MUST one have a 'sleep study'?

[happyhour]

I know for a fact I have sleep apnea. My wife constantly tells me the horror stories of how i stop breathing for minutes at a time, snore etc etc. I now have atrial fibrillation-one of the great benefits of sleep apnea evidently. Yes, I have insurance but already owe on some medical bills and dont want to inherit anymore if I dont have to. Cant i just get an APAP machine and let it self titrate as needed? And if not...why not? Sure would be cheaper in the long run I'd think. Some of these sleep lab studies seem rather unnecessary to me as I'm sure ones 'significant other' could probably tell you if you weren't breathing well during sleep. If I could go the APAP route w/o sleep study, what mask would one recommend?

[Pugsy]

In lab sleep studies monitor more than just apneas.

If someone had no other complicating factors and had just plain Jane obstructive sleep apnea then most likely with the aid of an APAP, software and some intensive education it is possible to self diagnose and self treat. Obviously not ideal...but possible.

How do you plan to purchase a machine and mask? They both require a RX from a DME or online cpap supply seller? As with just about anything...there are secondary markets available for just about anything if you know what you are looking for and where to look.

Otter is a recent forum member who has gone down the self diagnose and treat road. You might do a forum search for his early posts to see how he went about things.

If you want to go the self diagnose and self treat road. Limit your machine choice to either the ResMed S9 Autoset or the Respironics PR System One Auto CPAP...both are full data machine and both have easily obtained software. Check out SleepyHead stuff in my signature.

Unless you have major nasal breathing problems and just have to breathe through your mouth, I would suggest a nasal pillow mask similar to what I use (see my profile) because nasal pillows have the least amount of surface area to seal. Start with the simplest and easiest first.

Send me a private message if you want more information on the secondary market for machines and masks.
I did have a formal sleep study but all my machines have been bought privately for various reasons.

I do feel it is best to have a formal sleep study so that any other possible complicating factors can be eliminated but people do self treat and manage quite well. At least those that self treat are highly motivated to make it work and attitude is a huge factor.

[Grand-PAP]

Hi happyhour,

I’m probably the least qualified to respond to your post, but since no one else has, I will give you a simplistic response and more expert members can give their feelings.

Yes, it is possible to do exactly what you have proposed. However, the questions is SHOULD you do it?
The symptoms you mentioned might well be indications of sleep apnea, but they might also be an indication of some other medical or physiological problem that a doctor might need to evaluate.

Next, the purpose of the sleep study is not just to determine if XPAP therapy is necessary, but also to determine which, among several machine options, would be the appropriate machine for your condition. The machine decision would be predicated upon whether your sleep disorder was only Obstructive Apneas, Central Apneas or Both.

Finally, regardless of your motivation, improper use of the CPAP machine could potentially have a deleterious impact on your health.

I would strongly recommend that you do the sleep study. But if, against my advice, and probably most of the future posters, if you do decide to do this on your own, you need to be aware that a prescription is required to buy a XPAP machine, so you would probably have to locate a machine directly from an owner.

Good luck with your decision, but please give careful consideration to doing the formal sleep study.

[dtsm]

This has been discussed numerous times and answered in depth. I don't have the links but a search should turn them up. Rested Gal wrote the definitive primer some years back - do a search for her posts if all else fails.

Short answer/conclusion from the threads/discussions on this forum: "it can be done with a little bit of work start cpap on your own. You need to get a cpap unit that has apap, full data capability, software to download results and interpret, and some patience/perseverance."

[Buggstzer]

I went for my CPAP titration sleep study and took to it like a fish to water. Even felt good the next day. Problem was, I also had Complex Apneas(Centrals) when on CPAP. Not sure why I felt good after the titration, with maybe the exception I got an hour of two of "good" sleep before the centrals got bad. My total Apneas were MUCH worse on CPAP than without. If I would have self-diagnosed/treated, I would still have a problem. In fact, a more serious problem. I ended up with an ASV machine. I was initially getting AHI in the 5-6 range even with the ASV. Got to looking at my prescription and saw that DME tech did not set the machine properly. I changed settings to the titrated levels from my 3rd sleep study and now am usually at 0.6 - 0.7 for AHI.

Bottom Line for me - 3 studies were necessary. Monitoring data on my own and adjusting the settings to actually match the prescription, put me in a sweet sleep spot!

By the way - My insurance paid 100% of all 3 studies since they were coded as Lab Diagnostic.

[chunkyfrog]

Self titration is possible, as others have noted.
However, your insurance may not spring for the gear unless you have a sleep study.
I would also recommend you have it done in a hospital because of the already diagnosed A-fib.
A sleep study is rarely a picnic; and the stress could trigger dangerous events--you want experts on hand.