CPAP dangerous for Mild OSA?

[drcd27]

Hello! My name is David and after three sleep studies, I was diagnosed with mild OSA last month at 32 years old. I'm not a smoker or much of a drinker and I'm not overweight. My doctor told me that since I am experiencing symptoms (daily daytime grogginess/fatigue, trouble concentrating etc) I could try either the oral appliance method or the CPAP.

Here are my stats from the sleep study that diagnosed me:

Mild obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome with exacerbation in REM sleep with REM RDI of 7.1/hr Short sleep latency with normal sleep efficiency. Reduced REM latency with reduced duration of REM sleep, excessive N1, normal N2, reduced N3 sleep. No EEG or EKG abnormalities were noted. No significant periodic leg movements in sleep were noted. Sleep related Bruxism was noted.

2 obstructive events 12 hypopneas 19 RERAS

RDI is 5.8

So I have a mild case, but nonetheless I do not get quality sleep and I've spent months looking for the solution. I never feel fully rested when I wake up in the morning. I just don't know what that's like. I do snore, and that's what led me to looking into a sleep study.

My question is: I have been prescribed the Resmed Airsense 10 and I have it now. Tried it last night and in 2.5 hours wasn't able to fall asleep. Not because I found it uncomfortable, but because I am (irrationally?) scared that because I have a more mild case, using the CPAP is going to cause me to stop breathing in my sleep and kill me. In my final sleep study, I used a CPAP and they told me I did fine, but I can't shake this anxiety. I live/sleep alone for the time being, so I guess that's not helping my anxiety about this. My pressure is prescribed at 7, which isn't even that high -- but I'm just worried that I'll fall asleep and won't wake up. The tech who performed my last sleep study was telling me about central apnea caused by CPAP if you don't get the pressure right, so that didn't help things either.

Anyone else feel this way? Is this completely irrational? I was so eager to start using the CPAP because I want to feel better and get better sleep, but now that I have it I'm too chicken to use it! Any thoughts, tips, and advice on this would be greatly appreciated and Happy Thanksgiving!

[Mark55]

Without making light of your concerns,....yes, you are being irrational. You are not going to die in your sleep from not breathing.

I also have mild/moderate OSA (worse than you though), with a low prescribed pressure. I have NEVER had any frightening episodes whatsoever, even though I HAVE had a few 'centrals'. You need to do some reading on these events we call centrals, because most times it's a lot of concern over nothing.

Put on your CPAP and see if it helps you. You won't die from it, I promise!

[greatunclebill]

if this anxiety persists, tell your doctor. you may need to get on an anti-anxiety medication. the answer should never be to stop cpap in case that crossed your mind.

[D.H.]

As far as I know, CPAP is not dangerous even in the complete absence of Sleep Disordered Breathing.

[palerider]

I am (irrationally?) scared that because I have a more mild case, using the CPAP is going to cause me to stop breathing in my sleep and kill me. In my final sleep study, I used a CPAP and they told me I did fine, but I can't shake this anxiety.

Yes, it's a completely irrational and 100% unfounded fear.

Using the CPAP will *reduce* your chances of not breathing and drying... or worse, having a stroke and being a drooling vegetable for the rest of your life.

[Julie]

Is it possible you're worried because you're trying to sync your breathing to the machine and having trouble doing that?

Stop trying... the machine will sync to you - your natural sleep breathing habits, as changeable as they might get overnight, and can only help you, not harm in any conceivable way.

Come up with a (silly, of course) fantasy of being Darth Vader saving the system, or world or whatever... work on constructing the story while you're waiting to sleep, and see how things go - the only thing you CANNOT do with Cpap on is stop breathing (that's not part of any fantasy) because the machine will continue to breath for you when you fall asleep or unconscious, whatever rhythm it learned from you to begin with. And if the power goes out and the machine quits, your own system will not allow you to die - it just doesn't happen - you will then in fact either take off the mask even when asleep, or else the built-in valves will allow room air in and out as they should. Really.

[chunkyfrog]

One night at the lab may not be representative--your apnea could actually be worse,
but not measured because of stress during the test. (It is a weird experience)
With your diagnosis, the cpap should be fine.
Just don't pull it off the nightstand and onto your head.

[CPAPSteve]

Hello! My name is David and after three sleep studies, I was diagnosed with mild OSA last month at 32 years old. I'm not a smoker or much of a drinker and I'm not overweight. My doctor told me that since I am experiencing symptoms (daily daytime grogginess/fatigue, trouble concentrating etc) I could try either the oral appliance method or the CPAP.

Here are my stats from the sleep study that diagnosed me:

Mild obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome with exacerbation in REM sleep with REM RDI of 7.1/hr Short sleep latency with normal sleep efficiency. Reduced REM latency with reduced duration of REM sleep, excessive N1, normal N2, reduced N3 sleep. No EEG or EKG abnormalities were noted. No significant periodic leg movements in sleep were noted. Sleep related Bruxism was noted.

2 obstructive events 12 hypopneas 19 RERAS

RDI is 5.8

So I have a mild case, but nonetheless I do not get quality sleep and I've spent months looking for the solution. I never feel fully rested when I wake up in the morning. I just don't know what that's like. I do snore, and that's what led me to looking into a sleep study.

