Newly diagnosed

[Tamhale]

Just learned I am positive for sleep apnea. 57 events per hour but 02 sats never went below 89. They said I have mild sleep apnea. I feel horrible all the time..exhausted when I wake up, nap during my lunch, nap after work, can't stay awake during a 15 minute inservice, and have fallen asleep at the wheel twice. I only managed to sleep 2 hours during my sleep study, but they they said I had enough events for a positive diagnosis. Sleep efficacy was 70.3 percent. If I feel like this with "mild" sleep apnea, what is everyone else feeling? All my lab work, blood pressure, stress test, thyroid...all checks out. I don't take a single medication. I was surprised 57 events per hour is considered mild. How do they determine that?

[Julie]

Unfortunately, I think someone goofed - 57 is not considered mild at all, so I'd go back and ask them what they're doing - someone may just have written the wrong word down - it can happen. So sorry you're feeling so awful though, but hopefully will feel better once you're on Cpap. Why not read this while you wait (if you can keep your eyes open long enough ).

http://maskarrayed.wordpress.com

There are actually newer models of some of the machines, but the basics are there.

[LSAT]

Sleep Apnea Classification................

The AHI allows a general classification of the severity of sleep apnea to occur. If there are fewer than 5 events per hour, this is deemed to be normal. If 5 to 15 events per hour are recorded, this is mild OSA. If more than 15 but fewer than 30 events are observed, this is considered to be moderate OSA. Finally, if more than 30 events are recorded per hour it is considered severe.

[tiredandscared]

Were the majority of the events. Hypnoapneas?
The majority of the events in my report were described as hypnoapneas aswell. Hypnoapnea are rated less than apneas if I recall correctly. I doubt your oxygen desaturation stay above 90%. If you're feeling that tired. From my experience, oximeters and sleep study equipment tend to influence sleep position which affects the spo2 readings. Whenever I sleep with my oximeter my spo2 never goes below 90%, unless I mouth breath during that practicular time of the recording. So don't rely on a single study to accurately gauge you.