Now the husband has been to the sleep doc

[PreemieNrsTiffy]

My original reason for visiting the sleep doc was insomnia and I knew a lot of my problem was my husband's snoring and RLS/PLMD. Turned out I had sleep apnea and between CPAP therapy and tweaking my medications I am already sleeping far better. I think due to watching my improvements, my husband agreed to go see the sleep doc for his issues. Strange to see how differently a man is treated/assessed as compared to a woman! I'm not upset, just surprised. After the initial appointment I went home with sleep hygiene recommendations and a pulse ox, which led to a sleep study which then led to the titration study. After my husband's initial appointment he is already set up for the sleep study, titration study even paperwork to possibly participate in a research study (if he does have a sleep disorder requiring CPAP).

This should be interesting! My husband is not overweight like I am, sure he could lose a few pounds (who can't here in the US?), but his BMI has him in normal weight category.

Any other couples out there that both wear CPAP to sleep?

[chunkyfrog]

The bullfrog and I;
(but he needs a lot more encouragement.)

[kteague]

... I knew a lot of my problem was my husband's snoring and RLS/PLMD... After my husband's initial appointment he is already set up for the sleep study, titration study even paperwork to possibly participate in a research study (if he does have a sleep disorder requiring CPAP)...

Hey PreemieNrsTiffy, has your husband been diagnosed with PLMD or are you saying he's symptomatic of it? I would love to see in real time a story unfold for someone on the path of the diagnostic study, the titration, and during regular CPAP use. So many of the discussions about this are retrospective and subjective, without the benefit of an observer. But, if you're sleeping well, you won't be observing him - hmmmm, oh well. Let's just say if you happen to start getting kicked awake, your observations would be appreciated.

[PreemieNrsTiffy]

My husband has not been formally diagnosed as having RLS or PLMD. My understanding is that the RLS is more diagnosed on subjective findings (the patient complains of bothersome leg movements prior to sleep) whereas the PLMD would be more diagnosed with a sleep study with documentation of limb movements. He will be having that sleep study next Monday. I believe the doctor feels that his limb movements during sleep are triggered by sleep apnea since I related a pattern of loud snoring which culminate in a vigorous kick which stops the snoring temporarily. I have never noticed any apnea but I am sure that the sleep study will be much more accurate than my ambien-clouded memories of his breathing pattern.

I still awaken off and on though my sleep quality is greatly improved since CPAP and that is when I've been able to continue to notice his snoring/PLMD. There is a possibility that if he stops snoring I won't awaken anymore (shucks darn!). Though husband is not greatly disturbed by the symptoms, the PLMD does get bad enough to wake him up at times and cause him to get out of bed to try to "walk out" the leg craziness.

He is also supposed to go have his iron levels checked. I had read here that this can be an issue and since he has given up all animal protein in the last few months (vegan) I feel this is exacerbating his situation.

I tried to get him to go see this sleep doc months ago and he was highly resistant (as he is to most medical care). He came around when he saw how much better I felt and how much better I was sleeping. The sleep doc also impressed him with his thoroughness and the fact that his initial assessment/exam took a full hour.

[quietmorning]

My original reason for visiting the sleep doc was insomnia and I knew a lot of my problem was my husband's snoring and RLS/PLMD. Turned out I had sleep apnea and between CPAP therapy and tweaking my medications I am already sleeping far better. I think due to watching my improvements, my husband agreed to go see the sleep doc for his issues. Strange to see how differently a man is treated/assessed as compared to a woman! I'm not upset, just surprised. After the initial appointment I went home with sleep hygiene recommendations and a pulse ox, which led to a sleep study which then led to the titration study. After my husband's initial appointment he is already set up for the sleep study, titration study even paperwork to possibly participate in a research study (if he does have a sleep disorder requiring CPAP).

This should be interesting! My husband is not overweight like I am, sure he could lose a few pounds (who can't here in the US?), but his BMI has him in normal weight category.

Any other couples out there that both wear CPAP to sleep?

I don't think this was a male vs female thing but an insomnia vs apnea . . .or insomnia vs snoring thing. I'm glad they found that you have Apnea - and that it's part or maybe the cause of the insomnia problem - but his snoring keeping you awake is a sure fire red flag that he needs a sleep study to see if apnea is a problem.

Sleep hygiene is for insomnia - if that doesn't help significantly, they will help with behavior modification in counseling. I'm so glad to hear that you are sleeping better!!

[StuUnderPressure]

Strange to see how differently a man is treated/assessed as compared to a woman! I'm not upset, just surprised. After the initial appointment I went home with sleep hygiene recommendations and a pulse ox, which led to a sleep study which then led to the titration study. After my husband's initial appointment he is already set up for the sleep study, titration study even paperwork to possibly participate in a research study (if he does have a sleep disorder requiring CPAP).

They knew ahead of time that a man would NOT do they things they recommended for you - so why bother even asking.

[PreemieNrsTiffy]

You are probably right in that this wasn't a male vs female thing but an insomnia vs apnea . . .or insomnia vs snoring thing. I'm glad they found that you have Apnea - and that it's part or maybe the cause of the insomnia problem - but his snoring keeping you awake is a sure fire red flag that he needs a sleep study to see if apnea is a problem.

