New to all of this... need some help, pls.

[laprof]

Good day! A bit of my story: In Dec. 2016, I took an at home sleeping test. The results were 6.8, but inconclusive b/c the canula had moved around. So, they told me that I had mild sleep apnea, but it could be moderate... or severe. Decided to start forcing myself to sleep on my side and to put tape on my mouth to prevent night time mouth breathing. Had another at home test done in March 2017 and the results were 5.6 - borderline OSA. I thought that I'd just continue sleeping on my side with my mouth taped... But, I was still getting occasional supraventricular tachycardia episodes (about 5-9 per year), so talked with my cardiologist and decided to start using a CPAP machine. I am using a ResMed Airsense 10 with nasal pillows - and still taping my mouth. At first, I could only use the machine for an hour or so while I was reading... then a couple hours... then 4 hours at night... then I kept upping the hours and am now using it all night. But, here are the BIG problems for me. 1) I cannot figure out how to sleep on my side (which I must do b/c sleeping on my back makes my OSA worse and, therefore, my SVT) and stay comfortable. I bought some padding for the face straps and they've helped a lot, but I can still feel the plastic digging into my cheek bones. (Thankfully, the pads have meant no marks!) 2) The elastic head straps slide all over the place and make my nasal pillows move... which means I get air leaks. 3) Between the pillow smashing against the nasal pillows and the straps moving, I spend a LOT of the night be awakened to fix them. Sort of defeats trying to get more sleep with a CPAP... 4) On this site, I found out that there's a way to access more data from my machine - and made the mistake of doing so b/c I saw yesterday that I am now dealing with some Central sleep apneas! In general, my AHI is 1.7 to 3.3 with the Central apneas from 0.5 to 0.9. So, back to this site and others where I've learned 2 things: Nasal pillows and/or nasal mask can "create" Central sleep apnea and that many first time CPAP users have some initial Central apnea moments. I've also read that the wakening/turning/going back to sleep several times during the course of the night also "creates" Central apneas - and that even non-sleep apnea folks have them. I should say that there was NO mention in my sleep studies about any Central apneas - just apneas and some RDI (?). My questions for help, please: Any suggestions about nasal pillow versus any other type of mask? Suggestions about pillows or how to sleep on one with the "contraption" always wanting to move around? Any counsel about the Central apneas (which, frankly, have scared me to death!). This site seems like a veritable God-send, so I thank you in advance for reading my very long first post and any advice you can offer. (Don't know if this info is important, but I am a thin - 118 lbs. woman who is only on CPAP b/c of the SVT. Best, laprof

[jim22]

Hi, welcome,
The centrals may not be real, they may be logged while you are not actually be sleeping. Give it some time, you will get better at sleeping with the mask on.
Jim

[yubaz]

Listing the equipment you are using allows people to provide better assistance with your issues.
Sleeping on your back (corpse position) actually works just fine if you have an apap which adjusts pressure by your needs.
I have heard in years gone by of people sewing tennis balls into their nightwear so if they rolled from side to back and snored the balls would be uncomfortable enough to cause them to reposition themselves. Not recommending tennis balls ....

[palerider]

I am now dealing with some Central sleep apneas! In general, my AHI is 1.7 to 3.3 with the Central apneas from 0.5 to 0.9.

Paragraphs, they're a thing.

That's a totally inconsequential amount of centrals, ignore them, ignore them completely, If they were 10 times that I wouldn't even be very concerned.

[Doug_Nightmare]

Why not address the SVT’s?

In general SVT, particularly AF (the most common, ~25 per 1000) may be converted by vagal maneuvers like the Valsalva.

[laprof]

Thank you ALL for your much appreciated replies! I feel better already. As for the SVTs: I was on a Beta Blocker for 3 months (this was 6 years ago) and had terrible side effects. Was weaned from them by my cardiologist and since then have not taken any meds - except for vitamins and supplements. When I get an SVT (PSVT, specifically), I try every vagal maneuver known to humankind and, eventually, one of them works. My cardiologist suggested a sleep study in order to see if the PSVTs are the result of sleep apnea or positional (I only get them at night). We'll see b/c I've only been using CPAP for 2 months. Again, THANK YOU all for taking the time to calm my mind.

[Doug_Nightmare]

Stuff without side effect generally has no effect at all. Best wishes.

[nicholasjh1]

magnesium has helped me keep a steady heart rate, and people with apnea often have low magnesium.

[Midnight Strangler]

people with apnea often have low magnesium

When I search "sleep apnea and magnesium", all that comes up is a bunch of sites that promote the supplement industry. Do you have any links to actual science?

[nicholasjh1]

people with apnea often have low magnesium

When I search "sleep apnea and magnesium", all that comes up is a bunch of sites that promote the supplement industry. Do you have any links to actual science?

No. You can either trust me or not. It's not like taking a magnesium supplement is going to hurt you, as long as you get enough calcium and follow the directions on the bottle. If you're suffering and have a hard time with exercise with apnea, likely you need magnesium. It would take me just as long to find, I have no idea when or where I found it, I only know I read it from a study.

[palerider]

people with apnea often have low magnesium

When I search "sleep apnea and magnesium", all that comes up is a bunch of sites that promote the supplement industry. Do you have any links to actual science?

From what I've read in multiple places, "people often have low magnesium" would be a more accurate statement.

[zonker]

people with apnea often have low magnesium

When I search "sleep apnea and magnesium", all that comes up is a bunch of sites that promote the supplement industry. Do you have any links to actual science?

No. You can either trust me or not. It's not like taking a magnesium supplement is going to hurt you, as long as you get enough calcium and follow the directions on the bottle. If you're suffering and have a hard time with exercise with apnea, likely you need magnesium. It would take me just as long to find, I have no idea when or where I found it, I only know I read it from a study.

a slight nitpick; too much magnesium can lead to diarrhea. but that's easily corrected by backing off on the dosage.

or at least, that happened to me until i got the right amount in me per night.

btw, i don't take magnesium for sleep apnea. i take it to stave off leg cramps at night.

[palerider]

people with apnea often have low magnesium

When I search "sleep apnea and magnesium", all that comes up is a bunch of sites that promote the supplement industry. Do you have any links to actual science?

No. You can either trust me or not. It's not like taking a magnesium supplement is going to hurt you, as long as you get enough calcium and follow the directions on the bottle. If you're suffering and have a hard time with exercise with apnea, likely you need magnesium. It would take me just as long to find, I have no idea when or where I found it, I only know I read it from a study.

a slight nitpick; too much magnesium can lead to diarrhea. but that's easily corrected by backing off on the dosage.

or at least, that happened to me until i got the right amount in me per night.

btw, i don't take magnesium for sleep apnea. i take it to stave off leg cramps at night.

To nitpick your nitpick... the wrong magnesium can lead to diarrhea... the amount of magnesium that's absorbed by the body varies greatly with different compounds... magnesium can't be absorbed directly, so it has to be a magnesium compound... the most common one magnesium oxide, has very little bioavailability.. (something like 2%, I believe) but it's cheap, so it's common... and it's also used in laxatives. so 98% of it just goes down the toilet.

Picking a better one, like chelate, citrate, glycinate, means more of the magnesium gets absorbed into your body, and has less affect on your bowel movements.

Magnesium is one of the more complicated supplements.

[djams]

... and it's also used in laxatives. so 98% of it just goes down the toilet.

Milk of Magnesia... the name finally has meaning. When I was a kid, I remember watching the TV commercials and asking mom to get some for me. Sounded exotic.