Just diagnosed with sleep apnea...

[Mike081376]

Hi ya'll,

So I was just recently diagnosed with sleep apnea after my sleep study 1 week ago. My first attempt was horrific and I left after 10 minutes (dirty sheets, NO electrodes hooked up at all, no camera). After asking my family doctor (who I found out has sleep apnea now for 10 years!) where I should go, I found a VERY professional clinic. I am going in tonight at 9:30 PM for my sleep study with the cpap maching, sleeping might be a little hard with the mask...I can't sleep as it is!!! A little about me, im 32 years old, travel 4 days a week on the road as a Sales Rep. I workout 5 days a week and pride myself on being healthy, which is why I was a little thrown off why I would wake up every morning and feel like absolute crap. I always told my girlfriend I might as well just never try and sleep because I felt like I was up 24/7. I started having high blood pressure issues about 1 year ago and couldn't figure out why?? Then my girlfriend told me one day that she witnessed me "hold my breath" one morning when she was getting ready for work. Said I held it for over 1 minute then gasped really loud for air. She witnessed this 2 more times and this freaked me out, especially since im always on the road by myself. Its hard to explain, im not "excited" to have sleep apnea but now It all finally makes sense, why for so many years I never felt good or healthy, always felt exhausted and always had to have massive amounts of caffeine to function. I try to explain to friends how it is to have sleep apnea, most cannot imagine how it feels but friends and family have been extremely supportive. And everyone I talk to who has been using the cpap therapy says its life changing, I really hope so.....
I wanted to say thank you to all that have posted such useful information.....you almost feel like you alone with this and sometimes it is hard to explain to people why you feel like crap all the time! Cant wait to see how I sleep tonight with the cpap machine, this has been years in the making!!

Mike

[deerhound]

Good luck Mike and welcome to the world of hoseheads!

Dale

[Mike081376]

Thanks Dale, I appreciate the welcome!!

[Georgio]

Yeah Welcome! The cpap should fix you right up!

Georgio

[carbonman]

And everyone I talk to who has been using the cpap therapy says its life changing, I really hope so.....
you almost feel like you alone with this and sometimes it is hard to explain to people why you feel like crap all the time! Mike

Mike, welcome!
Been there, done that, have the tshirt......

...thanks to cpap, I'm NEVER wear'n that tshirt again.

Talk to us, we know what you're talking about.
You are not alone.
Keep an open mind.
Be patient w/yourself.
Become your own best therapist.
It probably will not happen over night, but it will happen.
DO NOT let any person or circumstance
prevent you from getting the cpap system that
will provide you the best therapy possible.

It's your life.
It's my life.

All the best as your cpap journey begins.

[Gerald]

Mike......

One symptom I'm guessing you left out....is having to get up in the middle of the night to pee. Your blood pressure has probably been extremely high while you're sleeping......a real fooler.

Whatever you do, don't let anyone rush you into taking a "cheap-ass" CPAP machine. It's vital that you get a CPAP that's fully data capable....one that allows you to use a smart card with software that'll give you a graphical report every morning.

Once it's been confirmed that you have sleep apnea.....and the doctor let's you know whether you will need a regular CPAP machine.....or a BiPap.....get busy figuring out what machine you want. Then, write up the prescription yourself....hand it to the doctor.....and tell him that what you've given him is basically how you want your prescription to read.

If you keep us posted, there are many nice people on this forum who'll help you ease right into successful therapy. You must be proactive......manage your own care.....and take responsibility for making it work.

You can do it.....because, it's easier than you think.

[Debjax]

Mike......

One symptom I'm guessing you left out....is having to get up in the middle of the night to pee. Your blood pressure has probably been extremely high while you're sleeping......a real fooler.

Told the doc yesterday that I didn't understand the connection, but was real glad there was one, since I am no longer getting up twice a night to go to the bathroom. He explained that when you have the apnea event, and your body does the gasping recovery (ok, a bit more involved explanation), it also dumps sodium into the bloodstream, which the body then has to get rid of, hence the higher blood pressure. The only way to get rid of the sodium is through the kidneys, hence the frequent night trips to the tinkler.

[RipVW]

Hello & Welcome, Mike081376! Glad you found this forum—SO much useful info and everyone here is so willing to help!
Whoa! Dirty sheets at the sleep lab! I've have left, too!

"You are getting sleepy . . ."

[Gerald]

Deb.....

I'm not a doctor....but I am a mechanic (a lifetime student of Physics)....and I don't think your doctor is much of a mechanic.

Those of us who are true mechanics (not part-changers) understand pressures.....and we know how to connect the dots.

I don't think what he told you is correct enough to rely on. What he said may be a tiny part of the puzzle....but I don't think it's a significant part.

What caused me to quickly get a CPAP machine......was extremely high blood pressure....at night....while I was asleep. The high blood pressure was caused by an increased amount of "fight or flight chemicals".....an example is adrenaline......which is secreted by the body when it's under "stress".

In my case, "stress" was caused by by two factors: I was suffocating (apnea) and my body was using adrenaline to wake me up so that I wouldn't die........and both of my parents were within days of their deaths (they passed within 11-days of each other). My anticipation of their deaths made me on "heightened alert"....even while sleeping....waiting for an emergency phone call.

With all the "stress" I was experiencing while asleep.......my body produced so much "fight or flight" chemical....which causes elevated blood pressure, by the way......that my blood pressure regulatory mechanism became unable to regulate my system correctly. My system was out of control. My blood pressure "governor system" couldn't keep the system running smoothly. I had to get up once or twice a night to pee.

