OSA have increased significantly in very short time-Cause?

Justin,

That's what some of us were wondering. But only a good sleep study will be able to show that.

(I just read your next post, too.)

Good! I hope they find a reason for what you're experiencing.

Take care.

Den

Wow, I wasnt able to see a doctor today at the walk-in clinic after work because there was a 2 hour wait and the office had maxxed out on patients already waiting.

Last night, I had straight CPAP @ 12cm and I had several arousals and some PLM as well as some swallowing of air. OA was 9.2 and HI was 1.7. First time I had the PLM since I was off the anti-anxiety med that brings on PLM.

Justin,

Thanks for the update. Those numbers (total) sound about where they were from the other report, only the OAs are a little higher and the HIs are a little lower..

Later,

Den

[quote="Justin_Case"]Wow, I wasnt able to see a doctor today at the walk-in clinic after work because there was a 2 hour wait and the office had maxxed out on patients already waiting.

Last night, I had straight CPAP @ 12cm and I had several arousals and some PLM as well as some swallowing of air. OA was 9.2 and HI was 1.7. First time I had the PLM since I was off the anti-anxiety med that brings on PLM.

Thanks Snoredog.

I just came back from seeing a doc at the walk-in clinic. After checking my heart out and a few other things, he said that because of my age, weight, and fit level that I should not be concerned with getting any TIA or stroke. But, I told him about my numbers and likely saturation levels. He said, I shouldnt be concerned. He feels that the tingling is to do with the muscle spasms and pain in the right arm. Gotta love those doctors!! BTW, he said I should wait and see what the sleep doc has to say. He feels that my high numbers could have a lot to do with my CPAP machine and even the settings. My blood pressure was up though: 145/90.

I left a message with my GP today, he hasnt called me back. My DME hasngt even responded with all the data I sent him....and he's a good guy!!. I really HATE this. The medical profession dismiss people at NOT being at risk just by stereotyping them. Well, heck, I have sleep apnea but I dont fit the profile of the typical person who has sleep apnea and we still do not know the origin of my sleep apnea. How many people dropped dead just because they were stereotyped? Arghh!!!!

My apneas were second highest last night. Total time spent in apnea was over 1500seconds. AHI of 16 @12cm. Oddly, I didnt feel too bad this morning. I was a little sweatty but not as much as the night before....

I dunno...my senior mom has been saying to me that I should go see her doctor. Maybe I should go back to my roots and listen to what my mom says, despite the fact that she is a little senile. [/b]

Thanks birdshell. I liked the doc I saw today, but still he is not thorough. For me, a good doctor is one who is willing to refer you to a specialist without hesitation and take it up a notch by going the above the usual blood test protocol. I dont know, perhaps the doctors where I live are reluctant to do so because we have a state/provincial medical plan.

I consider my 145/90 bp to be high, very high....my usual has been 140/85 and I wasnt terribly anxious or anything. I recall my former doc that 130/70-75 is normal for my age.

I recall about 10+ years ago, my family GP at the time said that my bp is likely hereditary. Of course, I had [undiagnosed] sleep apnea at the time and he would NEVER have tested me or assume that I would have it. In fact, most people who see me are very surpised to hear that I have OSA when I tell them.

The GP tonight said I am fit and healthy, except for my high bp and my current situation with neck, shoulder pain...boy, I sure fooled him and most other doctors.

Perhaps I should try to find a doctor that takes new patients who has a grudge with the current medical system and isn't afraid to have someone go through a battery of tests and then refer to an an internist...heck, even my sleep doc didnt think i had any sleep issues. He said I have anxiety, until the results of the overnight sleep study came in....again, he's [the expert] but the expert was wrong.

Looks like the medical profession is failing me and will likely kill me. I just dunno what to do....

It's been almost a week, Justin. How are you doing?

O.

ozij wrote:It's been almost a week, Justin. How are you doing?

O.

Thanks everyone....I am beginning to REALLY HATE doctors. However, on the positive side, I am doing a bit better with my apnea and shoulder pain. I am not seeing a chiropractor anymore. I think there is some connection.

I went to see my registered/recognized sleep doctor yesterday. I presented to him my stats and charts. He did NOT want to see them....he did NOT see them. He dismissed them as "garbage in, garbage out". He won't look at them at all. His argument is that the APAP machines and software technology are very poor in controling apnea. He says straight CPAP is best and one has to be titrated. He advised me to change my pressures too.

