Noob to the board, and to Sleep Apnea

[kegerator]

Firstly, I was thrilled to find this board after wandering the interwebs a bit to learn more about Sleep Apena. I'll freely admit to having lurked here for several months, absorbing as much information as possible and delving in to various discussion threads. Thanks to all of you for being so honest and forthright in your conversations - it really helped me comprehend, digest then understand the issues of Sleep Apenea, and what a possible treatment course could look like. Knowing there is a group like this out there to bounce questions/concerns against and a vast wealth of knowledge is reassuring as there really aren't any folks in my immediate life in my situation that I can reach out to.

I've already learned a tremendous amount from all of you, so thank you for that. You've (unknowingly) helped me transition into a tubehead. I guess I now need a t-shirt for that, don't I?

For those that might be interested, I've realized that I've had this issue for years but ignored it or passed it off as something else, as many seem to also do. Grudgingly I finally agreed to the sleep evaluation. Met my sleep doc and he was, frankly, fantastic. Thus far, I can't ask for a better partner in this process... I count myself very lucky. Home sleep study (he was 99.9% sure I'd have it given some physical characteristics... ) showed the (scary) stats. 56 events per hour and a O2Sat that reached 68% at times. As he said, even a fish would have trouble at those levels.... not exactly, but point very well made. Quickly prescribed an autopap and an Autosense10.

Thus far my sleep quality continues to improve and have (much to my surprise) found the sleeping version of me able to cope with the mask with little issue. I was expecting to find the mask thrown across the room when I woke in the morning. I count myself lucky that the transition to use has been less problematic than what some others seem to be faced with. I wish I had a trick or tip to offer in this regard.

Several questions that perhaps folks could provide guidance on -

1. Anyone have experience with reduction in (medicated/controlled) blood pressure following initiation of CPAP therapy? If so, any sense of what the drop in your top/bottom numbers were on average?
2. I'm a 275lb side sleeper... any recommendations for a pillow that works well with a full face mask?

Thanks,
Kegerator

[Julie]

Hi - you'll probably get lots more answers when we wake up tomorrow, but... Cpap is known to lower BP in general, but to say by what percent or numbers is difficult because everyone's different - diff. #'s to begin with, diff. weights, ages, med.histories and certainly what meds if any are taken, or for how long. You will probably get some responses, but I don't know how many will be meaningful if you try to compare them, to each other or you, but hopefully you'll see some decent improvement, about all I think anyone could say for now. Mine went down, but I could've actually done without it happening as it wasn't high to begin with!

The second one's a lot easier - PapPillow.com - however some people find the individual pillows not to be perfect for them - again, we're all different - but many people have taken the model of PP's pillows and adapted it for themselves (or had someone else do it).

[palerider]

1. Anyone have experience with reduction in (medicated/controlled) blood pressure following initiation of CPAP therapy? If so, any sense of what the drop in your top/bottom numbers were on average?

it would be a very good idea to closely monitor your blood pressure.

if your hypertension was caused, or exacerbated by apnea, then you may end up overmedicated as that component is removed. keep a close eye on it till things even out.

[ChicagoGranny]

Anyone have experience with reduction in (medicated/controlled) blood pressure following initiation of CPAP therapy?

It does happen. But everyone is different and you should not put much faith in anecdotes. Like PaleRider says, it's best to closely monitor your blood pressure.

What about using SleepyHead software to monitor your CPAP therapy? Most of us won't do without it.

I guess I now need a t-shirt

You got it -