Slept great without CPAP last night

ellijacket · Post by **ellijacket** » Sat Oct 01, 2005 6:12 pm

Because of the ringing and noise in my ears I decided to take a night off. I have a new pillow that tilts my chin away from my chest and I positioned my tongue like I would to stop air leaks. I woke up feeling very good and even had dreams! I hadn't had a dream I remembered in forever before I started CPAP last week.

Is it possible that my head and tongue position stopped my apnea?

rock and roll · Post by **rock and roll** » Sat Oct 01, 2005 7:43 pm

Doubt it. Even if it helped it would be a hit and miss fix. Go a few days and you will start feeling tired again.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Oct 01, 2005 8:06 pm

Yah

Sleepless on LI · Post by **Sleepless on LI** » Sat Oct 01, 2005 8:37 pm

ellijacket wrote:Is it possible that my head and tongue position stopped my apnea?

Boy, wouldn't that be nice. But I think it takes a little while before you'd feel the effects of not using the machine, not to mention your oxygen levels (if that was a problem during your PSG) would be at risk. Actually, you must know after being on this site that you are putting your entire health at risk by not using your therapy when you've been diagnosed with OSA. Maybe one night won't make you a zombie again, but it can start you on the negative cycle that we with OSA suffer from when we don't use therapy.

I wish I truly believed you stopped your apnea by the position of your tongue and head, but I highly doubt it. Besides, all putting your tongue in the "right" position does is stop mouth breathing, no? I think the only time repositioning the tongue could stop an apnea episode would be if your tongue was falling down into your airways when you slept, and that's not one of the common causes of OSA, as far as I know. Please go back to your machine unless a doctor or someone else qualified tells you that you don't need it anymore...we don't want anything bad happening to your health.

yellowcason · Post by **yellowcason** » Sat Oct 01, 2005 8:55 pm

I cant explain it but when I sleep without CPAP I do feel better for a bit when I get up. But I can tell you from experience that it is short lived. Im still waiting ( 7 months) now to feel better from the cpap but I'm determined to stick with it.

Keep using it.

ellijacket · Post by **ellijacket** » Sun Oct 02, 2005 11:01 am

Thanks for the replies. I appreicate your pleas for me to go back to CPAP. If you read my post closely you see that I stopped to see if it was affecting the noise in my ears, not because I was quitting therapy. I was just relating the effects and seeing what people thought.

seagull · Post by **seagull** » Sun Oct 02, 2005 11:26 am

4 months for me on cpap and I still can't sleep with it. I have been sleeping without it mostly. I go to sleep a LOT quicker. I did dream vividly before getting cpap, and still do without it. I don't mind the machine, it is the masks making me uncomfortable. I am interested in the new mask posted about here. I am not giving up on it, but I needed a break. Seems I can't GET to sleep with the mask on. If I do I wake up very shortly afterwards. My dentist loved his since the first night!!!

Sleepless on LI · Post by **Sleepless on LI** » Sun Oct 02, 2005 11:32 am

seagull wrote:I don't mind the machine, it is the masks making me uncomfortable.

You and everyone else, seagull. So sorry you are still having so much trouble. That tells me you haven't gotten the right mask yet. Once you do, it will make nights without your mask on feel just plain wrong.

Which mask were you thinking about getting and what do you use right now? I have LOTS of opinions to share about masks (LOL). I'm just curious. I promise to be gentle and tactful with all comments made, I promise.

And your dentist is in the minority, not the majority. I think most people would agree that they went through a few masks before they found the right one. That's why, my insurance company said, they would pay for my second mask a bit more than a week into therapy, because the first one rarely is one that the user ends up liking and will wear. You live and learn.

george45 · Post by **george45** » Sun Oct 02, 2005 12:21 pm

If your apnea is mild, like mine, you may do better without the machine provided you do something to reduce your apneas. The pillow may be just enough for you. I used the machine for 6 weeks with an occasional night off and I kept a log of how I felt the next day. During the nights that I used the machine, it would waken me frequently and 3-5 hours was all I could take. My results were that the machine was worse for me. I decided to try the low tech solution of sewing a ball into the back of a t-shirt to sleep in. This would keep me from sleeping on my back, which is when my apnea is worst. It actually works for me. So of the the 3 methods, cpap, nothing, or ball in t-shirt, the latter works best for me. This is not to say I feel great the next day, just better than the other 2 methods. I would check with my Dr. first. Mine told me that my apnea would never kill me, but the machine might help with my daytime tiredness. I still use my machine a little sometimes, such as if I want to take a short nap, or if the urge to sleep on my back for a while is so strong I take off the t-shirt and use the machine for a little while until my back sleeping urge is satisfied.

