Frequent awakening (long)

So Tired,

Do you think maybe a pulmonologist that perhaps specializes in sleep disorders would be the right type of doctor to answer these questions? I am so upset you don't live on LI as I have an incredible one of those. I recommended him to someone on this site who went and saw him and told me that alone was a payback for all the help I've received from others here. He loved him. He even has his own sleep center on a top floor of his offices. He was recommended by an aunt of mine who used to send out critical care nurses and who I always go to when I need a recommendation. Perhaps you can find someone like that where you live who would have more knowledge than a RT/DME?

so tired
The fact a DME hasn't heard of something does not, in any way, mean in doesn't exist.
The fact that people on the net have mentioned something also does not mean it doesn't exist.

Runaway pressure is a phenomenon one can see on the software report - your pressure climbs to the upper limit and stays there. So, find a way of convincing your doctor to let you monitor your own therapy with the software - and learn how to do it. Remind you doctor of how diabetics monitor their own sugar level, and even decide on how much insuline to use.

The musculoskeletal pain, in reaction to breathing against pressure also exists. I use an auto, need low pressure most of the time, and sometimes it rises to 9. Since my muscles get no consistant training in breathing against the higher pressure, I can tell, when I wake up, by the soreness in my muscles, if I have spent a longer time on higher pressure.

Don't let anyone talk you out of using CPAP - "because your pressure is low".
1. Research has shown that the standard, one night sleep test can misdiagnose people with mild apnea, when in effect, on the next night they will be diagnosed as moderate apeneac. Here's the reference http://www.talkaboutsleep.com/sleep-dis ... ndard.htm/
2. People tend to wrongly associate the pressure needed with the severity of the disturbance. However, you may need a low pressure to open many obstructions.
3. The following is quoted from The American Heart Association:
"People with an irregular heart rhythm are more likely to have sleep apnea than other cardiology patients, according to a report in today’s rapid access issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.People with an irregular heart rhythm are more likely to have sleep apnea than other cardiology patients, according to a report in today’s rapid access issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. Click here for the full article

As Rested Gal has already told you - some self adjusting algorithms are not good for some people - you'll find excellent posts on the subject by WillSucceed.
Don't let the ignorance of your RT or DME discourage you from looking for the solution that will work for you.

Hang in there, come back to the forum with questions, search the net - there are many peer reviewed medical sources free for browsing.

Good luck
O.

Ozij,

Are you in the medial field or have you learned all that you know from research? You impress the **** out of me. Very intelligent advice all the time and so informed.

Lori,
I'm not in the medical field - I'm a voracious reader, and learn a lot from reading. The net has some great (and some dreadful) sources of info...
O.

A classic beautifully reasoned, clearly expressed ozij post!!! You are a wonder, ozij!! Copying that for future reference.

RG,

Is she not amazing? I thought perhaps she was in the medical field.

I swear, the two of you could open a sleep disorder clinic and probably do just as well, if not better, than the ones that are out there now. You are two of the most informed, and helpful, members on this site. I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say, "Thank you for all you always do."

O.

I'm back!!!!!!

I have been soooo sick with some unknown illness, vasculitis of both legs, low grade temp, nausea and more nausea, severe pulsating headache, and weight loss of 6 pounds in 8 days! (which I need!)


Ozji: Thanks for your comments. I realize very well that it means nothing that an RT/DME hasn't heard of something related to OSA. I also know that they are not up to date with stuff on the Internet. It just annoyed me with the guy's attitude. Also, no one has tried to talk me out of using CPAP just because I have a low pressure. I think you must have misunderstood me on that. BTW, I have had 3 sleep tests, and the first one said I had no sleep problem at all, mostly b/c I didn't sleep! I do appreciate the article from the Amer. Heart Assoc. Having multiple cardiac problems has made me more aware. I do not, however, have atrial fib. which the article referenced. I have read that up to 50% of people with CHF have sleep disordered breathing, most of them undiagnosed. We need to educate the doctors a little more!

Trust me, I will get to the bottom of this, and won't give up! (although it is tempting!)

Sleepless: My pulmonologist does have sleep training although he is not board certified in that one yet. They run their own sleep lab and it is a thousand times better than the first one I went to. One of the other docs in the group will soon be board certified in sleep medicine so maybe I can pick his brain. Also, it sounds like the arrhythmia you had was supraventricular tachycardia. There are a number of types of that though, but I'm glad you are cured now! Hey, and don't worry about being verbose!

RG: I DID feel like the pressure was blasting way too much air! Although, it may have been only around 10 b/c anything over 5 seems like a lot!! We will see!

UPDATE: OK, after 3 nights on the autopap I went back to the straight 5 cm. The chest pain/soreness went away right off the bat! I am sure it was from the CPAP. I called the sleep center gal and she agreed that it could be from the CPAP....at least she had heard of it! I talked her into changing the pressures to 4-10. She called the DME on Tues. and I heard nothing at all from them, til I got a new smart card in the mail on Thurs., requesting that I change it and send back the original one.

Here's the odd thing: on the new settings I check and see what the pressure is every time I wake up, which is still a LOT. As long as the Breeze isn't leaking, almost every time I looked it said FOUR!! That would mean that I don't even need the CPAP, I think. Give me a break!

Basic question here....if the Breeze is leaking, does the machine keep elevating the pressure?? How does it know when to stop, or does it?? I feel like I am being blasted out of the room then. And why would it leak one night a lot and not the next, when nothing has been changed on it at al?? I do the same routine every night with washing the pillows and double checking the adjustments. Why oh why??

And, if the machine keeps raising the pressure due to leaks, will they know that when the data is downloaded, or will they think I actually need a pressure of 9 or 10??

Ok, next item!!! Is it possible that I have this alpha intrusion that someone mentioned?? Maybe that is why I keep waking. I checked my sleep report and I saw nothing related to any EEG info except the REM versus non REM sleep. How can they tell if you have it??

Just please please please let me go back to the nasal cannula and my O2!!!

Hey, can anyone give me a little help with the above questions?? I will be eternally grateful!

Margaret

Margaret, are you referring to the question about the leaks? If so, perhaps you are mouth breathing on some nights and not on others, which would explain the leaks some nights and not others? Maybe the high leak numbers are not due to the Breeze leaking necessarily but you "leaking" from your mouth. Do you know the mask is leaking or are you assuming from what the pressure is when you look at the display? If you are on a nasal pillow interface, you could try taping your mouth and see if it leaks as much. If you're referring to if the DME will know if the pressure raising was due to a leak or you just needing higher pressure, they should be able to look at the graphs on the software and correlate the times the leaks took place to when your pressure rose, I would believe. That should indicate to them why your pressure went up, because there were excessive leaks going on. I would imagine the machine would raise the pressure due to leakage, whether it be from you or the mask. I'm not a hundred percent sure, though. I don't think there would be a way for them to tell if the leaks were due to mouth breathing or faulty hoses or leaky masks, but they can tell, I BELIEVE, if the leaks were at the same times as the pressure increased, whether or not pressure is adjusted and caused to rise due to leaks.

As far as your question on the alpha intrusion, I have no clue on that. Never heard of it. Where is Ozij??? She seems like someone who could answer that question. Maybe PM her? I am so not the scientific one. I'm not even sure if I answered the first one right about the leaks. I just used common sense and my familiarity with the software.

Let me know what you find out. Now I'm curious...

PS: Yes, supraventricular tachycardia I believe was the term I blocked out of my head. Thanks.