Newbie need help could you use some constructive advice!

[sleepwise]

Ok where do I start, call me Ken, I am a 48 a year old male, hopefully to be 49 next month, I am thin, about 5'8", don't smoke drink or take any kinds of drugs. I recently did a sleep study here in Corvallis Oregon at the the Sleep Lab in Good Sam Hospital, had CPAP put on for about 10 mins just to see how it feels, the results were disturbing to say the least, while I don't have a high hypopnea index, I do have a high respiratory distress index, indicating too many arousal during a normal sleep period, apparently it's an obstructive problem due to I think my esophagus, or as one pulmonary specialist put it, narrow throat way and it doesn't help that I have a larger than normal tongue. For years I have been waking up chocking like something was in my throat and trying desperately to cough it up, usually I dream about it as I have read about people thinking the swallowed everything from nails to keys next to them on their dresser. I already have a sleep disorder history, I sleep walk when I am in unfamiliar surroundings, so getting back to the Apnea, I already suspected I had some kind of Apnea ten years ago, and I posted to an Apnea board and was told categorically by members that because I didn't fit the build and I didn't have all the symptoms I didn't have Apnea, not too long after. I will continue this post but for now I am going to submit since any second my computer is going to shut down on me. Ok at least I have some of this posted. Anyhow not too long after I saw a GP not sure maybe resident or maybe internist, I told them my symptoms and they dismissed at as GERD,which I have, so I"m starting to think the obstruction is my GERD together with an airway obstruction, tongue, tonsils, anyhow to wrap this up I'm going in the 26th for CPAP study and I'm scared that the machine will malfunction and I will hemmorage , (sp) and I realize that is not realistic, since there is no documentation that has ever happened I discussed with the both the sleep specialist and the Neurologist and they both tried to put my fears to rest,but I'm still scared, any thoughts or suggestions?
Thanks

[Jeannh]

Breathe. You are in the right place. I'm about 3 months into xPAP use, and you've hit the expertise jackpot here! This forum is full of caring, knowledgeable people willing to share what they know. I'm just learning, but I can tell you that here you can learn to manage your PAP therapy!

Register, read the newbie topics at the top of the page, add your equipment to your signature. Ask away, folks will help! If I can learn to sleep with a hose, anyone can!

Welcome to the forum!

[sleepwise]

Hi Jeanh, thanks for the warm welcome, I just started browsing the success stories and I see what you mean, lots of support here and I'm also going to see about joining the local support group here at Good Sam, glad I found the best place on the net for all your Apnea needs! lol

[sleepwise]

I forgot to mention in my post that, some months ago while living in Santa Fe NM at almost 7500 feet, I saw a pulmonologist as I had mentioned and he wanted to do sleep lab study overnight and I opted to do home study and all he would tell me after results were in, is first he got me confused with another patient and said I did have Apnea then he backed up and said I didn't because AHI index was too low, so my advice to anyone who is going to opt for home VS. lab don't do it, it will just be postponing the inevitable, you have to to do it in the lab, home is just not reliable.

[Jeannh]

I'd have the test, if it were me. Someone watches you sleep if you're in the lab. I did mine at home, lots of folks do. Diagnosis is the least of the work for many of us, managing the therapy is what really makes the difference in your life.

I think it's a path, not a destination !

[Julie]

Hi - as the other guy said - relax! I think part of the reason you sound so wired is that you write long sentences without breaks between subjects which make them hard to read like you're in a race and it's nerve wracking even though we want to help you but must sort out your ideas in your paragraphs to see what it is you need help with so slow down a bit... whew... do you get what I'm saying? We will try to help - there are certainly enough of us here, and some have been at it a long time. Were you just exaggerating or did you mean you're actually afraid of hemorrhaging? Because there's nothing about a sleep study that would provoke a hemorrhage - nothing invasive at all, just some electrodes stuck to your skin, etc.

[sleepwise]

Some clarifications, I already had the electrodes study done, I go back for CPAP worthiness for Insurance purposes, I write fast because I'm a crippled laptop that tends to crap out on me with little warning, I'm using this till I can secure a working graphics card for my regular one. As for hemorrhaging I'm concerned about the CPAP machine being affected by a spike in power surge or some kind of malfunction forcing too much pressure and the pressure being increased although, the sleep tech assured me that doesn't ever happen and I can't find anything documented about that, hope that helps.

