What's going on? I need some input

This is from last night. Again, where the most apneas show up is when I was having severe muscle cramps/spasms. And this time I have more hypopenas than obstructive. I go back to the DME tomorrow. Should I be upping my EPAP or what? She will listen to me and if I make sense she will do it. For now for some specific reasons, I've chosen to do it this way rather than doing it myself. I have been on these numbers since Monday. It's like I have one really good night and then 2 bad nights. I fell back asleep this a.m. w/o my machine and slept till 1pm (same as what happened the other day). I am going to a neurologist on Mar 2 to check out some results from an MRI I had for vertigo Nothing showed up re vertigo, but they said I had a white spot on my brain by my motor ability center (as I call it), and that it was unusual. So, I'm going to go see what that is about. But in the meantime, this is my most important challenge. Since I'm having some good days, I figure I must be close to where I need to be. Input, comment, please.
Thanks!

macewa wrote:where the most apneas show up is when I was having severe muscle cramps/spasms.

This looks to be a job for a pro (ah, like your sleep doc / neurologist / pulmonologist / all of the above). If most events occur during cramps and spasms, I would think that finding and eliminating the cause of those cramps and spasms would be one of the high priorities. To me this does not look like a "tweeking thing" suitable for discussion an internet forum.

macewa wrote:I was having severe muscle cramps/spasms.

Hi if you are taking a Diuretic (Water Pills) eg. Puresis or Furesomide (Lasix) which I am not sure if you are, then you need to take
a Potassium supplemement. Leg cramps can be symptomatic of Potassium deficiency which is caused by the diuretic flushing
needed potassium levels out of the body. You proably know this but if not I hope it helps.

regards
Mike

Thanks for responding Mike. No, I don't take any "water" pills. And when I had my surgery at the beginning of the month my potassium levels were good. My muscle spasms/cramps actually do wake me up because they re so painful. And I know my breathing is not the same because I'm in pain and trying to relax enough to work the cramp out. So, my breathing most probably goes haywire. I will see the DME tomorrow a.m. and on Friday a.m. will be seeing a neurologist about that spot on my brain no one seemed too concerned about. (except me).

Mikecpaine1 wrote:

macewa wrote:I was having severe muscle cramps/spasms.

Hi if you are taking a Diuretic (Water Pills) eg. Puresis or Furesomide (Lasix) which I am not sure if you are, then you need to take
a Potassium supplemement. Leg cramps can be symptomatic of Potassium deficiency which is caused by the diuretic flushing
needed potassium levels out of the body. You proably know this but if not I hope it helps.

regards
Mike

A magnesium deficiency is also associated with muscle cramps. Magnesium is hard to test for... the blood tests are highly unreliable, but most humans are deficient in magnesium so it would not hurt to supplement this important mineral. Mag pills are difficult to absorb.... but there is a liquid, transdermal form called magnesium oil (not really an oil)... it is very absorbable. Worth trying to see if it helps.

Thanks for responding MaxDarkside. I do have an appt on Friday with neurologist because of the results of the MRI that was done because of my vertigo. Showed nothing re the vertigo, but a white spot in the area that controls motor abilities. I don't know if that could be causing this or not. But I do know lots of people have muscle spasms and cramps. So, I am working on that. I had been telling doctors about my spasms and cramps for quite ome time, but no one paid any attention to it. I guess you have to get full blown to get anyones attention. I did talk to the person in charge of my medical care about the MRI (as my ENT didn't think it was anything to bother with) and she referred me to the neurologist. What's interesting is that if I hadn't had the vertigo no MRI would have been done and I wouldn't have this appointment. I don't think the medical person connected my muscle spasms to this though. Thank goodness for SleepyHead and I get to see what goes on each night. When I wake up with the spasms/cramps I do look at the clock so I know when it happened to compare with my charts.

MaxDarkside wrote:

macewa wrote:where the most apneas show up is when I was having severe muscle cramps/spasms.

