I have had two overnight ($4,000) sleep studies and neither one of them qualified me for CPAP, so I bought my own machine on Amazon (yes, you can do that without a prescription). I'm tired of being tired all day due to my oxygen levels dropping to 45-60 while I sleep, and the oxygen supplementation only helps so much. Because the doctors are all in kahoots with the insurance companies now, they will not write me a prescription for a machine without having so many episodes of apnea a night, so apparently my hypoxia has to kill me first before they'll give me one. I believe that a positive pressure will help my problems, by forcing me to breathe in the oxygen throughout the night. (My studies do show that I stop breathing several times an hour, but not enough for a prescription...go figure.
Well, I tried to sleep with my Dreamwear mask and APAP machine last night, but after a few hours I gave up and went back to my oxygen cannula only. Even with my settings set at 4 min/12 max, I feel like I can't exhale enough to empty my lungs without really pushing. Is this a normal feeling? Am I concentrating too much on my breathing? I feel like I can inhale just fine, but when I exhale I really have to push to empty my lungs. NOTE: I'm VERY claustrophic, so even wearing this unobtrusive mask is a stretch for me. At times I feel like I'm going to suffocate with the mask on, so I'm afraid to fall asleep and never wake up!
Do you think it's the mask that's giving me trouble? I paid $109 for it and hate to have to buy another one out of pocket.
Please help me! I have nowhere else to turn, as I feel the "Specialists" I've spent thousands of dollars seeing, Pulmonologist, Cardiologist, etc. have deserted me. Thank you!!!!