU ALL ON THIS FORUM.

I was told I MUST MUST MUST sleep on my back by the sleep tech. I argued with him about the fact that I never sleep on my back, I sleep on my side, but he said, nope, you must do as I say. I did, and received a SEVERE apnea report from my doctor. The study suggested that my machine be set at 17. Well, a lot of you know that after a nightmare week I called my doctor and told him no way, something is wrong. He agreed and let the DME put my level down to 8 and since then, all is well, AHI levels are usually in the 0.3 to 1.0 range. At level 17, I was scoring in the 10.8 and above.

I just don't get it, how many are suffering with these issues and creating more problems just be going with these tests and not getting anymore input from their doctors? I know the first time I got a machine years ago, I had no further contact with the doctor about my Apnea, how many more have that happen to them? Unless I am wrong, too much is worse than not enough pressure? People really need to have some options when going for sleep studies.

[PollCat]

Did the sleep tech tell you to sleep on your back for the study or after the study? If for the test, they were probably concerned about the sensors falling off. If after the tests, the tech needs to be retrained.

[Marnid2014]

Did the sleep tech tell you to sleep on your back for the study or after the study? If for the test, they were probably concerned about the sensors falling off. If after the tests, the tech needs to be retrained.

He told me the RIGHT way to sleep is on your back. I told him I never sleep that way, and he said, well, you need to, it's better for your back and just do it. I don't think you can retrain yourself to sleep that way if your natural way is on your side. I know in my case, I have a lot of apnea on my back, it's true, but I just can't sleep that way, I roll over. He even had to put me back during the study. I just felt like it was wrong, and I was right.

I guess my point is that they insist on doing things that might not be in your best interest and people just do what they are told. We all need to stand up and take more interest in our health. My first study, years ago they told me to sleep however was natural for me.

[PaytonA]

You folks are making me thankful for the sleep lab that I was sent to. The results from my test and then my titration was analyzed by sleep doctors and it is beginning to look to me like their recommendations were spot on. I do not even remember the name of the group.

PaytonA

[eviltim]

The first sleep study I got I had a slightly over 5 AHI. Now I can tell you the way I was sleeping back then there is NO WAY I was borderline sleep apnea. Heck, when I slept over at friends houses as a young teenager my friends and their parents would always comment on my constant, loud snoring. I've always wondered how that happened, maybe incredibly conservative scoring.

[justMongo]

I don't know about wrong -- but, less than optimal -- probably about 100% of the time.

[RonWessels]

So let me get this straight: when evaluating a change to your settings, you should try for at least a week to properly evaluate it (which is actually a good idea, btw), but one (often partial) night of sleep at a strange location in a strange bed is sufficient to determine your required pressure setting?

I have become a big advocate of auto-CPAP machines. Every night is a new titration.

[c0reDump]

I think the sleep study technicians want you to sleep on your back for the test, because that is the worst position for us OSA people to sleep in (it makes the OSA worse). I can kinda-of see their point, that if you are going to do the test, then do it in such a way so they can see the worst AHI you are capable of.

It wasn't an issue for me because I normally sleep on my back anyway.

[ShelaghDB]

I sleep on my back, or just started doing so about 2 years ago only because i developed vertigo in one ear but because it took me a while to discover which ear it was, I slept on my back to avoid waking up sick.

When I went for my sleep test I slept on my back all night and yes, was told I have severe sleep apnea but the doctor told me that they messed up the sleep report for they should have come into the room and got me to turn over onto my side so he considered the sleep study flawed and sent me to a different place for it.
(he seemed surprised when looking at me that i had severe apnea and asked me if any family members had had heart attacks, strokes, etc and none had which led to further disbelief I think in what he was seeing)

So I was sent to another study place and I told her that the doctor wanted her to make sure I was tested on my side and she proceeded to tell me that they only want to test you on your back LOL

It seems you can't win.
She did relent and tested me on my side for a full 20 minutes ;-)

I think they all need to get their acts together and figure out the right way and stick to it across the board

[herbm]

They ask people to sleep on their back since this is typically the worst position, and the protocol for testing says something about doing this since the also presume everyone sleeps on their back some of the time.

My tech instructed me to sleep on my back; I simply explain that I *NEVER* do that and refused.

It's was no longer an issue.

Oddly enough, with my CPAP, I have recently begun sleeping half or a little more on my back (with no great increase in AHI.)

I am propping a pillow behind me (as was always my custom) and rolling half way or a little more to my back but never bothering to wake up enough to finish rolling to the other side as we my custom prior to CPAP.

It's nice not to need to roll over.