Fellas (and it's mainly guys, though women are affected too), if your SO is complaining about your snoring, or you're just "feeling old", get a sleep study. What this article is talking about - is stress, and that stress is slowly killing you. It was killing me. Making my blood pressure higher, making my cholesterol numbers slightly out of whack, affecting my A1C levels. Nothing terrible - but all "out of adjustment", but easily correctable with meds.
Then my doctor suggested a sleep study (my dentist had already recommended one due to my teeth grinding). I did it. Ended up getting a CPAP - and that's been a life-changer! I instantly felt at least 10-15 years younger, was able to think more clearly, my wife has been able to get good sleep. In fact, I went from being able to wake up everyone in the house with my loud snoring to my wife checking on me through the night to make sure I'm still alive because I'm now so quiet!
I absolutely love it! The machine itself is whisper quiet. I use nasal pillows instead of the face mask and it's very comfortable. Takes a couple of days to get used to, may have to adjust the settings on your unit to make it work for you, but boy is it worth it!
As a first-line treatment, I urge anyone who either snores, or is just fatigued after sleep, to try a nasal stent/dilator. This isn't the strips which go on the outside of the nose, although those work for some people, they're less effective. I use the Rhinomed, but there's several brands, that's just the first one I got, and if you drop them in a small bowl of water in the morning and rinse them off a few hours later, they'll last forever. It's just a little piece of medical-grade plastic which you stick in both nostrils, and it props them open.
Some people are are going to need a CPAP, but trying the nasal stent doesn't take a sleep study, insurance, or a machine which you plug in and maintain: it takes twenty bucks. Probably don't jump straight in to using it every night, it takes the nostrils awhile to get used to them, but I have no discomfort at all starting around the second week of using them.
I would even go so far as to say everyone should just pick them up and try them out. One benefit that never occurred to me is that when I have mild congestion, the mechanical action of the stent will drain it, and no one sleeps well with a stuffy nose. Getting more oxygen per breath while sleeping has no downsides, even if you think you don't need it. If you ever wake up with one sinus filled with mucus, definitely give it a try.
Don't forget about humidification, If you wake up with dry mouth, a CPAP machine can also help with that. Having a dry mouth causes all sorts of other crap as well. It makes it easier to get sick, and can cause issues with your teeth as well.
Waking up with a dry mouth in the morning can happen from drinking too much water per day without sufficient electrolytes (i.e. more than 5 liters of water a day)
After the recent CPAP recall, and keeping in mind that many problems don't result in a proper recall, I would suggest avoiding a CPAP if your reasons are trivial.
I recently started using CPAP and one thing I noticed in the sleep study, besides all the other reasons it was hard to fall asleep, was that when they were doing the titration test to find the best initial pressure, they set it very low and then let it climb up once I stopped breathing at that setting.
The problem was, I actually found it difficult enough to breathe through my nose at that pressure that I would just keep myself awake because I couldn't relax with the mask on. It was kind of horrible and my technician didn't change it for hours. Eventually I started just intentionally snoring while awake to try to get her increase the pressure. No idea if she did but eventually exhaustion won out after around 4 hours.
So just a thought, but if you're using an autoset machine (APAP) maybe discuss with your doctor and make sure the initial pressure is high enough that you're able to breath comfortably through your nose when fully relaxed.
And also, you can experiment with different mask types depending on your sleep position.
If it's relatively minor apnea, the oral appliances do work. My wife has told me that my snoring has completely stopped when I wear it, and the snoring comes back if I forget. In combination with a fair amount of weight loss (about ~55lbs over the course of a year), I feel a lot better.
I use the walmart-brand breath-right nasal strips every night as well. I don't know if they actually do anything for me, but they're also inexpensive and they're not uncomfortable, so I figure it's an extremely cheap and harmless placebo if nothing else, and they certainly feel like they're doing something.
What kind of mask are you using? They first tried giving me the nasal pillows but I much preferred a full mask since it lets me breathe through my nose and mouth when I want. Your medical supplier should have a range of options for you.
Get your tonsils taken out if you haven’t already, along with the uvula. The volume of other tissues in the back of your throat can be reduced, and a turbinate reduction can improve nose breathing as well. A good ENT can advise.
CPAP machines are pretty incredible. Sleep Apnea also destroys your lungs and puts you at much higher risk of a variety of lung diseases over time. Your heart, lungs, mouth, and significant other will thank you.
