Amazed at the results....

[addco]

After years of never going to a doctor, I began seeing a GP on a regular basis due to some minor health issues and the fact that I'm over 50 now. One of the things we discussed was how I slept. I mentioned to him that I thought I slept well, although my girlfriend says I snore a lot. I did mention that I often woke up with a headache, and was often sleepy during the day. I would often find my self struggling to stay awake during my afternoon commute. This had been going on for years, but I had always just chalked it up to my work schedule, getting up at 3:30am each weekday. On weekends I would sleep in, sometimes till 10 or 11 am, but again, never gave it much thought. Also would take a 2-3 hour nap several days a week.

So... My GP referred me to a sleep specialist for a sleep study.
The first sleep study ("split-study") was inconclusive. The doctor said I had an AHI of under 5, which meant no sleep apnea, but I showed signs of restless legs, or PLMD. The odd thing was, the data showed that once they put the mask on me during the night, my legs stopped moving at all. The doctor was at a loss to explain this. He said he had never seen it before.

Another night's study was done, plus MSLT the following day. Narcolepsy was ruled out. This time, my AHI was just barely high enough to qualify for a CPAP. "Mild sleep apnea", the doctor said. Another night at the sleep lab, this time for a "Titration Study".

By this point I was getting skeptical, it seemed to me that the doctor was more interested in getting me back to the lab for more studies so he could bill my insurance more. Fortunately, I have good insurance which was covering everything 100%, so I went along. One more session for fitting a mask & what they called a "PAP nap" to see how I tolerated it.

The doctor then prescribed for me straight CPAP at a pressure of 8. So after 3 nights, one full day, and an afternoon's "PAP nap", I was on my way. I was fully sure that this was not going to help me at all, but again, I went along with it. I figured it couldn't hurt to try and what the heck, my insurance was paying for it.... The DME contacted me 2 days later & came to my house with the machine. The RT spent over an hour showing me the in's & outs of the machine & mask.

Reluctantly, I went to sleep that first night with the machine & mask on.... I slept like a rock!

When I woke up, I immediately felt something was different. No headache, & I felt wide awake. I would usually wake up in a fog and would take a long, hot shower to wake up & get ready to leave the house.

Went to work that day & I could not believe how good I felt. I was more alert & less tired than I had felt in years.

It's been just over 3 weeks now, sleeping with the machine.... I just can't believe how different I feel! I have so much more energy during the day. My daytime sleepiness is gone. I've not once had an urge to nap during the day. I drive home wide awake & get home with enough energy to get some work done around the house before dark (instead of being dog tired & laying down for a nap). I used to wake up with sore shoulders from sleeping on my side, & my knees would ache with my first few steps out of bed. Both are gone. I spring out of bed, looking forward to the day. I get up at 7:00am on the weekends, just as it gets light out, with no alarm. This NEVER happened before. Not for years.

I know that I'm not the usual case, but I've had no problem sleeping & getting used to the mask. I've been 100% compliant, averaging almost 7 hours a night with the mask on. I actually look forward to going to bed & putting on the mask, because I sleep so well. I sleep through the night almost every night, not even getting up to pee. (Used to happen at least once or twice a night.)

I am truly amazed at the results. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought it would change so many aspects of how I feel. I still can't believe how much of my life I had been missing, napping & sleeping in & just dragging my a** around at work all day.

Another thing.... My blood pressure had been borderline high (140/85 or so). Now when I check it at home w/ my GF's cuff (she has hypertension & is on meds for it) it has dropped to 120/70. My GF has noticed such a difference in me that now she wants her doctor to refer her for a sleep study. (She snores a lot too, and complains of daytime tiredness....) I'm encouraging her.

While I still don't quite understand why this is working so well for me considering the sleep studies said I just barely qualified for a diagnosis of "mild sleep apnea", I can't argue with the results. Obviously there was something more going on with my sleep than revealed by the tests. I have a follow up with the sleep Dr. in a couple of weeks. I plan to ask him for copies of all the sleep studies I took. Perhaps I'll post them here to see what the collective wisdom thinks.... Can't wait to share this with my GP, too.

Simply amazed.