My question is: I have been prescribed the Resmed Airsense 10 and I have it now. Tried it last night and in 2.5 hours wasn't able to fall asleep. Not because I found it uncomfortable, but because I am (irrationally?) scared that because I have a more mild case, using the CPAP is going to cause me to stop breathing in my sleep and kill me. In my final sleep study, I used a CPAP and they told me I did fine, but I can't shake this anxiety. I live/sleep alone for the time being, so I guess that's not helping my anxiety about this. My pressure is prescribed at 7, which isn't even that high -- but I'm just worried that I'll fall asleep and won't wake up. The tech who performed my last sleep study was telling me about central apnea caused by CPAP if you don't get the pressure right, so that didn't help things either.

Anyone else feel this way? Is this completely irrational? I was so eager to start using the CPAP because I want to feel better and get better sleep, but now that I have it I'm too chicken to use it! Any thoughts, tips, and advice on this would be greatly appreciated and Happy Thanksgiving!

I have similar results from my sleep study and I have been using a CPAP for about 4.5 months and no regrets. I feel much better and I clearly didn’t die in my sleep. Your fears are completely unfounded.

[Chris8243]

I didn't believe my diagnosis of sleep apnea. So I didn't do anything, that is, agree to try CPAP therapy, until about 6 months after my sleep study.

I asked 2 doctors what if someone who doesn't have sleep apnea (me, I thought) and uses a CPAP machine? Both told me basically that there are no negative effects, it wouldn't be harmful. I wasn't afraid to use it, I just didn't think I needed it. I know better now, been using it for a year, still here.

[esel]

I can well understand the fear and it is normal ... It comes with things we do not really know or understand.

What you could try is use the machine while watching TV. You have to get used to it. There is nothing wrong with how you feel about it.

Some people are terribly scared of spiders, others of claustrophobia. One can tam such fear but it will take time. Take that time. There is no need to keep the mask on for a full night.

There are studies ongoing to test large population with and without OSA. It is rather unlikely to harm you. Nature has well established systems to keep your body alive.

[Okie bipap]

What I found to be helpful for me when I first started is to do deep breathing when I first lay down. I concentrate on taking deep breaths. I breathe in for a count of three, then breathe out for a count of three. I found this helped me forget about the machine. Even after over three years on the machine, I continue to do the controlled breathing when I go to bed. I do the same thing if I completely wake up during the night. This makes it very easy to tell when I actually fall asleep when looking at the Sleepyhead Tidal Volume graph. The graph line will go from a large jagged line to a much more even line. This makes it easier to identify the Sleep/Wake Junk that caused my AHI to be higher.

[Midwest_non_sleeper]

You're being irrational. CPAP won't contribute to you dying. It may help you to live longer though.

I would suggest wearing the mask outside of trying to sleep first. Wear it while reading or sitting and watching TV. The more you wear it, the more your brain ceases to see it as a threat. Pretty soon, you may find that you actually have trouble sleeping WITHOUT it.

I've been on it since June, still here. Still kicking. Feel better than I have for the past decade.

[Stom]

The tech who performed my last sleep study was telling me about central apnea caused by CPAP if you don't get the pressure right, so that didn't help things either.

Anyone else feel this way? Is this completely irrational? I was so eager to start using the CPAP because I want to feel better and get better sleep, but now that I have it I'm too chicken to use it! Any thoughts, tips, and advice on this would be greatly appreciated and Happy Thanksgiving!

For me, more information helped me get over fear that the CPAP machine would reduce my breathing. PAP machines are considered extremely safe and some doctors think they should be available over the counter, without a prescription.

It is true that some people get some central apneas from CPAP, but only in about 3.5-10% of people, and those treatment induced centrals go away in the majority of cases. Additionally, even if you do get some central apneas (not very likely at your low pressure) you'll also get a *reduction* in obstructive apneas at the same time.

I am not a doctor or therapist. But I'm wondering if you've considered easing yourself in to using CPAP? You only have mild apnea, so there is no hurry to sleep a full night with it. You can try it in doses to get used to it. Getting more exposure to something over time is a way to help reduce fear.

Also, you can download the sleephead software that can read the data card from your machine so you can see what you are doing in your sleep. Now that can work both ways. It's possible to get obsessed with the data, but you can also get feedback from people here by posting it.

[D.H.]

I'd been through this with a friend a number of years ago. I googled it to death and the only CPAP-related fatality I found was one case where a CPAP fell out of a window and landed on somebody's head.

Note that if one is tethered to a CPAP machine six hours per elapsed day, assuming that deaths are distributed evenly throughout the day, one stands a 25% chance of (eventually) dying while teherted to a CPAP.

[drcd27]

Thanks to all who replied! I really appreciate your insight as veteran users. I heeded your advice and tried again in using it with some success.

Friday night I had a perfect score on the Airsense 10. Slept 9.5 hours and woke up only twice. Felt extremely groggy in the morning though. 1.1 events per hour.

Tonight for some reason, I couldn't deal with it. I could distinctly feel the pressure as I inhaled and it felt like the inside of my throat was a balloon being inflated. It felt like it was full to the max, which made exhaling more challenging. I would begin to drift off, but time after time I would wake up as the force required to exhale was too much for my body to do while asleep I suppose.

I didn't change the pressure settings and I have the EPR on. I was encouraged by being able to use it all of Friday night, but last night I had to take the mask off after only a few hours. It was just too much. Today I feel bloated. My stomach feels distended. I'm wondering if should try switching it to autoset mode?