Sleep study results, not sure if I need to pursue treatment

[Holden4th]

I am addicted to diet sodas and drink them all day long,

I'm going a bit off base here but what you've told us matches something I've seen in the past.

Diet sodas obviously contain artificial sweeteners, the main one being aspartame.

While no full clinical trial has been done (the soda manufacturers will have squashed that) there seems to be a strong link with aspartame and memory issues as well as fatigue. Maybe you should discuss this with your MD as you have admitted that you are a diet soda junkie.

I think it's worth investigating as your OSA is so mild that it shouldn't really make you feel like you do.

[GSDgrl82]

Well the problem is I only slept 82 minutes and had zero REM sleep during my sleep study so it's very possible my apnea could be a lot worse.. my exhaustion is so bad, it's interfering with my quality of life and stopping me from doing things I used to do. I agree diet soda is in no way good for me but entirely responsible for how I'm feeling? I'm doubtful.

[sewsleepy]

Any way you can rent a machine for a month and see if it helps you? The proof is in the pudding.

[GSDgrl82]

I wouldn't know what pressure to use though, at any rate I already have a referral in for a titration sleep study.

[Captain_Midnight]

... no REM sleep

... I feel like with such little sleep this may not be 100% accurate results, I thought they needed at least two hours?

One suspects that you did not get into a deep enough stage of sleep to record some much higher AHI, thus there might be a possibility of a more severe OSA than recorded.

I'll share a bit of personal experience that you might find useful. As with many here, my titrated AHI from a full night's study was "up there". Then, after getting an APAP with data capability, I used the nightly results to adjust my therapeutic pressures to optimize my treated AHI. Nothing new, this is a common practice among us. My sleep doc was fine w my optimizing my pressures, btw (not all are.)

My (APAP therapy treated) average AHI is 0.2. I mention this for a reason. When I have that occasionally crummy night, say an AHI of 1.2, I feel measurably icky. And, this is my point. The notion of an AHI of 5 being acceptable is wrong (and too high) for a lot of patients. I suspect that 5 is an arbitrary number, and I would argue that anything even near 5 is likely worth treating.

So, two considerations:
1. You might not have a sufficient duration of sleep for the study; and,
2. Even if 5.1 is correct, you might derive significant health benefits from xpap therapy.

Oh, and one other consideration: We are not physicians. Treat all posts with advice from total strangers online with major caution (including this one.)

[GSDgrl82]

Thank you! My quality of life is being affected so even if my apnea is indeed mild then there is no harm in treating it to see if it helps... if not, I will explore other options. I had another nightmare about being in space and suffocating last night, I've had several dreams like this where I vividly remember not being able to breath whether it's being in space or trapped in a car sinking in a lake. This is very telling for me, I wake up feeling oxygen starved and it takes me a very long time to be able to fully wake up, get out of bed and be functional... I'd say over an hour just to be able to get out of bed, I feel that terrible in the morning. I highly suspect my apnea is much worse than 5.1. I am working with another doctor now so hopefully I can get this all sorted out and start getting some quality of life back.

[kteague]

Your dream life is so similar to my own before treatment. When I first started CPAP my ramp and my pressure were both too low. Once I got my therapy dialed in and it was effective, the dreams of drowning, choking, suffocating, etc went away. Wishing you the same result.

[LadyKiki]

You're complaining about fatigue and it becoming a problem within your life, regardless if your numbers are low, it's still a concern and stopping you from living a normal healthy life.
To answer your original question, yes you should absolutely pursue treatment. Your life will change, drastically. Regardless of 'low numbers'.

Side note: You might not even have insomnia. Your body is practically trained by now not to sleep, wait till you start CPAP treatment, you aren't going to be needing those 'insomnia pills'. Trust me, my 'insomnia' problem is gone. Once I put on the mask, I fall asleep easy.

[LadyKiki]

... no REM sleep

... I feel like with such little sleep this may not be 100% accurate results, I thought they needed at least two hours?

One suspects that you did not get into a deep enough stage of sleep to record some much higher AHI, thus there might be a possibility of a more severe OSA than recorded.

I'll share a bit of personal experience that you might find useful. As with many here, my titrated AHI from a full night's study was "up there". Then, after getting an APAP with data capability, I used the nightly results to adjust my therapeutic pressures to optimize my treated AHI. Nothing new, this is a common practice among us. My sleep doc was fine w my optimizing my pressures, btw (not all are.)

My (APAP therapy treated) average AHI is 0.2. I mention this for a reason. When I have that occasionally crummy night, say an AHI of 1.2, I feel measurably icky. And, this is my point. The notion of an AHI of 5 being acceptable is wrong (and too high) for a lot of patients. I suspect that 5 is an arbitrary number, and I would argue that anything even near 5 is likely worth treating.

So, two considerations:
1. You might not have a sufficient duration of sleep for the study; and,
2. Even if 5.1 is correct, you might derive significant health benefits from xpap therapy.

Oh, and one other consideration: We are not physicians. Treat all posts with advice from total strangers online with major caution (including this one.)

This! I had a number I think bordering under 5 (4.8?) it was silly to get a speech over how my cpap probably won't be covered. That 'its not that bad' (the tech had the nerve to say that!) Yet, I got no sleep, I was fatigued, sick, just awful. I suspect I got a crappy reading that night, because I also didn't sleep much and didn't hit that REM. However, I did a 2d sleep test with the CPAP on, and there was a big difference over how much sleep I got, how much I snored, moved etc. The doctor immediately begun treatment for me.

I live a much better life now. Don't let those numbers fool you, they are just a baseline, mainly for insurance companies; so they can get away with more scummy stuff. Apnea is Apnea, there is no 'mild' or 'maybe a little'. You have it or you don't, and it's miserable either way and makes you sick. Treat it, you will feel the difference!

[GSDgrl82]

Makes sense and makes sense now why for awhile now I've had so much anxiety surrounding sleep but before the apnea was brought up I could never figure out where that anxiety was coming from... I mean why would I be anxious about going to sleep?! But with the apnea it all makes a bit more sense now.

[LadyKiki]

Sleep is the one of the most important necessities for our bodies to function. Watch your health deteriorate if you don't get enough of it. Get treated and you will see how many other problems will just resolve themselves.

[GSDgrl82]

Things got a bit delayed due to holidays and whatnot but I finally have my sleep study with titration set! I'm excited because I've been getting worse and having more nightmares about suffocating or dying and waking up feeling terrible and like I'm oxygen starved. Hopefully by next month I'll have my cpap and will see if I get any relief though I know it won't be instant. I'm also having some other medical tests done checking for a separate illness so hope to be feeling a lot better next year! I'm working with my new doc now on my insomnia and trying some meds though I think my insomnia is because of the apnea, I have so much anxiety about falling asleep... I just didn't realize before the apnea where the anxiety was coming from.

[tedtomato]

I think I had the same issue: I only tolerated the home sleep study equipment for 3 hours (forced me to sleep on my back, which is unusual for me; all those sensors etc).

The diagnostic was a AHI of about 7, which is deemed to be a very mild OSA.

However, probably didn't have much REM sleep during the home sleep study, as it tends to happen later during the night, and AHI could therefore be much worse if a full night was looked out (more REM = more events).

Therefore, advice is to try CPAP and see if it makes much difference. Also, a data-enabled CPAP machine will gather some good stats.