My husband is a Vietnam Vet with chronic PTSD and is treated at our local VA. He was diagnosed with OSA and has tried the CPAP on 2 occasions. This last time he manually converted the Mirage Activa maske into a mount one since he breathes thru his mouth. Earlier this year after surgery they found his O2 went doun to 71 when he slept so they put him on O2. He is also on alot of medications. My question to the community is:  If a person absolutely cannot or will not use a CPAP will just O2 at night work?

I'm not a medical person, but my guess is no.
I'm assuming you mean he uses the oxygen during sleep, not during the day?
Now, there's a chance some of the oxygen may seep through so it's better than nothing, but as long as there is still obstructive sleep apnea happening and he's untreated, then he will still stop breathing in his sleep.

Do you know more about his condition. Had he gotten a copy of the report following his sleep study?  It's important to know if his apnea was mild, moderate or severe, based on AHI (apneas and hypopneas per hour) determined by his sleep study.  That would tell you if there are alternatives available to him.

But it's interesting that he tried to make the Activa into a full face mask (pretty creative!).  He is right in that if you are mouth breathing but using a nose-only mask, then the pressure can't work as it should to keep his airways open as he sleeps.  My analogy is a tire ... you can add air to pressurize the tire, but it won't work if you don't fix the leak.

There are other masks.  There is even a new type of full face mask, the Hybrid and the Resmed Liberty, which cover the mouth but use nasal pillows instead of covering the nose.  Plus I believe that the Resmed Quatro is their full face mask version of the Activa, and people seem to like that.

Can you tell us his reasons for quitting?  The reasons can vary.  It could be frustrations over the mask, or over how he breathes with it, the pressure (what is his prescribed pressure?), or it could just be more of an attitude thinng.  Let us know more, maybe we can suggest more.


Linda


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Thanks for the reply Linda. My husband does not use oxygen at night. He has to go thru the VA for everything. I believe this is mostly an attitude thing. With his chronic PTSD disorder he lacks consistancy and a willingness to see things through. Some mornings he wakes up extremely depressed and I have to be very careful about suggesting remedies. At times he will listen at other times he won't and it is difficult to know when. We have been married 37 years and have been through alot. Do you think if the VA adds O2 at night it will help? I think he might go for that since the tubing and nose ports are very small.

Becka, I have depression (but not OSA, that's my husband) and I find that it is usually worse in the morning just after I get up and improves as I go along.  Although, I must say, some days are better (or worse) than others and a lot has to do with how well I sleep.

I also have anxiety along with depression and sometimes I can't tell the difference between them, at least at first, but if I take an anti-anxiety pill, it often helps my mood.

However, you haven't told us much about his OSA treatment or why it isn't working for him.  If you could tell us more, perhaps we could be more helpful.

Since I've been diagnosed and have been using a CPAP machine, my husband has now gotten interested in his machine again.

He was diagnosed about 7 years ago and got a REMstar.  He hated it from the beginning.  The face mask never fit right, the straps marked up his face (and it's a great face, believe me!), and it was a bear to travel with.

But now, there is renewed interest.  Especially since we share the same host of apnea symptoms - except snoring.

Should I suggest he be retested?  He has all of his originial test findings.  Would they change that much in 7 years?

Thanks.


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Peace,

Misha


Respironics
REMstar Auto/A flex
M Series
ComfortLite 2 pillows and/or nose mask (I use them according to what mood I'm in...)

Yeah, they're likely to have changed significantly (especially since he has basically gone untreated for that time). I am similar to your husband in that I had my original studies in 2000 and then mostly didn't use my CPAP for 6 years (~1500 hours logged in 6 years = not much). When I recommitted to using it last fall, I found that I didn't feel like it was doing me a lot of good even though I finally got my mask issues worked out. I had a couple of new studies in July, and so you can see how things change, here are my results:

2000 - weighed 230 lbs, had moderate obstructive sleep apnea averaging 23 events/hour during my study. Titrated pressure was 10.

2007 - weighed 185 lbs, had severe OSA averaging 67 events/hour during my study. Titrated pressure was 11.

So I would definitely recommend a new set of studies for your husband. He should also be able to get new equipment. Even though his 7 year old machine hasn't had much use, depending on what he got then (most likely a bare bones machine if he didn't ask for anything else) he could get a better machine now that reports data on your treatment so you can monitor how things are going on a day to day basis without having to go only on subjective feelings of how you feel during the day.


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<--Will-->
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When your partners is having OSA, it is  affect your sleep quality and health at the same itme.  I really think it have to be work together hand in hand.  Let your husand know you are with him. Depression is one of the effect os sleep apnea, it can get worsse if let it untreat.

I agreed to Will take it's time to preform a new sleep study.


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