Desperately need help. Sleep Doc can't see me until April..

[icipher]

Hi guys.

ASV user here diagnosed with Idiopathic(cause unknown) sleep anpea 3 years ago on my 30th birthday. No other known health conditions.

Been a bumpy ride, but has mostly been tolerable.

About three weeks ago I started having frequent episodes of waking up within the first few hours of falling asleep feeling as if someone has been drowning me. I burst awake to take a huge breath of air and my heart is usually racing upwards of 100 bpm or more according to my pulse oximeter. I typically take my mask off after for a few minutes to settle down. This will happen multiple times within a 3 hour window of falling sleep and usually stops after that.

Strange thing, I check my data in sleephead the next morning and I don't see apneas or hypopneas right before the awakenings. I also check my pulse oximeter data and I am not seeing huge drops oxygen, my o2 doesn't dip below 92 or 93. That being said, my AHI is creeping up. over the last few months it's averaged out to be 1. It's getting worse though and my new 7 day average is about 2. Last night I was at 3. Not a HUGE increase but still noticeable.

My sleep doctor doesn't have any open appointments until mid April, unfortunately. I am going to my gneral doctor later this afternoon to tell them what's going on but they'll probably scratch their head and not know what to say. Has anyone heard stories of this before? Is there anything worth trying? This has been a terrifying experience and I don't think I can make it to April with this happening every night.

[Julie]

Have you gained any weight at all (even a little)?

[icipher]

Have you gained any weight at all (even a little)?

Yes, about 8 lbs.

[Julie]

Believe it or not even that can make a diff (I speak from experience!). But actually, your symptoms do sound 'louder' than they should considering... are you sure your mask still fits well, etc?

[icipher]

Believe it or not even that can make a diff (I speak from experience!).

Yes, I went from being a pretty lean 215 lbs in my early 20's to 240 when i was diagnosed with CSA. I am now 277. 3 weeks ago I decided to stop drinking alcohol all together because I am pretty sure that's where all my weight gain calories have come from. That said, this new night time issue has gotten worse since I stopped drinking.

[chunkyfrog]

My pneumo had a long wait, too.
So I called the office and asked if an associate could see me.
After that, he was MUCH easier to see.

[D.H.]

If sleep got worse due to alcohol cessation, I would guess one (or both) of the following two things are happening:

• 1) Your pressure and other machine settings are optimized for your drinking, and they need readjustment for your not drinking.
  2) You are experiencing alcohol withdrawal symptoms. These will pass over time and require no action in most cases.

[Cardsfan]

Actually, DH, a person with true Alcohol withdrawal symptoms can die from a seizure. They need to be under professional medial care for withdrawal. (Not that the OP is in this situation).