I don’t have an SO to notice this but I should do this (or at least record myself sleeping). Brushing off things with “getting older” (…who above the age of twenty isn’t?[1]) when they can be dealt with is a shame. Dying too I guess.
[1] Yes the age 25 seems to be the general peak, but people under that age can still complain about wrinkles.
Every smart watch/wearable device has some kind of sleep tracker now. Newer ones have pulse oxymeters.
Even if they are inaccurate, they are making a lot of people self-conscious about their sleep.
- Why is my sleep score only around 50?
- Why is my HRV lower than everyone elses?
- Why does my pulse ox regularly fall to the 80s?
Some of these people are going to seek medical advice, and some will be prescribed CPAPs.
As far was why people seem to be having sleep apnea more, I like the theory that it's related to weaker jaw muscles in proportion to our bone structure, caused by the modern diet of eating softer foods. But it's a current area of research.
Along with what everyone else is saying I think there are a few additional factors:
- The population is getting older
- The population is getting heavier
- There's a greater general awareness of sleep apnea and its seriousness
- Today's CPAP machines are smaller, quieter, and easier and more comfortable to use than those of yesteryear, so doctors know their patients will be more receptive to the treatment
Conspiracy Theory backed up by almost no proof: CPAPs MAY soon not be regulated as a medical device, so CPAP companies are partnering and opening more sleep centers and pushing for more sleep studies so they can get their ($800-2000) for what is basically a fan that blows a low pressure stream of air into your nose/mouth.
I have a CPAP, I've not noticed anything better about my quality of sleep, or the soundness of my sleep. The only thing it has prevented is my snoring. My sleep studies (did 2 of them - one didn't record my blood oxygen) showed I get ~10 (8 on first, 11 on second) apnea events a night. I still do (according to CPAP) (1.12/hr on average).
As a comparison, my wife gets 3/hr now, and her sleep study showed she had over 200 events per night. She LOVES her CPAP.
My sleep issue costed me jobs, romantic relationships, and the finest years of my life. If you are severely sleep deprived, everything seems like shit, and it goes downhill from there. I fixed my sleep issue in my mid-30s and life has been slowly getting better. Better physical health, emotional stability, and social life. People repeatedly comment that I am a completely different person (in a good way!).
As noted here, sleep apnea is a huge issue indeed, but I would like to suggest more mundane solutions first. Try different mattresses, pillows, and sleeping temperatures to see what fits you. Reduce caffeine intake for a month. Sleep an hour earlier than your usual for two weeks. Try light exercise everyday. They all add up.
I wish I could get my lost years (and jobs, relationships) back, but that's life.
Same; got a study after having a really bad bout of headaches and mood swings. I was suffocating in my sleep with 60AHI. Anything above 5 is apnea, above 30 is severe.
From what I understand, apnea is insidious because it develops slowly and your body acclimates to your increasing CO2 levels, even though the lack of oxygen is causing brain damage. Getting ASV therapy has been a game-changer. I was turning into a cranky dumb brute and ASV started reversing it, once I acclimated to therapy. That took about 4 months though.
I had a bad experience with a sleep study. I snore and stop breathing in my sleep as per my wife. I went to a dr. to rectify the situation.
Was told after the sleep study that I snore and stop breathing “within reasonable limits” but I fell asleep in < 1 min and slept 99% of the time. They said I was “a tired person” and that I need more sleep… I am not a tired person and adding an extra hour of sleep the next 2 weeks didn’t improve anything.
The whole experience left a bad taste in my mouth and I’m hesitant now to follow up. I’ve had a few experiences like this at drs for other issues. IDK if it’s something about me but it’s impacted my trust in the medical community and makes me a bit sad even thinking about it and sharing here.
As the other person wrote, I'd try to find another doctor and get another study done at a different sleep center. You can also get an at-home sleep study kit, though they're not nearly as accurate as the full study you'll get at a sleep center.
I had a bad experience at my own sleep study too. I sleep on my side, and I can't sleep without some kind of white noise like a fan or rain. But with all that tubing hooked up, it was impossible for me to turn onto my side, and there was no white noise available. So I ended up laying there on my back, like a vampire in its casket, for six hours straight while the sleep techs dutifully came in every hour to adjust wires and ask why I wasn't able to sleep.
