dae3dae3 wrote:

I had my followup appointment with my sleep doctor today.  I finally got the results of my original sleep test and WOW.

AHI: 106.5
Sleep Stages:
1 = 12.6%
2 = 84.5%
3 = 0 %
4 = 0%
REM = 3%
REM Latency 167 Minutes

Average Apnea time was 21.5 seconds with Oxygen desaturations down to 80%

I am so glad I didn't see this until I was getting treated.  I would have been terrified of going to bed.  

I am seeing my family doctor later today.  I think some of the problems I have been having for the last few months are caused by high blood pressure.  I was feeling anxious today and my blood pressure was 168/100 at the sleep doctor.  As I think back when I was having a really bad day back when this all started my lower number on my blood pressure was at 98.  I think the anxiety that comes out of nowhere for me is when my blood pressure spikes.  I spoke to my Mom today about what she feels when her blood pressure gets high and she said she gets the same anxious feelings.  Also the headaches and the nosebleed I had last week may be part of this.  The nosebleed came on after one of the worst anxiety days I have ever had so I think it may be related.  After  I speak to my family doctor about this I will post back here what she thinks about this.

The good news is that I went to my DME this morning and got a new mask.  I tried a Swift LT and it is very comfortable and I couldn't make it leak even by really pressing on it from the side.  I know that the real test is sleeping with it but it seemed much more comfortable and the hose has a swivel unlike my current mask so it shouldn't pull as badly.

Dae3, I had my follow-up visit yesterday and got my report.  I am not sure what it all means and will post my results once I get home this evening.   Are you still getting tired during the day?   Today has been really bad for me.

Aarondawg wrote:

Dae3, I had my follow-up visit yesterday and got my report.  I am not sure what it all means and will post my results once I get home this evening.   Are you still getting tired during the day?   Today has been really bad for me.

I'm feeling better on days that I have a good night before.  I didn't have the daytime sleepiness nearly as badly as most here describe having.  I mostly just had fatigue and almost flu like symptoms.

My family doctor today prescribed blood pressure medicine for me and is sending me for an echo-cardiogram this week.  She said that even though I was cleared three years ago of heart problems that with untreated sleep apnea as severe as mine that three years is a long time between tests.  Hopefully everything will go well with that and since my apnea is responding so well to CPAP that I shouldn't have any additional fears of damage.  Now I just need to get this blood pressure thing under control.  I really think the blood pressure is causing the anxiety and I think the apnea is causing the high blood pressure.  I bought a home blood pressure tester and my doctor is going to have me track and keep a log to see how things are going.  

Wish me luck on a good nights sleep tonight.    I have to watch the girls again tomorrow and last Saturday was my worst day anxiety wise since this all started.  I also had a nose bleed which I never have so I think my BP was just real high that day.  I barely slept that Friday night so I think that put a ton of stress on me and the blood pressure took off.

Well, I slept about five hours last night and then layed awake for the rest of the night.  I don't feel too bad so far today.  I took my first dose of the blood pressure medicine this morning at about 5 AM.  I noticed about twenty minutes after the dose that a headache I had started to go away.  I don'tknow if that is a coincidence.

The new Swift LT mask seems to be a winner so far.  I had pretty much zero leak with it and it is comfortable.  My AHI was a little higher last night but I think that was because I had pretty bad congestion.  I really wish I could take the Nasonex.  It really helped and the one night I used it was when I slept for the longest.  The doctor said no yesterday to nasonex until we see what happens with the blood pressure.  

I am wondering if I am waking up after about five hours each night bacause that is when I am getting into serious REM sleep and am having an apnea event that wakes me up.  It just seems strange that I wake up at about the same time every night.  I think I could resolve that situation if I could manage to fall asleep on my side instead of on my back.  I might try more of an effort at that tonight.  I just can't seem to get comfortable on my side with the mask.

I just took my blood preassure and it is down to 122/79 so that is good.  It was 149/98 about two hours ago  and higher last night so hopefully that means the BP medicine is working.  98 is the lowest the bottom number was all day yesterday during the five times my BP was checked at various doctors.  The highest was 168/100 at 9:30 AM at the sleep doctor.

Last night was interesting.  I woke up at about 2:30 with an apnea event.  I am pretty sure that is why I am waking up each night after 3 to 5 hours.  I was able to go back to sleep at least fitfully afterwords but unfortunately this was the one Sunday a month that I had to work so I had to get up at 5 AM.  I really think I need to try to sleep on my side.  It seems like my pressure is not high enough for a worst case scenario of REM sleep and dreaming while flat on my back. I can't figure out what to do with my arms when on my side.  I really need to try to see if I can get to sleep on my stomach.  I bet with the CPAP and sleeping on my stomach my AHI would be 0.  I could tell this apnea was a bad one too because my whole body tingled when I got to breathing deeply again.  It was pretty scary.  

