[Symptoms] Traumatic life event. Now I'm waking up every night suffocating.

[BostonEngineer]

       

Hi all,

My APAP machine has been taking care of me for a few years now with minimal issues.

However, my 40 year old brother died last weekend from a heart attack. Me being 37, I'm now scared to death that I'm going to just die one night. Since his passing I'm waking up to what I believe are apnea events, where I'm gasping for air.

I also had to go to the ER the other day thinking I was having a heart attack, only to find out it was an anxiety attack. Can my increased stress be decreasing the effectiveness of my current machine settings, leading to these events?

Any advice/guidance is appreciated.

Note: I have an appt. in a week with my pulmonologist.

[Jay51]

Welcome to ApneaBoard BostonEngineer.  My condolences on the loss of your brother.  

This is just my opinion (and it may be wrong) but I think some of your concern and urgency is correct and well founded; and some of it is not.  

Great job seeing Pulmonologist.  One of the best things you could possibly do ASAP is to see your own Cardiologist (if you don't already have one).  PCP can refer you to a Cardiologist.  Before I got into treatment for sleep apnea, I woke up during sleep with a chest pain that I couldn't deny.  None since treatment anymore though (and Cardiologist visits and meds).  This would either confirm or deny your currents fears.  A concrete action to immediately help your own personal situation.  Totally your decision though if you want to or not; as to how you desire to proceed from here.  

Next, it seems natural to be more concerned about your pap therapy since you brother passed away.  It looks ok to me OSCAR (nothing majorly bad in your charts, but the experts may want to chime in if they see anything that can immediately help you).  

Please continue to post anything on your mind. Lots of members here with lots of experience on various topics.

[BostonEngineer]

Jay51, thank you for warm welcome and for the advice. I'm actually seeing my PCP today as well and will be pushing to have cardio stress tests done.

[Sleeprider]

BostonEngineer, I have a suggestion for your CPAP therapy that should help you feel better ventilated and more comfortable, and an observation that you are naturally grieving the loss of your brother and suffering from extreme anxiety. First, on your CPAP go into the clinical settings and turn on the EPR feature Full-time at setting 3. This will give you effectively bilevel pressure starting at 7/4 (inhale/exhale) and with your current settings could go as high as 12/9. We may want to follow-up and find a more optimal minimum pressure once we see the results. This should take care of your therapy issues and at least take away that issue. You may want to make an appointment to discuss your feelings of risk or doom related to the loss of your brother. If you have a good relationship with your regular nonspecialist doctor, go there for help or a referral, or consider a grief or mental health counselor in your medical network. These feelings are not unusual when an unexpected loss of a family member your are close to occurs, and in your case has lead to the concern you may be next. Your anxiety is treatable and manageable, but is certainly not something you should live with. It can lead to health problems and depression, so don't put this off. You can divert this negative energy into a positive moves to make self-improvements in health, financial preparedness or become closer with your family.

[SarcasticDave94]

Sincere condolences on your loss.

I'd second adding EPR into your therapy. The flow limits will likely be better controlled, adding to the decent therapy already in place.

[BostonEngineer]

Sleeprider, Thank you for the advice on what settings to change. I'll give that a try tonight and report back if things don't get better.

I appreciate the concern regarding my mental health. Fortunately, I'm already seeing a therapist who is helping me work through this. Thank you for caring.

SarcasticDave94, I appreciate the condolences and the confirmation on changing the settings.

[PaulaO2]

I concur with Sleeprider. Increase the EPR. Your treatment is going very well and I don't think the max needs to be adjusted.

You might consider sitting up with it on while you watch TV or something. It may reinforce your faith in your treatment.

[BostonEngineer]

           

Hi all,

Just wanted to report back with an update. I changed the settings as advised, turning on EPR to level 3. That solved the issue and I'm no longer waking up to those terrifying events where I thought i was suffocating/dying.

I've attached OSCAR charts for the last 2 nights in case there are any other suggestions you have that might enhance my treatment. Thank you so much!

[Sleeprider]

That looks fantastic! Your median pressure is about 8.0 here, so if you feel a need for more air, you can make that the minimum pressure, but I'm glad we got you past that feeling of suffocation.

[HalfAsleep]

For daytime.....I actually use my CPAP off-label to calm myself down during the day if I can't unwind an anxiety attack. I suppose it's kinda like a massive hit of mindfulness (i.e. when you focus on breathing). I turn it on, and sit in bed and read. Have a cuppa tea. No worries on leakage or anything like that (I just use an old P10, which doesn't work for me at night), since I'm not sleeping. Just the regularity of the breathing really helps me. Half an hour later, and I'm much calmer.