This looks to be a job for a pro (ah, like your sleep doc / neurologist / pulmonologist / all of the above). If most events occur during cramps and spasms, I would think that finding and eliminating the cause of those cramps and spasms would be one of the high priorities. To me this does not look like a "tweeking thing" suitable for discussion an internet forum.

Thanks Emilia. I just started taking magnesium tablets, 500 mg a a day for a start. I will look for the liquid, transdermal form. A friend just told me that she uses a progesterone hormonal cream every night and that stops hers. I am gong to try that also. I think, had I not had those cramps, my AHI would have been lower.

Emilia wrote:A magnesium deficiency is also associated with muscle cramps. Magnesium is hard to test for... the blood tests are highly unreliable, but most humans are deficient in magnesium so it would not hurt to supplement this important mineral. Mag pills are difficult to absorb.... but there is a liquid, transdermal form called magnesium oil (not really an oil)... it is very absorbable. Worth trying to see if it helps.

macewa wrote:I had been telling doctors about my spasms and cramps for quite ome time, but no one paid any attention to it. I guess you have to get full blown to get anyones attention.

There is quite a lot of truth to this, sad to say. It seems some doctors can only fix what is clearly (to them) broken. My wife spent a week in a hospital and they could not find anything "broken" tho something was (is) clearly wrong. They only do spot checks on the theory du jour and if they can't clearly see the cause of the problem they tend to ignore it or put it back on the patient (in your head is one mantra between the lines).

A good doctor will see the problem, determine the cause, treat the cause (this is not easy)
A normal doctor will treat the symptoms.... "Here, let's try this and see what happens"
A bad doctor will ignore the problem or push it back on the patient.

We must be our own advocates seeking the causes so we can get proper treatments in a timely manner and if we are lucky, a cure.

Max yu are right on spot with that. I live in a small town in a small county and our choices here are very limited. To go elsewhere, money is an issue. Hopefully I will find employment and then be able to go to a larger city. The neurologist I'm seeing is not board certified and I have heard he's not that great, but I figure he will give me some idea as to what that spot is and if it is something to check into. If it calls for more tests, etc. and appears to be complicated, then I will have to find someone in another city. I really think they are what is making my AHI go up because when I don't have them it's much better.I had thought that perhaps when we added the oxygen to my BiPap it would have helped me not have these cramps, but they almost seem worse. Hmmm But I'm working on it. Again, thanks for you nput. I appreciate it. Makes me feel not quite so alone.

MaxDarkside wrote:

macewa wrote:I had been telling doctors about my spasms and cramps for quite ome time, but no one paid any attention to it. I guess you have to get full blown to get anyones attention.

There is quite a lot of truth to this, sad to say. It seems some doctors can only fix what is clearly (to them) broken. My wife spent a week in a hospital and they could not find anything "broken" tho something was (is) clearly wrong. They only do spot checks on the theory du jour and if they can't clearly see the cause of the problem they tend to ignore it or put it back on the patient (in your head is one mantra between the lines).

A good doctor will see the problem, determine the cause, treat the cause (this is not easy)
A normal doctor will treat the symptoms.... "Here, let's try this and see what happens"
A bad doctor will ignore the problem or push it back on the patient.

We must be our own advocates seeking the causes so we can get proper treatments in a timely manner and if we are lucky, a cure.

Another possible cause of severe leg cramps is if you are taking a statin drug to lower or control your cholesterol.

Taking Zocor, I got to the point where it was painful for me to get out of bed and walk across the room.

Switching to another statin which worked differently - Pravastatin - eliminated the leg cramps.

This happened back when most doctors didn't believe there was a connection, and the drug companies denied it.

Now when they see Zocor listed on my drug allergy list, the docs and nurses immediately say "Oh yeah you must have had bad leg cramps from it, right?"

Nate

There are many statins on the market which still cause muscle damage to the legs, and some that don't. You can still control your cholesterol but avoid the cramping with one that works for you.