Sleep hygiene is for insomnia - if that doesn't help significantly, they will help with behavior modification in counseling. I'm so glad to hear that you are sleeping better!!

You are probably right that this is not a male/female thing so much as a presenting complaint issue. I think my sleep doc was pretty surprised to see that my pulse ox study showed an abnormality, I was in his office watching his face as he uploaded the data. I know some of my problems are sleep hygiene related, I'm a night shift worker who insists on switching back and forth from a night to day schedule every 3-4 days (as does my husband). But the improvement in my sleep is remarkable and dramatic since the CPAP.

[jweeks]

Strange to see how differently a man is treated/assessed as compared to a woman! I'm not upset, just surprised. After the initial appointment I went home with sleep hygiene recommendations and a pulse ox, which led to a sleep study which then led to the titration study. After my husband's initial appointment he is already set up for the sleep study, titration study even paperwork to possibly participate in a research study

Hi,

I don't think that this was a difference between how a male and a female were treated differently. As you said, your doctor was surprised when he read your O2 data, while your husband clearly has a disease that needs to be treated. With what you describe, their is no question that your husband needs diagnostics. However, with what you reported, at first, it didn't even sound like you were the one that had an OSA issue, it sounds more like you were the innocent bystander.

At least the good news is that your doctor did dig in, and got you a good diagnosis and a workable treatment.

In the mean time, if you want to test the theory that your husband is still waking you up, try sleeping in separate rooms for a night. If you don't wake up, then you will know what the cause was. If you still wake up, then you will know that you have something else in the background that is causing an arousal. Note, however, that it is perfectly normal for a person to wake up a few times each night. Everyone does it, but most people don't remember it the next day. Sometimes us OSA patients are more aware of waking up like this because we are more in tune with our sleep quality.

-john-

[PreemieNrsTiffy]

[quote="jweeks"]n the mean time, if you want to test the theory that your husband is still waking you up, try sleeping in separate rooms for a night. If you don't wake up, then you will know what the cause was. If you still wake up, then you will know that you have something else in the background that is causing an arousal. quote]


We actually did wind up sleeping separately several times as he felt guilty for my sleep issues. I still had trouble waking up, though not as much. Now with the CPAP, I sleep (mostly) in spite of the snoring/kicking. This tells me my biggest insomnia problem is related to OSA, complicated by a messed up day/night shift schedule.

[Greg6657]

since I related a pattern of loud snoring which culminate in a vigorous kick which stops the snoring temporarily.

I use to tell my wife she had PLMD/RLS. after a pattern of loud snoring which culminate in a vigorous kick from her.

[PreemieNrsTiffy]

since I related a pattern of loud snoring which culminate in a vigorous kick which stops the snoring temporarily.

I use to tell my wife she had PLMD/RLS. after a pattern of loud snoring which culminate in a vigorous kick from her.

Oh, that is good, I could see how what I wrote originally could be interpreted as me being the source of the vigorous kick. . . which has definitely happened at times.

[PreemieNrsTiffy]

Update on the dear husband's sleep studies. They went quite well, for one thing, the local sleep study center provides really excellent care. Even though the original study I had (not the titration study) was horrible, I recognized that this was because of my severe insomnia and not due to the lack of skill or consideration on the part of the techs there.

DH was found to have moderate OSA and no specific mention of his RLS or PLMD was addressed. I do want to see if I can get a copy of his study. This sleep doc gave me a hard copy of my study but I was so furious and in denial that I threw it away. The titration study went very smoothly and he requires a very low pressure at 6cm.

He has now been set up with the same machine I have (well, I think it has one extra feature) and with a Wisp mask which looks great and felt great when I sat it on my face. He slept last night with it and I carefully noted his initial sleeping. He always falls asleep first. The way I know he has dropped off is that I can feel his breathing change. Maybe more information than some want to know, but I think it has value. We are usually spooned together and I can feel his breathing deepen into his abdomen and then quickly after that the loud snoring will start (obviously pre-CPAP). Last night, I never felt this breathing change and finally had to look back at his face to figure out he was asleep. There was absolutely no snoring. I have now concluded that the "abdominal breathing" was really a see-saw type breathing indicative of his body working harder to overcome an obstructed airway.

I left very early AM for a yoga class and when I got back, I was actually pretty scared because I am used to being able to hear him snore or at least breathe loudly. He was so quiet I rushed over to check him. He slept easily with the mask and is even getting away with not wearing a chin strap (I checked his leak numbers this morning and there were none). The exhalation valve is a little annoying but I'm thinking that as summer moves in I may actually appreciate it.

[BlackSpinner]

I left very early AM for a yoga class and when I got back, I was actually pretty scared because I am used to being able to hear him snore or at least breathe loudly. He was so quiet I rushed over to check him.

My daughter did that to me the first week, at 3am when she came home from a party and didn't hear "mama Bear", she shook me awake to make sure I was still alive.