Eventually I fell asleep about an hour before the study ended, and they told me I barely got enough data for the study to conclude. They weren't happy with the data, they wanted to do another one but I refused. What they did have was enough to get me a prescription for a cpap.
I'm not a doctor, it's possible that the unique environment just made you sleep differently that night. But despite all my trouble with my own sleep study, I swear by my CPAP. I don't even take so much as a 20 minute nap without it.
because your wife said you snore and stop breathing sometimes, you got a standard sleep study. that test showed you were normal, but should get more sleep. you tried (and succeeded) getting more sleep, but complain it didn't improve anything. But you didn't express any initial deficits to begin with, just that your wife said you snore and sometimes stop breathing which doctors have said that in your case was not a problem. You even state that you are not a tired person.
I don't understand what you are so disappointed and mistrustful of? What's your complaint? Did you think the hour extra sleep would stop you from snoring?
Getting enough sleep is very important, I recommend you stick with the extra hours.
I felt that more sleep led to a worse life. I was less happy and had less time in my day. I wasn't tired so I didn't understand the benefit of the sleep.
I came with a real and specific problem that I wanted to resolve and I felt like I was getting, "that problem isn't important, here is what I think is important."
Ask to review your sleep data, preferably with a different sleep doctor. Actually sit down with them and look at the data in the software they use. What you're looking for is to see how often you had a "respiratory effort related event," and how many of these you had per hour of actual sleep. These are events that momentarily wake you up, but you won't be aware of it during the night. They cause you to be sleep deprived, but many sleep doctors pay them no mind since they don't result in reduced oxygen levels (since you wake up before your oxygen suffers).
You should continue shopping around for doctors until you solve the problem. The difference between a good MD and an average one is absolutely astounding, and you are ultimately the only person responsible for your health.
You should view the medical community like all communities: there are good members, bad members, and a whole lot of people in between.
Agreed, in the sleep case I took matters into my own hands by experimenting with nose strips, temperature, stacking pillows, etc.
The main issue for me is that I like my general doctor but I’ve felt like specialists are the real crapshoot. I’m in a city where I feel like the specialists are hard to access and have generally been lower quality than when I lived in suburbs.
I’ve wondered if it’s a sort of “pets vs cattle” issue like people talk about servers with. In other words, are there just too many people to give individuals the care they need?
I got a sleep study at the age of 24 because my then-girlfriend (now wife) said "I got used to the snoring, but that thing where you stop breathing really freaks me out". The what now? In hindsight, I'd had signs of sleep apnea since I was in my teens despite being a healthy weight.
I was diagnosed with 'mild to moderate' sleep apnea and told to not drink, and to exercise more. No CPAP needed. And they were right- if I do those things, I don't have many problems. But then again, I can't always do those things.
What really helped though, and I'm loathe to even say it, was taking high absorption magnesium. I hate it because there are very limited studies that say it should work, and it's mostly promoted by absolute quacks. And yet, when I take it, I sleep really well without snoring or having apnea issues and if I stop, I sleep terribly.
If it works then why were they "absolute quacks"? There's a ton of misinformation from the "legitimate" medical community. The most blatant and recent was the FUD around Ivermectin.
I have sleep apnea . I once went to Colorado without having a piece. Altitude changes the ability for your blood to absorb oxygen and you have ti hydrate often (I was buying one water bottle every time I went up a flight of stairs) even when I was doing that I had brain fog and headaches .
It’s hard to bring your cpap to Confrences because you must find distilled water or deal with the fact that your cpap will collect impurities with the water. Regardless it gets my brain fog away and since I’m not hypoxic it enhances my ability to recall things , problem solving and how I feel . Sleep apnea is real and if you have brain fog or other symptoms get tested. It takes a day to do the study but it is worth it . It is literally like a second wind to yourself .
Also, stay hydrated this is a big thing I have to work on personally.
>It’s hard to bring your cpap to Confrences because you must find distilled water
I gave up on using distilled water with my AirSense 11 after the initial supply. I don't mind unhumidified air. While it's possible to run the device with an empty water tank, a replacement sidecap is available that automatically disables the water-warming feature.
What kind of impurities? Consult your service manual first and foremost, but there should be information on cleaning it. If it wasn't a medical product I'd recommend straight vinegar to get the limescale buildup out.