[SleepyMarlo]

Wow that is really awesome. I'm happy for you and just a tish jealous! I've been at it since July. I went in for the study because I was exhausted all the time and husband said I was snoring. I was fairly compliant the first couple of months, keeping it on at least 6 hours a night, but not noticing improvement in the fatigue. Then I started to get skeptical and wore it less.

I should note that my apnea/hypopnea rate was below 5, but my study showed I was waking up about 22 times an hour because of respiratory related events, and my oxygen was never dropping below 90%. And my sleeping brain cycles (or whatever they are called) were not normal.

From what I've read on this board and the advice people have given me and others, some people never get an energy boost. I went back in December, 6 months after starting it, and did another study with the CPAP on. The study showed almost no AHI or other events with breathing that were waking me up, and my brain seems to be on a more normal pattern.

I've started using the Sleepy Head software, and I have a renewed commitment to keep it on all night long. I set Sleepy Head to make 6 hours a night compliant (yay green bars on the graph!) I guess the follow up study showing normal sleeping brain patterns convinced me that even if it's not helping me feel more rested, it is making me sleep better. Eventually, after paying back the sleep deficit I keep reading about, I might improve. If after a few months of awesome 8-hour-a-night compliance, I'm not feeling more energy, I will start to look for other reasons that may be causing the fatigue. However, I won't stop wearing the CPAP.

The doctor also talked about waking and going to bed at the same time every day - which I knew, but never followed, because who doesn't LOVE sleeping until noon on Saturday???? I love it! This time it made a difference, because she said we need to get that light in our eyes at the same time every day so we can set our circadian rhythms. Doing otherwise is like creating jet lag for ourselves. Then if we need a nap later, go ahead, but keep it to 30 minutes or so. For whatever reason, the light/circadian/jet lag thing made total sense to me and today, for the first Saturday ever, I got up at 6:45 even though I had nothing to do.

So dude, you are lucky. Savor that energy!

[Xney]

That's great, I'm happy you found your way to a healthier sleep and life!

[2 B Sleeping Soundly]

addco,

Congratulations on your PAP success! It was the same for me, an instantaneous and profound change. I can tell from your post that you consider yourself blessed to have everything improve so quickly, I know I still do. Sometimes everything we need to do to treat our SA/OSA will just 'click' and when it does it is truly wonderful! The way I see it, those of us who are fortunate enough to have had quick success with our PAP therapy can play a real compassionate role here on the forum, as encouragers and witnesses for those who are still fighting it out and patiently waiting for everything to improve in their PAP therapy. My hope for them, as always, is that their improvement and success will come sooner, rather than later.

May you continue to have success and improved sleep!

John

[Sir NoddinOff]

It's always great to hear success stories and I wish you continued success (I used to be one of the "lucky ones" too). However, don't be surprised if issues crop up as you progress deeper into CPAP therapy. This is a normal is part of the adaptive process: a day to day (night to night?) slog thru problem sets which can challenge even the most inventive and positive thinking members on this forum. Good luck and I hope you continue to be one of the "lucky ones" but don't drop your membership to CPAPtalk just yet...

[Not Fade]

addco=

my AHI was just barely high enough to qualify for a CPAP. "Mild sleep apnea", the doctor said.

It would be interesting to know if they measured and counted your RERAs (respiratory effort related arousals). Ask the doc when he gives you the copy of your sleep study.

Some people have an AHI near zero but a very high RERA count. For some this is more devastating that outright apneas.

The odd thing was, the data showed that once they put the mask on me during the night, my legs stopped moving at all. The doctor was at a loss to explain this. He said he had never seen it before.

Shame on the doctor. It is fairly well known that PLMD is linked to sleep apnea and sometimes goes away when the apnea is treated effectively.

[Not Fade]

On the other hand, the doctor got you diagnosed and treated successfully. Results count. So let me say kudos to your doc.

[addco]

... but don't drop your membership to CPAPtalk just yet...

Not a chance, there.
I've learned so much from this forum since I discovered it about the time I began the sleep studies. I'll be hanging around here for a while.

[addco]

Does anyone know why my machine type does not show up in my posts?

