Forum for Sleep Apnea questions?

[Maryekatherine]

I found this forum today and while it has tons of great information on Cpap machines and all the accesories, I'm not yet to that stage of this journey. I had my follow up appointment from my sleep study just yesterday. I wasn't supplied with an actual report, but do have the "review" from my online medical record. So, my question is, is there a place for newbies to go to get help understanding their actual diagnosis? I have severe anxiety that prevents me from speaking up and asking questions from my doctor. The only thing she said was, " you have mild sleep apnea and you don't sleep well. We can try a Cpap if you want and reevaluate in a month to see if it helps." I said okay and she told me the supplier would be contacting me to set everything up.

Sorry for the rambling paragraph for one question. Thank you for your time

[Lazer1234]

So, my question is, is there a place for newbies to go to get help understanding their actual diagnosis?

Yes, you have just found the forum that you want.

[Huh?]

So, my question is, is there a place for newbies to go to get help understanding their actual diagnosis?

Yes, just post all the information you have about your diagnosis here. Best is the summary of your study.

[Pugsy]

Maybe RobySue's blog would help you understand things a little better.
http://adventures-in-hosehead-land.blog ... -test.html

and the forum Wiki
wiki/index.php/Main_Page

and finally we answer questions in general so if you can't find an answer or don't understand what you read ...just ask. Someone will try to explain in better detail.

[Huh?]

I have severe anxiety

Untreated sleep apnea is often the sole cause of anxiety.

[Julie]

Hi, welcome to the forum. And the place to learn everything you want to about apnea, related conditions, treatment, Cpap, etc. etc. Do you have specific questions or would you like a general overview of OSA?

[chunkyfrog]

Yes, this is the place.
You may need to become self-assertive if the machine they bring says "plus" or Escape" in the name.
Just say no thank you, and you want efficacy data.
See Jan's blog here:
https://maskarrayed.wordpress.com/

[Maryekatherine]

Wow thanks for the quick replies. I have googled and wikied a lot of definitions and I've found many charts and graphs of what's 'normal'. The information is overwhelming and I think I'm just worrying myself unnecessarily. This is the review I found at the bottom of my chart from yesterday's follow up.

Comments: Date: 1/26/2015. This study is reviewed. Sleep efficiency was slightly reduced at 84.9%. There was moderate sleep fragmentation with 36 awakenings, 110 stage transitions and an increased amount of Stage N1 sleep. Wake after sleep onset time was 60 min. There was one REM period with a prolonged REM latency of 336.5 min. Sleep stages: Stage N1 sleep increased 11.4%, Stage N2 sleep increased 83.1%, Stage N3 sleep or slow-wave sleep absent, stage REM sleep reduced at 5.5%. There were 33 respiratory events all hypopneas. The overall AHI 5.3, REM AHI 8.8, non-REM AHI 5.1, supine AHI of 4.2. Mean saturation was 93.3% and a minimum saturation was 89% there were 108 spontaneous arousals for a month ago arousal index of 17.4. There are 20 leg movements of which 7 were associated with arousals for a leg movement arousal index of 1.1.

Thanks again, Marye

[kteague]

...there were 108 spontaneous arousals for a month ago arousal index of 17.4. There are 20 leg movements of which 7 were associated with arousals for a leg movement arousal index of 1.1...

Hi and welcome. Communications during doctor visits can be difficult even at the best of times. It's usually rushed with new info coming at you to be discussed before you can get the questions out you came in with. Often I haven't yet gathered my thoughts about incoming information enough to even know what my questions are. The give and take in this forum works well for sorting through information without the pressure of a face-to-face setting. I hope you feel comfortable asking your questions here. Most are eager to be supportive. Sorry to answer your question with a question, but here goes... In the quote above, what do the words "a month ago" mean? Have you had 2 studies? If so, can we see the other for comparison? Are you on any meds that could be disruptive to sleep? Do be encouraged that chronic non restorative sleep can cause some very distressing symptoms. I described my state of mind as frazzled on edge, feeling often on the verge of some invisible breaking point. It's amazing how much healthy sleep can help our state of mind. Sleep can't fix everything that can get off kilter in life, but dealing with life's stressors from a healthier place has gotta be helpful. Looks like you're on your way toward that healthier place.

[jilliansue]

Untreated sleep apnea is often the sole cause of anxiety.[/quote]

Is this really true? That is one thing I had not heard associated with untreated sleep apnea.....I am intrigued.....My husband suffers from anxiety, and he recently had a stroke, which I believe happened at least in part due to untreated sleep apnea. He might be more willing to address the sleep apnea issue if he thought it could lead to reduced anxiety.

[Maryekatherine]

In response to kteague:

Nope. Just the one study. I noticed it as well and figure it was a typo. Not sure what it's supposed to say though.

I do take quite a few medications. The only one my Pulmonologist mentioned was Lorazepam. Due to its sedative properties. But that was at my first visit and she didn't mention anything about my meds and the sleep study results.

That's reassuring. I tell my psychiatrist all the time that I'm constantly irritated for no reason. She just keeps changing my medicinal cocktail up.

[chunkyfrog]

Before cpap, I was easily irritated, and often inexplicably weepy.
Getting enough sleep helped clear my head.
(Which needed clearing, as many will attest)

[archangle]

1) Welcome. Sorry you had to join us.

2) This and apneaboard.com are probably the best places for the patient to get help. The other boards are mostly limited, and are often linked in too closely with the medical mafia and tend to want to tell you to shut up and do what your doctor tells you.

3) There are a number of links to useful info in the "useful links" in my signature line below.

4) You need to be VERY careful to get a "fully data capable" CPAP machine. Without that, you won't be able to evaluate and fix your therapy in the home. The fully data capable CPAP machine is a bit like a mini sleep test every night and you can learn to check your results yourself.

5) Unfortunately, you're swimming with the sharks of the medical mafia here. Many of the DME's (CPAP suppliers) are like used car salesmen. They will scam you into accepting the wrong machine. You may have to be a bit of a polite jerk with them to get the right machine. It's not really that hard, and there are some links to articles about how to do this in my signature line.

6) Look yourself in the mirror and say "Mary, you can be an a**h*le to these people if you need to be." Just try to be a polite a**h*le. I have a hard time confronting such people myself, but it's really not that hard. They're business contacts, not your friends.

Keep after it. It's not really that hard. Sleep apnea, like any kind of sleep problem, can really screw up your brain. It might well help your other problems.

[Tatooed Lady]

That's reassuring. I tell my psychiatrist all the time that I'm constantly irritated for no reason. She just keeps changing my medicinal cocktail up.

Pre-pap, I was constantly borderline rage...small things bugged me, refusing to stop circling in my head, causing constant tension. I figured when menopause started, I'd snap, kill someone, and wind up some butch brawd's wife in a high security prison. But really...I feel much better now. GOOD sleep is an amazing thing. Maybe this type of therapy can minimize the anti-whatever ails ya cocktail.

[Maryekatherine]

Ty for the warm welcome. Should I re-post my sleep study review in a new thread, or is this one okay?