I've learned that keeping my blood pressure within tolerable limits is achieved...by simply learning how to limit the amount of "fight or flight" chemistry in my body. Hence, the CPAP machine that prevents suffocation.

Now that I've defined my terms.....let's look at the "pee problem".

If high pressure blood is entering one end of the kidney......and is leaving at the other end.....at the same pressure through two different pipes....one sending the cleaned blood back into my bloodstream....and the other pipe sending liquid waste (pee) into my bladder......then, I now have "high pressure pee" in my bladder. That "high pressure pee" wants out......and the only thing stopping it is the valve at the other end of the bladder.

Therefore, If I have "high pressure pee" pushing against the valve, I get the sensation of, "I've gotta get up to go pee".

This ain't rocket science. It's plain old mechanics.....which is simply Physics.

So your doctor can talk all he wants about "Sodium".....but I don't think he has a clue on what's going on with your high blood pressure.....or mine. You and I have the same problem: suffocation.

What I'm saying here is no different than how everyone thought "spicy foods or stress" caused ulcers. It took a couple of smart guys....who didn't go along with the "conventional wisdom" to figure out that the problem was caused by bacterial infection of the stomach lining.

Most doctors look down on us "peasants"....and consider us not very bright. Hence many of the repulsive horror stories we read about on this forum. There's a lot of fraud in medicine...and a lot of mis-information.

I think you were mis-informed by your doctor.......and I'm betting you now have a much better understanding of "High Pressure Pee".

[junie]

Good Luck let us know how you make out tonight, there is alot of good people here I read alot of post and replies that help me out.

[Mike081376]

Hey ya'll,

Thank you again for all the advice and well wishes!! So I got home this moring from my sleep study with the cpap, wow is all i can say, definitely different. I dont know the brand name of the mask she used, but she started with a "nose" mask first, then she said if I was breathing out of my mouth too much then she'd wake me up and go with a "full mask" Honestly, the fact that everytime i opened my mouth up, and had a stream of air come out bothered me, especially when I woke up twice last night because I opened my mouth!!! I told her this morning that I feel a full face mask would probably suit me better because IF..IF I opened my mouth at night, I didn't want the air flow to wake me up. Thoughts guys/gals??? But LET ME TELL YOU....I woke up (got woken up actually!) at 6 am, cant remeber when I actually fell asleep, maybe 11PM....and felt great!!! The tech said ok when I turn off the cpap maching your gonna notice, man I didn't want her to turn it off!!! I felt very groggy this morning but she said if I did wake up like that, then most likely it was because I finally slept good for once!!
Also, I am a stomach sleeper, always have been and always will be...do any of you recommend a certain type of mask for a stomach sleeper? I was woken up last night by myself trying to roll over, the mask wasn't too condusive to that!!! haha

On a separate note, when I was filling out the paper work last night, there was a printed out bill of what the sleep clinic was going to charge my insurance company (Blue Cross Blue Shield full coverage).....$2900.00 for just last night!! The tech told me that was cheap, usually they charge $4000.00!! I have the best co pays and cheap rx's..god I just hope my insur co picks up this full bill.....this could be a little ugly if not!!!!

Thanks again ya'll for the comments,

Take care,

Mike

[Gerald]

Mike......

You're off to a great start! You'll do well.

Your glimpse at the pricing....was a peek at the fraud connected with much of medical billing.

The insurance company has backdoor deals with the providers....and they pay nowhere near the "quadruple list price" that you saw.

What comes next is an attempt by the medical equipment provider to steer you toward the "cheap-ass" machine....the one they make the most money on.

Prepare for battle.

[RipVW]

Yep, Mike, sounds to me like a full face mask will be the better choice for you. I've used an Ultra Mirage FFM since I started--tried many other masks, but this one remains my favorite. Of course, all users have their favorites as well. That search for the "right" or "perfect" mask is a never ending quest for many of us.

[Jason S.]

One symptom I'm guessing you left out....is having to get up in the middle of the night to pee. Your blood pressure has probably been extremely high while you're sleeping......a real fooler.

I didn't have that symptom either. I seldon had to get up at night, and certainly no more than once. Habits the same after 6 weeks of CPAP.

[Mike081376]

Yeah,

The billing aspect is already cracking me up....what makes me mad is that not all people have health insurance or can afford it. Hopefully there are programs for people who dont have insurance and dont have to shell out these rediculous prices. Ok, so since im new to all of this...I asked my tech when I would get my machine, because the office told me that my sleep clinic is affiliated with a DME (or something like that) or owns one??? SAid that they have all the machines and could direct me...this is where im starting to get confused because I dont want to get talked into a machine that is just going to make my Dr. money, I want the best one that is suited for me and my condition. I travel 4-5 days a week and live pretty much in hotels, so something a little more compact would be helpful, also like many of you said a cpap that gives me a feedback every morning would help too!!! I guess I need to call Blue Cross Monday and ask them 1. How much do they cover on a cpap/mask...2. Who can I go through to get it, do I have to go through my Dr.??? If any of ya'll have a recommendation on a machine, i would greatly appreciate it because I really dont want to spend weeks trying to play the purchase and return game if I can help it!! The humidifier seemed to really help last night as well.......also I think i may opt for the full mask, I dont want to be woken up in the middle of the night because I decided to open my mouth!!!

Mike