How bad is this? - alt.support.sleep-disorder

Message from discussion How bad is this?

Julian C. Lander

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More options Oct 20 2007, 1:54 pm

Newsgroups: alt.support.sleep-disorder

From: "Julian C. Lander" <j...@nospam.spam>

Date: Sat, 20 Oct 2007 13:54:08 -0400

Local: Sat, Oct 20 2007 1:54 pm

Subject: Re: How bad is this?

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Some other things that you may want to know or think
about. (And I'll mention that I have a vague memory that
my severity is/was close to yours, and for me CPAP was
absolutely magic, although it took some time to get used to.)

First, if you do have a high pressure (over about 16, but
that's a guess--mine's 18), you may want to consider asking
for a BiPAP rather than a CPAP. CPAP always pushes air
at the same pressure, but BiPAP can detect exhalation and lowers
pressure when that happens. It can be unpleasant to exhale against
a high pressure. One small point is that, when I switched from
CPAP to BiPAP, it didn't work for me at first. For me, at least,
if the lower (exhalation pressure) is too low, the effectiveness
diminishes. I think I was 18/12 (high/low pressure), and I had
to bring the lower pressure up to about 15 before it was effective
for me.

Another thing to remember is that you probably have a "ramp"
feature on your machine. That brings the pressure up gradually
(your technician can set how long the ramp lasts and where it
starts). That should give you time to fall asleep to a lower pressure
and have the high pressure kick in once you're asleep.

Another, possibly, idiosyncratic thing for me was that I couldn't
fall asleep listening to my breathing in the mask (the "Darth Vader"
effect). White noise helped with that. I ended up buying a relatively
expensive and probably unnecessary white noise generator to counter
this, but it worked. A cheaper/easier solution may be to set a radio
_between_ stations to get white noise.

Good luck. I hope that this works out really well for you.

Julian C. Lander

"Hal S." <h.sand...@comcast.net> wrote in message

news:qYidnQj8cPJdo4fanZ2dnUVZ_o6knZ2d@comcast.com...

> "BleepingBeauty" <BleepingBeauty@comm*speed.net> wrote in message
> news:13hj8nprqufv58e@corp.supernews.com...

>> "Hal S." <h.sand...@comcast.net> wrote in message
>> news:0vednc1veoo2HYTanZ2dnUVZ_r6rnZ2d@comcast.com...

>>> "BleepingBeauty" <BleepingBeauty@comm*speed.net> wrote in message
>>> news:13hirr2rpi3412d@corp.supernews.com...

>>>> "Hal S." <h.sand...@comcast.net> wrote in message
>>>> news:_6qdneJrJvF5-4TanZ2dnUVZ_vCknZ2d@comcast.com...

>>>>> "BleepingBeauty" <BleepingBeauty@comm*speed.net> wrote in message
>>>>> news:13hipd8ki6q5j7c@corp.supernews.com...

>>>>>> "Richard Evans" <info...@mindspring.com> wrote in message
>>>>>> news:bqhih3942f7ihcvvq8scqsi4mgnfb6osgf@4ax.com...
>>>>>>> "BleepingBeauty" <BleepingBeauty@comm*speed.net> wrote:

>>>>>>>>Anyway, the lab called me today to schedule another sleep test, as
>>>>>>>>they
>>>>>>>>weren't able to reach the appropriate level of pressure I need
>>>>>>>>during the
>>>>>>>>first test. I was told that I have severe apnea and wake 107.7
>>>>>>>>times per
>>>>>>>>hour.

>>>>>>> Well, considering it means you wake up about every 36 seconds all
>>>>>>> night long, it's pretty bad.

>>>>>> With all due respect, as I said in my initial post, I know my case is
>>>>>> severe. I did the math when I got the diagnosis. What I want to
>>>>>> know is *how* severe it is. Is 107.7 off the charts? (I would have
>>>>>> asked the technician who called me with the results, but I was
>>>>>> somewhat dumbfounded at the time.)

>>>>>> I know it's bad. Just *how* bad is the question. And can I still
>>>>>> hope for relief from a machine if my case *is* off the charts?

>>>>>> I guess I'm looking for a little reassurance that there's help out
>>>>>> there even for me...
>>>>>>--------------------------

>>>>> Are you certain you're not confusing apneas and hypopneas?

>>>> No, I'm not certain of anything, and I have no idea what hypopneas are.
>>>> Perhaps my posting here was premature, since this is all new to me, and
>>>> I don't have all the pertinent information about my case yet. The tech
>>>> simply said that I have severe OSA and I wake 107.7 times an hour. I'd
>>>> be relieved to hear that a machine *can* help me, no matter how bad it
>>>> is.
>>>>---------------------------------

>>> Your posting was not premature.

>>> Hypopnea refers to slow or shallow respiration. It is usually associated
>>> with decreased oxygen saturation in the blood. I have more hypops than
>>> apneas.

>>> A machine can/will help you. I have severe apnea/hypopnea and have been
>>> in treatment for several years. I am on a BiPAP machine set at 24/12.
>>> The treatment has been life changing (and maybe saving) for me. Some
>>> people have difficulty getting used to the treatment. And some of us
>>> took to it like ducks turn to water.

>>> If you have any more questions, there are quite a few good people here
>>> who will do their best to help you out. There are also a couple of
>>> jerks, but they are easy to ignore.

>>> Best wishes.

>> Thank you, Hal. I appreciate the education on the subject, and hearing
>> that there *is* help for me is very reassuring.

>> The tech who handled my initial sleep test said I might be better off
>> with a BiPAP machine, as I was having some difficulty exhaling easily
>> near the end of the test, and the tech said I'll need even more pressure
>> than I was experiencing at that time. But I didn't have any trouble
>> wearing the mask (no claustrophobia or anything like that), and the white
>> noise from the machine didn't faze me. I hope that means that I'll be
>> one of those people who adjusts to the machine fairly easily. A good
>> night's rest really can't come soon enough...

>> Is the 24/12 setting that you mention indicative of the level of pressure
>> on inhale/exhale? Are there any sleep disorder websites that you'd
>> recommend I look at to familiarize myself with all these terms?

>> Thanks again. :-)
>>----------------------

> Yes: 24 inhale, 12 exhale. It's important that you remember in your
> treatment experience that "one size fits all" doesn't apply to sleep
> disorders. Some people get pretty evangelistic about their mode of
> treatment and preach that it is the only way to go. Run from them. Andy's
> comments provide you with some good info.

> --

> Hal S.

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