When treating upper airway issues, when does cpap become necessary?

[Aces79]

I’ve been being treated for upper airway issues for almost 20 years now. I have always been in CPap therapy.

I do NOT see a sleep doctor. I’m treated by family doctor.

My question is, in the past my average pressures have been 12-15.

I’ve recently lost 50 pounds and now my average pressure is 4.8. My machine settings start at 4.0.

When I was initially prescribed cpap my family doctor then disagreed with the pulmonologist that interpreted my results. Pulmonologist said I needed cpap, my family doctor said I didn’t.

I do feel more rested when I use it vs when I don’t use it.

At an average pressure of 4.8, do I really need it?

At this point should I try and see a sleep doctor and bring my readings in?

[khauser]

I do feel more rested when I use it vs when I don’t use it.

Then why would you consider stopping???

[Aces79]

Because I’m not sure if it’s a mind thing or if I really am more rested and of course, I do hate sleeping with it. I’m much more comfortable when I sleep without it.

[Pugsy]

To know for sure if the weight loss has fixed the airway issue you would need a sleep study to document just how much of a problem your airway issues might be.

Just because you now only seem to need a relatively low pressure doesn't mean that the airway issues don't exist.
There are people with severe OSA who only need 5 cm pressure to hold the airway open.
The pressures needed aren't related to the severity of the OSA. A person with relatively low AHI and very mild OSA might need 15 cm pressure and a person with severe OSA might need only 4 of 5 to deal with things. So the fact that you don't seem to need much pressure doesn't necessarily mean the OSA or airway issues you might have had has gone away and you don't need cpap.

The fact that you feel worse when you don't use CPAP should tell you a lot though.

[Aces79]

My insurance will not pay for a new sleep study. My doctor tried to get a new one last year and my insurance denied it. They won’t pay for a sleep study for someone that has already been diagnosed with any form of sleep apnea.

[Miss Emerita]

Aces79, if it's affordable for you, you can do a home study for about $160. The equipment I'm thinking of is called WatchPat, and while it is not as reliable and detailed as a full polysomnographic study, the results of WatchPat have a pretty high degree of correlation with the results of PS studies.