Do you think i may be a case for sleep apnea?

[Ahzheys]

Hi! glad 2 be here...thanks for these posts guys. These are all i need.

[shuckie]

Hi Phudgey!

I was just wondering if you've heard any more from your GP or the hospital as it's been a little while since your last post. I hope everything's going OK for you.


Cheers

shuckie

[phudgey]

Hi thanks for the interest

today i went to the sleep clinic and was issued with a home oximeter, i need to use it for 2 days and then come back on wednesday for the results!

will keep you posted

[DonnaB]

Hi Phudgey

Hope it all goes well with you. When I had my overnight test with the thingy on my finger I took it in the next day and the technician asked if I wanted to wait while he looked at the results, said yes. He told me he could see straight away I had OSA and so I did not need any further testing like overnight in hospital or any more obtrusive tests.

Made an appointment to see the specialist and within 2 months had my CPAP machine - have not looked back since - although in the beginning whilst waiting to have machine and start using DVLA kindly took my license off me. the upside was I had a free bus pass which i could use for a while!!!

Good luck

Donna

[phudgey]

Okay, so i've used this oximeter for 2 nights now and have to go back to the clinic today at 11:20, but i really don't know how good the results will be, i remember waking up every hour or so to find that the finger clip has fallen off, so i put it back on fall asleep, and when i next wake it's off again!
hopefully this wouldnt have messed with the results? anybody know if it will have?

oh well, ill find out either way in a few hours

[Stewart]

We're on tenterhooks! How did your assessment go?

[phudgey]

Okay, so my fears were pretty much confirmed, i went into the office with the consultent and he said "What on earth happened?" and preceeded to show me my graph of the two nights, tuesday was just a big black bar where it had fallen off for most of the night, monday wasnt much better but he said there was just enough information to backup his suspiction that i do indeed have sleep apnea.

he said i have two choices, either have a full sleep study done at the hospital, but this could take 8 weeks, maybe longer! or he would be willing to trial me on cpap for 6-8 weeks, and if come the end of it my headaches and tiredness go away he will write it down as a positive diagnosis, if i'm still tired and having the headaches he will refer me for the sleep study.

so i jumped at the opurtunity to trial the machine and i had my second night on it lastnight, the first night was very good actually! i had never felt a feeling like this before it made breathing out very difficault but i put the mask on before i fell asleep and to my suprise i had the mask on when i woke up in the morning!

now the second night wasn't as good, i had put the mask on just before i went to bed again but i woke up a few hours later in a panic because i couldnt breath (i don't know if the preassure suddenly jumped up but it litrally felt like i was sufficating) so i took the mask off and fell asleep only to be woken up in about an hours time by my fiance screaming at me for snoring! so i put the mask back on and didnt have another complaint all night

so all in all, i'd say that i'm getting on okay with it, but i'm still waking up feeling like death so hopfully its just going to take a few days for it to 'kick in'

[Stewart]

It's great that you're getting some treatment. It took me a few weeks (and change of mask) before I was really comfortable with CPAP. Most nights it's fine; but now and then it's a pain; especially if I've had more than a couple of glasses of wine before bed.

I don't want to put you off, but I wouldn't expect miracles quickly. I've now been on CPAP for six months and still don't spring out of bed in the morning. However I don't fall asleep during films any more, nor at my desk and I don't take naps during the day either. So about 80% of the outcome I'd been hoping for, and I'm more than happy to live with that.

My wife, on the other hand, is delighted. Just like your fiance; if I nod off without the mask on I get major elbowing in the ribs!

[Richard]

This is splendid news, Phudgey!

You first posted here on 16th March 2011, and here you are, only two months later, on CPAP already.

If your visit to your GP last March was the first you made to complain of daytime sleepiness, then the time-span from first call to being on treatment must be something of a record - the average time from first call to getting treatment is around two years!

Now, just let us all have 1. The name and phone-number of the very intuitive GP who referred you, and 2. The name of the sleep-clinic you attended. On second thoughts, don't do that, otherwise the poor guy faces being inundated.

But well done to you, and stick with it.

Richard

[phudgey]

Okay so last night was day 8, i've been getting on okay with the mask, keeping it on all night and doing 6-8 hours every night and i havnt felt any diffrent, maybe even worse!
but last night i was behind on some work i was doing so i stayed up on my computer until 2Am and put my mask on and went to bed only to have to get up at 6Am for work this morning! (i usually go to bed at 8Pm and get up at 6:45Am) now if i were to have done this anytime before i would not have been able to function, i would have thrown the alarm clock at the wall and slept in until 10 or 11. but today i was awake before my alarm went off and i litrally sprung out of bed! It was totally surreal I was bubbling with energy i didn't feel the slightest bit tired!

it's been 2 hours since i woke up and i'm still just bursting with energy! i have no way of knowing if this is the cpap finally working or if i somehow confused my body into thinking it doesnt need sleep! whatever it is i like it!

few downsides though, for the last week for the first 4 or 5 hours of the day i'm producing the loudest and biggest farts known to man!

also i'm using a nasal mask and get 3 lovely red patches permantly on my face (1 on each side of my nose and 1 big blotch on my forehead) i've read that people recommend loosening the straps but if i do that i'm getting leaks at a pressure as low as 4, with it done up how it is i'm getting >1min leak a night. so it's just one of those things i guess!

[shuckie]

Hi Phudgey!

few downsides though, for the last week for the first 4 or 5 hours of the day i'm producing the loudest and biggest farts known to man!

First of all congratulations on your burst of energy today! Do you still feel as though you're buzzing?

With regards to getting marks on your face and tightening the straps enough to stop leakage but not tight enough to cause marks on the face, it is pretty much a case of trial and error for the most part. I use a full face mask and usually have marks on my forehead where the two small pads rest, but these usually fade within a few hours. I used to also get a bad mark on my nose until I figured out best to adjust the straps and the wheel on the front of the mask. I'm sure others out there with nasal masks can offer you more specific advice.

Moving on to your other problem, have you tried taking wind relief capsules just before going to bed? I've had problems with excessive bloating and breaking wind since starting CPAP therapy, and I've found that taking one or two of these capsules at night helps to break down most of the air in my stomach that I swallow during the night.


Cheers

shuckie

[James @ Intus]

also i'm using a nasal mask and get 3 lovely red patches permantly on my face (1 on each side of my nose and 1 big blotch on my forehead) i've read that people recommend loosening the straps but if i do that i'm getting leaks at a pressure as low as 4, with it done up how it is i'm getting >1min leak a night. so it's just one of those things i guess!

Have a look at RemZzzs mask liners, they solve that problem in one fell swoop.

Sounds like you've done well with the trial!