CPAPtalk.com

tudorman wrote:AutoPAP is NOT for everybody, I strongly advise against "demanding" it. Straight CPAP works better for many people. I used to use auto and would often wake myself up snoring. The machine doesn't always respond quickly enough to take care of events. I am doing much better on a straight pressure of 14.

And you weren't able to set your APAP to function as a CPAP.

The better trick would be to set your CPAP as a APAP if you want too.

That's why everyone needs a APAP, Then there's the Software and data that can be used with a higher end machine. It's all about treatment options. Jim

Set her up with a medium Mirage Micro I don't use and set it to apap at 5-14. She used it for 1:38 and said she thinks she slept a little. Resscan says 0 AI, 12.6 HI & 12.6 AHI. Leak rate was .12-.18 and pressure was 10.2, 10.4 & 10.8. I do not put much stock in the AHI numbers with such a short time, but at least she will be prepared for what goes on at the sleep study next week. Looks she will be lucky like me if she needs to go on the hose, no problems getting used to it, just strap it on and go to sleep.
I REALLY hope she does not need treatment as dragging one xpap around the world on vacations is enough!

Im new to OSA myself and have gotten a lot of help from here so often I don't respond, but I noticed in one response an Excedrin PM was recommended just before the test. My study was 6 months ago and 2 other other people I am acquainted with just recently had studies. We were all told to not take any meds, even across the counter unless it was absolutely necessary ..we were advised to check with our physicians to see if there would be a problem missing a dose. THings like a sleep aid were absolutely a no no..but maybe it varies from sleep clinic to sleep clinic...just something you might check on.

I think it would be a great idea to let your wife get a preview of this experience.

I actually got my machine about 3 weeks before my sleep study. So when I actually got to the sleep lab, my own mask was used during the titration.This made the night much more bearable.

This was a much more successful night that it was for 2 people I know who just got up and left when the mask was strapped on. Maybe, if they had not been so caught off guard, they would be getting the sleep that they need.

Jane

illinigal wrote:Im new to OSA myself and have gotten a lot of help from here so often I don't respond, but I noticed in one response an Excedrin PM was recommended just before the test. My study was 6 months ago and 2 other other people I am acquainted with just recently had studies. We were all told to not take any meds, even across the counter unless it was absolutely necessary ..we were advised to check with our physicians to see if there would be a problem missing a dose. THings like a sleep aid were absolutely a no no..but maybe it varies from sleep clinic to sleep clinic...just something you might check on.

They like it if you don't take anything, but a PSG should be like a typical night at home to capture those results, during the PSG the MOST important thing you can do is SLEEP, being in a strange place, not in your own bed, having a dozen more wires connected to you can create a lot of anxiety and yet you are expected to sleep.

don't sleep no test data, that means you have to return for another night at the lab with additional cost. If that happens doctor will most likely prescribe Ambien so you can get to sleep.

So what is the difference? Ambien carries a lot more side effects than ExcedrinPM or Unisom. One shouldn't probably take drugs that contain Pseudoephedrine which is known to cause problems with your sleep architecture during a study. But there is no evidence that the ingredients in Unisom (same as ExcedrinPM without the acetaminophen) changes anything on your PSG.

a sleep aid may throw off the latency to sleep parameter but, you already know you are fatigued or you wouldn't be there.

Study #1 Tech said she did not need treatment. When she had the followup with the doc he said "you sure do need treatment!".
Study #2 last night in an area of Pasadena, CA that shuts down at night. Dark street, buzzed into underground parking lot, deserted medical building, gee this has to be conducive to getting a restful nights sleep! Next meeting with sleep doc is 10-13 because he is full and us being in Wyoming for 10 days. Broke out my 5-1/2 year old Resperionics bi-pap pro for myself, and have set her up with my Resmed S8 Vantage. Set to 7-14 this afternoon for a nap she showed 95% at 10.5. Going to set it up tonight a 8-14 and see what the software says tomorrow AM.
Going to be one surprised doctor on the 13th when she walks in with a fist full of reports and " twenty seven eight-by-ten color glossy photographs with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each one was for".
To be continued . . .

