Just diagnosed, in denial, questions....

[Pugsy]

Or - get on the CPAP, exercise, and easy to come back off the CPAP if you drop a bunch of weight and retest negative. I think that is what you are recommending to me.

Bingo, that's what I was trying to say.
There's more to it than just a number like 29 per hour. Sometimes those 29 events might be massively long...now they might also be nice short 10 sec events.

I happen to be have a situation where my OSA is worse in REM stage sleep (which is fairly common) with 53 per hour..
Now in Non REM sleep...a measly 12 per hour BUT those 12 had some massive long durations because my oxygen levels went down to 73%. So even if my REM stage sleep wasn't so ugly...12 per hour in Non REM sleep that were a minute long...that does some damage.

You are lucky...you found this little problem sooner than later. While you are young and the chance of your body bouncing back are really great. By all means...consider your other options and try the losing weight route. There's no down side to losing extra pounds. Just accept the reality of what is going on NOW and take care of yourself NOW.

I know you don't want to strap that mask on your face...you know what? I don't really like it either but it is something I have to do. I would really rather not have to do it but the other options aren't good options for me.

There are other options but each has its drawbacks and if you choose something else you need to have a sleep study to make sure they are effective. There's a reason the cpap machine is the primary therapy...it works the best.

I wish you good luck. All I wanted to do is get your attention. You are a big boy and can make your own decisions and you came here asking some questions...so you got some answers.
When you come to a cpap forum...you are going to get cpap answers. That's what we do here. Help people adjust to the mask, machine and their therapy.

[jbt1125]

The downside is 90 more days of stopping breathing every couple of minutes with a massively increased chance your heart will stop and your family will be without a brother/father/spouse etc. http://esciencenews.com/articles/2008/0 ... risk.death

It took years before my spouse pushed me enough to be tested and believe me I was shocked. Although my AHI was 22 my average time without breathing was 42 seconds and my longest times where 72 seconds. The sleep apena has led to Polycythemia and blood so thick you can use it like glue. At one point the doctors were removing 3 pints of blood a week to allow my heart a chance to rest from the extra work it was doing. Over the course of 6 weeks the infusion center removed all my blood ( around 11 pints) and my body had to generate more. Not something I would wish on anyone.

Ok, well now that you have thoroughly scared the #$(@*U out of me!

I will continue with my titrate appt, get the cpap, start exercising vigorously, lose the weight, and retest. In the meantime, I am sorry for what you went through, and hoping I have caught this early enough. My best guess would be that this has been an issue for me for approximately 5-7 yrs. I wonder how long you put it off that it led to your condition? A little quick research, seems to yield that the Polycythemia a fairly rare occurence. Doesnt help if you are still the one to get it... I know.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16770648

[Kimel]

Just do it. Seriously. A LOT of the press about bad masks and whatnot is ancient history. I have two friends who have been on CPAP for over 10 years and I chatted with both of them prior to my sleep study. They had a lot of stories about the bad old days but said the modern equipment was night and day better.

I probably should have gone on CPAP at least 10 years ago and certainly around 8 years ago. Once I had the study and did a split night on the mask I could already tell this was going to change my life in a great way.

I had noticed the cognition slipping and had myself tested through an entire day of tests. No one mentioned OSA.

When I had my rotator cuff repaired and had to spend an extra day in the hospital because I couldn't get my room air sats up no one mentioned OSA.

When I went to see an eyelid surgeon due to droopy lids he mentioned OSA! He said there is a very strong correlation between what he called floppy eyelid syndrome and OSA. Ding!

That got me in for the study and I've been on the machine for not quite three weeks. I am an entirely different person...well, I am the person I was 10 years ago with the positive, never say die attitude. The weight is coming off faster than ever and I feel the motivation to keep going. A couple of my players have remarked at how much better I look and how I am not grumpy. I don't fall asleep at my desk or in meetings and the cognition is coming back.

Just go for it. You will be as you did! And so will those around you!

[Lugus]

The really sad part is that I had several doctors trying to figure out the Polycythemia with dozens of tests, a bone marrow biopsy and an almost $10,000 price tag. I switched doctors for a completely unrelated issue and the new doctor ordered a sleep test on my first visit and hit the nail on the head. In the mean time I was put on the extreme blood letting routine. Believe me though you do not feel sorry for yourself when you are having a phlebotomy in the infusion center and everyone around you has cancer.

