Going by machine numbers........

[Country4ever]

Hi all. I haven't been here in a long time. I'm using the original swift nasal pillows and I tape my mouth. I have a ResMed S9 auto cpap, but I use the straight cpap.
I have fibromyalgia and pretty bad osteoarthritis. I developed worsening total body muscle/joint pain a few months ago. I thought it was maybe the unfortunate sequelae of using Cipro/Flagyl for diverticulitis......but it didn't really flare up until a month later when I had a colonoscopy. My internist is wondering about my sleep, and I feel that, except for waking up several times a night (and going right back to sleep), that I'm comfortable and the numbers on my machine each morning are good. AHI below 3, Leak rate acceptable. Is it still possible that all my pain is sleep related, even though I perceive that I have a good night's sleep, don't need to nap during the day, have energy? I realize that the machine's info is limited, and I could be having trouble getting into deep sleep.
I just don't want another sleep study. I can't sleep there, and feel the info is useless. I still need to figure out how to use the ResMed software. I'm not real computer-savvy and DH is always too busy to help.

But do you think even with feeling like I'm getting reasonable sleep, decent numbers on the machine, I could be having problems that would cause unrelenting body/joint pain?
Thanks.

[Julie]

Not from Cpap and not from OSA. I'd ask for consult to see if you have fibromyalgia, possibly some hematologic problem or something else.

[BlackSpinner]

Are you checking your data with software? Sleepyhead software will probably work with your machine.

[KayakKid]

Not from Cpap and not from OSA. I'd ask for consult to see if you have fibromyalgia, possibly some hematologic problem or something else.

She said she has fibromyalgia in her original post.

[Sir NoddinOff]

You mentioned in your 'interests section' of your profile you were raising children (that maybe an old entry). Anyway, I can't guess your age, but I agree with the previous ladies... you can't totally rule out your CPAP therapy, however the focus of your search would be best served examining other life issues: maybe diet, exercise, meds... NTM your general health. With Fibro you're going to have to find a doctor that is receptive to that diagnosis, which I'm sure you've heard before.

[robysue]

Country4ever,

Your signature shows you using a Resmed S9 AutoSet, which records full efficacy data. If you can't or don't want download your own data in SleepyHead, the sleep doc's office could download the detailed data for the last week and the summary data for the time before that. If the machine's AHI is always below 3, chances are the OSA is under control and most likely not responsible for your problems.

But there is more to getting good, restorative sleep than having a decent AHI. The number of wakes that you remember is probably not problematic as long as there are not a lot of other arousals and micro-wakes that you don't remember. And there are things other than untreated or under treated OSA that can cause numerous problems with arousals and micro-wakes during the night.

Rather than doing an in-lab sleep study, it may be worth seeing if the sleep doc could order a "watchPAT" study (with or without the oxymeter part of the test.) The watchPAT is a small device that you wear on your wrist and it can monitor your movements in bed with enough precision to identify wakes that are short enough that you don't remember them. It's often worn 24 hours a day for a two week period. If the watchPAT data shows you are dealing with significant sleep fragmentation, that could indeed strongly suggest that you are not getting as much deep sleep as you ought to be getting. But the watchPAT data won't clearly identify why the sleep is fragmented in the first place.

[Country4ever]

Thanks everyone. Yes, I have fibromyalgia and bad knees/hands/feet. There are a potential number of reasons for my pain, but my internist always wants to start with sleep quality......which is a great idea. But my AHI and leak rate are always good. But like some of you have suggested.......it definitely doesn't tell the whole story.

I had a visit with my sleep doc the other day. I have to be honest and say that the reason I chose him, and have stayed with him is that he lets me do things (like change my pressure) without getting upset. He doesn't really know that much about anything else. He showed me the download from the cpap machine card and said "It looks good"......but he was only seeing the hours of sleep every night and my AHI numbers. He knows I don't want another sleep study, so maybe he shuts down after that. I asked about an at-home study.......but he said that only shows your breathing. So he didn't think my pain was from "bad sleep". I tend to agree with him, but not because of just those few numbers.

I used to have Sleepyhead, but we got a new Windows and it no longer worked. DH doesn't seem interested in helping me figure it out. I need to possibly get the ResMed software and force DH to help me with it.

I'm so danged sensitive to all meds and so I'm very leery to be on meds for fibromyalgia pain (Cymbalta, Lyrica), or biologics for my osteoarthritis.

I am an alien from another planet, and have always had trouble being stuck in this human body.
I seriously can't believe how much I notice.......pain, sound, lights, movement, physical sensations, etc., etc., etc. But.....I guess this is what fibromyalgia is. It's a bummer, for sure.

My initial sleep study years ago showed alpha wave intrusion......which is probably why I wake up all the time during the night. I don't have to pee......which I think is good. I've always heard if you have to pee a lot, it means you're stressed from the hypopnea/apnea. My sleep doc did have one good suggestion........turn my clock around, so I don't look at the time every time I wake up.......and start thinking. So I've been doing that, and it seems to make my night go more smoothly.
But I'm still have lots of pain and tingling everywhere. I have a really bad knee, which made my foot really bad.......so if I deal with that, my whole body might feel better. But at this point, I refuse a knee replacement. Any kind of surgery is iffy with fibromyalgia, since our reactions are different than "normal" people. Plus.......being sort of a "natural" person........the idea of all that metal and plastic and cement in me is a bit disconcerting. Using a cpap machine was acceptable to me though.

Thanks for letting me whine. And I do appreciate all your input!