Vertigo can also be caused by a fistula, which is a gap in the structure of the inner ear bony covering (and/or the membraneous windows) that allows pressure from outside the inner ear to be communicated to the inner ear. Fistula can also cause hearing issues. There are several different kinds of fi...

About your latency to REM: As I understand it, REM and Slow wave sleep (SWS) have an inverse relationship. A normal sleeper has more SWS in the early part of the night and more REM in the later part of the night. The two types of sleep basically alternate (interspersed with stage 2) and over the cou...

Hi Sock, Perhaps I am missing something, but I didn't see where your polysom results showed respiratory effort related arousals. Is it possible that your spontaneous arousals are not really that spontaneous after all, but are in fact a response to inspiratory flow limitation? This might explain how ...

Junaid - what did your titration study show about the quality of your sleep when using CPAP? Did you get a normal progression through stages of sleep, and fairly normal amount percentages of slow wave (stage 3 and 4, non-REM)? Were there a lot of unexplained arousals or sleep fragmentation? Did you ...

When you use CPAP, air can be forced backwards up the duct that drains tears from your eyes into your nose. It's called the nasolacrimal duct or something like that. I had the same problem. I had nasal pillows, and NEVER detected any leaks - ever. But my eyes were both sore a lot. And the right eye ...

I would suggest getting more information about Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome (UARS). For UARS patients, the AHI and HI are not a good measure of whether CPAP is helping your sleep. Tell us about the results of your diagnostic study and titration study. However, one issue that noted frequently is ...

Stephen - I am wondering if you actually have Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome (UARS) You might want to look at Dr. Stephen Park's page about it. (Just google, I am sure you'll find it) UARS is slightly different than OSA, because UARS patients have more sleep disruption without as much apnea and hy...

Donna Fowler - your daughter may still be young enough to have her upper palate widened. Recently mentioned by Dr. Kasey Li, a surgeon from Stanford who is considered an expert. The interesting thing is that, before a young person's palate becomes a single bone that is fused in the middle, his or he...

Hi SleepingUgly, I am following your posts because I also have UARS and trying to sieve out the wisdom from this site that applies to me. In regard to dry eyes, let me advance a theory that few people seem to acknowledge at this board. A little background: Your eyes are connected to your nasal passa...

Regarding internal passage of air from CPAP through tear duct: Problem is, there is no research on this side effect. I agree with dels, there is no ruling it out. Who said the DME is qualified to judge on this particular health issue? My sleep doc said the same thing, but there is no qualified, rese...

Just FYI - the situation where you awaken from sleep and hallucinate is called hypnopompic hallucination (as opposed to the situation where you hallucinate as you are falling asleep, which is called hypnogogic hallucination) The recent SLEEP 2009 professional conference released a statement noting t...

I could use some help from all you folks out there who started with CPAP and switched to BiPap. Did it help with aerophagia? Did anyone find it helped them have more restorative sleep without necessarily having changed their AHI? I have been trying to get my doc to prescribe biPap; he doesn't believ...

Thanks for the chuckle, Snorebert!!!

Hi Mary, Yes, according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, CPAP is used to treat RERAs (Respiratory Effort Related Arousals) The idea is that they are a separate demonstration of airflow limitation from apneas and hypopneas. According to the AASM, the CPAP titration process should continue u...

Lee Lee and others - I should probably point out that my experience with CPAP may be unique, in that I have UARS rather than OSA. My diagnostic study had 1 obstructive apnea, 2 hypopneas, 1 central apnea - and 148 respiratory effort related arousals. I have had years of bad sleep, but very little ef...