[zoocrewphoto]

I am 40 yrs old, 5'11, 205. Not sure what that makes my BMI, but I consider myself about 25 lbs overweight right now, the most so I have ever been. I know that I need to get off my butt and start running again and eating right. Lots of excuses - little kids, work, etc.

Welcome to the group. I am also 40. I have known I have had sleep apnea for at least 10 years. I have probably had it longer. I didn't realize that it caused high blood pressure and heart problems, so I ignored it. In September of 2011, I my doctor got hard on my case about my blood pressure which used to be slightly high, but was no typically in the 170s over 100-107. She started me on one medication, doubled it, added another, doubled that, and added a third. It was better, but still high. My doctor was telling me I was at risk of a stroke. I was only 39. Then I saw a story on the news about sleep apnea causing high blood pressure, strokes, and heart attacks. I confessed, did the sleep study (ahi of 79), and started cpap, almost a year ago. With consistent use of the cpap machine, my blood pressure came down into the normal range with numbers I had never seen before.

1) assuming this has been going on for awhile, at my age of 40, am I at risk for already having done damage to my cardiovascular system? Or does it take longer? I am wondering whether I should see a cardiologist for a full checkup, whether damage could have already been done?

Have you been checked my your primary doctor? How is your blood pressure? Any other symptoms? Do you have any idea how long you have had sleep apnea?

In my case, I have had several problems that have reduced my cpap usage. It took months to convince my doctor to solve my coughing issue. She couldn't grasp the concept that I couldn't wear a cpap mask and have coughing spasms all night. Plus I was awake a LOT. So, even with 3 medications, my blood pressure was moving back up again. Upper 150s and 160s again over 100-106 again. So, she finally found a cough medication that worked and an asthma medication that solved the cough completely. In the meantime, I did go to the cardiologist who added a 4th medication (which has really helped), and I went today to have an ultrasound of my heart. The lady said the doctor would review it, but she didn't see anything to worry about. So, I probably haven't done any permanent damage to my heart. But I do still need to keep at my cpap treatment, get it back to 100% usage every night and all night. And take my 4 medications until I am allowed to reduce them. I had a short night of sleep and forgot my morning pills for 8 hours, and my blood pressure was back up to 154 over 109. I've never seen the diastolic number up to 109 before. So, I have to keep on my medication and use my cpap to prevent damage. I also use a blood pressure monitor 2-5 times a day and log the readings along with my sleep (with cpap / total sleep) and my opinion of the sleep quality. This helps to keep me on track. If I forget my medication or sleep like crap, the results are usually pretty obvious when I check my blood pressure.

3) Are there any potential significant side effects from the CPAP machine? Not talking about uncomfortable masks or dry lips. I mean more serious stuff. I thought that I read that CPAP can acutally CAUSE central apneas, dependence on the machine, air bubbles in the skull, ear pressure issues, etc. I tend to have ear issues - eustachian tube dysfunction, benign positional vertigo, etc. Should I expect side effects from the CPAP to my ears?

I have seen a few people with ear issues. They might have been cpap related, but not all were. And it is pretty rare. I grew up with ear infections, and I have not had any ear problems with my cpap usage. Back in 2010, I had vertigo that landed me in two emergency rooms, but that was well over a year before I started cpap treatment. I have had no problems since.

At one point, I suspected that an allergy problem might be cpap related, and I deep cleaned everything. I figured out later that it was due to chemical leak in the van that we use for trips. I finally realized that my cough was starting every time we went on a weekend trip in the van.

[jbt1125]

Have you been checked my your primary doctor? How is your blood pressure? Any other symptoms? Do you have any idea how long you have had sleep apnea?

To my knowledge, I do not have high blood pressure. I dont measure it often, but when I have, its normal. I have no symptoms that I am aware of. I estimate I have had sleep apnea for 5-7 years.

For a significant life insurance policy, I had extensive medical testing in 2009, including a full physical exam and a specific heart test - an exercise stress echocardiogram. Everything came back normal. That was about 4 yrs ago. So I suppose any damage would have transpired in the last 4 years, or be undetectable on that testing. I had a "normal" annual physical about a year ago, with normal blood results and normal ekg.

