Hey Sleep Apnea folks!

iamperplexed said:

I had an at home study last week and was diagnosed as mild with a score of 10. No telling what my number really is, the test was a nightmare. I didn't sleep for several hours after turning the machine on and I woke with the finger sensor off and the contraption rolled around on my side. Either way, I'm looking forward to my "machine". I snore, choke and cough for a few hours a night before giving up and getting up. Also, separate beds for years now. I should have known I would find good info here on HBT. It's amazing how much I've learned from this site in addition to brewing info. Thanks to you all for putting it out there.

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Is it wrong that I'm jealous you had a home study? Then again, maybe you subconsciously knew you were "home" and said STFU stupid machines.

I only made it 2 hours into my first study before they slapped the mask on... "hey, we might as well get started."

Here's hoping you don't end up with a dinosaur like this:
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1430368961.231798.jpg then again, it works awesome, so if you aren't traveling then it's not a problem.

I could lose a few pounds, but am not anywhere near seriously overweight. I only get the symptoms when I lay flat on my back, which is OK as I prefer to sleep on my side or stomach anyway. The scary thing is if even if I am awake, I can't lay on my back as I seem to forget to breathe then, too.

slym2none said:

The scary thing is if even if I am awake, I can't lay on my back as I seem to forget to breathe then, too.

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So I'm not the only one that does that?

AZ_IPA said:

So I'm not the only one that does that?

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I do that too. Even when I am falling asleep I forget about it. Then I get the gentle nudge from the CPAP to remind me to breathe.

Well, looks like I am not the only one.

Good thing is, I probably know how I am going to die.

slym2none said:

I could lose a few pounds, but am not anywhere near seriously overweight. I only get the symptoms when I lay flat on my back, which is OK as I prefer to sleep on my side or stomach anyway. The scary thing is if even if I am awake, I can't lay on my back as I seem to forget to breathe then, too.

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I lie flat on my back and start snoring even when I'm awake. I've never noticed stopping breathing while awake.

For those of us trying to drop a few pounds, an ex-coworker showed me how to do this on Wednesday:

I synced Strava, My Fitness Pal, and the iPhone Health apps. It enables me to track my food and exercising together. It might be possible to sync Strava and My Fitness Pal on non-iPhones. All the Health app allows you to do is conviently graph the things you want to track.

I set myself the goal of losing one pound a week and have lost 3.6lbs in 3 days. The other thing it has shown me is that I haven't been doing nearly as good at lowering my salt intake as I thought I was.

For me, it's getting on my bike as often as I say I am going to, not as often as I actually do.

Speaking of... seriously, I am going riding right now! 80° and beautiful out.

Beernik said:

For those of us trying to drop a few pounds, an ex-coworker showed me how to do this on Wednesday:

I synced Strava, My Fitness Pal, and the iPhone Health apps. It enables me to track my food and exercising together. It might be possible to sync Strava and My Fitness Pal on non-iPhones. All the Health app allows you to do is conviently graph the things you want to track.

I set myself the goal of losing one pound a week and have lost 3.6lbs in 3 days. The other thing it has shown me is that I haven't been doing nearly as good at lowering my salt intake as I thought I was.

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I like MFP, but I don't like how hard it is to apply to food made at home, compared to grocery store meals or restaurant meals.

If I make stir fry with 5-8 veggies, chicken, shrimp, rice/noodles, and homemade sauce, it's pretty hard to accurately determine serving size...


Had my followup sleep study about a week ago. The advanced technician seemed to get things dialed in by the end of the night (had started with ~45 episodes an hour ), and will hopefully be getting my machine soon.

AZ_IPA said:

I like MFP, but I don't like how hard it is to apply to food made at home, compared to grocery store meals or restaurant meals.

If I make stir fry with 5-8 veggies, chicken, shrimp, rice/noodles, and homemade sauce, it's pretty hard to accurately determine serving size...


Had my followup sleep study about a week ago. The advanced technician seemed to get things dialed in by the end of the night (had started with ~45 episodes an hour ), and will hopefully be getting my machine soon.

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I'm using MFP on the iPhone. Under "My Food and Recipes" I entered my Belgian waffle recipe this morning and ballparked the number of servings (waffles) it makes (7). It was a lot easier than I expected. But then I was expecting it to be a major PITA.

I also feel like a real dork because I forgot that baking powder is sodium bicarbonate. Guess I need to invest in some food grade potassium bicarbonate.

I've been thinking about how to do my stir fry recipe in it. I think I'll have to break out a scale the first time I cook it and weigh everything while I'm prepping and write it all down.

I thought the machine was overkill, so popped off the rubber mouthpiece of a snorkle to keep my mouth open. This works sleeping on my side (nothing works on my back), but is a bit uncomfy. So I learned to sort of purse my lips in a way that doesn't close in my sleep... center part open and extremes closed.