The lab, our lab here uses Respironics equipment. They dont even use the same software as the machines. He added that it takes the sleep techs several hours to interrpret the charts and graphs. He further added that I should NOT micromanage my apnea.

He further frustrated the heluva out of me by saying my overall anxiety is NOT related to my lack of sleep and the lack of treatment. BTW, he is an internist as well!

I tried to tell him that ok, if the software data is skewed that's fine, I can maybe accept that, but the numbers went through the roof since my shoulder and neck pain. He said, one has nothing to do with the other and again, the machine is not smart enough so it doesnt matter what the machine's data says. Argh!!! (and some u wonder why my anxiety is getting worse?)

As far as the cause of my apneas, he stated that he sees a lot of asians who are not heavy in the neck or body. In my case, that's the same. It's my lower jaw he says, it's a little smaller than average. He says that if I had sinus or nasal problems that won't cause obstruction in my airways. I then proceeded to mention central apneas. He says my machine wont pick that up and there was no indication of them previously so I likely cant have any.

I have a sleep study (PSG) at the end of January. My GP doctor never bothered replying to my email or answering my call about getting referred to a cardiologist or neurologist because of the tingling in my arm.

Justin_Case wrote:

ozij wrote:It's been almost a week, Justin. How are you doing?

O.

Thanks everyone....I am beginning to REALLY HATE doctors. However, on the positive side, I am doing a bit better with my apnea and shoulder pain. I am not seeing a chiropractor anymore. I think there is some connection.

I went to see my registered/recognized sleep doctor yesterday. I presented to him my stats and charts. He did NOT want to see them....he did NOT see them. He dismissed them as "garbage in, garbage out". He won't look at them at all. His argument is that the APAP machines and software technology are very poor in controling apnea. He says straight CPAP is best and one has to be titrated. He advised me to change my pressures too.

The lab, our lab here uses Respironics equipment. They dont even use the same software as the machines. He added that it takes the sleep techs several hours to interrpret the charts and graphs. He further added that I should NOT micromanage my apnea.

He further frustrated the heluva out of me by saying my overall anxiety is NOT related to my lack of sleep and the lack of treatment. BTW, he is an internist as well!

I tried to tell him that ok, if the software data is skewed that's fine, I can maybe accept that, but the numbers went through the roof since my shoulder and neck pain. He said, one has nothing to do with the other and again, the machine is not smart enough so it doesnt matter what the machine's data says. Argh!!! (and some u wonder why my anxiety is getting worse?)

As far as the cause of my apneas, he stated that he sees a lot of asians who are not heavy in the neck or body. In my case, that's the same. It's my lower jaw he says, it's a little smaller than average. He says that if I had sinus or nasal problems that won't cause obstruction in my airways. I then proceeded to mention central apneas. He says my machine wont pick that up and there was no indication of them previously so I likely cant have any.

I have a sleep study (PSG) at the end of January. My GP doctor never bothered replying to my email or answering my call about getting referred to a cardiologist or neurologist because of the tingling in my arm.

Justin,

Are there more doctors in your area to choose from? Sounds like you've got some real ummmm.... "winners" there. (being facetious)

My sleep doctor tried to say that my Encore Pro reports couldn't be right, too (because I had reprogrammed my machine to almost half the pressure he'd prescribed). I told him that even if I DOUBLED the numbers, I'd still have an AHI of around 3.0......which was well below the 5.0.
Obviously, these machine manufacturers wouldn't be selling these technologies if they were not coming close to detecting the events.

Good luck!

Den

Yeah, my sleep doc has got an attitude. My DME told me that a lot of his clients complain about my sleep doc's demeanure. My sleep doc is very opinionated and closed minded. My DME agrees with me that there must be something about or Medicare in our province that is causing our doctors not to want to refer their patients to specialists. I mean, WTF? How reactive is that? They want their patients to get a heart attack or stroke, or worse before they do something? Kinda reminds me of that song by Mark Knofler (Dire Straights) "Industrial Disease" where the doctor was happy to hear that his patients had this disease.

Snoredog, thanks but Aspirin is pretty hard on my gut, so that's not a good idea for me. What I am using as an alternative is Ester C (Buffered Vitamin C) which is also a blood thinner.

Justin--
I am new to cpap,have a still fairly high ahi,and a lot of neck and shoulder pain... all very similar to your situation last year. I was curious to know what you learned and how your treatment has gone. Thanks for your help. --Austin