Getting Wired Again!!

[mowdoc]

I have been on CPAP since late August 2011, , 5 months next week.

I was titated at an AHI of 14 and my desat was only 88 but since they suspected the Sleep Apnea was triggering my Afib, I was put on CPAP at a pressure of 8. My compliance has been absolutely perfect and I have pretty much been able to avoid all leakage. I got used to the mask very quickly and it has never been a problem except for a few of those panic attacks you get once in a while.

My sleep was not good before but my brother in law kept saying "you will kill to keep the CPAP when you get used to it and it works for you". I received a ton of support right here on the forum and just knew the day would come when I would sleep well. I still believe I will sleep good, , , , , , someday???

I have had a few (less than 10) nights with an AHI below 5 and a couple below 2. Most of the nights I come in around 12 or 14. Night before last I hit 22.7, a new high. I can certainly tell when I have had a low number by how I feel and operate the next day so I know CPAP works, when it works.

My health is unchanged since beginning CPAP and I have not changed my body weight of 215 lbs. at 6 feet 1 inch. I am taking the same meds (for the Afib and related issues) as before. Basically, nothing has changed in the 5 months except my AHI average has increased.

I do have the Resscan software and showed my history to my sleep doctor yesterday. She said my titation may not be accurate and has ordered a new one for next week. I remember the first night I got titated and it was a joke. Could be, they will figure something out. I don't mind the mask at all, I just wish it would work for me.

For those of you lucky enough to benefit from CPAP, congrats. To those of you starting out, hang in there and good luck. I'm going to keep trying, and it does not even work for me!!!!! YET!!!!

[chunkyfrog]

If it's a new benefit year, I hope your deductible is small.

[Kairosgrammy]

I don't understand. If you were titrated to 14, why isn't your cpap set at 14. 8 would be entirely to low.

I have been on CPAP since late August 2011, , 5 months next week.

I was titated at an AHI of 14 and my desat was only 88 but since they suspected the Sleep Apnea was triggering my Afib, I was put on CPAP at a pressure of 8. My compliance has been absolutely perfect and I have pretty much been able to avoid all leakage. I got used to the mask very quickly and it has never been a problem except for a few of those panic attacks you get once in a while.

My sleep was not good before but my brother in law kept saying "you will kill to keep the CPAP when you get used to it and it works for you". I received a ton of support right here on the forum and just knew the day would come when I would sleep well. I still believe I will sleep good, , , , , , someday???

I have had a few (less than 10) nights with an AHI below 5 and a couple below 2. Most of the nights I come in around 12 or 14. Night before last I hit 22.7, a new high. I can certainly tell when I have had a low number by how I feel and operate the next day so I know CPAP works, when it works.

My health is unchanged since beginning CPAP and I have not changed my body weight of 215 lbs. at 6 feet 1 inch. I am taking the same meds (for the Afib and related issues) as before. Basically, nothing has changed in the 5 months except my AHI average has increased.

I do have the Resscan software and showed my history to my sleep doctor yesterday. She said my titation may not be accurate and has ordered a new one for next week. I remember the first night I got titated and it was a joke. Could be, they will figure something out. I don't mind the mask at all, I just wish it would work for me.

For those of you lucky enough to benefit from CPAP, congrats. To those of you starting out, hang in there and good luck. I'm going to keep trying, and it does not even work for me!!!!! YET!!!!

[Pugsy]

I don't understand. If you were titrated to 14, why isn't your cpap set at 14. 8 would be entirely to low.

I think that OP meant titrated to AHI of 14 or only had AHI of 14 during sleep study...then given RX of 8cm.

Why they would be satisfied with AHI of 14 (if that is what OP meant) is beyond me.

Without knowing all the particulars it seems like 8 cm is simply not enough pressure to get the job done.
Why a new sleep study vs a little increase in pressure or a trial with APAP is also a mystery.
Perhaps there are some odd factors in the reported AHI like an unusual number of centrals necessitating a new titration study. Perhaps the doctor prefers another sleep study (and the money it brings in).
Perhaps with the AFib there are complicating factors that we aren't aware of.

[mowdoc]

Pugsy is right, I had an AHI of 14 during the sleep study and 8cm was the RX for my CPAP. They said that normally, an AHI of only 14 would not be put on CPAP but since Afib was also in the picture, I was given a CPAP.

The reason for a retest is my sleep doc saw some protocol errors in the original titration. The sleep center that did my titration seems to only be in it for the money (aren't they all?). My work requires me to bed down before dark and get up in the middle of the night.

The sleep center opens an hour after my bed time - strike one.

Then, they horsed around for an hour making coffee and telling jokes before wiring me up - strike two. They knew my sleep time and wake time but did nothing to try to keep me on schedule.

I woke up on my own, even though they promised they would get me up for work and didn't. They said they needed more time and I explained that they knew my schedule and did nothing to stay on it and if they want to be paid, , , I go to work. That is how the bills get paid, you go to work. Bottom line, , I only slept maybe 3 hours for the titration and never hit REM as far as my sleep doc can tell from the report. The sleep center sent a recommendation to my primary doc and he signed off not knowing much about sleep. That was all before I had a sleep doctor.

After seeing my Resscan data, my new sleep doc sees that I have a huge cluster of events every time I reach REM and that wakes me. She wants a new titration done so she can work from there. She, like me, has no faith in the original titration.

I did raise my pressure up to 9cm for 3 weeks in November but it had no effect. I discussed this with her yesterday and showed her the data.

My sleep apnea is mild. I was told that most people between 5 and 15 AHI are not put on CPAP. Since I was at 14 and have Afib, I was put on CPAP.

Last thing, my new deductable goes into effect next week too. I better not be late for work huh??

[Pugsy]

Ahh, that explains a lot of things. I also am much worse in REM sleep 53 AHI vs 12 in non Rem sleep.
My titration study was awful...more from a combination of things that were no one's fault. Only slept 156 minutes total and had 6 minutes of REM. It is no wonder that original RX was wrong. In my case I had already purchased an APAP on my own and was able to figure out pretty quick why the AHI was still high and I felt like crap. Ended up I needed a little higher base minimum and wider range for the super duper events in REM.

Good luck to you and I sure hope all goes well for you this time. It is hard enough to sleep in such a setting without messing with a person's normal sleep time schedule on top of things.

[Slartybartfast]

FWIW, when I asked my sleep doc why he thought usage compliance was so poor, he said simply, "Two reasons. Either the titration study was not performed correctly [edit: or that night was an anomaly]. It's that simple." Well, maybe it isn't, but that was where he lay the blame. Hope you do better.

[BlackSpinner]

my sleep doc why he thought usage compliance was so poor, he said simply, "Two reasons. Either the titration study was not performed correctly. It's that simple."

Uh, he can't count to two? That doesn't say much for his reasoning abilities. I would look for a doctor who could at least go "one, two, many"

[ARA]

I have been on CPAP since late August 2011, , 5 months next week.

I do have the Resscan software and showed my history to my sleep doctor yesterday. She said my titation may not be accurate and has ordered a new one for next week. I remember the first night I got titated and it was a joke. Could be, they will figure something out. I don't mind the mask at all, I just wish it would work for me.

I certainly hope you have more than one sleep center option where you live! Going back to the same place seems like it would be asking for trouble. I was lucky that the only place I've been was great. I hope you can find a better one!