The Good, the Bad . . .

[WakeUpTime]

Some of us are also finding that with CPAP we CAN sleep on our back for the first time in years or even decades.

Trying to be a non-backsleeper, is like asking me to drive a car with my nose. I think I'd sooner purchase one of those hospital beds that bend the back up into a chair-like position that to seep on my side. I'm really hoping to make CPAP work without having to change sleeping positions -- but to read almost everyone else's reports, it seems almost everyone became a non-backsleeper.

The Dr. who wrote my Sleep study report is an idiot or worse: the Sleep study AHI was higher by a factor of 20 when supine - and she omitted any mention of position in the report. I had to request a re-review of the data, and the Sleep Tech had the data all along. Evidently the Sleep Dr. didn't believe I should know about this. Grrrrrr !!!

My "sleep report" was a story without actual data (except for the summary # of apneas) that basically said what I told the doctor and what the sleepover concluded. When I asked the sleep dr for the graphs, charts and other data, he said "we don't supply that as people don't understand it anyway". I wonder if there's more in the total clinic analysis report that might be truly insightful. My sleep study coordinator didn't suggest trying other sleeping positions. I can see now why that might provide very useful information.

Getting your AHI down to almost-ZERO in only a few weeks is truly amazing. In your case, sleeping with CPAP is a 100% cure. It seems like everyone else struggles and tweaks masks, settings, etc., for years.

[Peter_C]

Just want to re-enforce what Herb wrote - no sleeping of any kind without the mask. Even a 10 minute catnap, mask up each and every time.

[becker44a]

Some of us are also finding that with CPAP we CAN sleep on our back for the first time in years or even decades.

Trying to be a non-backsleeper, is like asking me to drive a car with my nose. I think I'd sooner purchase one of those hospital beds that bend the back up into a chair-like position that to seep on my side. I'm really hoping to make CPAP work without having to change sleeping positions -- but to read almost everyone else's reports, it seems almost everyone became a non-backsleeper.

The Dr. who wrote my Sleep study report is an idiot or worse: the Sleep study AHI was higher by a factor of 20 when supine - and she omitted any mention of position in the report. I had to request a re-review of the data, and the Sleep Tech had the data all along. Evidently the Sleep Dr. didn't believe I should know about this. Grrrrrr !!!

My "sleep report" was a story without actual data (except for the summary # of apneas) that basically said what I told the doctor and what the sleepover concluded. When I asked the sleep dr for the graphs, charts and other data, he said "we don't supply that as people don't understand it anyway". I wonder if there's more in the total clinic analysis report that might be truly insightful. My sleep study coordinator didn't suggest trying other sleeping positions. I can see now why that might provide very useful information.

Getting your AHI down to almost-ZERO in only a few weeks is truly amazing. In your case, sleeping with CPAP is a 100% cure. It seems like everyone else struggles and tweaks masks, settings, etc., for years.

Hi WakeUpTime,
After reading here that it is common for OSA to be worse when supine, I started reviewing the S9 data, plus keeping a journal, and remembered waking up on my back a few times, with a correspondingly high AHI. I concluded on my own that supine was a bad thing for me. Then I started trying the techniques gleaned from this forum about avoiding the back position. That is when the AHI started to fall. First, I ran across a deal on a pair of large, heavy memory-foam pillows (2 for $10), and decided that would be a cheap experiment. I started wedging those behind me, and began to see some improvement. Next came the Tee-shirt/tennis ball attempt - again some improvement, but not enough. Then the backpack experiment. Voila!! - immediately the AHI dropped to less than 1. It isn't consistently that low, but is averaging less than 2 most of the time. For someone who was having trouble getting below 10, that was huge. Each new thing lasts a few nights, then seems to lose some effectiveness, as the novelty wears off. But it became CRYSTAL CLEAR that this was a key to my OSA. I decided then to try to get the data from my sleep study, just to see if there was any correlation with what I was finding experimentally. It took some persistence, and a number of the people involved didn't even seem to understand what I wanted, or why. Eventually, they reconnected me with the Sleep Tech who ran my Sleep study. She was very forthcoming, and that is when I discovered that the actual sleep study showed an AHI of 58.8 when supine, and non-supine was 3 (a factor of 19.6)! Needless to say, I was infuriated that the Sleep Dr. chose to exclude these facts from me. If I ever find her name on a report associated with me again, it will be summarily rejected. I believe this Sleep Dr. survives and thrives on patient ignorance, and I pity her patients that don't involve themselves as I have.

At this point, I still have a few mask issues, although the leaks are usually quite low. But the average pressure is so much less when I stay off my back, that everything is easier, more comfortable - aerophagia, leaks, exhaling, everything. If I can win the battle of the back, I think I will have won this war.

When I asked the sleep dr for the graphs, charts and other data, he said "we don't supply that as people don't understand it anyway".

At this point, if a Sleep Dr. said this to me, my response would be "It's MY data, I'm entitled to it, and I want it". Whether I am able to understand it or not should not be any of his concern. If I want to read it myself, or if I want to ask some else for a 2nd opinion, is none of his business. If I had known then what I know now (how many times have we said that), and gotten that data at the beginning, I believe I would be around a month ahead of where I am. At least, I have it now, and I know I am looking in the right direction!

I hope you can find some key to your OSA that you can overcome and live with comfortably. Please keep us informed.

[becker44a]

Just want to re-enforce what Herb wrote - no sleeping of any kind without the mask. Even a 10 minute catnap, mask up each and every time.

Hi Peter_C,
Normally, such naps may occur when I sit down to read a book, or some other sedentary activity, not by intention, and now only sporadically. The point my wife was making to me was that PAP therapy seems to have improved my breathing, even when I'm not hooked up. When I feel the need for a nap, (less frequently now than before PAP), I'll go upstairs, lie down and use the machine.

[SherryLynne Fay]

I would suggest you consider avoiding any naps (you can) without your machine.

It probably won't kill you but many have recommended ensuring that all sleep is with the machine to encourage continued success and to more effectively heal your body (and mind.)

My rule: Before I lie down the machine is on and on; I only take off the mask once my feet are back on the floor.

You didn't ask, but it is something well worth considering....

I have seen my sleep Doc 3 times. Every time I asked if I should wear the Cpap to nap. The reply was always, "We hope you won't need any more naps now that you have a Cpap." Grrrr I am going to change my sleep doc!

[zonk]

As for a nap ... nothing better than an afternoon nap with PAP
I don't nap every afternoon but nice on occasion whenever my body crave for it

[Peter_C]

Napping cause you want too is much different than napping because you can't stay awake.

[Eurika]

100% agree with you Becker44a , knowledge gives us the power to take back control of our lives and the knowledge gained here is the very best by a long margin than anywhere else I have looked.

I recently hooked into a UK OSA forum, well I am a Scot, and was really surprised, compared to here it's like the 'dark ages'.

Sleep medicine in the UK seems way behind the US, so all you wonderful people here give yourselves a big thumbs up, and huge thanks from me.