The do make a mouth guard type thing for people with apena. Like your snorkel solution, it's supposed to force the jaw into a position where the throat stays open.

I've never tried one. I didn't think it would help with my other parasomnia issue like the CPAP does. However, I had a coworker who swore by his.

Nasal pillow plus chin strap. This has been a perfect combo.

[http://www.cpapsupplyusa.com/respi...supplyusa.com/Chin-Strap-Premium-1012911.aspx

The strap is actually more like an ace bandage and is very comfortable. It's not black neoprene like the one in the link. It actually fits over my ears and keeps noise down ...

I've had my BIPAP for five nights now. Four of those have been at NHC, where I might be drinking a bit more than normal

But still, dropping from ~90 episodes an hour to 1.5/hr has obviously made a huge difference in my actual sleep time and everything associated with that.

I'm obviously much more rested now than I'm sleeping more than ~40 seconds at a time.

AZ_IPA said:

I've had my BIPAP for five nights now. Four of those have been at NHC, where I might be drinking a bit more than normal

But still, dropping from ~90 episodes an hour to 1.5/hr has obviously made a huge difference in my actual sleep time and everything associated with that.

I'm obviously much more rested now than I'm sleeping more than ~40 seconds at a time.

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Went from 90 to 1 myself, so know exactly how you feel

Awesome you're getting some good sleep.

I remember having some weird-a$$ dreams at that time

I am finally using the pillows instead of the full mask, as my allergies are finally getting under control with immunotherapy and a cocktail of allergy medications.

I wore it for about 2.5 hours last night and was at 0.4 episodes per hour. Finally able to fall asleep comfortably (side sleeper). Hope it continues and I start dropping pounds gained partially by OSA.

I was diagnosed with sleep apnea at the University Of Michigan's Sleep Study clinic several months ago. Every machine they tried at the clinic failed. Finally, the doctor put in an order for an ASV machine, which I've been using at home for about a month. Prior to using the ASV, I would stop breathing every 15 to 20 minutes. Since I've been on it, my wife tells me I've only stopped breathing one time in the last month.

My mom is going in for a sleep study tonight. But I don't think she has apnea. She received a double lung transplant 5 years ago.

The last year or so, she's been having blood pressure problems. I think they finally got her a good blood pressure medication but it's causing her to over relax at night when she sleeps and she starts shallow breathing. I think she's going to end up having to wear oxygen at night.

The last weeks, she's been asking me what it's like and I've been telling her on it's like being strung up like a marionette doll and plugged into the headboard.

Why would you say that?

I'm struggling. I first tried the full face mask with no luck. They don't mix well with beards. I'm on to the nasal pillow now but can't stand the chin strap. The first night with the nasal pillow was great. I actually slept 8 hours. Since then I've either battled with nasal congestion due to allergies or ended up ripping it off after 2 hours. I swear my "heated hose" isn't working. Feels like I'm being sandblasted with ice cold air. I'll give it another shot this evening but I'm starting to doubt my willpower to keep trying.

I shortened my beard by half for my nose cup. I also cut my hair much shorter because of the headgear.

Are you sure your machine came with all the heater stuff with it? For my machine, i had to get a separate adapter kit, new style hose, and a cord that can deliver more wattage. Also, it highlights orange if the heater is on. It highlights blue if the heater is off.

My sinuses give me problems too. Flonase has helped me a lot on days that I am particularly stuffy.

Play with the humidifier setting too. I like mine set on 1 or 2 of 5. If I turn it off or the reservoir runs dry, I'll rip my mask off during the night. If I set it above 2, I feel like a rain cloud is sitting on my face.

bwarbiany said:

I'm trying to drop weight right now... I've gotten back up to my lifetime-high BMI (32.6), and I've noticed I feel like ****, getting acid reflux, and my family tells me I snore like a chainsaw...

Time to cut out breakfast, lunch, and "school night" beers. Desperate times, ya know?

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Cucumbers are the best ant-acid food. Eat a cucumber a day, rinse mouth with baking soda. Look for alcoline foods to offset the acid stuff we eat. Alcohol, meat , most protien and fats are acidic, causing heartburn, bleeding hemroids, acid reflux, cancer. It will also help with bmi.

It did. It's brand new with "auto" everything. I think I might try to tweak the settings on the temp and humidity although last night was better. I got 5 hours before I woke up with congestion and had to remove it. Thanks for all of the info, I'm not giving up just yet!

Beernik said:

I shortened my beard by half for my nose cup. I also cut my hair much shorter because of the headgear.

Are you sure your machine came with all the heater stuff with it? For my machine, i had to get a separate adapter kit, new style hose, and a cord that can deliver more wattage. Also, it highlights orange if the heater is on. It highlights blue if the heater is off.

