Does therapy stop OA

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
Corky1121
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Does therapy stop OA

Post by Corky1121 » Sun Aug 02, 2015 5:18 pm

Does anyone get rid of complete obstructive apnea? I still get up to 15 events a night at times. I know if the AHI is below 5 and sleep is good then all good. Just wondering if in time does the therapy stop those OAs.
Diagnosed after home study with 37 obstructive Apneas. Indexed at 22 Per hour. Moderate Apnea. Have suffered migraines and waking up stiff and tired and at times with muscle spasms.

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BleepingBeauty
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Re: Does therapy stop OA

Post by BleepingBeauty » Sun Aug 02, 2015 5:38 pm

Corky1121 wrote:Does anyone get rid of complete obstructive apnea? I still get up to 15 events a night at times. I know if the AHI is below 5 and sleep is good then all good. Just wondering if in time does the therapy stop those OAs.
For most of us, continued effective therapy lessens the number of apneas. (I've been on therapy for several years now, and my usual AHI now is under 1.) But it doesn't ever "get rid of" apnea altogether; there's no cure to be had from a machine, just restful and restorative sleep.
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Dx 11/07: AHI 107, central apnea, Cheyne Stokes respiration, moderate-severe O2 desats. (Simple OSA would be too easy. ;))

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Wulfman...
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Re: Does therapy stop OA

Post by Wulfman... » Sun Aug 02, 2015 5:39 pm

Corky1121 wrote:Does anyone get rid of complete obstructive apnea? I still get up to 15 events a night at times. I know if the AHI is below 5 and sleep is good then all good. Just wondering if in time does the therapy stop those OAs.
Well, I'm going to answer your question with a "qualified YES". For various purposes, like insurance and medical diagnostic ones, if the person who is not on therapy has an AHI of less than 5.0, they're considered to be "normal". So, even without therapy, a person with a 5.0 AHI may not need therapy (assuming oxygen levels and other factors are "normal", too).

But once the person gets their therapy dialed in and optimized, even a few apneas/hypopneas are still within the realm of possibility, but they SHOULD have their AHI down below 5.0 and hopefully much lower.

Edit to add: But, you still need to use the therapy all night, every night.
The therapy is not a "cure" that you can quit at some point.

According to my statistics, my yearly AHI averages are in the 0.2 - 0.4 range.


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LSAT
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Re: Does therapy stop OA

Post by LSAT » Sun Aug 02, 2015 5:47 pm

15 events a night = AHI of 2.0-3.0......That's pretty good for a newcomer if you are feeling rested. The events will never go away completely. You will always have a few events during the night. People that have AHI of > 5 have 30-40 events a night and they don't even qualify for CPAP therapy.

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Corky1121
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Re: Does therapy stop OA

Post by Corky1121 » Sun Aug 02, 2015 6:23 pm

Many thanks folks.

I was diagnosed with pulminary hypertension. Then the sleep study, but insurance covered only the home study. Cardiac doctor said since I didn't have the other causes for this it is sleep apnea. The sleep doctor said as long as I am in therapy this condition won't get worse and may even correct.

I do worry about this and so I will never stop the therapy.
Diagnosed after home study with 37 obstructive Apneas. Indexed at 22 Per hour. Moderate Apnea. Have suffered migraines and waking up stiff and tired and at times with muscle spasms.

PoolQ
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Re: Does therapy stop OA

Post by PoolQ » Sun Aug 02, 2015 6:29 pm

It seems to me there are two things that are important with Sleep Apnea:1. interrupting sleep and 2. O2 levels, other than that I don't think AHI or anything else matters, but these two things are very important. It's not just do I feel rested, but am I actually rested-both physically and mentally. Is my O2 level dropping so low AND for long enough that it is doing damage?

If my answers are Yes and No in that order than I am doing great with CPAP and I personally don't care what my numbers (I do watch them though). I will do everything I can to make sure that I never sleep a night without CPAP.
Sleeping MUCH better now

Corky1121
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Re: Does therapy stop OA

Post by Corky1121 » Sun Aug 02, 2015 6:33 pm

PoolQ wrote:It seems to me there are two things that are important with Sleep Apnea:1. interrupting sleep and 2. O2 levels, other than that I don't think AHI or anything else matters, but these two things are very important. It's not just do I feel rested, but am I actually rested-both physically and mentally. Is my O2 level dropping so low AND for long enough that it is doing damage?

If my answers are Yes and No in that order than I am doing great with CPAP and I personally don't care what my numbers (I do watch them though). I will do everything I can to make sure that I never sleep a night without CPAP.

My machine doesn't show Oxygen levels. My study showed 100% oxygen so I should be okay.
Diagnosed after home study with 37 obstructive Apneas. Indexed at 22 Per hour. Moderate Apnea. Have suffered migraines and waking up stiff and tired and at times with muscle spasms.

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Goofproof
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Re: Does therapy stop OA

Post by Goofproof » Sun Aug 02, 2015 6:52 pm

Corky1121 wrote:
PoolQ wrote:It seems to me there are two things that are important with Sleep Apnea:1. interrupting sleep and 2. O2 levels, other than that I don't think AHI or anything else matters, but these two things are very important. It's not just do I feel rested, but am I actually rested-both physically and mentally. Is my O2 level dropping so low AND for long enough that it is doing damage?

If my answers are Yes and No in that order than I am doing great with CPAP and I personally don't care what my numbers (I do watch them though). I will do everything I can to make sure that I never sleep a night without CPAP.

My machine doesn't show Oxygen levels. My study showed 100% oxygen so I should be okay.
If your home study showed 100 O2, and you had 22 events per hour, I'd call the home study trash..... which I think they are. Your results don't compute.

A doctor that tells you XPAP will cure sleep apnea over time doesn't compute.

Many who use XPAP, don't use them correctly or have their treatment dialed in correctly. Many don't care.

When you die, you are automatically cured of sleep apnea too 100% cured. Jim
Use data to optimize your xPAP treatment!

"The art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while nature cures the disease." Voltaire

Corky1121
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Re: Does therapy stop OA

Post by Corky1121 » Sun Aug 02, 2015 7:56 pm

My insurance won't pay for full overnight study. My husband doesn't believe I have apnea and says it's a scam because the sleep lab and doctors are in same building as cardiologists, so he won't pay for a full,study. I said the machine is showing OSA and other info so it's valid diagnosis. I guess the oxygen was off in the home study. The sleep doctor did say the full study would probably show more issues.

I am fine sticking with this. I just hope to get less leaks. Maybe mask liner I ordered will help.

Much appreciated for the quick advice.
Diagnosed after home study with 37 obstructive Apneas. Indexed at 22 Per hour. Moderate Apnea. Have suffered migraines and waking up stiff and tired and at times with muscle spasms.