I have "PR System One REMstar Pro CPAP Machine with C-flex Plus" selected in my profile, but it doesn't show up in my posts.

[Pugsy]

Does anyone know why my machine type does not show up in my posts?

I have "PR System One REMstar Pro CPAP Machine with C-flex Plus" selected in my profile, but it doesn't show up in my posts.

The PR System One Remstar Pro CPAP with CFlex is model 450 and for some reason that link (all links are tied to cpap.com) is broken along with a few other discontinued machines.

You are showing a PR System One 60 Series Humidifier..that would mean the heated hose machine if that is what you have and that model number is 460.
In the equipment drop down menu that machine is listed as PR System One 60 Series Pro CPAP machine and I think that link should work properly but maybe it is broken.

If you have model 450 machine (its on a sticker on the bottom) then the correct humidifier choice would be the PR System One Heated Humidifier.

You can add your machine in the comments section though.
That's what most people are doing when the machine link is broken.

[addco]

Ha! That was it.
I do have the model 460, and had the wrong model selected just as you said.
Now the correct machine seems to be showing on all my posts. Thanks!

[Captain_Midnight]

Always glad to see another success story, and I applaud your perseverance.

If I may take your thread just a bit off of it's intended track...I suspect that there are many thousands of folks who have frank negative sequelae from sleep apnea, however didn't quite get up to the AHI of 5 for their study, and for whom xpap therapy was discouraged or denied.

The AHI of "5" is wholly meaningless and arbitrary, and enjoys a stature that is not based in reality. I've known folks (including relatives) who have OSA symptoms and would benefit from treatment, but have been convinced to abandon the possibility because of not reaching the somehow magic AHI of 5.

My xpap-treated AHI averages less than 0.4. If it's over 1.0 for an evening, I can tell it, as I'm not as sharp the following day. Conversely, If it's 0.0, then I'm Superman for a day. (Luckily (?) it was >30 for my study).

My point is that many, many obstructive apniecs will never see needed treatment because of a nonsensical AHI bright line of 5.0. If I could change one thing about the information given to physicians regarding OSA, it would be that the 5.0 standard is in error, and it's simply too high. A symptom-based approach would be useful information in many cases.


.

[jweeks]

While I still don't quite understand why this is working so well for me considering the sleep studies said I just barely qualified for a diagnosis of "mild sleep apnea", I can't argue with the results.

Hi,

When people do math in their head, they typically assume that worse means worse, and less worse means better. However, sleep disorders don't work on a sliding scale. Rather, it is more like a light switch. If you get an arousal (ie, waking up to the point of disturbing your sleep cycle), it doesn't matter if it was due to a minor case of sleep apnea or a severe case. All that matters is the disruption. Once you are disrupted, your brain goes into the ozone and you wake up feeling like a zombie. In your case, just a little extra pressure is preventing the arousals, so you are sleeping far better than you have in many years.

So, what are you going to do with all this extra energy? I found that I didn't know what to do with myself for the first week or two after starting CPAP after suddenly gaining several extra hours of useful waking hours. I ended up having to get a new hobby, and then I took up exercise. That really helped bring down the blood pressure. I went from 145/80 down to 95/55.

-john-

[SleepyMarlo]

Oh good feedback about the AHI vs RERA. I was also very low, like 0.9 AHI or something. But RERAs were waking me up on average 22 times per hour. Eventually, I believe I will start to feel better. Just keep putting that thing on every night.

[qmx]

My experience was similar to yours. But I was diagnosed with severe OSA after years 15-20 of sleep problems. I was virtually cured with cpap from the very 1st night. Also, used to get up to urinate 3-6 times per night ... now just once ... usually not until 5:30 or 6:30 in the morning!!! It's also virtually cured my GERD and Heart pvc's (pre-ventricular contractions) that I had a round of a few months ago. I feel great... no daytime drowsiness ... great mental acuity ... great energy. No doubt about it ... a person's body systems are completely screwed up when living with (or gradually dying with) severe OSA. Incidentally, all of the above listed problems, and their relationship to OSA, is supported in the literature. So glad you are doing well. It's been life-changing for me. I've been on cpap about two months. Take care. DEAN