My sinuses give me problems too. Flonase has helped me a lot on days that I am particularly stuffy.

Play with the humidifier setting too. I like mine set on 1 or 2 of 5. If I turn it off or the reservoir runs dry, I'll rip my mask off during the night. If I set it above 2, I feel like a rain cloud is sitting on my face.

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Been on my machine for a couple months now....

Incidents are down from ~90/hr to ~2/hr. And my blood pressure is down ~20 points

Now I just have to figure out how to run this thing in a tent during dear season...

They have battery packs specifically for that.

AZ_IPA said:

Been on my machine for a couple months now....

Incidents are down from ~90/hr to ~2/hr. And my blood pressure is down ~20 points

Now I just have to figure out how to run this thing in a tent during dear season...

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I brought a generator to elk camp last year. Worked great.

AZ_IPA said:

Now I just have to figure out how to run this thing in a tent during dear season...

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Take a car battery and power converter. The battery will last a LONG time with just a C-PAP on it.

Had my sleep study a few weeks ago, and go back to the doc for my results next Thursday.

Based on what the sleep technician (who obviously can't officially diagnose me), I should probably expect the doc to issue me a CPAP.

Yay, me! Light at the end of the tunnel!

I they didn't wake you up during the night an make you put one on, it's a good sign. You may not be as bad as some of us. They woke me up about 2 or 3 hours into mine and made me put one on because my blood-oxygen was dropping below 80%.


BTW, my the result of my mom's sleep study is that she is now on a CPAP. She doesn't like it but she's getting used to it.

I guess I know where my big neck comes from.

Still can't wear my mask. Getting sick of failing.

You guys that have had problems in the past have any tips to keep it on long than 2 hours?

thatjonguy said:

Still can't wear my mask. Getting sick of failing.

You guys that have had problems in the past have any tips to keep it on long than 2 hours?

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Yeah, sleep. Respironics Nasal pillows. I can barely feel it

When I was having problems wearing mine for more than a couple hours it really wasn't the mask. I was having a lot of back pain while laying down. The back pain would wake me up and I'd be mad and rip the mask off and try to go back to sleep.

When I got my back to stop spasming every time I laid down, it wasn't a problem to keep it on 5 hours.

If something else is waking you during the night? Or maybe when you feel like taking it off, get up and have a drink of water and then go back to bed and put it back on.

With the aggressive parasomnia I had that was fueled by the apnea, my options were to get used to it or never sleep with my wife again. So I had pretty good incentive for getting used to it.

Beernik said:

I they didn't wake you up during the night an make you put one on, it's a good sign. You may not be as bad as some of us. They woke me up about 2 or 3 hours into mine and made me put one on because my blood-oxygen was dropping below 80%.

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Well, "good sign" for me is a diagnosis of sleep apnea and a CPAP. I was pretty certain I had sleep apnea when I walked in the door, so it's more about fixing the problem than figuring out whether I have one.

But the technician *did* come in and put the mask on in the middle of the night, so I'm guessing it was pretty bad.

Met the doc today, he confirmed I have apnea and write the scrip for the machine. I should have it within a week or two...

thatjonguy said:

Still can't wear my mask. Getting sick of failing.

You guys that have had problems in the past have any tips to keep it on long than 2 hours?

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HoppyDaze said:

Yeah, sleep. Respironics Nasal pillows. I can barely feel it

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That is what I use. I've had it for about 4 years. It took a while to get used to the mask, but now I can't sleep without it. I still wake up a time or two (at least ) at night to adjust the hose as I turn over or to adjust the mask, but it has been worth getting used to.

Had no idea this thread was even here. I have some kind of nasal pillows, and it's really hard to put up with when I first put it on. It's like I can't get enough air. But that passes. Then what wakes me up is always the damn hose.

HoppyDaze said:

Yeah, sleep. Respironics Nasal pillows. I can barely feel it

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CGVT said:

That is what I use. I've had it for about 4 years. It took a while to get used to the mask, but now I can't sleep without it. I still wake up a time or two (at least ) at night to adjust the hose as I turn over or to adjust the mask, but it has been worth getting used to.

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I use the pillows as well, still can't deal.

Might be time to go back to my supply shop and talk to the respiratory therapist.

How long have you been using the CPAP?

CGVT said:

How long have you been using the CPAP?

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Off and on 2 years. My seasonal allergies effect the use more than anything else. But getting allergy shots to hopefully help that issue.

Man, that's a long time to not be able to adjust to sleeping with it. I think it took me about 6 months. I still wake up and take it off once in a while, but I usually put it back on because I wake up too often without it.

You should go back and try a different type mask. It is definitely worth it. Even with some broken sleep because of the hose, it is still better than sleeping without it.