[cornuto12]

Abt
I was diagnosed with OSA about 7 weeks ago and 2 weeks ago had my titration. Morning after my titration I felt like million bucks.
I am 41yrs old, 230lbs 5'8' with 29 AHI . Sound familiar.
Tomorrow morning i go to pick up my machine at DME
I am looking forward to all of this since I and can relate to your concerns.

This forum is great resources and I am finding the same kinda folks are answering questions and concerns for many. They must be angels...

Keep in touch and we can share experiences since we are pretty comparable.
Read my other posts as a newbie
Good luck
Anthony

[jbt1125]

Thanks Anthony, and everyone. Nice to not feel alone. Now I am going to try to go get some sleep. Will admit to this being the first nervous night about sleeping I have ever had. All this talk of heart attacks, dying in sleep, blood disorders, 3x sudden death risk, etc. got me a little freaked out

[zoocrewphoto]

Have you been checked my your primary doctor? How is your blood pressure? Any other symptoms? Do you have any idea how long you have had sleep apnea?

To my knowledge, I do not have high blood pressure. I dont measure it often, but when I have, its normal. I have no symptoms that I am aware of. I estimate I have had sleep apnea for 5-7 years.

For a significant life insurance policy, I had extensive medical testing in 2009, including a full physical exam and a specific heart test - an exercise stress echocardiogram. Everything came back normal. That was about 4 yrs ago. So I suppose any damage would have transpired in the last 4 years, or be undetectable on that testing. I had a "normal" annual physical about a year ago, with normal blood results and normal ekg.

I would ask your doctor about it, but it sounds like you haven't had any noticeable damage yet. Best to stop creating that damage as it would eventually show up. But doesn't sound bad yet. I would recommend getting a blood pressure monitor and testing at least weekly, so that it doesn't have a chance to sneak up on you.

I would definitely start with cpap as soon as you can. It really isn't that bad, and it is truly is the best working solution. The dental things and surgeries have a very low actual success rate. They often claim a 50% success rate, but their definition of success is a 50% reduction. Anybody over ahi of 10 would still be having too many apneas even when it was considered successful. Also, many apneas can be long, or in clusters, so even with a low ahi, you can still be having problems. The only way to know for sure is to use a cpap machine with data. My mom's machine didn't have data. When she tried mine at her pressure setting, she had an ahi of 3.4 which is good. But when I looked at the graphs, I could see that she was having clusters of events, and they were often over 30 seconds. One was over a minute long. No wonder she still felt like crap. She got a new machine with data, and a better pressure setting, and she feels better now.

Losing weight can help sometimes, but not always. Skinny people can have sleep apnea too. Also, if you get treatment for sleep apnea NOW, you will most likely have more energy to help you lose weight. And if you do manage to get off cpap, keep the machine. we tend to get worse over the years as we age, so you may need it again later at some point.

[ughwhatname]

Maybe my AHI 29 is high enough that the dr. wants to jump straight to CPAP. But reading around here, 29 doesnt seem THAT high.

You are worried about past damage...and at the same time you are trying to say that it's okay to have this happen 29 times an hour? Sounds like DeNile to me.
".

To be clear, I am not saying its ok. I am not saying that I intend to do nothing. But I am trying to educate around degrees, severity of the condition. Your post would be accurate for a AHI of 10 or of 100, only difference is the incidence/intervals, correct? So trying to get a feel for what is low, med, high. And why jump straight to CPAP. Its NOT ok this is happening at 29 times/hour. I AM worried about past damage. But if I lost 20 lbs over the next 90 days and retested, what would be the downside of that? If results are same, do not pass go, straight to CPAP. But if it ends up making a huge difference, probably worth it? The answer might be - 29 is high, and every day is more damage. Or - get on the CPAP, exercise, and easy to come back off the CPAP if you drop a bunch of weight and retest negative. I think that is what you are recommending to me. thanks again!

Here, I'll break it down for you. You are concerned about damage already done, but at the same time, you are suggesting that experiencing the damage of stopping breathing another 20,880 times (90 days x 8 hours x 29 events an hour) seems okay with you.

I'd love for you to give it a try, and work on the weight loss, etc. in concert with treatment. Its really not that bad. I write this as I am at the Aria hotel in Vegas, with my machine right by my side. I don't fool around. I use it any time I'm sleeping, even naps. Why? Because I don't want any more damage, and want my body to have a chance to heal from the damage already done pre-CPAP.

