Just home from my overnight titration

[johnthomasmacdonald]

It seemed to go well - although that's probably a bad thing in my case since the problem i have is the erratic nature of my apnea ( for example - out of the last 10 nights, 8 had ahi scores below 5 averaging around 2.5 but the other 2 days were 18.8 and 25.6

I did get a new mask out of it that seemed to work great for me - a ffm, resmed mirage quatro - I've been using a fitlife mask and I took it along with me but didn't need it - this mask does seem less intrusive

Slept 7 hrs, up twice for bathroom runs and I think the pressure was very low all night - tech wouldn't say much but he said i spent a lot of time in REM sleep and my pressure didn't vary much

My non-cpap test a month ago showed positional apnea ( mild on side, severe on back) and it seems i spent zero time on my back last night

MY appointment with the sleep doctor is scheduled for the end of June which seems a bit long to wait but that was their call.

[Tom W]

Assuming the 8 good days that you had out of the 10 you stayed off your back what's wrong with using something along the lines of a tennis ball sewn to the back of your shirt to keep you off your back while you sleep?

Or do you think something else is going on during the remaining 2 nights besides positional apnea?

[indyredsfan]

I had the same issue of a six week wait after my titration study before I could meet with the sleep Dr. to get my prescription. I found that very frustrating. I did the sleep study because I was fed up with constant daytime sleepiness that was getting worse and interfering with my job. I didn't want to wait another 6 weeks to get relief since a solution was found. The morning after my titration study the tech that did the study mentioned the pressure at which he had titrated me (8cm). So I got on Craigslist and found a used CPAP and mask. I bought them, set the pressure and started myself on therapy. When I met with the sleep Dr. and DME 6 weeks later I didn't want to hear any lectures about self-treatment, so I just acted like everything was new to me. My insurance covered my new machine, so I relegated the used one I had bought to back-up status.

[49er]

John,

Anyway you could call the office and politely but firmly tell them that you feel waiting until the end of June is way too long to get your results?

49er

It seemed to go well - although that's probably a bad thing in my case since the problem i have is the erratic nature of my apnea ( for example - out of the last 10 nights, 8 had ahi scores below 5 averaging around 2.5 but the other 2 days were 18.8 and 25.6

I did get a new mask out of it that seemed to work great for me - a ffm, resmed mirage quatro - I've been using a fitlife mask and I took it along with me but didn't need it - this mask does seem less intrusive

Slept 7 hrs, up twice for bathroom runs and I think the pressure was very low all night - tech wouldn't say much but he said i spent a lot of time in REM sleep and my pressure didn't vary much

My non-cpap test a month ago showed positional apnea ( mild on side, severe on back) and it seems i spent zero time on my back last night

MY appointment with the sleep doctor is scheduled for the end of June which seems a bit long to wait but that was their call.

[johnthomasmacdonald]

Assuming the 8 good days that you had out of the 10 you stayed off your back what's wrong with using something along the lines of a tennis ball sewn to the back of your shirt to keep you off your back while you sleep?

Or do you think something else is going on during the remaining 2 nights besides positional apnea?

I already use one of those things - i got it on a Cosmo recommendation - it's a backpack with 3 softball sized inflatable balls in it - and i use a pillow between my knees ( i have really severe hip arthritis) and this seems to help lock me on my side

I always use both so i can't believe that i am still rolling on my back at night - although i can't absolutely rule it out since I CAN lay on my back and read with the backpack on.

I'm thinking of adding VikingGnome's anti-snoring body pillow to the mix ( hopefully i can avoid having my wife duct tape me to the bed)

[Tom W]

I used two small (about the size of golf balls) hard foam balls located up by my shoulder blades.

The pain from them kept me off my back but also kept waking me up...my AHI was down slightly but I was just as tired because of the lousy night's sleep. I tried balled up socks which were not at effective as they didn't cause enough pain to get me to roll over off my back when I was sleeping.

Duct tape is Perfectly Acceptable unless you need to get out of bed in a hurry.