01-18-2020, 09:06 PM
Introduction- and Journey
Hello to all the members of this very informational site that I have just begun to explore. I am so glad I found y'all.
I just got diagnosed with OSA this week, but the surprise was clinically significant PLMD with it. But that is not the start of my sleep disorder journey, it is long and has been interesting.
Without revealing my exact age, I will say I played a lot of the original Oregon Trail in elementary school. Since I was very young, about 5 or 6 I had a history of sleepwalking. My Mother (who also has OSA) and my Father (probably has it but is stubborn and won't go get a test
) were witnesses to my many sleepwalks, outside on the swings, on the railing of the deck thinking it was a balance beam etc. I also have sleep talked (sometimes singing) pretty much my entire life. The sleepwalking has gotten better, but I have also punched and hurt bed partners in my adult life.
After I had just graduated college, I punched my partner at the time in my sleep (I remember nothing about it) and my partner requiring some stitches from a busted lip caused me to seek help from a sleep specialist for the first time. Sleep logs, yada yada, and a sleep test that said "Yup you snore" but nothing real significant about it, and wasn't diagnosed because "your O2 sats never dropped below 90%". I was young, and I let it go. Around the same time, my tonsils finally decided it was time to be infected more than not so they got taken care of quickly, and according to my families and partners my snoring lessened.
A few years later, I had a brush with a bad staph infection from a cut on my leg (hospitalized), and the docs think it or the antibiotics used to treat it damaged the electrical system in my heart. Luckily a pacemaker/med combo corrects that and life with sparky is generally good. Since I was hospitalized a few days before my pacemaker surgery, the staff did what they called "poor man's" sleep study (basically monitor ECG and O2 sats) because they noticed my snoring and like usual they thought I was good because "Your O2 levels never drop below 90%".
Fast forward to 2019. My sister who I live with says that my snoring has gotten terribly loud. She says that I am comparable to my Dad in snoring volume and I seem to be having lots of talking/shouting episodes. I'm feeling generally exhausted all the time. I decide enough is enough and I talk to my PCP in November 2019 about it. I told him my last true sleep study was right after I graduated from my bachelors. He orders a home sleep test (which I did and showed Mild OSA), and has no problem referring me back to a sleep specialist, one not in his medical group because their wait is currently 6+ months.
I was able to get an appointment in early December 2019, I hit the cancellation jackpot with having my Diagnostic Study just before NYE (I met my deductible last year). Had the followup earlier this week, where doc diagnosed Mild OSA (8.3 AHI) which are all hypos- none truly obstructive (if I'm reading my report correctly), but the PLM index was 27.9, and my overall arousal index was 18.6/hr. They also caught 3 episodes of sleep talking- apparently I was talking about sirens that night.
I then hit the cancellation jackpot again and had my titration study this past Thursday night (the day after my follow up appointment). It was liberating. Aside from a freakout about 2am where I think I just didn't know where I was, I woke up energized for the first time in probably 10+ years. I had so much energy on Friday I didn't know what to do with myself.
Now, I am in the hurry up and wait again, while they prepare the report and the prescription, which they say I should have late next week. I am traveling to Orlando in the middle of February, and I would like to be on treatment by then since I am sharing a room with a co-worker, I don't want to keep them up all night with my really noisy snoring. I also don't want it to be my first week of treatment if I can help it. So far my insurance hasn't given me any beef, and with the second study I'm pretty sure I have met at least the part of my deductible where I have to pay everything. I'm probably in the portion where I have to pay 10% of the next $5000 of charges before I hit my out of pocket max for the year. I checked my policy this morning and it looks like to me that applies to DME as well.
Anyway, I am looking forward to this journey, I have always been my own best advocate for my medical conditions and I am very tech/data oriented so I will be looking to get the best therapy possible.
I just got diagnosed with OSA this week, but the surprise was clinically significant PLMD with it. But that is not the start of my sleep disorder journey, it is long and has been interesting.
Without revealing my exact age, I will say I played a lot of the original Oregon Trail in elementary school. Since I was very young, about 5 or 6 I had a history of sleepwalking. My Mother (who also has OSA) and my Father (probably has it but is stubborn and won't go get a test
) were witnesses to my many sleepwalks, outside on the swings, on the railing of the deck thinking it was a balance beam etc. I also have sleep talked (sometimes singing) pretty much my entire life. The sleepwalking has gotten better, but I have also punched and hurt bed partners in my adult life. After I had just graduated college, I punched my partner at the time in my sleep (I remember nothing about it) and my partner requiring some stitches from a busted lip caused me to seek help from a sleep specialist for the first time. Sleep logs, yada yada, and a sleep test that said "Yup you snore" but nothing real significant about it, and wasn't diagnosed because "your O2 sats never dropped below 90%". I was young, and I let it go. Around the same time, my tonsils finally decided it was time to be infected more than not so they got taken care of quickly, and according to my families and partners my snoring lessened.
A few years later, I had a brush with a bad staph infection from a cut on my leg (hospitalized), and the docs think it or the antibiotics used to treat it damaged the electrical system in my heart. Luckily a pacemaker/med combo corrects that and life with sparky is generally good. Since I was hospitalized a few days before my pacemaker surgery, the staff did what they called "poor man's" sleep study (basically monitor ECG and O2 sats) because they noticed my snoring and like usual they thought I was good because "Your O2 levels never drop below 90%".
Fast forward to 2019. My sister who I live with says that my snoring has gotten terribly loud. She says that I am comparable to my Dad in snoring volume and I seem to be having lots of talking/shouting episodes. I'm feeling generally exhausted all the time. I decide enough is enough and I talk to my PCP in November 2019 about it. I told him my last true sleep study was right after I graduated from my bachelors. He orders a home sleep test (which I did and showed Mild OSA), and has no problem referring me back to a sleep specialist, one not in his medical group because their wait is currently 6+ months.
I was able to get an appointment in early December 2019, I hit the cancellation jackpot with having my Diagnostic Study just before NYE (I met my deductible last year). Had the followup earlier this week, where doc diagnosed Mild OSA (8.3 AHI) which are all hypos- none truly obstructive (if I'm reading my report correctly), but the PLM index was 27.9, and my overall arousal index was 18.6/hr. They also caught 3 episodes of sleep talking- apparently I was talking about sirens that night.
I then hit the cancellation jackpot again and had my titration study this past Thursday night (the day after my follow up appointment). It was liberating. Aside from a freakout about 2am where I think I just didn't know where I was, I woke up energized for the first time in probably 10+ years. I had so much energy on Friday I didn't know what to do with myself.
Now, I am in the hurry up and wait again, while they prepare the report and the prescription, which they say I should have late next week. I am traveling to Orlando in the middle of February, and I would like to be on treatment by then since I am sharing a room with a co-worker, I don't want to keep them up all night with my really noisy snoring. I also don't want it to be my first week of treatment if I can help it. So far my insurance hasn't given me any beef, and with the second study I'm pretty sure I have met at least the part of my deductible where I have to pay everything. I'm probably in the portion where I have to pay 10% of the next $5000 of charges before I hit my out of pocket max for the year. I checked my policy this morning and it looks like to me that applies to DME as well.
Anyway, I am looking forward to this journey, I have always been my own best advocate for my medical conditions and I am very tech/data oriented so I will be looking to get the best therapy possible.
