Waiting for the forbidden APAP

[ncgncg]

I had a sleep study in April, but Stanford wouldn't give me an appointment to go over it until August. After I complained, they said they would just mail me the prescription, and indeed I got a prescription in the mail. (There was no titration study, but the prescription is for APAP.)

Meanwhile, though, I've been told by another doctor (the OMS who removed my wisdom teeth) that I can't actually get the mask fitted, let alone use the machine (or sneeze, or drink through straws, or any of a large number of other things). The restrictions apply for another 6 weeks, since to put any differential pressure on the mouth and maxillary sinus would hinder recovery from oro-anthral fistula repair surgery, which is where she plugged up a hole between my mouth and sinus, formed as a complication of the last surgery, through which bacteria enter the sinus and cause chronic sinusitis.

Meanwhile, there are two things I'm trying to do: understand the sleep study report, and do whatever I can do to reduce my apnea short of getting and using the forbidden APAP machine.

I've discussed this before on a forum that dare apparently not speak its name in here, and I would like apologize pre-emptively if I am violating any sort of anti-cross-posting etiquette.

What I have learned so far is that I can work on sleep posture, whether by taking measures to prevent myself from sleeping on my back, or, more radically, by sleeping more or less sitting upright. I tried the upright thing last night and it went surprisingly well.



Admin note: Hi ncgncg, I updated your post and put your CPAP data in a text file attachment, since the code contained in it was causing error messages within our forum software. Folks can open up the text doc (below) if they'd like to read the data you posted. Thanks. -SuperSleeper

[trish6hundred]

Hi ncgncg,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
Hang in there; someone who knows how to interpret the data in your report will be able to help you soon.
Best of luck to you with your CPAP therapy.

[PaulaO2]

Lemme see if I can do the math.

# of Hypopneas - 87
# of Apnea events - 23
total number of events (87+23) - 110
total time asleep - 5h, 56 min (rounding it up to 6 'cause math ain't my thing)

110 / 6 = 18.33

This means your AHI is roughly 18. That's pretty good. It is just over the limit into moderate severity.

Many people sleep in recliners as an effort to decrease the number of events. This works because your throat tissue is not fighting gravity. Add in the possible swelling from the surgery, and this is your best bet.

To help with the alphabet soup of the report:
- acronyms and abbreviations http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php?title=Acronyms
- how to interpret the report http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php...rpretation
- glossary and definitions http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php...efinitions

[Sleepster]

You had more events while supine (sleeping on your back) so I would recommend you sleep in your upright position as that seems to work for you. If you do decide to sleep in a horizontal position you could sew a tennis ball into the back of a t-shirt to prevent you from sleeping on your back.

[ncgncg]

Yeah, the upright thing works.

The first night it was very strange getting up. I've had to get up slowly in the morning to avoid dizziness since I was a kid. I've been told it's called orthostatic hypotension, and I had it when my blood pressure was healthy, I had it when it became too high, and I still have it now that I take medication to lower it. My mom has it worse.

After nearly 30 years of getting up carefully to avoid being dizzy and bumping into things, my brain got majorly freaked out when for a change it did not happen.

But yeah, the upright thing seems to work. The pain from the surgery is going away really fast now, so tomorrow I'll hopefully be able to sleep without a 4am break to take more Vicodin, which should further improve things.

[iSnooze]

Hey ncgncg, Welcome to our forum.

Sorry to hear about the sinus surgery. That sounded awful and painful. You are in the right place to find out as much as you can about cpap therapy before you actual start. Even though you aren't using the machine yet, don't hesitate to ask questions you have.

[ncgncg]

Thanks iSnooze! My cheeks have shrunk back to normal proportions, I am taking no more Vicodin, and I even interviewed for a job yesterday, which took all day. When I explained why I'd only have the mashed potatoes at lunch, my potential future coworkers commiserated.

As for sleeping: I slept upright against the tabletop contraption twice, and then the normal way twice. Upright against the tabletop, I woke up calm and rested. The normal way, I slept even worse than normal: the swelling from the surgery must be exacerbating the apnea. I woke up several times remembering unpleasant dreams of impending awful things happening to me or my siblings, then at 7am I'd wake up to the alarm but not actually feel awake until one modafinil, two coffees, and 4 hours later.

So upright is clearly the way to go.

I'm fed up with the tabletop contraption, though. It sorta works, but it's far less comfortable than laying down on a real mattress. It requires a fair amount of willpower not to slouch down when trying to fall asleep.

So I went and ordered a recliner at the local La-Z-Boy showroom. I sat in some and it seems feasible to find an angle that is both comfortable and likely to do the trick. The sales guy was very helpful and helped me pick one that's in stock locally so I can pick it up tomorrow morning at their warehouse in San Jose. It's not exactly my taste in furniture, but hey, you gotta make sacrifices for your health, right? ;-)

[iSnooze]

Using a tabletop contraption does not sound comfortable at all. I hope the La-Z-Boy gives you a good night's sleep without slowing down your recovery from the surgery. Keep us posted.

[genes]

One thing to learn is
That cpap does not work when you breath in with a nasal mask.
Genes

Breath in thru your mouth I meant to say.

[racprops]

My thread about Positional-Apneas may help as well.

http://www.apneaboard.com/forums/Thread-...nal-Apneas

Rich