How is it to be off the Machine temporarily?

I hate my ASV. But when I moved into my organist's house to dog sit, it was the first thing I packed. Someone else is feeding the dog and letting him out because I had a meeting. Tempting to sleep at home, but the 'pap is at his house, so I will be too. Moaning and groaning, but there with the 'pap.

After a few months on CPAPing my parameters improved a lot. I lost almost 15 lbs. My BMI droppd to 28, the AHI dropped to 2.4, the lowest O-2 was 89%, and my health regarding the Neuropathy has improved .

Are the AHI and O2 readings during a new PSG??? If so then congratulations! That's awesome.

Janknitz wrote:

After a few months on CPAPing my parameters improved a lot. I lost almost 15 lbs. My BMI dropped to 28, the AHI dropped to 2.4, the lowest O-2 was 89%, and my health regarding the Neuropathy has improved .

Are the AHI and O2 readings during a new PSG??? If so then congratulations! That's awesome.

Janet(?), NO, they were on the subsequent night when I did the CPAP titration. The previous data was from several nights before with NO CPAP. So I am inaccurate with my post above time wise. I don't have yet the S9 Elite machine to show those details. But I have a promise from my DME to carry the swap out. But first I am going to discuss the whole situation with the pneumatologist who originally checked my sleep study results. I plan to ask him, also, when could I expect to withdraw from the CPAP. Stay tuned.

I went to South Africa three years ago and didn't want to take my machine. I thought I would use Breathe Right strips instead. I also shared a room with a good girlfriend. Mistake! I snored and didn't sleep well. When I went to Texas this summer, I took the machine without the humidifier. Glad I did.

NightMonkey wrote:

mayondair wrote:A week???? After 30 mins I feel like garbage, if you like headaches, sweats etc, go without.

mayondair,

I am with you on this one. About an hour without the machine and I awaken (hopefully) in a heart-racing, brain-throbbing muddle of confusion and bad emotions.

BTW, Is that like "May on da air"?

No it's "mayo in da air" as in I fly small planes, something my hubby came up with while I was out turning money into smoke and noise one day. I'm also with you about the confusion and bad emotions, especially severe crankiness , nobody would want to be near me in that mood

I am most thankful to all for your comments and views. I have time to go into the pros and cons on this matter, before my departure. The note below is somewhat reassuring. Thanks to avi123

"Sleep. 2006 Apr 1;29(4):545-52.
Effects of short-term CPAP withdrawal on neurobehavioral performance in patients with obstructive sleep apnea.
Yang Q, Phillips CL, Melehan KL, Rogers NL, Seale JP, Grunstein RR.

Sleep and Circadian Research Group, Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, University of Sydney Australia, Sydney, Australia.
Abstract
STUDY OBJECTIVE: Changes in sleep parameters and neurobehavioral functioning were systematically investigated after an acute (1 night) and short-term (7 nights) period of withdrawal from continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment and 1 subsequent night of CPAP reintroduction in patients with obstructive sleep apnea.

DESIGN: Repeated-measurement within-subject design.

SETTING: Sleep laboratory, university teaching hospital.

PARTICIPANTS: Twenty participants receiving optimal CPAP therapy for > or = 12 months.

INTERVENTIONS: CPAP withdrawal.

MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: Polysomnograms were performed on Night 0 (with CPAP), Night 1 and Night 7 (without CPAP) and Night 8_R (with CPAP). Acute CPAP withdrawal resulted in the recurrence of sleep-disordered breathing with sleep disruption, hypoxemia, and increased subjective sleepiness. Short-term CPAP withdrawal exacerbated hypoxemia, increased subjective and objective sleepiness and poor mood ratings. Neurobehavioral functioning assessed using the Psychomotor Vigilance Task was impaired following Night 7 and associated with hypoxemia and changes in morning levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha. However, other neurobehavioral measures were not affected. Autonomic arousals measured via respiratory-related reductions in finger blood volume by peripheral arterial tonometry decreased from Night 1 to Night 7. On Night 8_R, reintroduction of CPAP treatment eliminated most airway obstruction, maintained oxygenation, and reversed daytime sleepiness and some vigilance decrements.

CONCLUSION: Despite recurrence of sleep-disordered breathing with increased sleepiness and impaired vigilance, most neurobehavioral variables were unaffected by CPAP withdrawal. The reduction in vigilance appeared to be associated with worsened hypoxemia and changed levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha. Resumption of CPAP treatment had immediate benefits on sleep consolidation and subjective sleepiness.

PMID: 16676788 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Publication Types, MeSH Terms, Substances

ardneham wrote: The note below is somewhat reassuring. .... Acute CPAP withdrawal resulted in the recurrence of sleep-disordered breathing with sleep disruption, hypoxemia, and increased subjective sleepiness. Short-term CPAP withdrawal exacerbated hypoxemia, increased subjective and objective sleepiness and poor mood ratings. Neurobehavioral functioning assessed using the Psychomotor Vigilance Task was impaired following Night 7 and associated with hypoxemia and changes in morning levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha. ....[/color]

Reassuring of what???

Reassuring that if you don't use your machine you will have a miserable one-week trip abroad???

Haven't been off of it for more than a night or three (when I was in the hospital) and I hated it.

I'm usually very compliant and I have to be extremely tired (I work 4pm to midnight M-F) not to put it on. If I don't comply, I pay the price the next day.

ardneham wrote:... Short-term CPAP withdrawal exacerbated hypoxemia, increased subjective and objective sleepiness and poor mood ratings. Neurobehavioral functioning assessed using the Psychomotor Vigilance Task was impaired following Night 7 and associated with hypoxemia and changes in morning levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha. However, other neurobehavioral measures were not affected. Autonomic arousals measured via respiratory-related reductions in finger blood volume by peripheral arterial tonometry decreased from Night 1 to Night 7. On Night 8_R, reintroduction of CPAP treatment eliminated most airway obstruction, maintained oxygenation, and reversed daytime sleepiness and some vigilance decrements...

Layperson's translation: A week off ain't gonna kill ya, but you will feel like cr*p, you'll be sleepy and have a crummy mood, as soon as you retart therapy you will feel better.

If it were me, I wouldn't take the trade off. Take the machine. Enjoy the trip. No reason to spend the money on travel and have a bad time.

Let's see now...

If you originally felt like crap, started xPAP and still feel like crap, I don't think taking some time off is going to be that drastic.

On the other hand, if you originally felt like crap, started xPAP and found a wonderful improvement, you will probably end up feeling like crap again depending on how long you are off xPAP therapy.

Another possibility is when you have little or no problems going into xPAP therapy, but are diagnosed with OSA during a sleep study. In this case you would see little change in using xPAP therapy, so stopping it would have little impact on how you feel.

The best bet is to not have an interruption in therapy, but if you do interrupt it for a short period of time, the actual results may depend upon where you are currently at in your therapy.