Sleep Study Results

Hi, yesterday I went to my Sleep Study Specialist and asked some questions. I wanted to know if I indeed stopped breathing at night and sure enough the answer was YES. I was told that I stopped breathing 35 times per minute,
that is a frightening amount to me. Two things are going on with me, the first being that I stop breathing and the other
is that I am breathing very shallow pants.

Is this normal behavior with sleep apnea? I am really very worried that I might die in my sleep

Sleeping Beauty 3

SleepingBeauty3 wrote:Hi, yesterday I went to my Sleep Study Specialist and asked some questions. I wanted to know if I indeed stopped breathing at night and sure enough the answer was YES. I was told that I stopped breathing 35 times per minute,
that is a frightening amount to me. Two things are going on with me, the first being that I stop breathing and the other
is that I am breathing very shallow pants.

Is this normal behavior with sleep apnea? I am really very worried that I might die in my sleep

Sleeping Beauty 3

I think it was probably 35 times "per HOUR".....which would put you in the "Severe" category (30 being the beginning of that category). I don't think any of us breathe that fast for it to be "per minute".

Shallow breathing is not at all uncommon when we sleep.

By definition, Sleep Apnea means "cessation of breath".

Den

Den posted while I was still typing. I'll go on and submit my post, too.

SleepingBeauty3 wrote:Hi, yesterday I went to my Sleep Study Specialist and asked some questions. I wanted to know if I indeed stopped breathing at night and sure enough the answer was YES. I was told that I stopped breathing 35 times per minute,
that is a frightening amount to me.

He probably said 35 times per hour, not per minute. AHI is Apnea/Hypopnea Index... the average per hour. Which is still frightening. AHI of 35 lands you in the "severe" category.

SleepingBeauty3 wrote: Two things are going on with me, the first being that I stop breathing

That's an apnea.

SleepingBeauty3 wrote: and the other is that I am breathing very shallow pants.

He was probably describing hypopneas...still getting some air through, but throat collapsed partially. Sufficient air can't get through.

Or, about the "shallow pants", if he was not referring to hypopneas or talking about OHS (obesity hypoventilation syndrome).... if he was actually talking about your respiration in general while you're awake... could be many things. COPD, for example. But I'm betting he was talking about hypopneas...think of them as "baby apneas" but hypopneas can do as much sleep disruption and damage as full apneas.

SleepingBeauty3 wrote:Is this normal behavior with sleep apnea?

Apneas and hypopneas are what result in a sleep apnea diagnosis...yes.

SleepingBeauty3 wrote:I am really very worried that I might die in my sleep

It's good to be worried enough that when you receive a CPAP machine, you promise yourself you WILL use CPAP every night, every night, every sleeping moment, for the rest of your life. You're going to be ok. While waiting to get your CPAP, if you want to have as few apneas and hypopneas as possible, try to sleep on your side, not on your back. Or sleep with your upper body as upright as possible, like in a fairly upright recliner chair.

But hey, you've probably had Obstructive Sleep Apnea for years. It is a thing to take seriously, but instead of worrying if you're going to die in the night before you get a machine (unlikely), start thinking positive thoughts, like these:

"Wow...how good I found out about having sleep apnea, and that there's a simple 'leaf blower' treatment for it!"

"Boy, am I happy I found cpaptalk -- I can get all kinds of support, help, and tips from other CPAP users about how to make the treatment work comfortably! I'm not alone in this. Cool!"

"I'm sure glad that there'll be some time before I receive a machine. I want to thoroughly research on cpaptalk what kinds of machines do what, and be able to request a specific machine...not just ANY cpap machine."

"All this terminology and machine stuff is like Greek to me right now, but I'm going to spend every spare moment I can while I'm waiting for a machine, to dig into this message board and read as many posts as I can. I'm going to take notes about what I read about masks especially, 'cause I've heard that getting a mask that suits me is going to be more important than what machine I'm given." (The mask IS the key...it's the most important part of the treatment puzzle to get "right", so that you can do "cpap" well, and comfortably.)

Start your reading with the links Jules posted in her first post here:
viewtopic/t35702/Where-A-CPAP-Newbie-Should-Start.html

And dig into these:
ALL LINKS by rested gal
viewtopic.php?t=17435

Don't worry about what you don't understand yet. You can always ask questions. People here like to help, 'cause we all know how confusing it can be at the start. Still is! Still learning!