Just got Diagnosed need some advice

Hi,

A little background, I have for the past few month been having trouble with my back of my throat when I lie down. When I am awake and lying down I feel like my throat is closing and I cant swallow, it is also feels very scratchy with every breath I take. The only thing that lets me swallow is by drinking water. I go through about 3 bottles of water a night.

I have also been having chest pain and shortness of breath. I am 32, 5'10 and 190 lbs. I normally don't go to the Doctor but my throat has been bothering me soo much when I swallow I have not been getting any sleep. They discovered that I had Streph throat gave me meds and I was good. About 5 days after my throat pain came back (only when lying down) and I was not sleeping and the doc gave me antibiotics again and I was good until they wore off. The doc had me tests for asthma which was negative. He also thought I had Algeries and prescribed zertec. He put in for a sleep study for me but he highly doubted I had sleep apnea (I actually had to for it). I don't snore much, my girlfriend never hears me gasping for air (her dad has sleep apnea and she know what it sounds like) I do have a severely deviated septum but I breath through my nose when I sleep, I think I get about 70% of the air i should. My left sinus also has a pollup the size of the sinus entire cavity.

I am not tired when I wake up, nor waking up from episodes of sleep apnea, I have a resmed s plus sleep tracker. My main problem is I cant fall asleep, once i lye down my throat gets dry and i cant sleep so I sit back up again. I seem to suffer for insomnia. But once I get to sleep, about 5 hours later I am good without any problems.

The ENT said through a phone interview that he thinks I have GERD and its just acid coming back when I lye down. I have been taking prilosec for the past two weeks and it has not changed anything.

So Fast forward....thanks for sticking with me...

I took the sleep study, it was a take home nox-t3 system. I put it on at midnight but could not go to sleep till 4am. I then awoke at 8am and thought that i totally failed the test because i didn't sleep long enough they stated min is 6 hours.

I got a call from the clinic saying I tested positive for moderate sleep apnea and they gave me a number of 8.4....dont know what that is. I really dont buy that I have sleep apena. I think its more of my throat problem or my nose which is very obstructed. They want to give me a cpap machine for 4 days and have me bring it back in a triation study. I really nervous that I am getting missed diagnosed, as even if I had the mask on, I still have to drink water ever 5-15 minutes for a few hours before finally going to bed.

Will the triations period show if I really have sleep apnea or will it just adjust automatically for me and not test if I have episodes. Also if I dont do well on the cpap (I am a very light sleeper) with the doctor suspend my drivers license because I cant do the treatment?

Thanks for reading this long post, I'm just nervous and don't know anything about this, I really don't think I have it but I am sure the small amount of data they got did not lie.

Welcome. I, too had no symptoms. None, zilch, nada. Well, except for a new onset of atrial fibrillation. When I went to the sleep lab, I a fit runner, cyclist, on-top-of-the-world type of guy, they determined that I had severe sleep apnea. Cardiologist says to me, "Well, I guess we know why you have AFib!"

There is nothing to fear except fear keeping you from dealing objectively and assertively with new and pretty-darned-irrefutable information. The sleep lab is painless. The results may not be. Accept them and do something constructive about them if...IF...they are not in your favour. I had to, so did mos' everyone here, and you should if you desire to go to your grandkids' weddings. It can't be more stark and blunt than that.

It'll be a time for adjusting to new reality. After a few weeks, it all falls into place and your life resumes apace. You'll have some hiccups, need tweaking for your treatment, but almost all of us get 'dialed-in' with some help and good will from the experts here.

Don't fret. Learn stuff and make informed choices once you have some hard facts.

Hi, thanks for the support! what exactly does the 4 day take home cpap do? Willl that show if I have any events or not or does that just adjust the air flow for me? you really dont get a doctor in this its just group settings for all the stuff they give you. Is 8.4 really that moderate? According to the sheet they gave me it is classified as mild. Thanks for your quick response.

Hello and welcome to the forum,

I would follow up on your GERD problem too, as left untreated GERD can lead to esophogeal cancer. Prescribed Prilosec comes in different strengths and you can take it multiple times per day. So if it isn't working for you yet, check back with your doctor.

If Prilosec does not work for you, there are other meds to try.
Docs like to start you on an OTC before breaking out the strong stuff.
If your symptoms continue, keep nagging the doc.

For heaven's sake, stop scaring the heck out of newbies! Millions of people have GERD and don't get cancer (my father had GE ca. so I know it well)! Though many people with apnea do have GERD.

Your score of 8.4 puts you at the borderline for having apnea (not 'apena') but if you mostly slept on your back for the test that could easily account for the score at all and side sleeping could give you a lower score... one not needing a Cpap machine (but please don't assume this), so you should definitely get your study results from your doctor (yours by law) and put some of them here - they should say what position you slept in most of the time - and we'll see what's what and if we think you need to get a machine and which one, what pressure settings might be needed, etc. etc. Your throat symptoms do sound 'Gerdy', and if an ENT doctor has had a look might confirm that.

The fact though that you need so much water is a bit of a concern regardless - do you also drink lots during the day? And use the bathroom a lot? Those two symptoms (taking your throat into acct) often go with early diabetes, and if you haven't been tested, it might be something to mention to your GP.

