Off the CPAP for good - just wanted to share my story

[HoseCrusher]

Frank, I am glad you were able to find and correct the root cause of your sleep issues.

In my case my ODI during my sleep study was under 1 but my AHI was around 50 something. My sleep position doesn't seem to matter. This shows that everyone may be a little different.

Good luck with your vegan diet. Be sure to avoid glyphosate contaminated vegetables and you need to supplement B12 and Zinc at the least.

[zonker]

Congratulations on your success. I agree that there are viable alternatives to CPAP. Be prepared for some serious questioning from the CPAP über alles members of this forum.

dude! like it's weird how, like, people who use cpap and stuff, will like hang out in a forum called CPAPTALK and all they want to talk about is cpap. how totally bogus is THAT?

[chunkyfrog]

Yeah, I wonder why there is no forum for didgerodoo, nasal dilators, or backpacks full of rocks.

Plenty of discussions for vegans and food fetishists, though . . .

[zoocrewphoto]

Back when I was diagnosed, I definitely was having OSA when sleeping on my side too. I had pretty bad eating habits back then though... eating lots of meat every night. Also had wine almost every night in front of the TV. But I think that like most people my OSA was lower when sleeping on my side overall. I think some changes in my habits was enough to put me over the hump when sleeping on my side. Sometimes of course we go out and I have some drinks and in the morning my wife tells me I was snoring on my side and I feel like I had a bad night of sleep. I am on vacation right now so I don't have access to my results. I stopped measuring my AHI with the full test machine because it's more constraining and anyway it seems that ODI is more important anyway. I think my ODI index was varying between 0.5 and 4 in my last set of tests.

f-

My oxygen barely goes down. But I have severe sleep apnea. How is that? Well, I by waking up quickly from tons of shorter events, I was able to keep my oxygen at a higher level,. while totally destroying my sleep.

I believe both numbers are very important.

[ChicagoGranny]

I believe both numbers are very important.

And, you are correct!

[ChicagoGranny]

Yeah, I wonder why there is no forum for didgerodoo, nasal dilators, or backpacks full of rocks.

[FranckDG]

Yes I guess I'm no expert. I just noticed that in my case ODI and AHI seemed to go hand in hand and in my case my ODI was pretty high to start with. Regarding my diet, I grew up in France and while I was definitely eating too much meat when the OSA started, I never ate fast foods or anything like that. I understand also that my apnea may return later on so I'll keep monitoring myself and I'll keep my CPAP around for sure. I also understand that many people have it way worse than I ever did but still every bit helps if only to lower the pressure on the CPAP.
My doctor advised me to just keep doing what I am doing and see if I feel normal or sleepy in the morning. I also have a Fitbit Alta HR and I take a look at my sleep patterns every morning. It's not super accurate but overall if I see a drop in Deep sleep or REM sleep, I'll know something's up.
My shoulders have been troublesome too and sleeping on my shoulders was hard at first. I had to get a mattress top to soften things up and a different pillow. I have also been doing various exercises that my physical therapist recommended. One thing that worked miracles for me was Tiger Balm. I started putting it on the painful areas of my neck, back and shoulders before going to sleep every night and things got a lot better after just a few days. Not sure if it'll work for anyone else but it definitely does for me.

[LSAT]

Great result FranckDG! Thanks for the post. It is good to know that some people can get off CPAP, even if it is not long term.

Yes...he got off CPAP, but without a sleep study we don't know if he has eliminated his SA. Any of us could quit and say we got off CPAP.
Frank..I would hang on to the S9.

[chunkyfrog]

Yeah; cover your butt, Franck, PLEASE.
We don't have to agree with you to wish you the best of health.

[Mogy]

Great result FranckDG! Thanks for the post. It is good to know that some people can get off CPAP, even if it is not long term.

Yes...he got off CPAP, but without a sleep study we don't know if he has eliminated his SA. Any of us could quit and say we got off CPAP.
Frank..I would hang on to the S9.

In his original post FranckDG says that he purchased a full test machine from China to test himself regularly without CPAP.

[chunkyfrog]

Uh-huh, China . . .
To each his own.

[zoocrewphoto]

Great result FranckDG! Thanks for the post. It is good to know that some people can get off CPAP, even if it is not long term.

Yes...he got off CPAP, but without a sleep study we don't know if he has eliminated his SA. Any of us could quit and say we got off CPAP.
Frank..I would hang on to the S9.

In his original post FranckDG says that he purchased a full test machine from China to test himself regularly without CPAP.

Aren't many in home sleep tests found to be inconclusive, and then the person has to do an in-lab sleep study?

[Goofproof]

Yeah; cover your butt, Franck, PLEASE.
We don't have to agree with you to wish you the best of health.

Even that won't correct Sleep Apnea but it will make the gas pain worse. Jim

[Stom]

In his original post FranckDG says that he purchased a full test machine from China to test himself regularly without CPAP.

I actually think that is an interesting idea. We don't all go to the doctor to measure whether we have a fever. If a home test can be made simple enough, then I don't see having access to a home sleep apnea testing device as a bad thing either to monitor ongoing mild or moderate sleep apnea, especially in patients who are using a non-CPAP treatment such as a dental device, or positional changes. And the apnea test is by Contec, the same medical device company many people on the board use for their pulse oximeter. (For people with severe sleep apnea who are under PAP treatment, going off treatment to measure their untreated apnea just for kicks seems potentially unhealthy.)

The main issue with the one affordable sleep apnea test I've seen that can be purchased on Ali express is that it monitors pulse ox and nasal flow but not thoracic effort, so it can detect apneas, but cannot tell centrals from obstructive apneas.

[Mogy]

Hi Stom,
I think that the tester FranckDG is using includes the belt for thoracic effort.

https://m.aliexpress.com/item/327279032 ... hugPhugPHK

He posted about it on Apneaboard.