Jan - I saw a women in a store the other day who had the saddlebags and I almost asked her if she was using cpap therapy.

Katherine - I actually have an appointment with my family doctor this afternoon for something else I had scheduled. I will talk with her and go from there. I have not been to an eye doctor in this area so I will ask her for a referral. Thanks for the help!

I would add that whenever you see "eye doctor" you should see the word "ophthalmologist." Optometrists deal primarily with measuring lenses.

hi raggedykat,
keeping a prayer going that your doctor will be able to help you, and that all will be well.

Jan

Okay, went to my family doctor yesterday just because I already had an appointment with her for something else. She says my black eye is from coughing or sneezing real hard. That it doesn't look like anything dangerous but if it keeps getting bigger to call because that means it hasn't stopped bleeding.

I asked her about the saddlebags and she thinks they are caused from fluid retention. She said that your face normally gets extra fluid in it at night while you sleep and the mask is just stopping it from distributing around my whole face so it is staying in one place. I told her I was going to try some nasal pillows and she said I couldn't change my mask without a new sleep study because there are different masks used for different forms of sleep apnea. I just said "Oh really" and changed the subject. She would be mortified if she knew how much tweeking I have done to the machine. Anyway she said I should elevate my head while I sleep. I slept on two pillows last night (really big ones) and now I have saddlebags and a stiff neck. Guess I will call my ENT now.

raggedykat wrote:...she said I couldn't change my mask without a new sleep study because there are different masks used for different forms of sleep apnea...

Oh my! Clueless...she'd be truly horrified that you are managing your own therapy!

raggedykat wrote:Jan - I saw a women in a store the other day who had the saddlebags and I almost asked her if she was using cpap therapy.

I don't know whether to laugh or cry . . . guess I'll laugh, I get a red nose when I cry.

Glad your Dr said, "not to worry." Let us know what the ENT tell you. I have an appointment with my ENT 12-7-.

Jan

SaltLakeJan wrote: This fall, I responded to a a thread about air leaking from the mask into their eyes. I can't find any trace of an air leak close to my eyes. But in the mornings, my eyes are so dry and sore, I feel as though I had been hiking across a hot barren deseret for days. The dryness and pain persists for a couple of hours.

I asked my Sleep Doctor and my opthomologist about the problem with my eyes. Both thought I had a dry eye condition, that had nothing to do with cpap use. They suggested I use an eye lubricant & an eye shield. I was using an eye shield, and eye drops, & they weren't helping. I told both doctors I came to them to find a solution for a problem that was getting worse. They acted like I brought up a rare condition that they had never heard mentioned before. I have also had conjunctivitis because of apnea treatment.

Jan

Jan, my problems exactly! My eyes feel so much worse in the morning, even with using a nighttime gel in my eyes, AND wearing foam eye goggles made for people with dry eyes! Still the problem exists. I just went to my ophthalmologist Wednesday, and although they thought the cpap could be an issue, they didn't have any suggestions other than what I'm already doing. I have some other health issues that I was afraid might have started causing eye problems, but no, just a change in eyeglass prescription, and no other suggestions for the chronic dry eyes.

I also have punctal plugs in the lower duct of each eye, so there's not much else to do. The plugs help keep more of the tears in your eyes instead of draining out, so I'd hate to know what they'd feel like without them! I never heard about air coming OUT your tear ducts from cpap, but I guess with two of the four ducts plugged up for almost two years, that can't be but so much of a possible issue for me.

Pam

Pam
It is interesting so many of us have similar problems. I wouldn't like to preserve my health by using cpap, and lose my eye sight . . . scary thought

Jan