Dissolved in all off the shelf water is minerals to make it safer to drink. Distilled water is recommended because it is just water but it is extremely unsafe to drink because it doesn’t have those minerals
I could clean it but replacement parts get shipped to me that I don’t have to.
Bring an extra toothbrush. Scrub your humidifier tank with the toothbrush and toothpaste, once a day. Now you can ignore distilled water for a week or two.
I get new humidifier tanks often enough so I don’t have to do this to clean but I use distilled often so nothing builds up to the point that it could be a problem.
I know it is a bad idea and I honestly don't know if I have sleep apnea. Always wake up not rested enough. I don't want go through the whole sleep study cycle because my insurance wouldn't not pay for it.
Can I just get a sleep apnea machine and try it for, let's say, a week? Is it dangerous?
Insurance companies may be more likely to cover home sleep studies, which cost less to run and are nearly as effective. A sleep doctor should be able to pre-authorize the study with the insurance company.
If you want to do it yourself without going through insurance you could check out Wesper. You can also buy a Wellue O2Ring off Amazon and see if your oxygen saturation ever drops overnight, which is a large part of what Wesper does.
Do you shake your legs a lot during the day? There are other things, disorders—-like restless leg syndrome (a misnomer, btw, it can present anywhere in the body, and sometimes doesn’t present physically except when trying to sleep), for example—-that can cause poor sleep.
So, it seems to me your best bet is to do the study because they’d find (or rule out) non-apnea causes, as well, but I understand the cost concern.
The lowest setting on most Cpap machines is 4.0cmh20.
The lowest settings you barely even notice the pressure so I don’t think you would be mortal danger compared to not using it all at that level.
The problem is finding the correct pressure level because going too high can cause central sleep apnea events due to co2 washout.
That’s why titration is done under the guidance of a medical professional for liability reasons.
I wouldn’t buy a used machine online because you don’t know what kind of gunk, smoker residue or bacteria build up the prior owner had. If they kept up with the cleaning and filter schedule etc.
Most advanced Cpap users who have a prescription use the SD card and look at all the logs and data in a program called Oscar it’s open source I think.
I used that data to fine tune to reduce my central sleep apnea events reduce my apnea, hyponea and rera events.
There are at-home sleep apnea test for about $200 via mail order. $200 is still a lot of money for some people. Just want to put it out there that a basic diagnostic doesn't need to be complicated. We're a long way from the days of "spend the night at the sleep clinic".
(Personally I first figured out my OSA with the help of an O2Ring oxygen monitor. But those are also about $200 to buy and only one part of a full sleep diagnostic. My life has been greatly improved by using a CPAP.)
I was thinking the same and apparently it has to be tuned (though I don’t know how real that claim is from the ENT). One thing to check quickly is to use an Apple Watch or similar device with continuous monitoring and see if you have any low blood ox levels.
Pulse ox devices are pretty simple but the ones they give you for testing are the only ones that have passed the FDA regs.
If you get one of the watches or other devices that can do continuous SpO2 monitoring (blood oxygen) overnight, then it should be possible to detect any form of severe sleep apnea just by looking for significant drops in SpO2. The proper kits look for more than that of course, but SpO2 on its own is actually a pretty good indicator.
Do you snore a lot? Have you ever used a mobile sleep tracker or just recorded yourself (audio or audio + video)? You should be able to do some at home research yourself to see if you stop breathing at night.
You can also try a different sleep setup, like try and sleep propped up or add an extra pillow.
I don't snore unless I do yoga nidra and I end up with the mouth wide open. Never done any kind of tracking.
The thing is that sometime I realize that, when I'm not sleeping, I hold my breath unconsciously for long period of time. Sometime I have to take a deep breath forcefully.
you could, but i would not recommend it. Sleep apnea comes in many forms. CSA, OSA, maybe you need a bipap and not a cpap. Sleep apnea machines tell you how many events youve had during the night but you could be given a false positive if you try to self diagnose with one of these.
I should also add that for most people it takes months to acclimate to even keeping the damn thing on overnight.
No, I don't wakeup with headaches. But, I easily need at least 10h of sleep a day to feel normal. If I ever sleep less than 10h, my whole day is ruined.
I don't know if this a good enough reason to doubt that I have sleep apnea.
