Just diagnosed, living overseas, what to expect

[dragonflybeach]

Hello All,
I was literally just diagnosed yesterday when I brought my son in for an appointment. My doc had my results in his hands.
I'm a military spouse living in Japan.
I don't yet have a copy of the results but I'm working on it. Electronic medical records aren't as easy as one would think.
What I do remember is moderate sleep apnea. 16 episodes per hour. O2 dropped to 84 at it's lowest. No time listed in stage 4 of sleep but I'm assuming it's all lumped into stage 3. No significant leg twitching but I saw nothing mentioned of my bruxism.
It took 90 minutes for me to fall asleep...could've sworn it was less than 30. Maybe my idea of asleep is different than theirs?
They had to wake me the next morning. I was the last one to leave the sleep lab. That was funny and creepy all at the same time.
My doc has put my referral in for the titration study which could take another 2 months.

I'd appreciate any info, thoughts or suggestions as I meander my way through the land of OSA and CPAP.
Thanks so much.

[-tim]

Next time they will hook you up to the same gear and a cpap machine and they should try a few types of masks to see what your comfortable with. They will increase the pressure once your sleeping until they stop seeing an improvement.

[Julie]

They will 'titrate' how much air pressure a cpap machine will need to do a good job for you, and that number (or numbers on an auto vs. straight cpap machine) will become your prescription.

[MDALE]

There are many types of masks. Many of us prefer the nasal pillow type. These are small and sit under and against your nostrils. Hopefully they will let you try different types and then sit for 30 minutes or so to practice breathing. Breathing is "backwards" - you exert effort to exhale and let the machine do the inhale work. Usually they can set the machine to reduce the exhalation pressure if find the exhalation effort to be too much.

Keep your mouth closed and put the first third of your tongue on the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth. This keeps air from coming out from your mouth. Some have problems doing this. You can ask for a chin strap if air keeps coming out of your mouth.

If the air is dry they can turn on a humidifier within the CPAP machine (or perhaps they do it routinely for all patients)

A good sleep tech will tell you all of the above and more. But many have done it so many times that they forget it is your first time.

I was fearful of the nasal mask so they had me try the nasal pillow type. No problems with that at all. Do not be shy about asking for something different or saying you are having a problem.

CPAP is a very good thing. If you are like me you will find that the apnea was such a gradual change it was unrecognizable. But once you use the CPAP machine the light headache and "brain fog" goes away. You are getting restful sleep and can even enjoy sleeping in late.

Try to see if you can get in sooner for your titration if someone else can't make their appointment.

Try to get a machine that has full data recording capability. Read the info for new users on this board.

Best wishes.

[BlackSpinner]

Hello All,
I was literally just diagnosed yesterday when I brought my son in for an appointment. My doc had my results in his hands.
I'm a military spouse living in Japan.

I suggest you PM (private message) the member who started this thread
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=75105&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

They are also in Japan.

[Emilia]

If you are in the moderate level with 16 events, you're just into the moderate category--on the cusp of mild/moderate. Like me...I had 17 events per hour. My O2 dropped to 76, but your 84 is low, too. I am sorry it will take 2 months before titration can happen. That is a long time to wait. Are you receiving your study/medical help via the military medical system? If so, I presume they will provide you with your machine, mask, etc. when the time comes. If you have to utilize a local, Japanese supplier, you may have other hoops to jump through, but there are a number of forum members who live in Japan who should be able to help. When the time comes, post a new thread with the mention of Japan in the title to draw them to your post.

In the meantime, while you are waiting for the next phase of your study, try elevating the head of your bed or use a wedge pillow to sleep on to raise your upper body a bit. This will help you to breathe a bit better while sleeping. If you tend to sleep on your back, try to sleep on your side and rig things to prevent yourself from rolling over onto your back...some use a couple of tennis balls in a sock, pinned to the back of their shirt. If you have nasal congestion, think about using a nasal rinse (w/distilled water) to help clear out your breathing passages. Since you mentioned teeth grinding....do you use a mouthguard? If not, you can buy inexpensive ones to help alleviate that.

I hope you can get in for the titration sooner than 2 months, but if not, these suggestions and others that will be added to this thread soon... should help you. Best of luck! Oh, one more thought.... with your low O2, you may be experiencing a lot of brain fog or memory problems. I'd suggest you have someone you trust... spouse, partner, good friend.... who is lucid and sharp help you navigate this. It helps to have another pair of ears/eyes when getting started.

[dragonflybeach]

Thank you everyone with the help and suggestions.
I go for my titration study in 5 weeks. It's definitely sooner than I was originally told but I'm not complaining.
I'll be picking up a copy of my results tomorrow.
I'm assuming the military is picking up most of the cost of my machine but how I get the machine is unknown. My doc said it's a long process.

I'm currently using a c-pillow from Tempuredic to help with my neck. I have an old whiplash injury and the c-pillows seem to help prevent tension headaches.
I'm mostly a side sleeper now because if I do sleep on my back, my own gagging wakes me up.
Nasal congestion doesn't seem to be a problem but I am using Breathe Right strips at night.
I wear a hard night guard for the bruxism.
I've got a few friends here and there that are already using machines and willing to help me navigate this new road.

Thank again.

[dragonflybeach]

Anyone willing to explain a little further.
My apologies if I'm putting his info in the wrong area.

Sleep Latency: 3 mins
REM Latency: 202.5 mins
Wake after sleep onset: 74 mins
Total Time Stage 1: 62.5
Total Time Stage 2: 315 mins
Total Time Stage 3: 1 min
Total Time Delta: 1 min
Total Time REM: 58 mins

Sleep fragmentation time: 8.62 mins
# of awakenings: 51
Sleep Efficiency: 85%

Arousal events: 72
Arousal index: 10

no periodic limb movement

snore events: 1866
snore index: 255

lowest desat: 86%
AHI: 16.1/hr

Latency to stage:
Wake: 0.5 min
Stage 1: 3 mins
Stage 2: 43 mins
Stage 3: 255 mins
REM: 202.5 mins

% Sleep Stage in TIB, SPT, TST
Stage: TIB SPT TST
Wake 15% 14 -
Stage 1 12% 12 14
Stage 2 62% 62 72
Stage 3 0% 0 0
Stage 4
REM 11% 11 13
MT


There's 2 more pages with O2 Saturation drops & time percentages, respiratory parameters, episodes by sleep stages, episodes by body position

Thank you.