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Julie · Post by **Julie** » Tue Dec 31, 2013 9:26 am

Hi - some things that can affect therapy - alcohol anywhere close to bedtime and/or just plain too much , not keeping regular hours, eating food or anything with caffeine/chocolate that are likely to cause GERD (acid reflux) for hours prior to bedtime as GERD can interfere with your sleep without your realizing it at the time, certain medication, etc. Anything here ring a bell?

newcpap · Post by **newcpap** » Tue Dec 31, 2013 9:38 am

hmmm..not really. I don't consume alcohol at all (zero). Last cup of coffee would be around 6 pm though I don't know if this is a factor. I do east sometimes before bedtime, but I don't recall feeling any acid refluxes....

Julie · Post by **Julie** » Tue Dec 31, 2013 3:55 pm

That's the point - it can affect your sleep without your waking up, but it's just one factor.

neallo · Post by **neallo** » Tue Dec 31, 2013 4:30 pm

I have s question Julie about your last post on this thread. You mentioned acid reflux, could the cpap affect reflux? By forcing air into the stomach disturbing the acid and causing it to rise.

teleute · Post by **teleute** » Tue Dec 31, 2013 4:38 pm

neallo wrote:I have s question Julie about your last post on this thread. You mentioned acid reflux, could the cpap affect reflux? By forcing air into the stomach disturbing the acid and causing it to rise.

When my husband went in to get his machine, the tech asked if he had reflux issues, which he does. The tech said "Oh, hopefully that will go away with this as well" or something to that effect, seeming to say that the CPAP therapy is likely to help reflux if anything rather than cause it. This wasn't a doctor, though, so hard to say how much stock to put in that, but then again neither are most of us.

neallo · Post by **neallo** » Tue Dec 31, 2013 4:55 pm

Thanks teleute. I have noticed my reflux increase towards bedtime but haven't noticed it in mornings or till couple of hrs after dinner and couple of hrs before bedtime

Julie · Post by **Julie** » Tue Dec 31, 2013 5:50 pm

Neallo - a very large percentage of Cpap users have GERD... and some medical profs are investigating which may have come first - OSA or GERD, and whether either actually causes the other, or is just tied for some other reason not yet figured out... it's a big deal for us in that sense so shouldn't be ignored.

newcpap · Post by **newcpap** » Wed Jan 01, 2014 10:13 am

Back to my original point about lack of progress (or lack of consistent progress), couple of thoughts came to my mind:

1. Does it make sense for me to start increasing the min pressure gradually to see if this makes a difference? (right now it is set at 7.0).

2. How trustworthy are the numbers (AHI, Leak, Pressure) reported by ResMed? I am asking because my doctor is considering another sleep study while I am hooked on the S9 autoset....

Thanks.

Julie · Post by **Julie** » Wed Jan 01, 2014 10:15 am

Why not try a slightly higher pressure for a few nights and see how it goes.

I wouldn't bother with a new study myself if I had fairly consistent results on the S9 that correlated with how I felt.

newcpap · Post by **newcpap** » Wed Jan 01, 2014 10:21 am

That is the thing, my experience is not consistent thus far. The numbers look OK but I don't feel OK. I can only think of one of three reasons:

1. I have another condition in addition to sleep apnea. I pray to God that this is not the case. After 10 year of miss-diagnosis I don't want to start looking for answers again!

2. My body just needs sometime (and probably some pressure tuning).

3. I still encounter apnea/hypopneas while using the S9, but the numbers generated by S9 are not accurate. Hence, another sleep study might help verify the accuracy of the S9 numbers.

any thoughts?

star444 · Post by **star444** » Wed Jan 01, 2014 3:24 pm

I started my CPAP therapy on 11/4/13. Just like you described, the first few days I felt awesome! I even went into work one morning and happily told my co-workers "I love sleep! And... who knew that breathing was so important!" But, that great feeling didn't last but a few days. Sometimes I think I may feel a little better than pre-CPAP, but not much.

Unfortunately for me, the CPAP I received is a brick. I am unable to get any clinical data from my machine. I had an appointment with my sleep doctor last week but, unfortunately, he was on vacation so I saw his PA. I let her know that I'm not really feeling any benefits. She said she was going to ask the DME to make a home-visit to check out my machine. (I think that will be a waste of time, but maybe that is the 'next step' she has to take before making any changes?) Anyway, she mentioned that they may need to order another sleep study. I'm thinking... Let's do it!

Is there any reason why you are opposed to having another sleep study? Cost perhaps? If not, why not just go for it? The way I see it is, one of a couple of things could result from the study:

1.) They could find something that was not obvious in the first study and make a necessary adjustment to your therapy.
2.) They could find that your therapy is set as it should be; but perhaps more time is needed to recover from years of oxygen deprivation.

WendiP · Post by **WendiP** » Wed Jan 01, 2014 10:10 pm

wow! I could have written the original post myself. I've been struggling with insomnia that has progressively gotten worse for years now. I complained to the doc about constant fatigue, mood swings, loss of concentration and after various blood tests to test my thyroid and RA, he would prescribe sleeping pills. It wasn't till my hubby asked for a sleep study, did he agree to it. (In other words, he never suggested one, although my hubby and I both snore terribly!)

Now fast forward 6 weeks. I have been on the CPAP for almost 3 weeks and nothing is consistent. Despite raising my pressure from min/max 4-10 to 5-11, my AHI is still ranging from .89 to 7.16 on any given night. I also have other unexplained respiratory events that I am hoping, after doing some research, is not central apnea. And like the other newbies, I have not had that "a-ha" moment that others have reported where I knew this was working.

I do love this forum though. I learned how to fix those pressure blisters from the first nights with the mask, bought pad-a-cheeks (which I love for comfort but is making my mask leak), and learned other tweaks to making this work. It's a great forum for support.

I guess I'll continue with the "slow and steady wins the race" mentality.

newcpap · Post by **newcpap** » Wed Jan 01, 2014 11:46 pm

Thanks WendIp/Star444 for sharing your experience...

I don't have any issue going for another sleep study, actually, the fact that my Dr suggested one makes me think that he cares. which is a good thing!

so, yesterday I changed my min - max pressure to 8-14 (instead of 7-15). Today, I feel a bit better. I guess I will change the min pressure gradually before my next follow up with the Dr and see if this makes a difference.

Thanks.
newcpap

need_some_sleep · Post by **need_some_sleep** » Thu Jan 02, 2014 1:16 am

If I may ask, what machines would you consider "bricks"?

zoocrewphoto · Post by **zoocrewphoto** » Thu Jan 02, 2014 3:20 am

need_some_sleep wrote:If I may ask, what machines would you consider "bricks"?

Any machine that does not record useful data such as events (when and length of events), leak, pressure changes, flow limitations, etc.

"Bricks" record time of usage for compliance, and that is all. It won't help somebody figure out if their settings are actually preventing events.

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