I got a sleep study years ago, and again more recently. An ahi of 7 or something. I tried the CPAP machine for 7 weeks and it made no noticeable difference. I've got a mouth guard (mandibula advancement splint) which reduces snoring but again no real difference in fatigue. I've also had nasal surgery but still no real difference. I'm a little overweight but nothing crazy.
Slightly annoying really that I haven't found a magic bullet to fatigue, unsure what to try next (other than just lose some weight & exercise more).
> I tried the CPAP machine for 7 weeks and it made no noticeable difference.
Did you look at the actual data from your CPAP to see if it was working? Oscar (https://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php/OSCAR_-_The_Guide) provides you with way more information than the basic app on your phone (or display of your CPAP) will provide you; maybe it just needed some adjustments or a different mask.
When I first got my CPAP it was not helping at all. I complained and got a new sleep study WHILE using the CPAP that showed it was not helping. They gave a prescription for an oxygen concentrator to attach to the CPAP. That cut my events-per-hour to 1/10th what it was. When I travel, I take the CPAP but not the OX, and I can really tell the difference. I live in Colorado, and I sleep better with CPAP+OX than at sea level with just CPAP.
I've been surprised at how much light cardio helps many things. My career has been put on hold recently due to sudden onset of intense, never-ending headaches. So far, the most effective ways to stop it have been NSAIDs like ibuprofen, and cardio. In the initial part of my journey I probably consumed more advil than i would in three years, and this of course created additional problems.
The cardio part was surprising because if I did a 30m elliptical workout, getting my heart rate up to ~150 for 20 or so minutes, that granted me 1-2 hours of pain free existence. So, in addition to other things like supplements and cutting back on the caffeine, I'm just about at a place where I can manage it, and I think that the cardio is having a cumulative effect, as the windows where my pain level is manageable are widening.
Hope that helps you too if you go that route. Feeling tired all the time is no joke.
Weight loss, exercise, and diet sound like the next trials. Idk if it’s an as I get older thing, but I do much better energy wise when I replace grain-based carbs with fruits or beans, slightly more protein+fat, etc, within reason. I keep the calories the same roughly but find other fuels sources I enjoy, trying to limit major grain intake to one meal a day.
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Then my doctor suggested a sleep study (my dentist had already recommended one due to my teeth grinding). I did it. Ended up getting a CPAP - and that's been a life-changer! I instantly felt at least 10-15 years younger, was able to think more clearly, my wife has been able to get good sleep. In fact, I went from being able to wake up everyone in the house with my loud snoring to my wife checking on me through the night to make sure I'm still alive because I'm now so quiet!
I absolutely love it! The machine itself is whisper quiet. I use nasal pillows instead of the face mask and it's very comfortable. Takes a couple of days to get used to, may have to adjust the settings on your unit to make it work for you, but boy is it worth it!
Some people are are going to need a CPAP, but trying the nasal stent doesn't take a sleep study, insurance, or a machine which you plug in and maintain: it takes twenty bucks. Probably don't jump straight in to using it every night, it takes the nostrils awhile to get used to them, but I have no discomfort at all starting around the second week of using them.
I would even go so far as to say everyone should just pick them up and try them out. One benefit that never occurred to me is that when I have mild congestion, the mechanical action of the stent will drain it, and no one sleeps well with a stuffy nose. Getting more oxygen per breath while sleeping has no downsides, even if you think you don't need it. If you ever wake up with one sinus filled with mucus, definitely give it a try.
So is dropping your bedroom temperature.
Our bodies drop temperature before sleep to signal sleep as well, and the timing of that seems to be important to consider when sleeping.
I've heard of possible surgery. Or that implantable device. Maybe I'll look into those.
The problem was, I actually found it difficult enough to breathe through my nose at that pressure that I would just keep myself awake because I couldn't relax with the mask on. It was kind of horrible and my technician didn't change it for hours. Eventually I started just intentionally snoring while awake to try to get her increase the pressure. No idea if she did but eventually exhaustion won out after around 4 hours.
So just a thought, but if you're using an autoset machine (APAP) maybe discuss with your doctor and make sure the initial pressure is high enough that you're able to breath comfortably through your nose when fully relaxed.
And also, you can experiment with different mask types depending on your sleep position.
I use the walmart-brand breath-right nasal strips every night as well. I don't know if they actually do anything for me, but they're also inexpensive and they're not uncomfortable, so I figure it's an extremely cheap and harmless placebo if nothing else, and they certainly feel like they're doing something.
