Hello...

Just been diagnosed (yesterday) with severe obstructive sleep apnea. Sleep study was in May, results received late last month. I only slept for two hours, and my SpO2 dropped as low as 78% (average during sleep was 8% desaturation (90%) and 98% awake baseline). AHI total was 119/hr, average apnoes/hypopnose was 17 sec, and max was hyp was 37 sec.

It's a combination of obstructive and central, I had 17 Central Apnoea, 52 obstructive, 7 mixed, and 41 hypopnea per hour in NREM (no REM), pulse was averaging around 98 in sleep and hit 128 in waking (I woke up pumping with adrenaline).

Specialist said it was one of the worst cases she's seen and I'm pretty lucky to be alive and kicking...

It occurs to me that it's most likely that I've had this since birth, as I have always had a fear of sleep, and remember sleep paralysis and pins & needles on waking up every morning when I was very young and wasn't overweight - prelim research suggests this is associated with very very low SpO2 levels? I'm now 27, Male, 108KG... and probably have a bunch of different causes for the same symptoms.

Next step is another sleep study with a CPAP machine, and this will be next week. Machine options are Resmed, Philips, and Fisher & Paykel. This will all be out of pocket as my health insurance (Medibank Australia are awful) and the government health programmes both won't cover it for some reason. Pretty poor IMO. If there are any aussies with tips on this would be appreciated.

So anyway, thought I'd say hi, and start getting into researching how to improve my sleep, and ask if my case is really that severe (just diagnosed yesterday so still researching), and ask if there is any advice, stories, tips, articles I should know about... Currently going through table of contents thread and videos, learning about all this sort of stuff.

Oh, and seems to me like a SpO2 monitor of some sort would be a definite requirement, should I just go ahead and order one now?

Hi
My original sleep study was done in a somewhat similar fashion and similar results some 10 years (or more) ago
Got rid of my morning headaches overnight (Dad joke)
(Original supplier was the wife of the specialist and I started with a Resmed machine and Phillips mask)
After the Dr retired I now visit a local chemist who supplies my Phillips Respironics (PR) machine and they have done all of the fitting of PR masks etc at no cost, with trials of various masks.
Of course I liked the PR machine and stuck with them, and am now on my second machine (they can wear out eventually)
The other local chemist in town supplies Resmed and work in a similar fashion
Both were offering free sleep studies at one stage so it might be worthwhile checking out your local chemist for assistance too.

One more thing I have noticed
My apnoeas reduce as my weight goes down. I got down from 99.9 to 85.2 but am currently about 88.5
My "tipping point" seems to be about 86 so I have a bit of work to put in (been eating all the wrong stuff lately, too much sugar)

We have some aussies that will chime in. don't rush the oximeter, I have one and used it about 5 times. When the CPAP fixes the apneas (you can tell that with software) the O2 levels will be fine. Read up on the different types of machines and what they are used for, focus on APAP and ASV machines for centrals. More experienced people than I will chime in on your apnea counts and what it may mean.

Leave yourself options, this is not a take it home, plug it in , and all is fine type of thing. Different machines, different masks, lots of settings

Thanks Penngwyne (love the name, is that a Cumberbatch reference?), will check into local chemists and suppliers. Getting some good local advice along the same lines from family and friends (which I may share once I validate it)... Good to hear an "overnight" success story! I am working on the weight loss thing. Lost 5KG in the past 4 weeks on a new diet, and it has had some minor impact on my sleep. Hopefully continued weight loss will continue to help - got quite a lot I could stand to loose.

PoolQ, great, I'll skip it. Apparently it's built into the Samsung Galaxy S6, FWIW. Will take my time getting everything set up right.

I would not dismiss the O2 monitor so quickly. We all are different.
My sleep study AHI was only 84 and my O2 only dipped to the mid 80s.
I discovered after I got a wrist mounted recording oximiter, a Contec CMS 50i, that I required supplemental oxygen of 3 liters to maintain O2 seats above 90%.
I used the oximiter frequently at first but now only an occasional spot check.
I am a bit of a techie and prefer to manage my own therapy. I often tell my doctors what problems I have and how I have solved them. I know far more about apnea than my primary doctor and haven't found a sleep doctor I like who is available to me through my insurance.