Frustrated

I was diagnosed with a mild case of sleep apnea last year. By the results of the sleep study, I'm at the upper end of the "mild" range (14.5). Having been in a stable long term relationship at that time, I was in a position to hear the gripes about snoring, but she said it wasn't overly bad and she works in health-care, so she's familiar with apnea.

The background info: I'm 40, and I haven't had a restful night's sleep in almost 20 years, and that was just a one-time deal. This has been a constant throughout several jobs, from office worker to police officer, regular hours to "work myself to death" hours. I'm on a set evening shift now, I do work extra jobs after that, but not every night and I'm trying to cut back on it to a minimum of disruption. I'm 6'4" and about 210-215. Not as fit as I should be, but I do work out occasionally and I have no problem with Departmental requirements for running, situps, pushups, etc. I'm trying to add more of the exercise to my schedule, but when you're always physically tired, the motivation is hard to find.

I tried sleeping pills, the CPAP (set at 6.5, as I recall. I never changed it from what the sleep center recommended as "best"), acupuncture and herbal remedies. I take vitamin supplements and try to watch what I eat. The sleep study led me to the CPAP, but even when I don't pull it off my sleep, I wake up as tired as I do when I don't use it. I gave it over a month to see if there was an adjustment period and saw no improvement, though I've been told I stay still when I use it. Nonetheless, I'm seeing nothing that helps me commit to strapping in every night. I have started using a sleep mask, to see if that helps, but I occasionally pull that off with the CPAP mask.

I don't want to get my soft palate Roto-Rootered, but I'm wondering what options I have left. Help!

HI there,
well gosh, I would be frustrated too..

not getting any results like you should... but thats the problem YOU have no idea why it wasnt working do you?


so.... the best thing to do is to get all your ducks in a row.. get a copy of your sleep study the five to eight page summary..

start reading the cpap wiki and the terms up there on the top of the page..

and fill out your profile so we know what type of machine you have.. it could be you had the wrong pressure, so that would be useless..
A lot of us now are getting auto machines, which automatically go to the right pressure..

It would be best if you had a therapy data capable machine, I wonder what you got stuck with?

This therapy can be easy or difficult, but its impossible to make it work if you dont know why you werent getting results..

What information can you get off your machine? does it give you your events and leak rate every morning?

You landed in the right place to get this all fixed... so hang on, and start gathering all your information so these very experienced folks can
steer you in the right direction.. I bet you cant wait to feel good again, and have a ton of energy!

Thanks.

I'll have to get with my doctor on the report. I got the brief, he got the report. I just updated the equipment profile, time to dig out the manuals again...

And I did two nights at the sleep center - 1 with titration, one without. The CPAP is set to the pressure they recommended, with a gradual "ramp-up" from a low setting.

Those more familiar with your machine will be by soon to offer help, but I seem to think the Vantage (now no longer available) is not a data capable machine other than compliance data. It is important to be able to see the detailed data of your night's activity. With a fully data capable machine and the software, you can take control of your own therapy and monitor your nightly outcomes. If you are indeed using a machine set to 6.5 and have a ramp as well...that is probably set to start at 4 for a number of minutes. Those are both very low pressure settings and I imagine difficult to breathe with. My sleep study results showed me to be in the low end of moderate...only a couple of notches above your results. I was titrated at 8, but using my auto machine, I have it set for 7-10 now. I started out at 6-10, but using my data, I could see that I needed to tweak it a bit to eliminate some snores and events..... two days at the new settings have made a huge difference. So, you can see that just adjusting your pressure a tiny bit can have big results.

You have landed in the right place... you will find that the folks here are amazingly knowledgable and helpful. I am a newbie....only a month into my therapy, and I was fortunate to find this forum before I started. Read, read, read.... and ask questions. Best of luck to you and keep up posted.

I've sent you a PM with information on how to get the software that displays the data from your machine's card.

You'll need a Windows PC, and an S8-style smart card reader. They are harder to get than they used to be, but they are out there.

Analyzing your data (you'll get plenty of help here) might just help you get a handle on your situation.

The S8 AutoSet Vantage is the predecessor to the S8 AutoSet II. It is fully data capable.

Thanks

If you don't have instructions to access the hidden Clinical Menu for your machine, send me a PM with an email address and I can send information on for the S8 AutoSet II. The menus should be very close to the S8 AutoSet Vantage.