(I have many similar issues to the symptoms you describe, but I know they're all essentially attributable to my personal fitness level.)
[1] Yes the age 25 seems to be the general peak, but people under that age can still complain about wrinkles.
I had a snoring problem, I was asked to take the test and failed it, no cpap.
Turns out I may have just been not sleeping enough.
might have a physical issue with my nose like I mentioned to everyone.
Even if they are inaccurate, they are making a lot of people self-conscious about their sleep.
- Why is my sleep score only around 50?
- Why is my HRV lower than everyone elses?
- Why does my pulse ox regularly fall to the 80s?
Some of these people are going to seek medical advice, and some will be prescribed CPAPs.
As far was why people seem to be having sleep apnea more, I like the theory that it's related to weaker jaw muscles in proportion to our bone structure, caused by the modern diet of eating softer foods. But it's a current area of research.
- The population is getting older
- The population is getting heavier
- There's a greater general awareness of sleep apnea and its seriousness
- Today's CPAP machines are smaller, quieter, and easier and more comfortable to use than those of yesteryear, so doctors know their patients will be more receptive to the treatment
I have a CPAP, I've not noticed anything better about my quality of sleep, or the soundness of my sleep. The only thing it has prevented is my snoring. My sleep studies (did 2 of them - one didn't record my blood oxygen) showed I get ~10 (8 on first, 11 on second) apnea events a night. I still do (according to CPAP) (1.12/hr on average).
As a comparison, my wife gets 3/hr now, and her sleep study showed she had over 200 events per night. She LOVES her CPAP.
As noted here, sleep apnea is a huge issue indeed, but I would like to suggest more mundane solutions first. Try different mattresses, pillows, and sleeping temperatures to see what fits you. Reduce caffeine intake for a month. Sleep an hour earlier than your usual for two weeks. Try light exercise everyday. They all add up.
I wish I could get my lost years (and jobs, relationships) back, but that's life.
From what I understand, apnea is insidious because it develops slowly and your body acclimates to your increasing CO2 levels, even though the lack of oxygen is causing brain damage. Getting ASV therapy has been a game-changer. I was turning into a cranky dumb brute and ASV started reversing it, once I acclimated to therapy. That took about 4 months though.
Was told after the sleep study that I snore and stop breathing “within reasonable limits” but I fell asleep in < 1 min and slept 99% of the time. They said I was “a tired person” and that I need more sleep… I am not a tired person and adding an extra hour of sleep the next 2 weeks didn’t improve anything.
The whole experience left a bad taste in my mouth and I’m hesitant now to follow up. I’ve had a few experiences like this at drs for other issues. IDK if it’s something about me but it’s impacted my trust in the medical community and makes me a bit sad even thinking about it and sharing here.
I had a bad experience at my own sleep study too. I sleep on my side, and I can't sleep without some kind of white noise like a fan or rain. But with all that tubing hooked up, it was impossible for me to turn onto my side, and there was no white noise available. So I ended up laying there on my back, like a vampire in its casket, for six hours straight while the sleep techs dutifully came in every hour to adjust wires and ask why I wasn't able to sleep.
Eventually I fell asleep about an hour before the study ended, and they told me I barely got enough data for the study to conclude. They weren't happy with the data, they wanted to do another one but I refused. What they did have was enough to get me a prescription for a cpap.
I'm not a doctor, it's possible that the unique environment just made you sleep differently that night. But despite all my trouble with my own sleep study, I swear by my CPAP. I don't even take so much as a 20 minute nap without it.
I don't understand what you are so disappointed and mistrustful of? What's your complaint? Did you think the hour extra sleep would stop you from snoring?
Getting enough sleep is very important, I recommend you stick with the extra hours.
I came with a real and specific problem that I wanted to resolve and I felt like I was getting, "that problem isn't important, here is what I think is important."
You should view the medical community like all communities: there are good members, bad members, and a whole lot of people in between.
The main issue for me is that I like my general doctor but I’ve felt like specialists are the real crapshoot. I’m in a city where I feel like the specialists are hard to access and have generally been lower quality than when I lived in suburbs.
I’ve wondered if it’s a sort of “pets vs cattle” issue like people talk about servers with. In other words, are there just too many people to give individuals the care they need?