...moving away from him on the bench.

tudorman wrote:AutoPAP is NOT for everybody, I strongly advise against "demanding" it. Straight CPAP works better for many people. I used to use auto and would often wake myself up snoring. The machine doesn't always respond quickly enough to take care of events. I am doing much better on a straight pressure of 14.

"Back in the day we used straight CPAP. None of this smarmy Auto stuff. We went to school in three feet of snow five miles uphill both ways. And we liked it. We used a pair of pliers to pull our teeth and lanced our pyorrhea with a safety pin. And we liked it. We were tough." (Paraphrasing from something I remember on SNL years ago...)

Way to go Hobbs! Good luck at your wife's sleep doc appointment.

My answer is "no".
I will defer you to an expert outside of the forum http://www.yourlunghealth.org/dr_tom/
These are her lungs you are toying with.

Strapparatus wrote:My answer is "no".
I will defer you to an expert outside of the forum http://www.yourlunghealth.org/dr_tom/
These are her lungs you are toying with.

Well Dr. Tom must know. Last update to the sleep apnea page was March 22, 2005!
Like I have said before, I self medicated in the 60's and I see no reasonn stop now.

If she is up for it I would let her try it. I wish I could have tried before my sleep study. If your really good and really creative hook up a bunch of wires to her too so she gets the full effect. LOL. Seriously let her give it a try it's not mettlesome it's marriage. Good luck Don

DreamDiver wrote:

tudorman wrote:AutoPAP is NOT for everybody, I strongly advise against "demanding" it. Straight CPAP works better for many people. I used to use auto and would often wake myself up snoring. The machine doesn't always respond quickly enough to take care of events. I am doing much better on a straight pressure of 14.

"Back in the day we used straight CPAP. None of this smarmy Auto stuff. We went to school in three feet of snow five miles uphill both ways. And we liked it. We used a pair of pliers to pull our teeth and lanced our pyorrhea with a safety pin. And we liked it. We were tough." (Paraphrasing from something I remember on SNL years ago...)

Way to go Hobbs! Good luck at your wife's sleep doc appointment.

And we rode in the back of pick-up trucks, by the tailgate standing up, on washboard roads, while dad was driving drunkm and fighting with mom in the front seat for the whisky bottle. "Those were the good times". Jim

Strapparatus wrote:My answer is "no".
I will defer you to an expert outside of the forum http://www.yourlunghealth.org/dr_tom/
These are her lungs you are toying with.

From that link you posted, I found this particular Q & A interesting. The part I've highlighted in bold print sort of fits in with many of the stories we hear from the posters coming here......about the sleep medicine field.

Den

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Disgusted With Medical Care
Q. Is it serious if your chest x-rays and CT scan always come back with other things but always that my lower left lung is atelectasis? Is this serious if I continued to have pneumonia six times in that last three years?

I can't work. I cough severely especially at night which keeps me up and keeps my immune system down. I catch everything that I come in contact with not to mention the frustration I feel trying to find a doctor, specialist, ENT etc. that cares enough to help research and find out what it wrong with me.

What has happened to the medical field? It seems they only care about running you through like cattle and giving you the same medication that hasn't worked before and the most important your money? What ever happened to trying to really find out what is wrong with a patient that has red flags going up everywhere?

I find it very sad that they really don't care. If your problem is complicated they don't want to deal with you like a human being; they want to get rid of you because they really don't want to spend time trying to figure out with people who may have a difficult diagnosis.
Lisa

A. Dear Lisa,
Medical care is in a sad state of affairs today. You need a good pulmonologist to get the answer and start effective treatment. Consider coming to the National Jewish Health Center in Denver. You would get an answer there. Never give up.
Dr. Tom