Until we see more from your study we can't say a lot more so come back to this thread with results. Btw, the titration (not triation) study usually is to assess what Cpap machine pressures you need - once you've been diagnosed at a first study, which you sort of were.

Anyhow... will wait til you get back.

cpap626 wrote: ↑

Sat Mar 03, 2018 8:53 pm

Also if I dont do well on the cpap (I am a very light sleeper) with the doctor suspend my drivers license because I cant do the treatment?

Thanks for reading this long post, I'm just nervous and don't know anything about this, I really don't think I have it but I am sure the small amount of data they got did not lie.

I would give CPAP a try for 2 months and see if it makes a difference for you. Ask tons of questions and research the heck out of everything so you have nothing left to fear or be nervous about.

You came to the right place for help. Make sure whatever machine you get is full data capable and download sleepyhead and let the great people here help you.

Julie wrote: ↑

Sat Mar 03, 2018 10:14 pm

For heaven's sake, stop scaring the heck out of newbies! Millions of people have GERD and don't get cancer (my father had GE ca. so I know it well)! Though many people with apnea do have GERD. ...

It is not my intent to scare anyone, Julie. It was a motivating factor, however, in getting my own GERD under control.

Thanks Julie for the encouragement, I was first nervous about the SA now I have to think about cancer.... I'm going to make an appt with the ent, last time it was just a phone visit and he said it sounded like classic gerd but 20 mg of prilosec twice a day has not made a difference at all after 2 weeks. When he said it was acid re flux, it all made since when lie down it would almost immediately happen. 2 primary card doctors didn't even think about that lol.

I will ask for the test results because honestly I don't really believe it. With SA does it hit when you are still awake right when you hit the pillow. It sometimes feels like i just cannot swallow and I panic reaching for water. It almost feels like my uvula gets stuck back in my throat or something.

Its a very weird setting as everything is done in a group setting, your there with 30 other people for the classes. The first class they pretty much said lose weight to everyone. Everything is in a group setting and nobody really wants to ask any questions. I am just concerned that I really didn't get a good eval as I stayed up with it for about 4 hours and then went to sleep for about 3-4. looking at the nox software, which I don't have, it automatically scores the tests for you I think that is why I got my results in less than a day. I recently got a lipid panel done and im not dibetic which is good but my Vitamin D is very low and my colesteral is high. I really dont drink that much water during the day...only at night. I just feel like this throat thing and my severely deviated septum is throwing up some false signs of SA.

I dont have a doctor assigned to the sleep clinic its just a nurse who does everything and only hands out brochures. I am just worried that if I cant do the treatment with a cpap they will suspend my license, I know I need to be worried about my health but I need to pay my bills and keep my health insurance. Up until this year I never really had to go to the Doctor more than once a year or so for a cold.

Thanks everyone for talking to me and letting me know what to expect. It is really nice to know there are others who have gone through the same thing. Everything from how will I get married if I have to be on a cpap to if it dosent work will I lose my freedom to drive and support myself.

Prilosec didn't help me much but on a lark I picked up some Nexium and was pleasantly surprised to find it worked quite well.
It's a different chemical/drug.

There is a medication that is RX only called Dexilant...and it's very expensive and most insurance put it in a tier that makes it very costly....but I tried it also and it worked well. But the price made me go looking for the Nexium.

And I take 1/2 a small Tums before bed and have no trouble.

Will the cpap they give me to bring home for the 4 days log all the events of me not breathing like the sleep study or will it not log as many because there is pressure going in all the time. I am just curious after being diagnosed, if I have no symptoms when hooked up to the machine, if they will still want to prescribe it to me or will it not show any sleep apnea events because of the constant pressure.

cpap626 wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 04, 2018 9:06 pm

Will the cpap they give me to bring home for the 4 days log all the events of me not breathing like the sleep study or will it not log as many because there is pressure going in all the time. I am just curious after being diagnosed, if I have no symptoms when hooked up to the machine, if they will still want to prescribe it to me or will it not show any sleep apnea events because of the constant pressure.

The machine logs certain breathing irregularities as an event. Since you are receiving treatment (pressure), you should have less OSA related events. If your AHI is less than 5 with treatment, your doctor will conclude that your OSA is being effectively treated.

However, the CPAP machine assumes you are asleep so it may falsely flag events when awake and tossing around since breathing is often irregular.

Generally speaking, diagnosis is prior to treatment.
If you are hoping to use your sleep machine results to confirm/refute diagnosis, it will take effort.

Don't forget that the machine treats OSA, doesn't cure it, and having a very low AHI on the machine means it's doing the job, and you should keep using it, not think you no longer have to - because symptoms will recur very quickly. Someone here compared it to wearing glasses - as long as you wear them you can see well... but take them off, and not so much.

Thanks for letting me know how it works. I honestly do not think it was a very good study as I was up for so long and only went to sleep for 3-4 hours. Now the sleep apnea is the first thing that goes on my medical record. I think the doctors are going to dismiss my recent (3 months ago) symptoms of chest pain and shortness of breath and say its the sleep apnea instead of checking my heart and lungs, it seems as when you are younger the doctors really do not listen to you. I really appreciate everyone's help, it has helped me alot!