Hello everyone! Baby Hosehead checking in... <LONG>

[WilsonVilleUSA]

Hi all, I have been recently diagnosed with OSA and have been submersed into this whole new society of acronyms, numbers, and insurance battling.

Here is some info about me, 42 yo male, overweight, long history of remarkable snoring (even before being overweight). I had easily ignored my wifes input for several years, but a motorcycling friend got through to me with some good information and I became concerned. Feeling the mortal-ness of middle age, I figured I would look into it.

I had my first sleep study on Halloween, and was pretty surprised at the numbers. In a little more than 5.5 hours sleep, I was:

AHI- 114.4

Stage 1- 42.2%
Stage 2- 38.7%
Stage 3- 0%
REM- 3.7% (1 session)

Total OA- 406
Total Hypopneas- 242
Total limb movements- 236
Lowest SaO2- 66%

I never went past stage two sleep, had 29 awakenings and just a single REM session near the end of the sleep study.


I then began an interesting journey of discovery and education on the internet. All of a sudden all the things I had been combating (drowsiness driving, night sweats, short term memory issues, etc) began making sense. I read a lot of the posts on this forum and others, as well as just general research on OSA.

After the follow up with my Dr, I was given a CPAP to use, the first night was wierd, but on the second night, for the first time in years, I went to sleep and awoke ythe next morning (8.5 hours) with no recollection of any awakenings, no midnight trips to the bathroom, no rearranging pillows, nothing. Just beautiful uninterrupted sleep.

My follow up sleep test showed dramatic improvment:

AHI- 3

Stage 1- 6.8%
Stage 2- 43.8%
Stage 3- 22.2%
REM- 23.2% (3 sessions)

Total OA- 0
Total Hypopneas-17
Total limb movements- 76
Lowest SaO2- 85.4%
Awakenings- 10


I have been lurking for a while, and after reading many of the posts here, it looks like I am lucky in that I have a Dr. who listens to the patient and responds well to requests (was no problem at all getting him to change order from CPAP to APAP), Answers all my questions, is happy to give me copies of everything (sleep studies, chart notes, etc).

So far, no insurance problems. Found out what their "Reasonable and Customary" limits were for the machine I settled on were, and will be submitting claim for reimbursement next week. Will post with how that goes.

It is looking promising, I expect to be reimbursed 80% for my Remstar Auto w/C-flex and heated humidifier (from CPAP.COM).

Even better is that my insurance person told me there was no limit to the frequency of machine purchase, just the dollar limits for coverage. In addition to my Remstar, I order the PB GoodKnight (with free mask) for use when traveling by motorcycle, it seems to be a nice little compact unit that will pack well and uses less electricity.

I also purchased the Encore Pro software (wish I hadn't now that it can be downloaded for free!) and got the Card reader separate. I will have to absorb those costs, but since I tend to be anal in areas such as monitoring and proactive in determining best settings, I think it is money well spent.

Have now "joined" up and will be checking in often.

[Ric]

Welcome hosehead.

This is really a secret society. The secret password is "nasopharyngeotracheobronchoalveoli". The secret handshake is, well actually we don't have one, but look for the telltale maskmarks on the bridge of the nose and thereabouts. You'll see "US" everywhere once you know what to look for.

Your SS was much like mine, NO stage 3 or 4 sleep. Whenever I would get even close to deep sleep I would stop breathing, then wake myself up. And repeat. Needless to say it was affecting most aspects of my life. I'm hoping the PBD* is only temporary. Also the same dramatic ZERO! trips in the middle of the night to water the porcelain. That alone is worth it, and makes for a better nights sleep. (For an explanation of that phenomenon, ask tomjax about ADH and ANP, he's up on that).

I'm only a few weeks into the CPAP/APAP scene. But I'm addicted. No turning back.

Welcome the "THE FORUM".

-Ric


medical terminology:
-----------------------
*PBD permanent brain damage
*TPBD temporary PBD
Schlaf-Vergnügen (look that one up)
nasopharyngeotracheobronchoalveoli (self-explanatory)

[dsg]

Good for you, WilsonVilleUSA! The numbers from your initial sleep study are pretty conclusive, and I'm so glad that the treatment is working quickly for you. My initial study was not too dissimilar from yours, and in fact I managed to scare the sleep tech a whole bunch of times overnight. He wasn't used to seeing patients' O2 drop to the 60's repeatedly. In retrospect I'm kinda proud of that! ("Oxygen? We don't need no steenkin' oxygen!!")
Ric gave you the Secret Society Password, but didn't tell you that in order to maintain strict security we require that new members be able to give the password (and spell it CORRECTLY) at a moment's notice. Failure to do so will necessitate that your pressure be lowered with each successive inaccurate attempt. Get it wrong three times in a row and your machine is taken away from you. Get it wrong five times successively and you'll have to sleep with a large furry dog on your face overnight. Sorry, but rules are rules! (and lest you think you can escape, we have agents everywhere, so your motorcycle will not afford you the quick getaway you hope for. If you're really bad, mikemoran will read you funny posts until you stop breathing....it's not pretty)

Seriously, welcome aboard, and hearty congratulations. There are a lot of terrific people here who are very knowledgeable about the ins and outs of equipment, results, stuff your doctor didn't tell you, and Ways To Circumvent The Evil DME's. All you have to do is ask!