Losing hope feeling worse on CPAP than without. Any advice?

[Sleeprider]

It's fairly certain you are not going to convince this doctor to support you. That means you need to find one that will.  One approach may be to discuss it with your regular physician and see if he knows of a specialist that can and will treat idiopathic CSA, and make a referral. You could also do your own research. Finally, you can self-fund ASV if you choose. It's just a terrible time to be looking for an out-of-pocket machine.

Your doctor is wrong about hypopnea being mostly obstructive, and I doubt he did the diligence and studied your respiratory graphs to make any determination. You can't  change the mind of someone that is not open to that discussion and I would be surprised if he has any patients with central apnea, even though they make up about 10 to 15% of the sleep disordered breathing population.  His conclusion that you can quit therapy is his resignation letter, and he is wrong about that as well.  Your AHI is in the moderate to severe range at over 30, although you were not observed to desaturate.  Your CPAP therapy brings that down to 2-5 AHI and although sleep quality is not what you hope for, the therapy is beneficial. You are simply going to have to pursue sleep quality and better efficacy on your own or with a different doctor. You should leave some online reviews about this practice. No need to be vindictive, just be sure to note he is unwilling to work with more complex cases involving central and complex apnea.

[SarcasticDave94]

The doctor has stated he's not going to help you with Apnea therapy any further. He's told you to stop PAP therapy, indicates he's washed his hands of you and PAP therapy. AND it indicates he's not capable, able or willing to help you anymore. Doc's in over his head and isn't willing to give your needs time or effort.

Time to cut and run.

You won't be getting an ASV with overwhelmed doc who's quit on you.

[Sleeprider]

Have you ever contacted the Sydney Sleep Centre? Their website shows a bio for a Dr. Chaminda Lewis that takes an interest in noninvasive ventilation and complex patients. Might be worth looking them up.

[DaveL]

I hope this helps...

My doc's definition of compliance was
* machine on for at least 4 hours
* AHI < 5.0

His advise to me was to keep it simple.

In his view my treatment was successful. However, I felt terrible.

My judgement was that it was not. However, I had been diagnosed with severe sleep apnea.

I"ve been compliant for 30+ years. I've only just started to feel more rested due to wonderful advice given to me here.

However, it ain't easy.

Dave