SLEEP APNEA

HI,
My wife says I have been sleeping for the past 10 years, since having type 2 diabetes, with loud choking noises all through the night. She says when I awake, she hears a strangling noise. I however, have no knowledge of this. I am convinced I have sleep apnea, as my brothers all do and wear Cpap devices. My question is, can I just buy and wear one of the newer devices without going through all the sleep studies, ent. evaluations ,etc.? My wife can tell if the choking, snoring, sounds disappear!

I'm sure there are no harmful effects from using Crap! Which device do you recommend? I have to take Ambien to sleep every night.

Thanks for your help.

Sincerely,

Mesmd

if you want a new one from a reputable dealer, you will have to get a doctor's prescription for it, however you can buy one used, sometimes even new ones will pop up every now and then through yahoo auctions, even ebay sometimes but those auctions usually get pulled for that exact reason, it is highly recommended that you have a polysomnogram done to properly diagnose your condition and find the pressure(s) that will provide you with the most benefit. hope this helps.

"A physician who treats himself has a fool for a patient."—Sir William Osler

"A patient who treats himself has a fool for a physician?" - rooster

"A patient who follows the advice of a rooster is a moron." - Anonymous

make sense to me.

mesmd wrote:My question is, can I just buy and wear one of the newer devices without going through all the sleep studies, ent. evaluations ,etc.?

I can relate, it DOES seem like a lot of HASSLE to jump through all the hoops and cut all the red tape and... (did I miss any trite clichés?). Nevertheless, you would probably benefit from some kind of objective findings. And certainly having the almighty "PRESCRIPTION" will make it easier for you to get the equipment that you feel is right for you.

More importantly, sometimes it can take MONTHS to get a SS, and many more MONTHS to get the equipment. That is the most common experience I have noticed here, and was for sure true in my case.

But I still think you would be better off if you could get SOME kind of objective findings. A sleep study is probably the most credible way for documenting your condition and your need. Some shortcuts to that would be to have an overnight pulse oximetry study, or an overnight APAP study. You could be "in business" in a matter of days. And yes, you could buy an xPAP somewhere from a friend or at an auction, with dubious ethics or legality (subject of heated debate here).

A formal sleep study might be a real "eye-opener" for you in understanding what is going on with your sleep experience. And it could be useful to yourself in making a lifelong commitment to dealing with it. How BAD the numbers are can be SHOCKING !!! (as in my case).

I also agree it would be nice to start appropriate therapy SOONER rather than later. Too bad the wheels of the traditional system turn so slowly, and that these nightly "near-death" experiences are not considered urgent. In your case, getting a better night's sleep and staying awake all day full of energy might also get you off Ambien. Are you aware that some sleep medications suppress a very useful portion of your night's sleep, the stage III-IV sleep?

I wish you success.

-R

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mesmd wrote:I'm sure there are no harmful effects from using Crap!

(bad advice)
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If you have insurance, you would benefit greatly from having a sleep study (PSG). It would be good to know your AHI, what your oxygen desats are, if you experience PLMs, if you have obstructive or central apnea, your titrated pressure, etc.

If you don't have insurance, but have a doctor who will write you a prescription for a machine, get the Respironics Remstar Auto with C-Flex and the accompanying software so you can conduct your own experiments to determine the best treatment.

If you don't have insurance and don't have a doctor who will write you a prescription, search the auctions for an auto and take your chances.

There are many here on the forum who use Ambien and cpap with no ill effects, but you should check with your doctor.

I'd have to agree with you about the negligible harmful effects of cpap. I wouldn't hesitate to initiate treatment on your own with use of an auto-titrating machine. But don't just take a stranger's word for it. During the Q & A session at the "Catching Our Breath: Reflections on Diagnosis and Treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea" lecture held in Washington DC last spring where the speaker was Dr. David M. Rapoport, founder and director of the New York University Sleep Disorders Center and Director of the NYU Sleep Medicine Program, the ResMed rep said:

Cpap is as dangerous as a bowl of cereal. The only way that it could hurt you is if someone picked the damn thing up and hit you over the head with it.

Amazing admission, isn't it? This, from the representative of a manufacturer of CPAP machines!

If you acquire an auto machine (and the accompanying software) and do this on your own, come back to this forum for help. There are plenty of people who can assist you in getting the best possible treatment from your machine.

Seeing as I had to do this the "hard way" after failing two sleep studies, I don't have that high an opinion of the benefits of sleep studies. However, I can also tell you that doing it on your own is no bed of roses either (although it was somewhat less frustrating than many experiences folks have described having with their sleep docs). It would be highly unusual if, after you acquired a machine, you immediately hooked up to it and didn't have serious obstacles to successful therapy.

Did you know, for instance, that there is about a 50% drop out rate for folks who start xPAP therapy. This is not easy stuff to deal with, and odds are that you will encounter problems. For example, it took me weeks to figure out that a full face mask at higher pressures started increasing my apnea. If I'd had a sleep lab titration I think they probably would have recognized that problem.

Anyway, not trying to talk you out of doing it yourself. This stuff isn't rocket science and there's nothing magical about it. Primarily, it takes determination to succeed and a willingness to deal with the obstacles you are sure to encounter.

Hope this helps. Good luck with your decision.

Regards,
Bill

NightHawkeye mentions the 50% cpap dropout rate which is a number I have heard before. Did anyone take notice of the dropout rate mentioned in "Streaming CPAP and Sleep Apnea News (older news)
05/15/06 Sleep Apnea Ruled a Factor in Reggie White's Death"?

Quoting the article: "Although considered one of the best
treatments for Obstructive Sleep Apnea, many patients (up to 87% in some
studies) are unable to wear the facemask."

The article is at: http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stori ... 251&EDATE=

Cpap-tolerance is rediculously low, but its a complicated equation that each different for each person (masks, what sleep disorders besides apnea exist, physical build, etc).

As for the sleep study, get it. Plain and simple get. Numbers are numbers, but you really need to know what type of SA02's your dealing with, what types of apneas you're having, and on and on. Also, how else are you suppose to know what other possible sleep disorders you may have? RLS, PLMD, Insomnia, on and on and on.

You have to be intelligent and thorough in your treatment, but how can you treat what you don't know?

Ditto to everything said above.

But, if one of your brothers has an Auto machine and software to read data, then try it for one afternoon when he's not using it. See what it tells you.