The results are in???

[oldgearhead]

What happened? My 4/04/2006 sleep study results are in. They are saying I do not have OSA. This is quite strange, because my 2001 sleep study recorded over 50/hr AHI. No, I haven't lost (or gained) any weight.

I stopped CPAP in late 2001, because I discovered the symptoms went away if I slept on my side. Then in Feb 2006 I started sleeping only 3 -4 hours, waking up and not being able to go back to sleep. Therefore, I thought the OSA was back.

So, I guess I'll do Lunesta tonight instead of CPAP. However, CPAP may be more agreeable than the horrible flavor Lunesta adds to all you food. But then, maybe I'll lose weight on Lunesta...

[Moogy]

Hey, congrats! Nice to know you won't be attached to a blower every night for the rest of your life!

Hope they can find out what the actual problem is, so you can get it fixed...

Moogy

[NightHawkeye]

What happened? My 4/04/2006 sleep study results are in. They are saying I do not have OSA. This is quite strange, because my 2001 sleep study recorded over 50/hr AHI. No, I haven't lost (or gained) any weight.

Since you asked the question, oldgearhead, I may have an answer for you . . .
I passed my last sleep study last year, too. Of course, I also passed my first sleep study about a dozen years ago, as well. Thing is, my symptoms didn't really fully go away, even when I avoided sleeping on my back.

I opted to take oximeter measurements at home which indicated a problem at times, and when I took the data in to the sleep doc he wrote me a machine prescription. The data it collected indicated apnea which, surprise, coincided with oxygen desaturation times. It took me a little while to kinda understand what I was dealing with and to get things tweaked, but on APAP I've had very few apneas for the past couple of months. Some nights the APAP is going up and down in pressure a lot to correct the apnea, but many nights it stays near its lowest pressure all night and barely changes.

I'm telling you all this to let you know that your physician isn't telling you the entire story, probably because he doesn't know very much of that story. He studied the classic textbook cases of apnea, and so that's what he's capable of diagnosing. For many people with apnea, or perhaps even most people with apnea, the apnea doesn't change much from night to night. For some people though, like you and me for instance, apnea can change a great deal from night to night.

If your apnea is under control by simply sleeping on your side, oldgearhead, that's great. I wish I was so lucky. Like you, I sure can't sleep on my back at all, even with APAP. (At least I haven't been able to yet, although I'd hoped to be able to by now.) Side sleeping is the only way I can sleep. Like I say, most nights now, the APAP is just loafing along without much to do, but some nights it gets a real workout. I haven't yet figured out a way to stop that either.

Sorry for being so long-winded, but thought you'd like to know that you're not the only one with apnea who has "passed" their sleep test, and I hope you'll remember to consider treatment for apnea again if your symptoms ever return.

Regards,
Bill