"please keep me updated about oximeters "
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Welcome to the Sleepguide Community!
Hi! Ready to Rock This Forum?
Thank you for visiting the SleepGuide discussion forum. We are committed to allowing freedom of expression for our members, and that includes maintaining a safe space for people with opposing views to express themselves. We get posts from patients and pros all over the country and even the globe, so needless to say, people come with different viewpoints on Sleep Apnea. We see this diversity and variety as a real strength-- dialogue and debate are an integral part of the educational process, as well as an important tool in exploring different sides of complex issues.
SleepGuide Code of Conduct
Okay, I know we said we want you to have the freedom to express yourselves. And we do. But a few rules never hurt, right?
• Be nice! No flaming. Many posters come here for information, not to be called names.
• Please respect the different backgrounds and education of posters—especially when it comes to diverse perspectives on Sleep Apnea from patients and pros alike.
• No one needs to hear you correct them on proper grammar and spelling. Let’s talk Sleep Apnea, not the difference between affect and effect.
• Wanna talk about religion and race? Well, we don’t. We wanna talk about Sleep Apnea.
• Don’t gang up with other posters against one person. It’s not nice!
• Did I mention you should…talk about Sleep Apnea? Cool! Now get to it and have fun!
Thank you for visiting the SleepGuide discussion forum. We are committed to allowing freedom of expression for our members, and that includes maintaining a safe space for people with opposing views to express themselves. We get posts from patients and pros all over the country and even the globe, so needless to say, people come with different viewpoints on Sleep Apnea. We see this diversity and variety as a real strength-- dialogue and debate are an integral part of the educational process, as well as an important tool in exploring different sides of complex issues.
SleepGuide Code of Conduct
Okay, I know we said we want you to have the freedom to express yourselves. And we do. But a few rules never hurt, right?
• Be nice! No flaming. Many posters come here for information, not to be called names.
• Please respect the different backgrounds and education of posters—especially when it comes to diverse perspectives on Sleep Apnea from patients and pros alike.
• No one needs to hear you correct them on proper grammar and spelling. Let’s talk Sleep Apnea, not the difference between affect and effect.
• Wanna talk about religion and race? Well, we don’t. We wanna talk about Sleep Apnea.
• Don’t gang up with other posters against one person. It’s not nice!
• Did I mention you should…talk about Sleep Apnea? Cool! Now get to it and have fun!
Views: 1724
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Mary Z on
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Richard, maybe your doc would be willing to work with a local Durable Medical Eqipment supplier (DME) to get you set up with a CPAP machine (hope insurance will cover that with a sleep apnea diagnosis). They could work together to set up your machine and go by how you're feeling to judge if they've got things right. Maybe you could also find out from the insurance company or have your doctor find out what diagnosis is necessary to get a sleep study authorized. Usually it comes down to the doctor (well, not always, sometimes it's just not gonna happen) making the right diagnosis and using the right diagnostic code to get approval. Good luck, keep us posted.
I'm feeling well, thanks for asking.
Mary Z.
Richard Carl Kesler Jr. said:Hello my name is Richard and i believe i have sleep apnea. Due to the fact that my insurance does not cover the test to determine if i do or dont have sleep apnea i
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Permalink Reply by Zombob on
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Howdy! My name is Robert and I live in Illinois. Was constantly exhausted and went to see doctor. I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea and prescribed treatment with a cpap, which I despise. Ugh!
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Welcome, Robert. Maybe the subject will become more interesting if you get involved in the discussions here. Hopefully if you use your equipment every night you will start to feel better and not be so exhausted.
Hang in there and keep us posted, tell us more about why you feel so bad about your treatment, please.
Mary Z.
Zombob said:Howdy! My name is Robert and I live in Illinois. Was constantly exhausted and went to see doctor. I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea and prescribed treatment with a cpap, which I despise. Ugh!
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Permalink Reply by Becky Hadenfeldt on
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Hi Dave- You couldn't pay me a million bucks to give up my CPAP machine : o )
Dave Hargett said:Hi, I'm Dave.
I live just about 30 miles southwest of downtown Chicago Illinois. I have been a diagnosed sleep apnea patient (severe obstructive apnea with an AHI of 82) since the early fall of 1994. Knowing what I know now, I suspect that I had sleep apnea at age 20 when I graduated from college, but it took another 25 years before I saw daytime symptoms bad enough to force me to the doctor.
I have been a CPAP user since September of 1994 and virtually 100% compliant every night (excluding power outages!).
I started attending an A.W.A.K.E. sleep apnea support group in 1995 and wound up becoming the coordinator of the group in August. From there I got involved with the American Sleep Apnea Association, eventually joining the board of directors and becoming Chairman.
I consider myself a sleep apnea activist and advocate and I have run two support groups (the 2nd in Naperville IL, the first in Elk Grove Village, IL) for a number of years. I also do public speaking in the Chicago area and have been interviewed on national radio and internet radio.
I currently also serve as the public member of the Board of Directors of the BRPT, the group that issues the RPSGT credential to sleep technologists who pass the 200 question exam that assesses their training and knowledge.
Sleep well and use your CPAP or oral appliance every night!
