Just joined

[Chilipepper]

I am new here, just going to give a brief history about me. I had a sleep study done and it came back saying that I had hypopneas and that was it. So my doctor said cpap therapy would only make it worse. Since then, I am withdrawing off a medication that I took for eight years. I had come in from a walk, and sat on the couch and fell asleep sitting up with my head leaned back. It was then that I choked, or something. This happened one other time while I was sleeping on my back. And I was thrown into cpap therapy. It has been a hard transition with the doc who did the sleep study saying what she said, and going through withdrawal. I couldn't meet the sleep requirements of four hours per night, so I returned the machine, and ended up purchasing a machine off the internet. This has been a very stressful situation for me. Not being sure I need this or not, and wondering if I will end up being dependent on it. Or if when my withdrawal syndrome is over will I need to use a cpap machine anymore. This withdrawal syndrome can cause sleep apnea. Thank you for any advice.

[Pugsy]

Is the medication that you are taking...that you are trying to come off of...known to suppress respiration?
Do you mind sharing the name of the medication?

[Chilipepper]

I have been off the medication for 16 months, it was Clonazepam... a benzo, anti-anxiety medication

[BleepingBeauty]

I am new here, just going to give a brief history about me. I had a sleep study done and it came back saying that I had hypopneas and that was it. So my doctor said cpap therapy would only make it worse. Since then, I am withdrawing off a medication that I took for eight years. I had come in from a walk, and sat on the couch and fell asleep sitting up with my head leaned back. It was then that I choked, or something. This happened one other time while I was sleeping on my back. And I was thrown into cpap therapy. It has been a hard transition with the doc who did the sleep study saying what she said, and going through withdrawal. I couldn't meet the sleep requirements of four hours per night, so I returned the machine, and ended up purchasing a machine off the internet. This has been a very stressful situation for me. Not being sure I need this or not, and wondering if I will end up being dependent on it. Or if when my withdrawal syndrome is over will I need to use a cpap machine anymore. This withdrawal syndrome can cause sleep apnea. Thank you for any advice.

Hi, and welcome aboard.

Getting used to a machine is difficult for most, but it's worth it. I can't speak to your med-withdrawal situation, but I do know that hypopneas can be just as much of a problem as obstructive or central events. Not sure why your doc said that using a machine would make your apnea worse; that's a very odd statement to make. Hypopneas need treatment (unless your sleep study indicated a very low occurrence of them). Typically, any apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) number >5 needs treatment. Do you have a copy of your sleep study results? If not, you should obtain it; there's lots of good info in there, some of which can be very revealing and motivating. (If you're in the U.S., you're entitled to a copy of it as part of your medical record.)

But now that you have your own machine, I'd advise you to use it. There's lots of assistance to be had here for whatever issue you're experiencing with usage, so post about your problem(s) and get the help you need.

[Pugsy]

Oh...I thought you were still on the med and some meds suppress respiration and that "might" (stress the might) have accounted for some of the hyponeas but not after 16 months.

Just how many hyponeas were found on the sleep study? I assume enough to satisfy insurance requirements for diagnosis of OSA (and yes you can have that diagnosis with nothing but hyponeas).
I don't understand the doctors comments about cpap making hyponeas worse unless those hyponeas were central in nature.

At this point all I know to offer is that you evaluate the data that you are getting off your machine and go from there. Sleepyhead will work with the S9 AutoSet that you have showing in your equipment profile.
Go here to get it. Just take the time to read the instructions fully
https://sleep.tnet.com/reference

If you want help understanding what you are seeing then it helps if we can see what you are seeing
See here for instructions on how to post images of your reports.
https://sleep.tnet.com/reference/tips/imgur
and here for examples of what we like to see (we don't need all the graphs that SleepyHead give)
viewtopic/t103468/Need-help-with-screen-shots.html

[Chilipepper]

I was still on the Clonazepam when I had the sleep study. I was having about 40 hypopneas a night.

[Pugsy]

40 hyponeas out of the entire night..how much sleep time?
If 8 hours of sleep that's just 5 per hour which isn't all that horrible...but if 2 hours of sleep that's 20 per hour average and of course much worse than 5 per hour.

No way now to know how much impact, if any, the med had on the hyponeas during the sleep study.
Benzo's aren't nearly as likely to suppress respiration as the opiates are.

As far as now...I would look to see if the machine is flagging anything (use the software) and evaluate from there.

[palerider]

wondering if I will end up being dependent on it.

you don't become 'dependent' on a cpap the way you do a medication. you're no more dependent on a cpap than you are a pair of glasses... or a crutch when you've got a broken leg.

you need it to cope with the condition that you already have, it doesn't create a condition.

does that make sense?