New to this - I'm not getting enough air

[DeepBreathing]

Hi Alan

You may post non-commercial links, especially to technical papers such as you mentioned. We encourage members to include the full text of the paper in their post in case the link goes bad in future. If the article is excessively long, then at least include the abstract.

[Sleeprider]

Gotcha: Just to clarify links, and even copying an entire article is okay here. The restriction is for any links to commercial sites, especially sales of CPAP equipment. Educational articles are okay because this is a non profit educational site, which is why Apenaboard can claim fair use for things like CPAP manuals and educational journal articles. You can even link to manufacturer sites, as long as you don't link to a DME.

http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/40/Suppl_56/P436

Abstract

Objectives: To compare the prevalence of reported restless legs syndrome (RLS) between subjects with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and the general population. Also possible changes with CPAP treatment.

Materials and Methods: The OSA subjects (n=822) were newly diagnosed with moderate or severe OSA (665 males,157 females). The control subjects (n=742) were randomly chosen Icelanders (394 males, 348 females) who participated in another epidemiological study (http://www.boldcopd.org). Measurements included a standardized RLS rating scale, questions about sleep and the Epworth Sleepiness scale. The change with CPAP treatment was assessed after 2 years (n=538).

Results: Among OSA males 23.3% reported RLS but 12.9% of control males (p<0.001). 35.8% of OSA females reported RLS but 24.4% of control females (p=0.03). Both among OSA patients and controls those with RLS more commonly reported insomnia, daytime sleepiness, nocturnal sweating, snoring and gastro esophageal reflux (p<0.05). No relationship was found between RLS and age, BMI, hypertension or respiratory disease in a logistic regression adjusting for the presence of OSA and the other factors mentioned. No relationship was found between RLS and sleep apnea severity. Subjects using CPAP had a decreased prevalence of RLS from 25.7% to 13.8% while no change was observed in those subjects not using CPAP (p=0.04 for difference between groups).

Conclusions: RLS is more prevalent among OSA patients than controls. CPAP treatment decreases RLS symptoms significantly.

[Sleepster]

I have developed a hypothesis that this condition is due to oxygen deprivation and my hypothesis has been endorsed by leading physicians in this field.

Any reason why those physicians didn't put you on oxygen?

I decided to try CPAP.

CPAP therapy doesn't deliver any more oxygen than is already present in the atmosphere.

At no time did I feel I was getting sufficient air.

The lowest possible pressure is 4 cm, which is 4 cm more than you get when you don't use the machine. The only thing a CPAP can do is deliver more air than you get without one. Never less.

[trish6hundred]

Hi Alan Adler,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
Good luck to you with your CPAP therapy.

[Alan Adler]

Hi Alan

You may post non-commercial links, especially to technical papers such as you mentioned. We encourage members to include the full text of the paper in their post in case the link goes bad in future. If the article is excessively long, then at least include the abstract.

I was blocked from posting a link to wikipedia a few days ago.

Alan

[SuperSleeper]

I was blocked from posting a link to wikipedia a few days ago.
Alan

Brand new members can't post links until they've made 4 posts [a few minutes after your 4th post, you will automatically transition into the regular Members group (see here)] giving you the ability to post links.

It's an automated spam-prevention thing in the forum software. You should be able to post non-commercial links now that you have 10 posts.

[justMongo]

CPAP therapy doesn't deliver any more oxygen than is already present in the atmosphere.

I'm not sure I can agree with that. The pressure can pack the lungs more fully with air much like a supercharger on a car engine. My PSaO₂ rises when I turn on my CPAP machine.

It is true that the percentage of O₂ in the air is unchanged unless supplemental O₂ is introduced into the CPAP flow.

[Elaine TC]

Hi.
I'm new to CPAP and this is my first post.

Former CCU RN, adequate oxygen levels in your blood is crucial to prevent cell death.

Moving the proper volume of air in and out of your lungs( tidal volume) is the crucial factor. It's the movement that matters, freshly oxygenated air needs to get into the alveoli to get exchanged for the CO2 you body want to expire.

As an example, in asthma spasm of the bronchi in the lungs prevents the old air from getting out, the depleted air still has mass and blocks the oxygenated air from getting into the lungs.

I love my CPAP but it took some adjustments and I found that you have to be pushy.
A lot of tweaks are needed and it is worth it to persevere. Whenever someone in my medical care chain thinks it doesn't matter I tell them ,"this is something I need for the rest of my life. I don't want to be one of the people who is non compliant and doesn't get the benefit. Aren't you the medical person that told me compliance is very low?"Maybe compliance would improve if more adjustments were encouraged.

I have a respiratory specialist through my durable medical equipment supplier that helped me with set up.
I have Resmed machine that therapist can adjust the expiration and inspiration pressures. I have found that it is best to have a range, mine is 8-16. I also like the full face mask but I have deviated septum.
You might want to consider contacting a DME company that services CPAP to help with set up.
Recently I developed BPPH, Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo, which can happen after you have a cold if using CPAP. See john hopkins neurology site for more info about BPPH.
What I wanted to mention here is that there is physical therapy that you can do yourself to make vertigo go away, permanently.

[Sleepster]

I'm not sure I can agree with that. The pressure can pack the lungs more fully with air much like a supercharger on a car engine. My PSaO₂ rises when I turn on my CPAP machine.

Well, yeah, sure. If we breathe more deeply we'll get more air which means we'll get more oxygen.

I'm having trouble, I guess, understanding how a CPAP machine would treat low oxygen. If we somehow aren't breathing deep enough to get enough oxygen then the remedy is either extra oxygen or deeper breathing. The CPAP machine can help with the deeper breathing part, but if that's what's needed we'd call the problem sleep apnea, not low oxygen. On the other hand, if low oxygen really is the problem then a CPAP machine won't be enough.

[Beej]

....
What I wanted to mention here is that there is physical therapy that you can do yourself to make vertigo go away, permanently.

That will depend on the type of vertigo; there are numerous varieties. Mine is currently labeled as vestibular migraine. It comes and goes. Prophylactic meds reduce the frequency, severity, and duration to varying degrees, depending on the individual.