New patient seeking input

I'm newly diagnosed (last week) with obstructive sleep apnea. I wonder if the experienced users here would look at my test results, and give me their opinion. A scan of the results is below.

I'm a 52 year old male, I exercise regularly, and I'm not overweight (6' tall, ~ 160 lbs)

Thanks in advance!

Dan

I'm no pro at reading reports. Was this your titration?

I'm absolutely no pro, but here goes - it's all a learning process. I'm sure someone will kick in here and correct me or help us understand it better - here's what I see:

-You had 5.6 hrs sleep so that's good - enough time for them to gather data.
-Your obstructive apneas were 30/apneas obstructive at 34, which I think - keyword think - is good. Apnea not too severe. (mine was 58 and I was told it was severe but not THAT severe : ) However, stopping breathing is stopping breathing and everybody's body is affected differently. One body at 30 could be as adversely impacted as another body is at 58 (as I understand).
-Sats at 95% not bad as I think 95-100 is normal.
-No centrals which I think is good since you can use a regular machine instead of one that is tailored for centrals.
-AHI 6.1 - if this was a titration I'd hope for it to be under 5.0, but if this was without machine and mask (not a titration which is where they put you on a machine and mask to determine your proper pressure) then 6.1 is good - low.

I'm sure I botched this here and there. But at some point I have to try to impart what I've learned here over the years. Baby steps.

Since the "Plan" at the end of the report said, "A CPAP titration study will be scheduled" it looks like that report is the diagnostic sleep study night -- with no CPAP used.

gasp wrote:if this was without machine and mask (not a titration which is where they put you on a machine and mask to determine your proper pressure) then 6.1 is good - low.

I think that probably was without machine and mask, and I agree that a diagnostic AHI of 6.1 is very low.

What I always want to look at (but I'm not anything in the health care field) is...what was the AHI in just REM? A person can have a very low overall AHI and have a high AHI in just REM...disrupting REM badly.

Happily, it looks like the REM AHI is nice and low: REM AHI 2.2

The "Sleep Efficiency" of 89% is very good, too.

There may be some UARS (Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome) going on since the Respiratory Arousals index shows an average of 33 Respiratory related arousals per hour. That alone would be reason enough for me to want to use "cpap." However, it looks like most of the RERAs (Respiratory Effort Related Arousals) happen when you're sleeping on your back (supine), Dan. It's possible that if you could make sure you never sleep on your back...never... you might not even need to use CPAP.

If you do want to continue to sleep on your back at times, then...I'd want to use CPAP. Or, I'd consider trying a MAD (Mandibular Advancement Device -- dental device to pull the lower jaw forward somewhat, to keep the airway open better.) The "Thornton Adjustable Positioner" is an example of a "MAD."

After the titration night, if the Periodic Limb Movements (PLMs) persisted, and continued to cause arousals, I'd talk to the doctor about possibly treating those with meds. If the PLMs subside or no longer cause many arousals during the titration night, I'd not worry further about them. If they subside during the titration, they might have been simply "Limb Movements" associated with the arousals -- the Respiratory Effort Related Arousals you were having during the diagnostic sleep study night.

What are the symptoms that led you to go for a sleep study in the first place, Dan?

Sorry for the omitted data. Yes, this was my 1st study, NO CPAP, etc. Also, I should have mentioned I was on 12.5 mg of Ambien CR. Only way I could have slept under the circumstances. I do TRY to sleep on my side, but I find I often wake during the night on my back. I know there are ways to prevent this, like a tennis ball in the back of your shirt. I have a follow up with the doc tomorrow, so we'll see what he says.

I agree that the pulse ox average isn't bad, but it does go down into the mid 80's, below normal.

Symptoms? Well, I've basically felt like crap every day of my life for the last 30 some years. Only diagnosis I've gotten is "fibromyalgia", a controversial condition, if it really is a condition at all (some think it's not). In addition, I REALLY, REALLY feel like hell 1st thing in the morning. Achy all over, a general feeling like I'm under stress (which I am now due to some other life issues, but I had this WAY before that), often wake with a rapid heart rate, etc. Plus, I'm pretty sleepy during the day, and have memory problems, general "mental fog", etc. Also, in the last ~2 years, I've had some stomach issues (pain, change in bathroom habits, etc.) which extensive testing has not been able to put a finger on.

I should add I also have RLS periodically.

I was actually glad to see the sleep study result, FINALLY, after DECADES of feeling awful they've found SOMETHING. I really hope I get some improvement, because quite frankly, I'm getting to the end of my rope with all these issues

Thanks for the input, I'll post more as this odyssey continues.

Dan

Your OSA is mild. That's good news.

DrowsyDan wrote:Sorry for the omitted data. Yes, this was my 1st study, NO CPAP, etc. Also, I should have mentioned I was on 12.5 mg of Ambien CR. Only way I could have slept under the circumstances. I do TRY to sleep on my side, but I find I often wake during the night on my back. I know there are ways to prevent this, like a tennis ball in the back of your shirt. I have a follow up with the doc tomorrow, so we'll see what he says.

I agree that the pulse ox average isn't bad, but it does go down into the mid 80's, below normal.

Symptoms? Well, I've basically felt like crap every day of my life for the last 30 some years. Only diagnosis I've gotten is "fibromyalgia", a controversial condition, if it really is a condition at all (some think it's not). In addition, I REALLY, REALLY feel like hell 1st thing in the morning. Achy all over, a general feeling like I'm under stress (which I am now due to some other life issues, but I had this WAY before that), often wake with a rapid heart rate, etc. Plus, I'm pretty sleepy during the day, and have memory problems, general "mental fog", etc. Also, in the last ~2 years, I've had some stomach issues (pain, change in bathroom habits, etc.) which extensive testing has not been able to put a finger on.

I should add I also have RLS periodically.

I was actually glad to see the sleep study result, FINALLY, after DECADES of feeling awful they've found SOMETHING. I really hope I get some improvement, because quite frankly, I'm getting to the end of my rope with all these issues

Thanks for the input, I'll post more as this odyssey continues.

Dan

I know anti-inflammation is a popular topic nowadays, however it is more pertinent than ever. Eating for ant-inflammation may really help you. It corrects a myriad of health issues. Dr. Weil has proposed this for many years, along with other fringe physicians. All those fringe physicians are being paid closer attention now that even mainstream is getting into the act. Anyway, here's a starter page for you to see what I'm talking about: http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART02012/an ... atory-diet