My blood pressure has been up all day.  I don't know how long this BP medicine is supposed to take to get working but I hope it is soon.  I also had a pretty good anxiety attack at about 9 AM.  I think only five hours a night of good sleep and then a few hours of no or poor sleep is really starting to wear on my body.  

My sleep doctor wrote me a note for Ambien CR but my insurance company rejected it until they could ask the doctor if the non-cr version is acceptable since it is cheaper.  Of course this happened on a Friday afternoon so I have to wait the whole weekend to see how this resolves itself.

OK.  Last night was the best night since I started.  My AHI was .1  

I woke up a few times but was able to go right back to sleep each time and slept all the way to my alarm at 6 AM.  I did wake up a couple times with air blasting out of my mouth but it must not have been for long because my leak rate for the night was very good.  I actually feel decent today and my blood pressure is normal this evening.  It was a bit high this morning but nothing terrible.  

Hopefully this was just the first of many good nights.  

What a difference a day makes.  I woke up and ripped off the mask at 1 AM last night.  Fortunately, I woke up enough to realize what I had done and put it back on.  I scared my wife.  She thought I was having some sort of real problem.  That is the first time I have taken the mask off during the night since I have started CPAP.  I tried ambien for the first time last night and that is the last time I will ever take it.  I went to sleep right away but I felt really drugged and it was scarey for me.  

The ambien was the idea of the sleep doctor.  I told her about the Tylenol PM and she said the sleep agent in it is basically benadryl and if I needed a sleep aid I should take a real one.  The heck with that.  I have taken Tylenol PM off and on for years and never had a single problem with waking up and freaking out in the middle of the night.

I had also decided to try the nasonex again this weekend to confirm if the palpitations and heightened anxiety I had before was caused by it.  Today was one of the worst anxiety days I have had.  I had also tried Prilosec and I think I reacted to it as well.  I threw away the ambien, prilosec, and nasonex.  I am really going to try to get off as many drugs as I can.  My night stand is starting to look like I'm in a nursing home.  If I need some help getting to sleep I will take some Tylenol PM.  I have never had a reaction to it.  If I have problems with heartburn I will take tagamet as I have never had problems with it over a ten year period.  It really upsets me about the nasonex though because it really did help with the nasal congestion.  

This is really odd for me to be getting side effects from all these drugs.  I have never in my life been one to experience side effects and now it seems I get the worst effects of everything I try.

I'll start with the good news.  I turned up the humidifier one more notch and it really seems to have cleared up the nasal irritation and swelling.  I could breath well all night.

Bad news.  I slept very well until 4:30 and then woke up in a full-on panic attack.  My heart was racing and I was having mild chest pain.  I almost had my wife call 911.  After my wifes alarm went off at 5 I told her what happened and that I was feeling bad and she told me she had woken up at 4:15 and heard what sounded like my lips flapping.  I think I was leaking air out of my mouth and of course that lowered my air pressure and I had a really bad apnea.  When I took my blood pressure at 5:30 it was 157/98.  I didn't really calm all the way until about 11 AM and then I had a little relapse in the afternoon.  

I sometimes wish I had the problem of just being tired during the day after a bad night.  I have terrible anxiety and feel very bad all day when I have a bad night.  The worst part is that I am pretty sure I slept pretty well until 4:30 when I just totally fell off the cliff.  I think that since I used to sleep on my stomach my apneas when they happed were not as severe as they are now that I mostly sleep on my back.  Even though I am now having much fewer apneas, they are much worse when I do have them and set off anxiety.

Last night was pretty good.  My AHI was .2 but I did wake up quite a few times.  I felt pretty good today but this evening have hit the wall and can barely function I am so tired.  Off to bed for me.

You're doing really well! My lowest AHI has been 3.6. I can really tell the difference when it's below or close to 5. I feel much better the next day, but still tired.

_z


_________________
"Try. Fail. Try again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett

Thanks _Z

Last night was strange.  I slept well when I slept but I got to bed later than usual and then had a period of about an hour and half in the middle of the night when I woke up and couldn't sleep.

Today I had some terrible heartburn in the middle of the afternoon.  I don't know what that was all about.  I have never had heartburn that bad before.  If I wouldn't have had burning in my throat I would have thought I was having a heart attack.  Luckily I was able to find a coworker with some rolaids.  My throat is still a little sore.

I hope I sleep well tonight.  Tomorrow is the first day in about a month that I don't have to set an alarm or worry about getting up with the girls.  I am also going to be trying a new mask so hopefully I can get it working.

Last night was probably my best night so far.  I fell asleep easily and stayed asleep pretty much the whole night.  I don't think I moved an inch between 10 PM and 7:30 AM.  I probably could have slept longer but my humidifier ran dry and it was starting to irritate my throat.  I might have woken shortly a few times but went back to sleep easily.  My AHI was under one and I wasn't leaking air out of my mouth.  I think I am really starting to get used to wearing the mask.  

