(09-07-2016, 09:08 PM)JaneAM Wrote: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jane-marqu...69602.html
Hi Friends - Thought some of you would be interested in this article. Thanks for all the help you've given me in reaching a point where I love the benefits of the CPAP (although I doubt I'll ever love strapping that mask on my face each night...). Jane
Wonderful article, Jane. Articles like this raise awareness and help our fellow humans. Many people may be unaware that SuperSleeper, the administrator of Apnea Board, has this wonderful discussion board here only for the very same reason.
Your experience with sleep doctors and with equipment providers is, sadly, typical. But there are many very good exceptions. It is possible to find caring professionals, but it's not easy. I think part of the problem is that CPAP therapy is different from other forms of medical treatment, and our already antiquated systems of medical treatment are just not prepared to deal with it properly. Equipment manufacturers make their products attractive to the equipment providers, not necessarily the equipment users.
Finally, Jane, I note that in your article you said that you are unsure how much of your apnea is due to airway obstructions and how much is due to the brain simply not ordering the body to breathe when you're asleep. The former condition is called obstructive sleep apnea, while the latter is called central sleep apnea. Obstructive is by far more common, and is sometimes accompanied by at least some central apnea, in which case the diagnosis is "mixed" sleep apnea.
You report your diagnosis as "obstructive", so it's doubtful there's a significant central component mixed in there. Good CPAP machines (the only kind worth buying) make a pretty decent attempt at determining whether your apneas are obstructive or central. Yours will raise the pressure in response only to the former. It's also pretty good at recognizing an impending airway collapse by an analysis of your breathing pattern (called flow limitation) and can raise the pressure in response to prevent obstructive apneas.
People with central sleep apnea need an advanced machine that will sort of force them to breathe (by cycling the pressure) should the brain forget to do its job.