I was diagnosed with 'mild to moderate' sleep apnea and told to not drink, and to exercise more. No CPAP needed. And they were right- if I do those things, I don't have many problems. But then again, I can't always do those things.
What really helped though, and I'm loathe to even say it, was taking high absorption magnesium. I hate it because there are very limited studies that say it should work, and it's mostly promoted by absolute quacks. And yet, when I take it, I sleep really well without snoring or having apnea issues and if I stop, I sleep terribly.
The reason to loathe an advice that seems to work, but isn't backed by scientific study is:
The Placebo effect is real and strong.
There's no harm in subscribing to Placebo, if there's no downside, but promoting gets a little... meh. We like to be scientific when possible.
It’s hard to bring your cpap to Confrences because you must find distilled water or deal with the fact that your cpap will collect impurities with the water. Regardless it gets my brain fog away and since I’m not hypoxic it enhances my ability to recall things , problem solving and how I feel . Sleep apnea is real and if you have brain fog or other symptoms get tested. It takes a day to do the study but it is worth it . It is literally like a second wind to yourself .
Also, stay hydrated this is a big thing I have to work on personally.
I gave up on using distilled water with my AirSense 11 after the initial supply. I don't mind unhumidified air. While it's possible to run the device with an empty water tank, a replacement sidecap is available that automatically disables the water-warming feature.
I could clean it but replacement parts get shipped to me that I don’t have to.
Can I just get a sleep apnea machine and try it for, let's say, a week? Is it dangerous?
If you want to do it yourself without going through insurance you could check out Wesper. You can also buy a Wellue O2Ring off Amazon and see if your oxygen saturation ever drops overnight, which is a large part of what Wesper does.
Do you have information on what kinds of drops are bad vs normal? Or what should be watched out for?
So, it seems to me your best bet is to do the study because they’d find (or rule out) non-apnea causes, as well, but I understand the cost concern.
The lowest settings you barely even notice the pressure so I don’t think you would be mortal danger compared to not using it all at that level.
The problem is finding the correct pressure level because going too high can cause central sleep apnea events due to co2 washout.
That’s why titration is done under the guidance of a medical professional for liability reasons.
I wouldn’t buy a used machine online because you don’t know what kind of gunk, smoker residue or bacteria build up the prior owner had. If they kept up with the cleaning and filter schedule etc.
Most advanced Cpap users who have a prescription use the SD card and look at all the logs and data in a program called Oscar it’s open source I think.
I used that data to fine tune to reduce my central sleep apnea events reduce my apnea, hyponea and rera events.
(Personally I first figured out my OSA with the help of an O2Ring oxygen monitor. But those are also about $200 to buy and only one part of a full sleep diagnostic. My life has been greatly improved by using a CPAP.)
Pulse ox devices are pretty simple but the ones they give you for testing are the only ones that have passed the FDA regs.
You can also try a different sleep setup, like try and sleep propped up or add an extra pillow.
The thing is that sometime I realize that, when I'm not sleeping, I hold my breath unconsciously for long period of time. Sometime I have to take a deep breath forcefully.
(not mine - but was an interesting read)
Might be a lie told by the health providers, but I've heard it multiple times.
If you can get a note from a Doctor with a history of sleep issues and trying different things insurance should approve it.
Perhaps you can ask insurance what the criteria are.
I should also add that for most people it takes months to acclimate to even keeping the damn thing on overnight.
Do you wake up with headaches?
source: i have sleep apnea and wear a cpap
I don't know if this a good enough reason to doubt that I have sleep apnea.
Slightly annoying really that I haven't found a magic bullet to fatigue, unsure what to try next (other than just lose some weight & exercise more).
Did you look at the actual data from your CPAP to see if it was working? Oscar (https://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php/OSCAR_-_The_Guide) provides you with way more information than the basic app on your phone (or display of your CPAP) will provide you; maybe it just needed some adjustments or a different mask.
The cardio part was surprising because if I did a 30m elliptical workout, getting my heart rate up to ~150 for 20 or so minutes, that granted me 1-2 hours of pain free existence. So, in addition to other things like supplements and cutting back on the caffeine, I'm just about at a place where I can manage it, and I think that the cardio is having a cumulative effect, as the windows where my pain level is manageable are widening.
Hope that helps you too if you go that route. Feeling tired all the time is no joke.