CPAP usage & testing

I was recently diagnosed with moderate sleep apnea after a take-home sleep test.
I am seeing the pulmonologist later today and I am nervous. Will I have to do another sleep test in a clinic?
If I am put on a CPAP, is it something I can use a few nights a week, or does it have to be every night?
I'm a 35 year old female, I'm not overweight, don't have my tonsils - Are there any lifestyle changes I can make that would mean I could go w/o the CPAP?

tootired wrote:I was recently diagnosed with moderate sleep apnea after a take-home sleep test.
I am seeing the pulmonologist later today and I am nervous. Will I have to do another sleep test in a clinic?
If I am put on a CPAP, is it something I can use a few nights a week, or does it have to be every night?
I'm a 35 year old female, I'm not overweight, don't have my tonsils - Are there any lifestyle changes I can make that would mean I could go w/o the CPAP?

Consider yourself lucky that they caught it now, rather than in another 15 or 20 years......when it could have been much worse.

It'll be a slight lifestyle change, but keep a positive attitude. Most of us, after a short period determined we can't sleep with out it. At least, you only have to wear it when you're "sleeping".

Don't panic. Take it a step at a time. Do lots or reading about it and the therapy. Go up near the top of the page and click on the yellow lightbulb "Our Collective Wisdom" and do lots or reading.

Den

tootired wrote:I was recently diagnosed with moderate sleep apnea after a take-home sleep test.
I am seeing the pulmonologist later today and I am nervous. Will I have to do another sleep test in a clinic?

You will probably have a sleep test in a lab to determine the pressure that is needed to stop any disordered breathing.

tootired wrote:If I am put on a CPAP, is it something I can use a few nights a week, or does it have to be every night?

It is an every night kind of thing.

tootired wrote: I'm a 35 year old female, I'm not overweight, don't have my tonsils - Are there any lifestyle changes I can make that would mean I could go w/o the CPAP?

That is something to discuss with your doctor. CPAP, although usually the most effective, is not the only therapy for moderate sleep apnea.

If you do need CPAP, there are a lot of tips to help change this therapy from a "have" to to a "want" to. You will find an incredible amount of information in the Collective Wisdom, as already suggested, and in the CPAP FAQs (the red ball at the top of the forum).

Good luck,
Susan

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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): CPAP