7 hours ago
(This post was last modified: 7 hours ago by benjaminjaquith. Edited 1 time in total.)
Just started 6 days ago!
Hello all! I have been on the road to my sleepless journey for far too long now. It has taken 9 years to realize that my poor sleep isnt just me aging. Realizing something wasn't right brought me to bring it up to my dr. My dr figured it was medication related so we went through that route until inevitably it changed nothing and I underwent a sleep study. AHI of 37, worse when supine, at least now I had answers. I have sleep apnea! Not great news but it was news I could deal with! Now I can start working on healing myself! I put a ResMed device through insurance and was denied.... A friend gave me his older AirSense 10. Paid out of pocket for new hose, filters, water chamber, was fitted with a mask (Philips Dreamwear full face) and had the prescription put into the machine (5cm/h2o to 15cm h2o). Went home and started using it immediately while on my pc. Took awhile to get used to it but wasn't bad. The first night was not great, I had leaks and woke several times. To be expected. 3 days in and I was starting to get the hang of it. Raised the minimum pressure to 8cm and the slight claustrophobic feeling disappeared. Much more comfortable now when initially worn. Next day I test positive for COVID, (felt pretty awful and found out several co-workers tested positive.) Following day was rough, feeling horrible. Body aches, fever, headache, etc. Here's the amazing part. I used the CPAP all day resting and I started to dream! I haven't had dreams in FOREVER! My AHI from the first day to COVID was 11-12 nightly. I got my mask leaks ironed out (small tension adjustments looser and a shave), and my AHI plummeted to .4! I was EXCITED! Yes, I felt lousy with COVID but the treatment was working. I was dreaming again too! I then learned about OSCAR and SLEEPHQ and started importing my data for a closer look and I am seeing events that aren't being flagged, which means there's potential to dial in my treatment. (Considering I am on 8-15, auto, no EPR and humidity set to auto I am elated that I am "close" to anything resembling good sleep with so little effort, especially without a titration study done.) I would love it if more seasoned eyes could look at a few nights of OSCAR information and see where I could tweak settings, fitment, any ideas at all. Thank you all in advance as having a community like this for something this intricate is beyond amazing.