sleep studies

i had a sleep study for sleep apnea and was diagnosed with severe obstructive sleep apnea with 48 apneas per hr. iam 45, in good shape and have never smoked. i had a 2nd test done wth with the c-pap but could noy fall asleep with the mask. i had a 3rd test with klonopin perscribed and my test came back with zero apneas but still had 17 awakenings. i tried very hard to adapt to the c-pap but could not adjust to it with bad insomnia. i just had uppp surgery 4 weeks ago and still am still having problems falling asleep, staying asleep and waking with headaches. i will have septoplasty done in 3 weeks and hope it helps. does anyone have a clue as to why i could have zero apneas but 17 awakenings? i asked my neurologist and he did not know. i have suffered with this affliction for 20 years and was misdiagnosed for alot of them. does anyone have any insight? thanks

hulk87 wrote:i had a sleep study for sleep apnea and was diagnosed with severe obstructive sleep apnea with 48 apneas per hr. iam 45, in good shape and have never smoked. i had a 2nd test done wth with the c-pap but could noy fall asleep with the mask. i had a 3rd test with klonopin perscribed and my test came back with zero apneas but still had 17 awakenings. i tried very hard to adapt to the c-pap but could not adjust to it with bad insomnia. i just had uppp surgery 4 weeks ago and still am still having problems falling asleep, staying asleep and waking with headaches. i will have septoplasty done in 3 weeks and hope it helps. does anyone have a clue as to why i could have zero apneas but 17 awakenings? i asked my neurologist and he did not know. i have suffered with this affliction for 20 years and was misdiagnosed for alot of them. does anyone have any insight? thanks

I believe the insurance industry fuels the sleep study. I am of the opinion that the sleep study you have is for that night and only that night. I believe it is rarely indicative of the many nights in your life. A much more reliable study would be for the study to continue for a month. That would give everyone a better picture of what’s going on; of course that’s impossible. But one can almost do this by setting the machine’s pressure at CPAP low….say 5cm. The AHI would give likely a more reliable reading than a sleep study that is for only one or two nights. I have taken sleep aids and observed my AHI. The events for the night clearly went down. If the sleep aid gave you a sound sleep for say four hours on your side it is likely that your AHI would be low. Does this help? By the way I never had a sleep study….my wife diagnosed me and I got a machine (out of pocket). If I hadn’t listened to my wife the garage was the only other option.

i agree that a month or even a week long study would help alot. i also agree that i am limited by my insurance (medicare). i am going to keep trying though. thanks for your response.

One thing to try - do not under any preventable circumstances sleep on your back - it provokes lots of apneas! And don't drink anywhere near bedtime (sorry!), and don't have coffee after noon if possible because it can aggravate acid reflux that you might not even realize you have, but that can wake you up without you're being aware of it either. Never mind what it'll do to your insomnia!

hulk87 wrote:i agree that a month or even a week long study would help alot. i also agree that i am limited by my insurance (medicare). i am going to keep trying though. thanks for your response.

If you have insurance and you want the insurance company to pay for a machine then you need to sleep on your back during testing. Practice with a sleep aid by sleeping on your back and record your sleep with a digital recorder and oximeter (especially the oximeter). I am assuming that you don’t already have a machine and want the insurance company to pay for one. Have I got this right?

I am not sure what the concern with insurance is. Medicare pays 80% for the sleep study and the machine and supplies. If you have a supplement or medigap policy and have chosen the right one they will pay all the rest of the expense. I have not had any out of pocket expense for my Cpap machine, supplies, or even my sleep study and follow-up sleep doctor visits. Putting the blame on the insurance industry is pure bunk. Someone is just trying to start another zillion post that does not pertain to the cpap medical situation. Until the OP has all the medical procedures done and healed and another sleep study done all this is a moot point anyway.

mike1953 wrote:I am not sure what the concern with insurance is. Medicare pays 80% for the sleep study and the machine and supplies. If you have a supplement or medigap policy and have chosen the right one they will pay all the rest of the expense. I have not had any out of pocket expense for my Cpap machine, supplies, or even my sleep study and follow-up sleep doctor visits. Putting the blame on the insurance industry is pure bunk. Someone is just trying to start another zillion post that does not pertain to the cpap medical situation. Until the OP has all the medical procedures done and healed and another sleep study done all this is a moot point anyway.

Real good job in killing any exchange......wonderful.........do you ever need any help? For anything?

Pesser wrote:

mike1953 wrote:I am not sure what the concern with insurance is. ...

Real good job in killing any exchange......wonderful.........do you ever need any help? For anything?

not that I've ever noticed.

mike1953 wrote:I am not sure what the concern with insurance is. Medicare pays 80% for the sleep study and the machine and supplies. If you have a supplement or medigap policy and have chosen the right one they will pay all the rest of the expense. I have not had any out of pocket expense ...

I've had plenty of out of pocket expense as do many others here and elsewhere. The drive for a titration study in my case seems to be coming from a respiratory therapist who totally disregards months of fairly reasonable and pretty accurate machine data in favor of checking for compliance only. After hanging around here for a few months it is clear to me what a backward attitude that is. The fact that I am insured is what makes them "think" I need the study. I was titrated for 6 hours in my first and only split study because I was so bad. I know all I need to know from the lab at this point.

I don't need another $3000 or $5000 worth of lab study and the accompanying bills I will get from it just to tell me I need to increase or reduce my pressure by a point or two. What I need now is a PRS1 560 auto machine to do my titration for me minute by minute. I'm going to pay for it out of my pocket because in the end with my deductibles and co-pays it will more than pay for itself. And once my current PRS1 460 machine is paid for it will probably be retired to backup status and I will fire my doctor and the DME they sent me to as well.

I think the OP has a couple of problems to deal with.
Insomnia, which thankfully I have never had to deal with personally, but my brother in law has suffered with chronically. Improving sleep hygiene is the best I can offer there. You need to sleep in a quiet dark room with no electronics (TVs, Radios, digital clocks) or other noise to disturb you.

Unwilling to use XPAP. Read the messages at the top of the forum and a couple hundred more, and you will begin to understand sleep apnea is slowly killing you ahead of your time. If you don't treat it, it will treat you, and not kindly. The most common problem is inappropriate mask fit, and many/most DMEs are not much help. You have find the right style and size mask and learn how to properly adjust it yourself. This forum, the sponsors web site, and U tube are probably better sources than most DMEs.
You will want an auto machine like the airfit 10 autoset for HER or the PRS1 DS 560 with heated tube humidifier, so you can monitor your own treatment and fine tune the machine to auto adjust to your needs within a range you set.