Sleepless on LI · Post by **Sleepless on LI** » Sun Oct 02, 2005 1:38 pm

George,

How were your oxygen levels during your PSG? I'm just curious because maybe your apnea won't kill you, according to this doctor, but if your oxygen desats were signficant enough, that alone can cause many other health issues that could. What makes your doctor say that, anyway? How does he know that? I'd be interested to know.

george45 · Post by **george45** » Sun Oct 02, 2005 4:30 pm

I had 2.5 apneas/hr. There were also some hypopneas. I had a momentary dip to 88% during one apnea. Otherwise none below 90%. He came up with an AHI of 14. I have low BP (117/75). I don't know why he said my condition wouldn't kill me. He just offered that when I called him to get the particulars of my sleep test. I got the impression that he was fudging my AHI upward subjectively in order to get me to try the cpap to see if it would help with my daytime sleepiness.

Sleepless on LI · Post by **Sleepless on LI** » Sun Oct 02, 2005 5:37 pm

George,

I don't want to put worry into your head, but I'd be concerned about a statement like that, especially in light of the fact that he may have fudged your numbers to get you on CPAP. If he didn't feel you needed it and would benefit from it, why fudge anything?

I had no apneas at my sleep study and a 4 AHI with hypops, but they put me on it due to moderate oxygen desats. Please rethink the fact that it won't kill you. Maybe it won't, but your health can suffer if you truly need it. And I've never heard of anyone with an AHI of 14 who didn't need to be on CPAP. 5 and up, from what I've heard, is the rule of thumb. You are far above 14, even if he fudged the numbers a bit.

Good luck.

dkeat · Post by **dkeat** » Mon Oct 03, 2005 1:40 pm

Sleepless on LI wrote:

I had no apneas at my sleep study and a 4 AHI with hypops, but they put me on it due to moderate oxygen desats. Please rethink the fact that it won't kill you. Maybe it won't, but your health can suffer if you truly need it. And I've never heard of anyone with an AHI of 14 who didn't need to be on CPAP. 5 and up, from what I've heard, is the rule of thumb. You are far above 14, even if he fudged the numbers a bit.

Hi Lori

Hey, if I had you AHI (mine was 51) I would be dancing in the streets without a mask on. Maybe you really could handle your situation with less drastic measures than CPAP. Have you checked it out?

None of my business, of course, but what the heck.

Sleepless on LI · Post by **Sleepless on LI** » Mon Oct 03, 2005 2:23 pm

David,

I appreciate your input. However, being on CPAP has allowed me now to be so wonderfully energetic and I've lost my migraines, which were probably due to those oxygen desats. I manage to keep my AHI under 1 every night, which I am thrilled about. The problem is, I don't think it was the events that troubled them, but the oxygen desaturations I was experiencing that awere described as "moderate," although the SBD was classified as "mild." Not only did I have migraines, but high BP. I am still having some trouble with the BP, so it might have had nothing to do with the OSA.

I am going to try and do a split study in the next few weeks just to see what my AHI would be without therapy. I just don't really want to rock the boat because obviously, if the way I'm feeling has so drastically improved since going on CPAP, I must have needed it. Even though the nights I went to my studies my AHI's were not bad, I still walked around like a zombie with no energy and constant, and I mean constant, headaches.

Sometimes there are other reasons to be on the therapy than just high AHI's. Don't get me wrong, I am thrilled I don't ever go over a 1 or higher, but that doesn't mean I don't need to keep my oxygen levels up; and CPAP therapy may be the only way to do that. I spoke to my PCP the other night when I was at her office and asked if she thought I should do a home pulse oximeter to see what my oxygen levels are like now. She said, as long as I use the machine, they'll be perfect. Even on my second night when they titrated me, they never dropped below 90% on the machine.

So although it would be nice to think I might not need the machine, I have a feeling I may be a lifer. But you never know what's around the corner. I just keep the thought in my head that there are so many other horrible things one can be diagnosed with that it's really a blessing to have something that can not only be treated and kept under control, but can actually allow you to improve the quality of your life; and I have done that ten fold since starting CPAP.

Machine	Mask

Slept great without CPAP last night

Slept great without CPAP last night

Re: Slept great without CPAP last night