When the doctor looks down your throat for OSA?

Enchanter wrote:

ems wrote:

Enchanter wrote:I have a question. Does wearing the CPAP get rid of sleep apnea? So lets say I wear the mask I just got for 3 days and then have to take another diagnostic test at the lab. Will wearing the CPAP for a few days get rid of sleep apnea at least to the point where it makes the real test say I no longer have it?

!

Nope! Doesn't work that way. For some people it takes months for any improvement. Some people a day. Most several weeks to months.

But what I'm saying is this. Is it possible to wear the mask and then take it off for one night and not have sleep apnea according to the test? Because this is why I'm worried. What if I start wearing it and it causes the sleep apnea test to show up negative when I do the test. I could end up believing I never had it to being with.

Barring an act of God, I don't think that can happen. It's not like shooting insulin and a blood glucose test coming back as 84.

NO

I have been using a cpap machine for over 5 years.. I still have OSA. A cpap machine does NOT cure OSA, it only helps you to breathe... there is no CURE for OSA .....,YET

guest nan wrote:NO

I have been using a cpap machine for over 5 years.. I still have OSA. A cpap machine does NOT cure OSA, it only helps you to breathe... there is no CURE for OSA .....,YET

Fair enough. So it's for symptoms only.

Well, not really either... a pill takes care of symptoms, but Cpap does a real job - OSA's a condition, not a one time event that heals and goes away... you're kind of stuck with OSA, but not only are symptoms improved, but apneas prevented from stopping your breathing. If Cpap does its job, then your symptoms go away... yes, and so do the chances of OSA killing you (slowly, but faster the older you get).

OSA treatment, is a lot like Russian Roulette, if your revolver cylinder has holes for 5 bullets, your odd's will be one in five of eating the live round.

Proper OSA treatment basically adds more holes to the cylinder, improving your odd's of survival. The better you make your treatment, the more likely to have a improved outcome.

Some repair for past damage gives some of us a feeling of rejuvenation, but sometimes so much damage has been done, we don't get back to where we want to, and of course Time keeps adding more problems to our health. Jim

Robert - now is SO not the time for that kind of a link in this particular thread or process! We're desperately trying to keep Enchanter focused on starting Cpap without going off on a million other tangents and worrying about who knows what. I almost deleted your note, but of course didn't, it's just hugely the wrong time and place for it.. Maybe you haven't been following the whole Enchanter journey and only saw his note of today referencing the other stuff, but it would be a very good idea if you went back and took a look (there are a whole lot of threads on it).

Of this, there is no doubt. I have been on cpap every single night for 7 or 8 years now. 100% compliant because sleep is not possible without cpap. When I went for a sleep study in January, I still had an AHI of 80.

Even with treatment, you still have apnea. If you have apnea and you are not being treated then you will have breathing problems when you sleep.