Flu and CPAP - waking struggling badly for breath

[Chalkie]

I am posting on the board for the first time in many years.

I now know I have complex sleep apnoea and Periodic Limb Movement. The apnoea is quite well treated with BiPAP, after CPAp did not do the job.

However I still have 17 PLM events per hour according to an inpatient sleep study, plus 4-5 caused by sleep apnea.

Result is that I sometimes wake in the night really struggling for air. The worst events ever happened recently and have really shaken me. I
I have the flu and am still recovering. Geeting better, but not there yet.

Last weekend I really thought I was a gonner. I thought my body did not have the strength to take a breath. Three nights running I had terrible episodes where I was getting more tired during sleep. Each time it was accompanied by a nightmare that I was taking an exam that I did not feel equipped for. I awoke on the worst night at 3 am, the lowest ebb of the human body. I dialed for an ambulance in panic and started getting really irritated when the operator kept going through rote questions. In the end my breathing improved a little and I fell back to sleep, with the out of hours doctor calling. He advised me to dial 999 again and a paramedic did a cardio MOT - EKG, oxygen sats etc - all OK.

Was I really in as much peril as I thought that night? Who knows. I am not sure which flu strain I have but I am left with the feeling that flu + sleep disorder is potentially dangerous.

It sure spooked me. I thought the episodes of nightmares and wearing myself out in asleep would just get worse and the virus would out-strength me. Happily these events (inc. that particular nightmare) ceased, but it has disturbed me. Enough to push me to post again, which I had been meaning to do for ages.

Can anyone relate to my experiences?

[Goofproof]

Most of us here, use software to actually see how our sleep apnea is treated instead of just guessing. That's what you need to do also. Really you should be consulting a doctor, you could find yourself with pneumonia. Jim

[Lucyhere]

Glad to know you are getting better. It's been a terrible flu season as seen all over the news.

What machine are you using? Your mask? It sounds like your pressure(s) isn't optimized and the only way to know that for sure is by looking at the data. Do you have Sleepyhead or any other software? If not, it would be a good idea to get it. When was the last time you saw your doctor and had blood work up, physical, etc.? What meds are you currently taking? Whatever information you can provide will help us get you back on track.

[rick blaine]

Hi Chalkie,

From the fact that you say "out of hours" and 999 rather than 911, I deduce that you're posting from within the UK.

Were you nearly a goner? Well, if the two NHS ambulance crew did their job properly - and you say they did an ECG, a pulse-ox test, and the rest - then, if they didn't take you to the hospital for further evaluation and possible admission, you were ok. Not great. But ok.

Some of the criteria they work to:

1. The patient's resting pulse is over 90.
2. The computer chip in the portable ECG machine flags up something serious.
3. the patient's temperature is over 38 C.
4. The patient's FEV is under 80 per cent of what it should be for height and age. And resps (while conscious) are over 20. And the patient appears to be in respiratory distress.
5. The patient is over 65.

If you had had three out of those five, they'd have had you in. The fact that they didn't should be some kind of reassurance for you.

AFAIK, the patient having sleep apnea isn't a factor in that decision.

There has been a lot of flu in the UK these last few weeks, but the latest statistics suggest we've passed the peak.

[Chalkie]

Most of us here, use software to actually see how our sleep apnea is treated instead of just guessing. That's what you need to do also. Really you should be consulting a doctor, you could find yourself with pneumonia. Jim

Thanks for the replies. I have consulted a doctor three times during this episode. The nasal and chest infection seems to have cleared up completely. The only way I feel affected now is extra tiredness (some says, and that depends on sleep quality), wobbly legs and "bad nerves"/anxiety.

My data is regularly monitored by Philips Respironics who look at the data and send it over to the specialist I see at the hospital. However, I agree it would not hurt to have more information. Like getting sleepyhead - what is that exactly?

What is a blood work up?

I am indeed in the UK. And Rick you are right, I obviously wasn't considered in any danger by the paramedic. I didn't consider myself in any danger by then, at 9 am. At 3 am I did, but I survived.

This flu episode has had a big impact on my mental health too, especially health anxiety, hardly surprising when you are in virtual solitary confinement for weeks, deprived of you normal uplifts and with too much time to think.

I will certainly never fail to have a flu jab in future.

As for meds, I take Levothyroxine, Citalopram, and am tapering off Clonazepam. That has been sheer hell at times and taken over two years to get off not quite half my dose. That was prescribed to attempt to treat PLM.

[Julie]

https://sleep.tnet.com/sleepyhead
https://sleep.tnet.com/resources/sleepyhead/shorganize
https://sleep.tnet.com/reference/tips/imgur

Blood work-up - regular labs testing for usual suspects - general across the board blood tests.