I think I really have some serious sleep deprivation saved up that It is going to take a while to catch up on though because I have been pretty tired today.  Also, I have had GERD symptoms again today but not as bad as yesterday.  My blood pressure has been good all day.  I think it was 114/76 about a half hour ago.  I am hoping that this blood pressure problem is just a temporary thing and I will be able to get off of or reduce the meds soon.  

We went out shopping today and I bought another new pillow.  I liked the one I bought a few weeks ago but it is a little too thick and causing me to tilt my head forward which I think makes an apnea more likely to happen and also I am having a little neck pain.  I was actually looking for one of the pillows that have a roll at the front to support your neck but they were all a hundred dollars or more and I wasn't ready to spend that much.

The last few days have been interesting.  I had my Echocardiogram on Monday.  The woman who did the test said she didn't see anything wrong but that the cardiologist would read the results and be in contact.  My blood pressure has been up and down but never crazy high.

The new pillow I bought was a failure.  It was too hard and hurt my neck which caused my arms to hurt and go numb which caused me to have a pretty good anxiety attack.  

I had chest and back soreness last night and into this morning.  I think my lungs and chest muscles are becoming strained from breathing against the pressure.  I have done a lot of searching on the internet and this seems to be a not uncommon occurence with starting CPAP and should hopefully go away eventually.  I decided that I am going to start using the ramp at the beginning of the night to help me adjust to the pressure at the beginning.  I wasn't using it because I thought it would be better to just try to get used to going full bore from the beginning.  I changed the starting ramp pressure to 10 and lengthened the ramp time from 15 minutes to 20 minutes.  They had set the starting pressure to 7.5 which seemed like not enough air pressure to make me feel comfortable.  Also, the difference between 7.5 and 15 was too much and made the constrast jarring to me when it got up to full power.  I figure that going from 10 to 15 over twenty minutes should be pretty seamless.  At least that is the hope.

I have had a cold the last couple of nights so the congestion has been a problem.  My whole family has been sick.  Strangely enough, the CPAP pressure seems to help keep my nasal passages open at least enough to breath.  As soon as I take off the mask in the morning my head seems like it is filled with cement.  I have been more careful than usual about cleaning all the cpap pieces so I don't prolong my cold any longer than it has to be.  

I started off this morning not feeling very well but have felt better as the day has gone on.  My AHI is staying below 1 even with the cold.  The Swift LT nasal pillows seem almost custom made for me and I am getting basically no leak at all.  I really love them compared to the other masks I have tried.  

Well, I think that is about enough of my random stream of consciousness.  

This week has been pretty good.  I got back the official results of the echocardiogram and they said everything looks good.  My blood pressure is looking better.  My seven day average AHI is .7 so I guess I can't complain about that too much.  I am still struggling to find the perfect pillow.  I am just about to call the sleep center and ask them where they buy their pillows because they are exactly what I am looking for.  They are soft but not too thick.  Almost all pillows sold seem to be super thick so they pitch my head too far forward.  I actually did find one that looked good but it was $100 and I just can't bring myself to pay that for a pillow.

My experiment with changing the ramp settings seems to be a success.  It is less stressful to start out with and takes long enough that I can get adjusted to the pressure of 15.  When I was just starting out at 15 I could feel my heart pounding everytime I would breathe out for the first twenty minutes.  This was not helpful if falling asleep.

My only real complaint is that I still wake up at 4:30 every night.  I am much better at being able to go back to sleep when it happens but it is still annoying.

dae3dae3 wrote:

This week has been pretty good.  I got back the official results of the echocardiogram and they said everything looks good.  My blood pressure is looking better.  My seven day average AHI is .7 so I guess I can't complain about that too much.  I am still struggling to find the perfect pillow.  I am just about to call the sleep center and ask them where they buy their pillows because they are exactly what I am looking for.  They are soft but not too thick.  Almost all pillows sold seem to be super thick so they pitch my head too far forward.  I actually did find one that looked good but it was $100 and I just can't bring myself to pay that for a pillow.

My experiment with changing the ramp settings seems to be a success.  It is less stressful to start out with and takes long enough that I can get adjusted to the pressure of 15.  When I was just starting out at 15 I could feel my heart pounding everytime I would breathe out for the first twenty minutes.  This was not helpful if falling asleep.

My only real complaint is that I still wake up at 4:30 every night.  I am much better at being able to go back to sleep when it happens but it is still annoying.

Dae3Dae3,

Glad to hear that you are feeling better.  

While I am not as tired during the day, I can't get rid of this  gas and bloated feeling (heartburn like), especially after I eat.  I had this before CPAP  and right now it's back really bad.  Of course, it makes me feel miserable and anxious so I feel like my CPAP process is not really being enjoyed.  I am also having sinus issues\allergy like issues.   Also, I still have to take sleeping medicine at night to sleep and too wake up at 4:30.  But the weired thing is that through all of this I am feeling burst of my old self.

I am actually go to try a food allergy test on Thursday (NAET) to see if I am allergist to certain foods that I am eating and get treated for them.  

Again, glad that you are feeling better.