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I feel great when I wake up in the morning, I feel like I slept well, I feel really good. I'm able to make it to work, but more importantly, I'm alert and able to work without yawning every 5 minutes, but I'm still going to sleep on the early side in the evenings, like 7:30 - 8:00 p.m. during the week. And on the weekends, I'm still take 2 naps a day, that last between 2 to 4 hours and going to bed by 10:00 p.m.. Why am I still so tired? I am schedule for a MSLT this Friday, my sleep doctor says I have a sleepy brain...lol.

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are you a newbie to sleep apnea treatment? could be that you're still working off your "sleep deficit" if you're still in the early stages.
Hi Mike,
I've been on cpap for 2 months now, not sure if that's considered new or not. How long does it take to work off your sleep deficit?

Mike said:
are you a newbie to sleep apnea treatment? could be that you're still working off your "sleep deficit" if you're still in the early stages.
it varies depending depending on severity of sleep apnea / amount of sleep deficit. i don't think it's uncommon though for it to take a couple of months to burn through a sleep deficit.

Lala said:
Hi Mike,
I've been on cpap for 2 months now, not sure if that's considered new or not. How long does it take to work off your sleep deficit?

Mike said:
are you a newbie to sleep apnea treatment? could be that you're still working off your "sleep deficit" if you're still in the early stages.
Hi Lala,
I am in the process of working off a sleep deficit after being on CPAP for 18 months. For a long time I was "undertreated", the docs just didn't take my mild sleep apnea seriously. My new doc and I are in the process of getting the right prescription in place- he sees me every six weeks right now to go over the data and make necessary changes. My sleep apnea seriously worsened since I was first diagnosed in April of 2008.
I don't know what a MSLT is, but your sleep doctor sounds like he's listening to you.
By the way, I still take Provigil 200 mg every morning, even after 18 months. My goal is to be able to stop the Provigil and be able to stay awake because my sleep apnea is appropriately treated. I'm 100% compliant.
Good luck, keep us posted.

Mary Zimlich
Hi Mary,
A MSLT is a test that measures your daytime sleepiness. It's a nap study and is used to see how quickly you fall asleep during the day. They use it to test for narcolepsy, which I'm sure I dont have, and idiopathic hypersomnia. The MSLT charts your brain waves and heartbeat and records your eye and chin movements. The study also measures how quickly and how often you enter the rapid-eye-movement (REM) stage of sleep. Results of the nap study are routinely used to detect sleep disorders.

At least that's what my doctor said and that's what I've read about it.


Mary Zimlich said:
Hi Lala,
I am in the process of working off a sleep deficit after being on CPAP for 18 months. For a long time I was "undertreated", the docs just didn't take my mild sleep apnea seriously. My new doc and I are in the process of getting the right prescription in place- he sees me every six weeks right now to go over the data and make necessary changes. My sleep apnea seriously worsened since I was first diagnosed in April of 2008.
I don't know what a MSLT is, but your sleep doctor sounds like he's listening to you.
By the way, I still take Provigil 200 mg every morning, even after 18 months. My goal is to be able to stop the Provigil and be able to stay awake because my sleep apnea is appropriately treated. I'm 100% compliant.
Good luck, keep us posted.

Mary Zimlich
jnk,
Is there an "acceptable" average leak?

Thanks,
Mary
There is an acceptable leak with each mask. The leak value does vary. Check with your DME or manufacturer.
Also remember with excessive sleepiness over the years you have created a sleep pattern. Now that the cause of the issue as been treated you will still need to undergo some sleep patteren modifications? The MSLT is a great idea as well. Just make sure there is not a secondary cause for your symptoms.
Where would I get the average leak info from jnk?

j n k said:
What are your average leak and your average apnea index?
Thanks for the info my leaks, jnk, it's very helpful. I've been experimenting with a product that's designed to absorb skin oil and therefore improve mask fit and decrease leaks, but seem to have more leakage with it, at least my machine data says I do. When I saw my doc 10 days ago I had leaks under control. I don't go to sleep until the machine indicates the mask fit is "excellent", but excellent at bedtime is not necessarily excellent at 3:00AM so I adjust during the night as needed (e.g. when the mask blows out on the sides or slips down under my chin).
I work at proper sleep hygiene- don't nap (provigil helps), less caffeine, consistent bedtime, and having everything I need in place when I go to bed. I listen to a very relaxing and pleasurable music cd which always eases me into sleep in good, relaxed spirits.
Lala, all this discussion is helping me, it's a good thread. I hope it's helping and encouraging you. Sounds like you and your doc are on top of things which is great. Again, good luck.
Thanks to all,

Mary Zimlich
Lala, on this discussion jnk replied to my questions about leaks a few comments before your question about where you would find the info.. He said you can also ask your DME which I did, but decided to do the best I can keeping the mask fitting right and let the doctor tell me about leaks when the techs download the data on my visits.
If you can't find ithe post let us know and maybe he can (or she) repost the info. My machine will tell me about leaks- I had to download the manual (didn't get one from the DME or lost it) to find out how to access that data. That function is not enabled on all machines. I also have a leak alarm on the machine, but it is "off" I plan to ask the DME to enable that function.

Mary Zimlich
Oh, you know what......I dont have the full data cpap, I only have the compliance data device!!! So I dont know what my average leak is. I only know how many hours I've used it. It doesnt give me any real useful info.


Mary Zimlich said:
Lala, on this discussion jnk replied to my questions about leaks a few comments before your question about where you would find the info.. He said you can also ask your DME which I did, but decided to do the best I can keeping the mask fitting right and let the doctor tell me about leaks when the techs download the data on my visits.
If you can't find ithe post let us know and maybe he can (or she) repost the info. My machine will tell me about leaks- I had to download the manual (didn't get one from the DME or lost it) to find out how to access that data. That function is not enabled on all machines. I also have a leak alarm on the machine, but it is "off" I plan to ask the DME to enable that function.

Mary Zimlich
Ok, I will try it. I'm at work now and I have bird duty tonight, so I probably wont get back to you until tomorrow. Thank jnk!

j n k said:
Lala,

If your DME enabled the function on your Elite, you should be able to get to the clinical results menu for patients by pushing down the left and right arrow buttons on the top of your machine simultaneously for at least 3 seconds. That's the safest way to see the info, since that way keeps you from accidentally changing any important settings. (That feature isn't always enabled because sometimes DMEs and docs are afraid we as patients will obsess too much about leak and AHI.)

If that doesn't work, you have the choice of either (1) asking your DME to enable that function or (2) getting into the deeper clinician's menu yourself to enable the patient-view feature--and I will tell you how to do that if you need me to, if you promise to go slow and write everything down to make sure you don't accidentally change anything in that menu. Either way is fine with me, as long as the professionals here (I am not one) don't fuss at me for giving away the secret handshake.

But first, just see if holding down the left arrow and the right arrow together for at least 3 seconds does the trick.

jeff

Lala said:
Where would I get the average leak info from jnk?

j n k said:
What are your average leak and your average apnea index?

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