06-04-2024, 08:27 AM
(This post was last modified: 06-04-2024, 08:29 AM by GiveMeAllTheSleep.)
New Member Intro
Hello Apnea Board members!
I'm thankful to have found this community as I begin to take managing my SA more seriously.
Over the last 5-7 years I have had a handful of in-home sleep studies that have always come back borderline\inconclusive. I have never had an in-lab study done as insurance would never approve it. In hindsight, I probably could have pushed for one but I did not properly advocate for myself.
I have been told by partners that I hold my breath while I sleep and air would seep out in little groans until eventually I would exhale and then take another breath.
A couple years ago I was prescribed an APAP and bought the Airsense 10 APAP. I never had a titration study done and just dove into the deep end because the dealing with the DME would have been the same hit to my pocket and would have involved additional headaches . I gave treatment a shot but never got comfortable with it, nor saw any results so I discontinued it's use (again, in hindsight, I probably could have played this better).
Fast forward to current day, my new partner is a respiratory therapist, so I have been made fully aware of my sleep disturbances. She was even able to record one a couple weeks ago and it basically sounds like I'm dying
. I have never been a snorer, I never recall waking up gasping for air or being in a state of panic\anxiety. I have now restarted therapy and have an appt scheduled in the next couple weeks with her pulmonologist of choice to see if we can get a proper diagnosis and treatment protocol underway. With treatment, at varying pressure levels, I can't seem to keep the masks on for more than 3-4 hours a night. When I wake up during treatment I do have an atypical level of alertness. My partner also indicated that the other night, while using nasal pillows, I was still exhibiting the "gurgling symptoms."
I just learned about OSCAR and will be getting an SD card for my airsense so I can have some granular data to review at my upcoming appointment. I also intend to fully capitalize on the supportive community here to better understand my own data and what it means.
Symptoms - fatigue, brain fog, concentration issues - they have been getting worse as of late.
I have always been an incredibly light sleeper. So much so that even when partying in highschool I would always wake up when someone was about to mess with passed out me as I would hear the scheming whispers and start to rouse\regain consciousness. I was also diagnosed with ADHD at a very young age and have basically always relied on stimulants (20-40mg adderall daily, 2-400mg caffeine) just to feel somewhat "normal." I also feel like the ADHD meds never really allowed me to focus my attention or master my executive function in any meaningful way.
Given the above - I now wonder if I have simply had central\complex apnea for most of my life that was mis-diagnosed as ADHD. Maybe I wasn't distractible\inattentive because of a developmental disorder but because I've never had a truly restorative night of sleep and have been starving my brain of oxygen every night for nearly 40 years.
Also - anecdotally - while awake I sometimes feel like I hold my breath subconsciously.
If you got this far, thanks for reading my meandering post. I just wanted to get everything out there in the hopes someone has had similar experiences.
Bonus: (imgur.com/a/pJrVMbV) Here is the audio my partner recorded. Curious to see if anyone has any feedback on what may be happening.
I'm thankful to have found this community as I begin to take managing my SA more seriously.
Over the last 5-7 years I have had a handful of in-home sleep studies that have always come back borderline\inconclusive. I have never had an in-lab study done as insurance would never approve it. In hindsight, I probably could have pushed for one but I did not properly advocate for myself.
I have been told by partners that I hold my breath while I sleep and air would seep out in little groans until eventually I would exhale and then take another breath.
A couple years ago I was prescribed an APAP and bought the Airsense 10 APAP. I never had a titration study done and just dove into the deep end because the dealing with the DME would have been the same hit to my pocket and would have involved additional headaches . I gave treatment a shot but never got comfortable with it, nor saw any results so I discontinued it's use (again, in hindsight, I probably could have played this better).
Fast forward to current day, my new partner is a respiratory therapist, so I have been made fully aware of my sleep disturbances. She was even able to record one a couple weeks ago and it basically sounds like I'm dying
. I have never been a snorer, I never recall waking up gasping for air or being in a state of panic\anxiety. I have now restarted therapy and have an appt scheduled in the next couple weeks with her pulmonologist of choice to see if we can get a proper diagnosis and treatment protocol underway. With treatment, at varying pressure levels, I can't seem to keep the masks on for more than 3-4 hours a night. When I wake up during treatment I do have an atypical level of alertness. My partner also indicated that the other night, while using nasal pillows, I was still exhibiting the "gurgling symptoms."I just learned about OSCAR and will be getting an SD card for my airsense so I can have some granular data to review at my upcoming appointment. I also intend to fully capitalize on the supportive community here to better understand my own data and what it means.
Symptoms - fatigue, brain fog, concentration issues - they have been getting worse as of late.
I have always been an incredibly light sleeper. So much so that even when partying in highschool I would always wake up when someone was about to mess with passed out me as I would hear the scheming whispers and start to rouse\regain consciousness. I was also diagnosed with ADHD at a very young age and have basically always relied on stimulants (20-40mg adderall daily, 2-400mg caffeine) just to feel somewhat "normal." I also feel like the ADHD meds never really allowed me to focus my attention or master my executive function in any meaningful way.
Given the above - I now wonder if I have simply had central\complex apnea for most of my life that was mis-diagnosed as ADHD. Maybe I wasn't distractible\inattentive because of a developmental disorder but because I've never had a truly restorative night of sleep and have been starving my brain of oxygen every night for nearly 40 years.
Also - anecdotally - while awake I sometimes feel like I hold my breath subconsciously.
If you got this far, thanks for reading my meandering post. I just wanted to get everything out there in the hopes someone has had similar experiences.
Bonus: (imgur.com/a/pJrVMbV) Here is the audio my partner recorded. Curious to see if anyone has any feedback on what may be happening.
