Does OSA this low need CPAP treatment?

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
rockncountry101
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Does OSA this low need CPAP treatment?

Post by rockncountry101 » Wed Jul 01, 2015 12:51 pm

Hi everyone.

I have recently been diagnosed with sleep apnea. My OSA was only 4.7, however. It was my RDI reading that got me diagnosed with sleep apnea. It was 9.7. This is still really a low, low number. Something else is that I never hit REM sleep. Not one time in two tests. The first without the mask and the second with it. I was told sleep apnea was worse in REM. My symptoms certainly point to it. Tired all the time, short of breath, headaches, etc. The insurance company is playing difficult and I am just going to pay cash for the machine. They want me to drive to a town 60 miles away and sign a contract with a DME to lease it first and THEN I can buy it. They won't even tell me what I'll pay. So if I buy this I will pay cash. I just hope it helps with such mild sleep apnea.

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ChicagoGranny
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Re: Does OSA this low need CPAP treatment?

Post by ChicagoGranny » Wed Jul 01, 2015 1:58 pm

rockncountry101 wrote:Tired all the time, short of breath, headaches, etc.
Now that calls for CPAP. I am assuming you have had a thorough physical and don't have any other issues that could be causing you to feel like this.

An RDI like that means you are awakening about 70 or 80 times per night. And like you inferred, it could be much worse in REM. If you get a good CPAP therapy going, you hopefully will get REM sleep which is needed for physical and mental health.

If you are going to purchase a machine without insurance and want to save some money, you would do well to look for a new/open-box ResMed Autoset S9 from here - http://www.secondwindcpap.com/Open_Box.html

Others can chime in, but I have not seen reports from users of big advantages of Airsense S10 over the S9 Autoset.

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palerider
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Re: Does OSA this low need CPAP treatment?

Post by palerider » Wed Jul 01, 2015 2:15 pm

rockncountry101 wrote: So if I buy this I will pay cash. I just hope it helps with such mild sleep apnea.
buy a gently used one from a forum member, it'll cost a lot less.

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Re: Does OSA this low need CPAP treatment?

Post by JDS74 » Wed Jul 01, 2015 2:31 pm

Before racing off and getting a machine, get a copy of both sleep studies so you can see the nature of your apnea problem. In the report, it will tell you what pressure they tried and what results they got during the second study.

If you get gently used equipment, the ResMed S9 Autoset or the Respironics Auto will both do a fine job.

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rockncountry101
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Re: Does OSA this low need CPAP treatment?

Post by rockncountry101 » Wed Jul 01, 2015 2:32 pm

My RERA is always a little high and I was told the AirSense 10 for HER could detect that as well as API. I see that when I was titrated my numbers hit pretty close to zero. But I don't understand why I didn't hit REM either night. Perhaps it was because of where I was? I do take 2mg of Xanax and 20mg of Lexapro which I heard could have a lot to do with it too. I'm trying to taper off but have to do so slowly.

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ChicagoGranny
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Re: Does OSA this low need CPAP treatment?

Post by ChicagoGranny » Wed Jul 01, 2015 2:48 pm

rockncountry101 wrote: I do take 2mg of Xanax and 20mg of Lexapro
It's a sad fact that many doctors prescribe things like this to people who just need a prescription for a CPAP.

rockncountry101
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Re: Does OSA this low need CPAP treatment?

Post by rockncountry101 » Wed Jul 01, 2015 3:08 pm

ChicagoGranny wrote:
rockncountry101 wrote: I do take 2mg of Xanax and 20mg of Lexapro
It's a sad fact that many doctors prescribe things like this to people who just need a prescription for a CPAP.
Yes it is. You are correct about that. People need to start getting educated about these drugs. They are awful in the long term. And answering your question, I had a full workup of tests. They were all negative. I was checked for anemia, thyroid problems, blood sugar, diabetes, testosterone, etc.

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Re: Does OSA this low need CPAP treatment?

Post by grayghost4 » Wed Jul 01, 2015 7:22 pm

I have several new and used machine ... here is a new one :

http://chicago.craigslist.org/nwc/hab/5102409576.html

PM me if interested in this one or other used machine
If you're not part of the solution you're just scumming up the bottom of the beaker!

Get the Clinicians manual here : http://apneaboard.com/adjust-cpap-press ... tup-manual

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kteague
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Re: Does OSA this low need CPAP treatment?

Post by kteague » Wed Jul 01, 2015 11:36 pm

rockncountry101 wrote: My OSA was only 4.7, however. It was my RDI reading that got me diagnosed with sleep apnea. It was 9.7. Something else is that I never hit REM sleep. Not one time in two tests. I just hope it helps with such mild sleep apnea.
By virtue of no REM sleep it's likely your sleep apnea is not actually as mild as your nights in the lab revealed. I agree with the post suggesting you take a look at your reports before purchasing a machine. Sometimes there's more than garden variety OSA going on, or a high pressure need could make machine selection different. Because of your suboptimal testing, data will be important for you.

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Re: Does OSA this low need CPAP treatment?

Post by zoocrewphoto » Thu Jul 02, 2015 1:36 am

kteague wrote:
rockncountry101 wrote: My OSA was only 4.7, however. It was my RDI reading that got me diagnosed with sleep apnea. It was 9.7. Something else is that I never hit REM sleep. Not one time in two tests. I just hope it helps with such mild sleep apnea.
By virtue of no REM sleep it's likely your sleep apnea is not actually as mild as your nights in the lab revealed. I agree with the post suggesting you take a look at your reports before purchasing a machine. Sometimes there's more than garden variety OSA going on, or a high pressure need could make machine selection different. Because of your suboptimal testing, data will be important for you.

Agreed, a lot of people are worse in REM, so the number would be higher if you were in REM sleep. Also, not achieving REM earlier in the night can often be one of the symptoms of sleep apnea. We keep keeping disturbed out of the sleep cycles, so we fail to reach REM sleep. I did not reach REM during my diagnosis phase. I didn't even make it to deep sleep. Once I was on the machine, I had very normal sleep cycles. Here is the graph from my split study. It is very easy to see when I went from diagnosis phase to titration phase.

Image

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49er
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Re: Does OSA this low need CPAP treatment?

Post by 49er » Thu Jul 02, 2015 2:20 am

rockncountry101 wrote:My RERA is always a little high and I was told the AirSense 10 for HER could detect that as well as API. I see that when I was titrated my numbers hit pretty close to zero. But I don't understand why I didn't hit REM either night. Perhaps it was because of where I was? I do take 2mg of Xanax and 20mg of Lexapro which I heard could have a lot to do with it too. I'm trying to taper off but have to do so slowly.
rockcountry,

I strongly urge you to visit this site for support in tapering off of the Xanax and Lexapro.

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/index

They provide excellent information on tapering slowly as the philosophy is to do it at 10% of current dose every 4 weeks and will show you how to do it for different meds.

I know people will say that one should be checking with a doctor regarding this issue and not going to an internet board. But sadly, most doctors are extremely clueless about tapering and take their patients off of psych meds way too fast.

Regarding OSA being low, mine was 5.9 with a 23 RDI at last sleep study. No question in my mind I need pap therapy.

49er