[bunnyslippers]

I'm 39. I totally understand the reluctance. I had it at first too but my dr said in my case I've probably had Apnea all of my life and that is why I've always had to fight my weight. He said I would lose weight easier with CPAP because the stress hormones from the lack of oxygen would be gone.
I decided after he said that to embrace CPAP, get educated and just accept that I need that machine to live. Without it I am alive but had no life. I was too tired.

My Mom is thin and she has Apnea too, diagnosed just before me. Her diagnosis helped point my Dr in the right direction otherwise I would have been on depression meds and who knows what else. After I got diagnosed, my 13 yr old's Dr thought there was a good chance that he has it too. His sleep study is in 3 months.


I got a S9 autoset, Swift FX nasal pillows and 3 weeks in, it's all good. Hubby doesn't hear the machine and the only bad parts have been getting the humidity right, and remembering not to open my mouth after I start the machine. That is a weird feeling.
No other masks for me, but I researched what I thought I could handle first.

Put your fight into being sure you get the best machine and the right masks, that will serve you better in the long run.

JMHO.

[mgaggie]

I'm only 37 and just started cpap nearly a month ago (I believe I've suffered from OSA for 10 years, just taken this long for someone to believe me). I don't understand the OP's reluctance at all. To me its simple, do you want to just plod along as a zombie or do you want live a decent life?

For me its a decent life.

[sawinglogz]

Seeing all these youngsters posting makes me feel a lot better.

I plan to be on CPAP until I recover from my 8-month insomnia and feel rested again. Then I'll be more open to experimenting with other "cures" (vitamin D3, didgeridoo, etc.) to see if they reduce or eliminate my need for CPAP or affect the pressure needed.

[caffeinatedcfo]

Thanks Anthony, and everyone. Nice to not feel alone. Now I am going to try to go get some sleep. Will admit to this being the first nervous night about sleeping I have ever had. All this talk of heart attacks, dying in sleep, blood disorders, 3x sudden death risk, etc. got me a little freaked out

You'll be just fine. Once I had my diagnosis, I stressed myself out over sleeping (and slept worse) until I got my machine. Don't let your mind take over - these are normal thoughts and you will be fine in the short term. Try to find ways to relieve your stress and keep yourself occupied while you wait - walks, yoga, tai chi, exercise. I too felt alone until I found this place.

You might want to check this out tonight: viewtopic/t88612/Expert-Interview-Dr-A- ... relli.html

[Kenwood]

I'm 43 yrs old. I probably should have been on CPAP at least 5 years ago. Deep down, I knew I had sleep apnea but was in denial. But then things got too much for the wifey to take since she is a light sleeper. She just couldn't sleep in the same room with me - listening to me stop breathing and snoring. So she started sleeping on the couch. That really started to get to me. Noticed I was falling asleep while watching TV. Then needed a nap during then morning. Then slapping myself trying to stay awake while driving into the office. Wifey talking about how I'm going to have a stroke from lack of oxygen. So I finally agreed to do a sleep study for my wife and daughter back in February. My sleep apnea was BAD. Every doctor keep telling me that they hadn't seen an AHI of 131 in a very long time. I'm lucky that my body responded to CPAP quickly with my high pressures. I was feeling better after just a couple nights. Battled mask leaks for about 6 weeks until my CPAP mentor sent me a couple nasal masks to try. Everyone told me I had to be on a full face mask due to my high pressure. But Pugsy was the one that proved everyone wrong. I went from massive leaks over a third of the night to no leaks.

I took charge and owned my OSA. Educated myself. Read. Joined this forum and read thread after thread on this forum. Got Sleepyhead and learned to read my charts every morning. Found a great CPAP mentor in Pugsy. Today I've been on CPAP for just 2 months now. When I go to my Sleep Doctor appts, I bring my laptop and I SHOW MY DOCTOR how my treatment is going. She is very impressed, as only about 5% of her patients are like me - taken charge of their treatment.

Cause you wanna know where I would be without this forum and Pugsy. With a super leaky full face mask, getting only 50% of the treatment I needed, wrong machine, at the wrong pressure each night, lousy sleep due to the mask leaks waking me up, totally frustrated and maybe giving up. Then probably stroking out years later DEAD!

If ya wanna read my novel of CPAP journey I have documented here on CPAP Talk....click on my thread below in my signature and grap a cup of coffee: viewtopic/t87166/AHI-131---Help-me-unde ... sults.html