06-13-2015, 09:05 PM
Intro
Another newbie here. I had my sleep study back in Dec of 2013. I did the initial sleep study follow by the titration a week later. Due to the holidays I wasn't able to make a followup appointment until the end of January 2014. Due to my wife having back surgery around that time, the appointment fell off my radar and due to my own procrastination, I didn't make another followup.
1 1/2 years later my PCP, wife and ex-wife are on my case that I need to get my sleep in order, so I am following up like I should have a long time ago.
I've had trouble for quite a few years, but mostly blamed it on allergies. I joke around saying "If it's green and produces pollen, I'm allergic to it". My friends joke that I can fall asleep at the drop of a hat and I have often fallen asleep leaning against a wall waiting for someone. I have caught myself in that twilight area between sleep and fully awake, wondering what the loud buzz-saw noise was before realizing it was me snoring. So I was relived to find out that I have sleep apnea and there is something I can do about it. Now I need to actually do it.
My study results were an AHI of 45 with an RDI of 47.5. The AHI was a mean of 9 apnea events to 36 hypopnea events per hour. The mean apnea/hypopnea length was 22.6 seconds with the longest being 57.3 seconds. This makes me wonder what the mean length is for those who have an AHI above 100?
My oxygen was at 90% or above 85% of the time, 88% or lower for 9.5% of the time with a low of 77%. Math tells me that I was at 89% for 5% of the time. :-)
The titration study tested my at 4/6/8/10/12 with being the least apnea/hypopnea events. 10 had me at 15 hypop & 7 apnea events. 12 had me at 1 hypop and 11 apnea events. My oxygen for the whole time was at 90% or above for 96% of the time an at 88% or below for 3% of the time. Much better that before. My overall apnea events seemed to go up slightly, but my hypopnea events were at 90% less events that the original study. I understand this is only one night across the whole gamut of pressures, and the OSA and CSA events are likely to go up until I get used to sleeping with a mask.
The recommendation is 12 cm with a c-flex setting of 3. The recommendation from the initial study suggests a RemStar Pro DS 450 with SD card reader and a Quattro Ultra (M) mask with humidifier. With my constant allergies, I'm usually pretty stuffed up, especially in the spring and fall, so I am starting with a FFM which makes sense to me. It looks like the DS 450 is a regular CPAP machine instead of an Auto. I'm going to push the DME for an auto but don't know what is actually written on the prescription. I'll have to go back to my doctor for a copy of it for my records. I asked the sleep doctor about the difference between auto and straight, and he said they want me on straight 12cm. If I can get an auto CPAP, I would still stay on the straight 12 for the initial 90 day trial, but would like the option for later down the road.
Looks like my insurance (UHC) works with neighborcare/rotech, so I'll see what I can get out of them. The sleep office said they would send the prescription over last friday, so If I don't hear from them by Wednesday, I'll be beating down their door.
Overall, I am looking forward to better sleep.
1 1/2 years later my PCP, wife and ex-wife are on my case that I need to get my sleep in order, so I am following up like I should have a long time ago.
I've had trouble for quite a few years, but mostly blamed it on allergies. I joke around saying "If it's green and produces pollen, I'm allergic to it". My friends joke that I can fall asleep at the drop of a hat and I have often fallen asleep leaning against a wall waiting for someone. I have caught myself in that twilight area between sleep and fully awake, wondering what the loud buzz-saw noise was before realizing it was me snoring. So I was relived to find out that I have sleep apnea and there is something I can do about it. Now I need to actually do it.
My study results were an AHI of 45 with an RDI of 47.5. The AHI was a mean of 9 apnea events to 36 hypopnea events per hour. The mean apnea/hypopnea length was 22.6 seconds with the longest being 57.3 seconds. This makes me wonder what the mean length is for those who have an AHI above 100?
My oxygen was at 90% or above 85% of the time, 88% or lower for 9.5% of the time with a low of 77%. Math tells me that I was at 89% for 5% of the time. :-)
The titration study tested my at 4/6/8/10/12 with being the least apnea/hypopnea events. 10 had me at 15 hypop & 7 apnea events. 12 had me at 1 hypop and 11 apnea events. My oxygen for the whole time was at 90% or above for 96% of the time an at 88% or below for 3% of the time. Much better that before. My overall apnea events seemed to go up slightly, but my hypopnea events were at 90% less events that the original study. I understand this is only one night across the whole gamut of pressures, and the OSA and CSA events are likely to go up until I get used to sleeping with a mask.
The recommendation is 12 cm with a c-flex setting of 3. The recommendation from the initial study suggests a RemStar Pro DS 450 with SD card reader and a Quattro Ultra (M) mask with humidifier. With my constant allergies, I'm usually pretty stuffed up, especially in the spring and fall, so I am starting with a FFM which makes sense to me. It looks like the DS 450 is a regular CPAP machine instead of an Auto. I'm going to push the DME for an auto but don't know what is actually written on the prescription. I'll have to go back to my doctor for a copy of it for my records. I asked the sleep doctor about the difference between auto and straight, and he said they want me on straight 12cm. If I can get an auto CPAP, I would still stay on the straight 12 for the initial 90 day trial, but would like the option for later down the road.
Looks like my insurance (UHC) works with neighborcare/rotech, so I'll see what I can get out of them. The sleep office said they would send the prescription over last friday, so If I don't hear from them by Wednesday, I'll be beating down their door.
Overall, I am looking forward to better sleep.
