How often do you repeat your sleep studies?

My last sleep study was 3 years ago, which was done with a Quattro Mirage. I switched to a Swift FX and I don't think it's working as well but my sleep doctor insisted that I don't need another sleep study. Its gotten me wondering, though, what are the recommendations for repeating sleep studies over time? How often do our machines need to be recalibrated?

If your machine has data like AHI, leak rate then you can see your problems. No need for another study, just download the software and check out what is happening at night.

It has data but do I trust it? I'm using a Resmed S9 Auto and it typically shows a number between 0 and 1. However, since switching to the nasal pillows my wife reports that I'm snorting, gasping, and in general having an unpleasant time sometimes. I've also noticed these symptoms at times myself. I think my turbinates are swelling up in my sleep, making breathing difficult. Even though I'm struggling to breath, I guess I eventually get enough air and the machine doesn't think much of it. Presumably, a sleep technician would be smarter than a machine (then again, they might miss it too if I happen to have a good night).

balor123 wrote:It has data but do I trust it? I'm using a Resmed S9 Auto and it typically shows a number between 0 and 1. However, since switching to the nasal pillows my wife reports that I'm snorting, gasping, and in general having an unpleasant time sometimes. I've also noticed these symptoms at times myself. I think my turbinates are swelling up in my sleep, making breathing difficult. Even though I'm struggling to breath, I guess I eventually get enough air and the machine doesn't think much of it. Presumably, a sleep technician would be smarter than a machine (then again, they might miss it too if I happen to have a good night).

Post your graphs from Sleephead software and someone will help you figure out what is going on.

I switched to a Swift FX

In another post you said you can't breathe through your nose. A nasal interface works only when the user breaths through the nose and has no significant periods of mouth breathing or leaking.

It sounds like you are mouthbreathing and losing the therapeutic pressure.

To answer your question....I had my sleep study 5.5 years ago...none since. I have no concerns. My machines have never needed a re calibration.

ChicagoGranny wrote:

I switched to a Swift FX

In another post you said you can't breathe through your nose. A nasal interface works only when the user breaths through the nose and has no significant periods of mouth breathing or leaking.

It sounds like you are mouthbreathing and losing the therapeutic pressure.

Let me add that solving the problem of mouthbreathing does not require a new sleep study.

My first, last and only sleep study was in March of 2005. I've had fully-data-capable CPAP machines and have monitored my therapy since the night I began in May of 2005. I don't need another sleep study.


Den

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I had my diagnostic study on 9/11/2008, and my titration on 10/1/2008.

Didn't tolerate CPAP or even straight Bipap -- it was evident in the titration, and I started with an ASV on 10/28/2008. The initial setting on it was wrong, and using software, I sorted that out after a discussion with the RT and my doctor.

Using the same settings today as what were nailed down then.

Why would you EVER need a new study unless your therapy isn't working?

That's true - I struggle to breath through my nose. However, the pressure from the CPAP with the nasal pillows is good enough much of the time while I sleep. I don't know how much except to say that while I'm falling asleep I tend to breath through my nose fine but at some point in the morning it's clear that I'm struggling to breath through it, despite the pressure and pillows. Increasing pressure hasn't helped here much but the most I've gotten to is about 11cm from my recommended pressure of 7cm. Past 10cm I find that my SwiftFX leaks a lot, I swallow a lot of air, and more air tends to escape through my mouth.

To answer the other questions about why repeat the sleep studies, well presumably the pressure needed will change over time. Perhaps it is slow and there aren't users old enough here for that to matter but I wouldn't imagine a 30 year old would need the same pressure 30 years later. For someone with mostly hypopneas who doesn't get sleepy, I rely on the sleep study and machine to tell me when treatment is working. Why use CPAP then? Because: I don't want to die of a heart attack when I'm 40, I'd like to keep my blood pressure on the lower side, and I was having a lot of stress related problems in general (parasthesia, autoantibodies, etc). Those don't change night to night so it isn't easy to tell whether treatment is working in my case.

Wulfman... wrote:My first, last and only sleep study was in March of 2005. I've had fully-data-capable CPAP machines and have monitored my therapy since the night I began in May of 2005. I don't need another sleep study.


Den

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DITTO: Except I started 6 months later, It would be foolish to do something I can do for myself every nite. Jim

My first diagnostic study was in August 2010. I had a very long and difficult adjusment to CPAP/APAP and then BiPAP/Auto BiPAP.

About a year ago, my sleep started to deteriorate in the sense of insomnia, although the machine's AHI data was showing the OSA was well controlled by my current settings. The sleep continued to deteriorate in Spring 2013 and by July I was really feeling pretty badly during the daytime and having a lot of restlessness and wakes at night. There was no obvious trigger to the insomnia and the new sleep doc suggested a split study to see what was really going on in my sleep and to figure out whether the PAP itself might be causing some of the spontaneous arousals and awakenings that were adversely affecting my sleep. Unfortunately on the night of the study, I didn't get enough sleep for it to be a split study, so it turned out to be a second diagnostic study. The doc asked for another titration study to get the data about whether the PAP was creating additional problems with spontaneous arousals. I didn't sleep much that night either.

In other words, the 2013 sleep studies were done as much as anything to see if there was any connection between the PAP therapy and a worsening of the insomnia. The data pretty clearly indicated that I had a severe insomnia problem going on that included both a bit of sleep onset insomnia and a major amount of sleep maintenance insomnia regardless of whether I used the PAP or not. The sleep doc gathered even more insomnia data using an accelerometer testing device similar to the FitBit bracelet over a ten day period in my own bed. That test confirmed that the sleep maintenance insomnia was significant as well as the circadian rhythm problem. As a result of all this testing, the sleep doc and I have focused our efforts on dealing with the insomnia since the OSA is currently well controlled. And in the last 5 months, there's been some progress on winning the Second War on Insomnia. I'm sleeping better now than I have in a more than a year, but the AHI data is just about the same as it was a year ago.

The moral: Not all of our sleep problems are directly tied to our OSA or our CPAP therapy. Sometimes, they're just bad sleep caused by other things.

had my sleep test done 4 years ago and I don't need to go again as I am using an auto machine that has data capabilities that I can check every day if I want to. My original pressure was set at 11 and my range is still 11 on my auto. And by the way, I am 71 and still capping away with no problems... you seem to be obsessed with old age being a problem. My friend is 92, still uses her machine and lives in her own home.... as a matter of fact she can outwork me any day of the week. Old age is just a number.......... we are not old doddering fools that can't keep our own knickers clean or keep using our cpap machines.

Old age is a state of mind. My mother was 86 when she passed; she had been active and vibrant up until her last illness.
On the other hand, my oldest grandson's other grandma died on New Years day--she was only 56,
and an old woman in every sense of the word but time.
You are as old as you LET yourself be. Now, go and be young!