Feeling better :)

Last night I was FINALLY cluster free. . .for one night, any way. I had an AHI of 2.74, but the events were spread out through out the night and not one on top of the other in a one or two hour time frame. I can live with this. It's the clusters that are killing me.

I purchased a cervical pillow a few months ago and got SO excited because it both supported my neck AND allowed my airway to stay open. Evidently, memory foam, after a while likes to just collapse and stay that way because I was waking up with a very stiff neck every morning. I thought that maybe the change to the waterbed had something to do with how the pillow was hitting my neck at night. . .but this wasn't a problem for the first few weeks on the waterbed, so I couldn't figure it out. My AHI was steadily climbing, too, along with the clusters coming back.

I finally gave up and threw the pillow to the side and started sleeping on the beautirest pillow I had. The apnea events were lower - but my neck was worse. My next choice was to get one of those buckwheat hull pillows. . and trust me, if what I found doesn't work out, that's where I'm going next. (Though I could actually start a pillow farm with all the pillows I've collected!)

I found a waterbased pillow on line and purchased it from Walgreen's (http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/medifl ... 21-product). My husband, who is all about water anything to sleep is ALLLLL about trying a water pillow. **chuckles** It was delivered yesterday, so I actually slept on it last night. Wow. Talking about COMFORT. I'm a little wary, at this point about getting excited since the memory foam cervical pillow ended up being such a dud, but I'm hoping.

I'd like to get my AHI down below 1.00 - where I feel the best - but not having clusters on top of each other is a good improvement. My deep and REM sleep looked a lot better - they were fragmented, but the thing is, I went right back INTO the deep sleep instead of just staying in the light sleep and only getting a total of fifteen minutes. I had 39 minutes of deep sleep last night. I haven't had that much deep sleep in a VERY long time. And my REM was almost normal.

**laughing** And I don't feel like I want to bite someone's head off today.
(Ya'all are safe now!)

I'll let you know how the waterpillow works. Hubby is going to get one, too. If it doesn't work, then I'm going to get a husk pillow and PRAY REALLY HARD.

Keep up the good work!!!! You're doing great!!! My AHI still hasn't went under a 1 in the last week of treatment, but i feel GREAT!!!!! Keeps getting better every day!!

I will be crossing my fingers for you.
I know where your clusters went last night....my house. AHI 6.8 with 3 or 4 distinct and impressive clusters.
You know Den (Wulfman) has been using one of those water based pillows for years and years. Swears by it.

Good luck tonight.

Thanks for the reminder! I'm going to try it again. We bought it at Den's suggestion but there was too much going on at the beginning getting adjusted to the machine,mask so gave up too quickly (as usual! ).

Evidently, memory foam, after a while likes to just collapse and stay that way because I was waking up with a very stiff neck every morning.

I have the same problem. It was great for about a week then it started to "conform" to my "needs". No I don't need that, I need my neck to conform to the pillow. What a waste of money!

[quote="quietmorning"]
I found a waterbased pillow on line and purchased it from Walgreen's (http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/medifl ... 21-product). My husband, who is all about water anything to sleep is ALLLLL about trying a water pillow. **chuckles** It was delivered yesterday, so I actually slept on it last night. Wow. Talking about COMFORT. I'm a little wary, at this point about getting excited since the memory foam cervical pillow ended up being such a dud, but I'm hoping.
/quote]


I have been needing a new pillow, and this sounds really interesting. I love my waterbed, so I am definitely willing to try a water pillow. It's probably less likely to travel away from me too. My pillows tend to work their way into a vertical position at the head of the bed, and my head follows the pillow. I have to sit up, pull them back down, and readjust sometimes.

great news! it's all about comfort trust me. i hope this is the pillow for you!

Welp. I spoke to soon and jinxed it. Pft. Last night was same ol' same ol' I really like this pillow though - maybe put some more water in it tonight.

Keep us posted. I wanted to love that pillow also but didn't have the patience to try different water levels since I'm not the one sleeping on it and Mike couldn't help me figure it out.

!!!!AHI:0.70!!!!!

I added another quart to my water-pillow - to bring it to 4 quarts. (a light firm). The max for firm is 5 quarts. I may add a cup at a time to fine tune it. Easier to add than to take out. I'd like my neck to have just a little more support.

OH MY WORD THIS PILLOW IS UBER COMFORTABLE.

I mean. . .really really really comfortable. I mean, like, I had no clue something could be so totally comfortable.

Zoocrewphoto, my pillow traveling up was a real problem, before. I ended up putting some cardboard at the top of our waterbed frame to keep my pillow from going all the way up and falling over the top. It really put a lot more strain on my neck, because it pulled my neck up - like a traction device would do. The water pillow DOES NOT TRAVEL. At all. **grins**

I don't think I'll ever sleep on anything else. Ever ever again.

(Of course, I'm jinxing tonight . . . **chuckles** )

**side note** Unfortunately, I don't have any real zeo data. I think my headband needs to be changed as it had me awake for most of the night - and it didn't transfer to my sleepyhead like it should. It garbled pretty badly. If I can get some good data tonight, I'll post a before and after comparison. This pillow may help the sleep issues when I don't have apnea and my deep and REM are still fragmented or stopped way too early.

Good to hear! I've been jinxing myself for three weeks over a mask cushion, but yeah the pillow is so much more important because without proper support your neck gets out of whack quickly! I never even knew they made water pillows haha!

Pugsy wrote:I will be crossing my fingers for you.
I know where your clusters went last night....my house. AHI 6.8 with 3 or 4 distinct and impressive clusters.
You know Den (Wulfman) has been using one of those water based pillows for years and years. Swears by it.

Good luck tonight.

Ah, I'm sorry, Pugsy!! I think we need to get a posse to hunt those things down and hang'em right.

Clusters are such a hard thing on the body. I wouldn't wish them on anyone. I'm very surprised that my doc didn't specifically check for clusters when I complained about being so fatigued. He just said that my AHI was under 4, and it was better than pre cpap. Yes, BUT. . .if the clusters are killing me slowly - IT'S AN ISSUE. *gah!* This is a research facility. . .so I'm really surprised that they don't look at this at all, or give credence that it's a serious issue.

I see my new doc this week - I think my sleep care will be high on the agenda.

caffeinatedcfo wrote:Good to hear! I've been jinxing myself for three weeks over a mask cushion, but yeah the pillow is so much more important because without proper support your neck gets out of whack quickly! I never even knew they made water pillows haha!

I didn't know either, I was searching for something completely different and the water pillow popped up in the search. . .who knew? You'll have to try it. . .oh, my word, what wonderful comfort. I haven't found a pillow that comfortable since I slept on the down pillows when I was a kid (that I'm sorely allergic to).

I agree that the pillow is an incredibly important part of the equation. I have several pillows here from trying to find the correct one - and each of them have a different "ahi range" from very low to very high.

BlackSpinner wrote:

Evidently, memory foam, after a while likes to just collapse and stay that way because I was waking up with a very stiff neck every morning.

I have the same problem. It was great for about a week then it started to "conform" to my "needs". No I don't need that, I need my neck to conform to the pillow. What a waste of money!

Yep. . . I'm really disappointied that the support - which was very good, at first, went so completely away.

At least the water pillow should stay pretty consistent since it isn't foam that can compress and weaken.