Grillhead's Hosehead Journey-12/6 Update pg 5

Well, tonight is my second sleep study, this time with the Ambien. Hopefully it works and I sleep! I'm frustrated with having to wait longer for the results... but at least I'm not getting charged for this study

grillhead wrote:Well, tonight is my second sleep study, this time with the Ambien. Hopefully it works and I sleep! I'm frustrated with having to wait longer for the results... but at least I'm not getting charged for this study

Good luck! Just try to relax, it gets easier with each one, even if it's a bit weird. (I've done 5)

Meh, I'm not worried about the study itself except that I want it to work this time so I can get my stuff!

Well,Sleep Study The Sequel is complete! Results on 9/12... The tech said they got much more info this time. Ox went to 65% Found out I generally only mouth-breathed when having an episode, so might be able to use a nasal mask And I guess the Ambien worked LOL

grillhead wrote:Well,Sleep Study The Sequel is complete! Results on 9/12...

Sounds great! A shame you have to wait so long for results. I had a little mouth breathing during my sleep study, but none at home, thankfully, so I can get away without having to use a chin strap. I blame the Ambien the night of the study.

grillhead wrote:Well,Sleep Study The Sequel is complete! Results on 9/12... The tech said they got much more info this time. Ox went to 65% Found out I generally only mouth-breathed when having an episode, so might be able to use a nasal mask And I guess the Ambien worked LOL

65% !!

Glad it completed

Yup, 65%. There's no doubt something is going on... just gotta get something official. That's what's weird, they didn't register any apneas the first time, but my ox went down to 68% then, so something had to cause that.....

Maybe the lab's equipment needs re-calibration.

Alright, I had my follow-up to the second sleep study today. Looks like moderate sleep apnea. Scheduled for the titration study 10/10. I got a copy of the results:

Total recording time: 468.5 min
Total Sleep Time: 222.5 min
Sleep Period Time: 448.5 min
Percent Sleep Efficiency: 47.5%
Sleep Latency (Lights out to 1st epoch of sleep): 18.0 min
Stage R Latency (Sleep onset to 1st epoch of R): 233.5 min
Number of Awakenings: 110.0

Stage N1: 6.0 (Minutes)
Stage N2: 184.0
Stage N3: 28.5
Stage R: 4.0

Apneas: 3 total (1 REM, 2 NREM)
Hypopneas: 51 total (2 REM, 49 NREM)
AHI: 14.6
RDI: 25.1 (39 snore episodes shown)
Lowest SaO2 Saturation: 64.0%
Minutes <90%: 18.7
Minutes <88%: 10.1

Apria is one of only two Medicare contracted providers in town--and the only one that will 'do' machines.
(and any DME that only sells masks probably will NEVER see my green snoot)
Unless I want to travel, that may be "it" once I retire.

I asked him today what machines he recommends and he goes with ResMed or Respironics, pretty much whatever the patient wants. He's also cool with prescribing the S9 Autoset if that's the one that I want, even if I just need CPAP mode. He personally uses both machines and said he really doesn't notice a big difference between the two, except the S9 has more bells and whistles, and the Climateline hose. He also doesn't have a certain DME he works with. He'll write the script and send it wherever I want it to go to. So, I should have a few choices in this area.

I'd definitely get an auto CPAP if you have the option. The S9 autoset is a good choice.

The mask is the toughest part, but having a machine that will be good for 5 years is a good thing.

Titration is done!! I went ahead and took the Ambien just in case. I think it took me around a half hour to go to sleep. Before all that though, they let me window-shop masks. I picked to try, in order, ResMed Swift FX, Mirage FX, and Quattro FX. Figured I might as well cover all the bases. So, I tried the Swift FX first. Being this was the first time for all of this, he turned on the machine, let me feel the air, listen to it, and all that good stuff. He helped me put the mask on with XS pillows. They seemed to fit alright, but it was kind of strained breathing through them. Breathing with the machine on was different than I expected too. I figured with pillows it would be like an oxygen cannula, but the pressure is WAY different! Anyways, we tried the Small pillows. They were easier to breathe through, but I still wasn't sure that i liked it. So, he suggested I try the Mirage FX. First thing he said was I would notice a difference in the air delivery, and boy did I ever! It was WAY easier to breathe with the Mirage FX. I felt like I was breathing more naturally. It is also funny when you first try and talk while the machine is running, but you gotta do what you gotta do LOL. So I got all strapped up and went to bed. Took me about a half hour to get to sleep and that was pretty much it. He did have to come in and adjust for leaks about....4 times I think? Not sure if it was my mustache or what, but I mostly think it was me moving to different positions in bed and not knowing myself how to compensate or adjust the mask for mushing my face around or whatnot. The tech came in and I figured another adjustment, and he said it's 615, time to get up! I was like wha? The night went really quick compared to the first two regular studies I had, so I'm taking that as a good thing! When I woke up, I almost felt kinda drunk. I had to get my balance and stuff. I wondered if the Ambien could have had something to do with it, but I'm more inclined to think that it was getting really good sleep, especially when the tech told me I was heading towards another deep sleep cycle when he got me up... weird feeling after that not happening much at all!! Of course he didn't give much info, but he did say my pressure ended up at 12, which I guess isn't too bad. I'm still going to try and get the ResMed AutoSet S9 (Or Resperonics equivalent) but I'll definitely stay with the Mirage FX, at least for now. I believe the leak issues can be resolved easily enough. I still can't get over how comfortable and easy to wear the mask was, and how easy it was to breathe with it on Next move is to call my insurance company (GEHA) and find out who they cover in this area as a DME

grillhead wrote:I picked to try, in order, ResMed Swift FX, Mirage FX, and Quattro FX. Figured I might as well cover all the bases. So, I tried the Swift FX first. Being this was the first time for all of this, he turned on the machine, let me feel the air, listen to it, and all that good stuff. He helped me put the mask on with XS pillows. They seemed to fit alright, but it was kind of strained breathing through them. Breathing with the machine on was different than I expected too. I figured with pillows it would be like an oxygen cannula, but the pressure is WAY different! Anyways, we tried the Small pillows. They were easier to breathe through, but I still wasn't sure that i liked it.

Overall, sounds like a very good experience!

Where I had my sleep study done, they favor nasal masks, such as the Mirage you tried. I started with the Phillips Respironics TrueBlue in size small. It worked very well for me, so I also went home with that mask. After a few weeks, I realized I was still having some minor leaks around the eyes, so switched (on my own, via CPAP.COM) to a Nasal Pillow Mask. That mask came with small, medium, and large pillows. The openings got bigger with size. The medium were OK, but the large were fine. If, after a few weeks with the Mirage, you get annoyed with leaks, I would recommend trying a nasal pillow again, but with a medium or large opening. You can try the Swift FX again, or take a look at the Aloha, which is what I've been using for 30+ days successfully.

Again, congratulations on a successful titration!

The fellow I was dealing with wasn't pushy at all about which make, model, or type to use at all, which was nice. He would've let me try everything that had if I wanted to LOL. I just couldn't believe how easy it was to breathe with the nasal mask... it was like having nothing on at all