[Goofproof]

I'd be a fool to be scared of air, or using something that was non-invasive that would improve my health and possible prolong my life, wouldn't I? Jim

[JointPain]

Hi Sleepwise. Welcome to the forum. It also took me ages to get diagnosed because I didn't fit 'the profile'. What you need to very concerned about is what untreated sleep apnea is doing to your body. Get tested, get treatment if you need it. Research what questions you need to ask before you meet with your service providers. I find having a machine that records treatment data is so helpful to knowing and believing the treatment is working, or what I need to do if it's not.

[sleepwise]

I agree, I was just reading the Pap Treatment for sleep apnea pamphlet by AASM and the risk are very serious, including Heart Attack and High Blood Pressure,Diabetes, Stroke, not to mention car wreck. I recently had a full cardio heart work up and luckily I am in good shape, but as you get older it get's riskier and it's not worth the risk if it can be treated.

[Guest]

Hi,
I have read several books on sleep apnea. You do not have to be overweight or older to have it, children can also have it. I was told it can run in families, do you have any family members that have it? I am a little overweight and I asked my sleep doctor if I were to lose the weight, would the sleep apnea go away. He said it wouldn't. I do have some cousins and an aunt (who has since passed away) that have sleep apnea. Your best bet is to get tested and if you do have it, get it treated as soon as you can. There are a lot of people here to help you. Keep coming back and asking questions. Good luck.

[sleepwise]

Yes it can run in the family I suspect my elder father has it and he recently confirmed that my cousin is my father's sister's son, who has had juvenile diabetes for year has some kind of apnea and I need to talk with him and find out what he was diagnosed with and how he's treating it. Since I already have the diagnosis the next is treatment and I go back on 26th for CPAP study.
Thanks

[mystydragonfly]

Hi again,

I have also recently read that diabetes is linked to sleep apnea. You may want to google the two together and read up on it. The article I read says that CPAP can actually help control blood sugar.

[Julie]

Hi - the phase of testing you're going for now is called Titration, where they decide what pressure of air to prescribe for your machine settings, so may try you on different settings overnight, and possibly different masks.

Juvenile diabetes (Type I) is different (as a primary childhood acquired diagnosis) than what most people refer to when speaking of OSA and diabetes - they generally mean type II, which we tend to acquire from bad eating habits with weight gain as we get older, so if you're thinking of your nephew's condition as being related to OSA and 'genetics' in OSA, it's far less likely to be related.

And Goblin was mine until last spring when he went to kitty heaven... Ecco (a Bombay, if paperless, for all intents and purposes) is now my boss cat but I'm having trouble getting his picture up.

[robysue]

sleepwise,

I think a lot of people are anxious about the titration study. But for most of us, the anxiety is much more of the garden variety of severe dreading of the whole experience summed up in the question: How the heck am I going to sleep with this thing on my face all night long?

But irrational fears of PAP and titration studies along the lines of "I'm scared that the machine will malfunction and I will hemmorage" are less common, but not unknown. And please understand, I do recognize that an irrational fear is still something to be reckoned with. (I'm personally terrified of live chickens for example.)

Things to keep in mind about your titration study: The tech will be monitoring you all night long. If there is any kind of adverse reaction or anything out of the ordinary, it will be dealt with. You should, however, let the tech know that you are somewhat fearful of everything. That way the tech can hopefully take some extra time in working with you at the beginning of the night to help you get to where the fear is at least manageable during the test.

And also keep in mind that a lot of us had pretty bad nights on our titration studies too: It does take some getting used to having a mask on your nose and sleeping in a lab is awkward even without the mask. So if the study on 12/26 is "the worst night of my life", don't let that persuade you from trying CPAP therapy. CPAP really is the gold standard for treating OSA and with the proper mindset and the appropriate amount of help (which you can get here), it is possible to get to where you are comfortably sleeping with a PAP mask on your nose every night and feeling substantial positive benefits during the daytime.

Your more substantial problem may occur once you get the machine and you're trying to use it in your own bedroom. You may need some help in getting over the fear of using the machine. Lots of folks here will be able to chime in with suggestions on how to reduce the anxiety and fear if it starts up every time you try to mask up. In the long run, what will finally conquer the fear is just using the machine consistently enough for it to do you some good in the sense of reducing your daytime symptoms. But if self-help tips for reducing the anxiety and fear don't help you enough to get to where you can sleep with the mask, you may need to talk to the sleep doc or your PCP about whether taking some kind of anti-anxiety medicine on an as needed basis might help you get over the hump.

For now, however, it's important that you allow yourself to relax and NOT overthing and over worry about the titration coming up on 12/26. If you and your family celebrate Christmas, it's important to just relax and enjoy the holidays and deal with the CPAP stuff when it happens.