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I have used a Respironics CPAP for sleep apnea for nearly twenty years now - if they've been out that long! The clincher was the addition of the humidifier. Lately, I've turned the two latest models back in for the old standard. Reason: the humidifier tanks simply were bad engineering. They didn't hold enough water for even the lowest setting. Plus, the latest machines were also noisier, and my wife is happy that I went back to the old machine. It's been twenty years of trial and error, but I always use my CPAP and have travelled world wide with it. Not a problem anywhere! I just can't go camping anymore and have to ramp up to better grade hotels in third world countries, which are my favorites to visit. Nobody else in our families has sleep apnea. Good Luck to All! DH in North Dakota.
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Permalink Reply by RL on
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Greetings PSAs (People with Sleep Apnea & friends)! Nice to meet you. I was diagnosed with sleep apnea in December 2009. After struggling with feeling tired all the time with nothing I tried helping much, I am grateful to know what is going on. Of course there may be other contributing factors, but this is a big one! I had asked my PCP about getting tested for this in Dec. '08 at my annual physical. She had said she would have someone call me about it, but that never happened. Not knowing anything about the process for this, I did not follow up with my PCP (having not received any call). Also just procrastinating and letting life's demands get in the way kept me from focusing on addressing this (not to mention the mental fog). I again brought up the subject at my 2009 physical in November 2009. PCP apologized for "dropping the ball" and there after set me up for my first of two "sleep studies". Also of note, my BP had been increasing over the year (I have a meter at home) and cholesterol/triglycerides were up too. Well, stress was probably also a factor, but my mostly sedentary lifestyle wasn't helping either. Problem was, I was always too tired to exercise and when I tried, I would not recover in what I consider to be reasonable time from past experience. I also was having increasing issues with short term memory, and ability to focus.
My first sleep study was a split study, first with just being scanned, then after, attempting use of nose/mouth type mask. Well, yes, I had apnea, both obstructive and central, and using the mask made the central apnea worse. I felt worse after this test than after a usual night of poor sleep and developed a migraine level headache the day after. So, they sent me for a second test, first using just oxygen (related to the central apnea), then with a nasal pillow mask & cpap, with oxygen added. I did better with that. Still not energetic, but not worse, and able to participate in activities the following day.
First test resulted in moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea with AHI 32/hour, Medicare AHI 23/hour, REM AHI 45/hour. (I still don't totally understand the AHI terms) Baseline central apneas "fairly frequent" with desaturations (oxygen) below 80%. CPAP pressures tested brought out "severe underlying central sleep apnea" greater than 90 events per hour. The second sleep study tested for what combination of CPAP pressure and oxygen gave the best result. Titration of the CPAP/oxygen resulted in a prescription of 7 cmH20 with supplemental oxygen at 4 lpm. This gave an AHI of 4 (within the normal range). Higher and lower gave central apnea of over 30 events per hour. So they set my CPAP to be steady, and not adjust automatically.
I got my CPAP the Monday after Christmas, and have been using every night since. All of your posts on this forum have been very helpful in my adjusting to this diagnosis and treatment. I have other posts to make as time allows on some of the other threads. This is my first time joining a forum, and I believe it can be very helpful to myself and hopefully I can contribute something that will help someone else.
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One more thing - RL stands for "Right Life" as in Seal's song "The Right Life" on his album "System". This represents my hope that I can get back to my own "right life" with the use of my CPAP.
RL said:Greetings PSAs (People with Sleep Apnea & friends)! Nice to meet you. I was diagnosed with sleep apnea in December 2009. After struggling with feeling tired all the time with nothing I tried helping much, I am grateful to know what is going on. Of course there may be other contributing factors, but this is a big one! I had asked my PCP about getting tested for this in Dec. '08 at my annual physical. She had said she would have someone call me about it, but that never happened. Not knowing anything about the process for this, I did not follow up with my PCP (having not received any call). Also just procrastinating and letting life's demands get in the way kept me from focusing on addressing this (not to mention the mental fog). I again brought up the subject at my 2009 physical in November 2009. PCP apologized for "dropping the ball" and there after set me up for my first of two "sleep studies". Also of note, my BP had been increasing over the year (I have a meter at home) and cholesterol/triglycerides were up too. Well, stress was probably also a factor, but my mostly sedentary lifestyle wasn't helping either. Problem was, I was always too tired to exercise and when I tried, I would not recover in what I consider to be reasonable time from past experience. I also was having increasing issues with short term memory, and ability to focus.
My first sleep study was a split study, first with just being scanned, then after, attempting use of nose/mouth type mask. Well, yes, I had apnea, both obstructive and central, and using the mask made the central apnea worse. I felt worse after this test than after a usual night of poor sleep and developed a migraine level headache the day after. So, they sent me for a second test, first using just oxygen (related to the central apnea), then with a nasal pillow mask & cpap, with oxygen added. I did better with that. Still not energetic, but not worse, and able to participate in activities the following day.
First test resulted in moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea with AHI 32/hour, Medicare AHI 23/hour, REM AHI 45/hour. (I still don't totally understand the AHI terms) Baseline central apneas "fairly frequent" with desaturations (oxygen) below 80%. CPAP pressures tested brought out "severe underlying central sleep apnea" greater than 90 events per hour. The second sleep study tested for what combination of CPAP pressure and oxygen gave the best result. Titration of the CPAP/oxygen resulted in a prescription of 7 cmH20 with supplemental oxygen at 4 lpm. This gave an AHI of 4 (within the normal range). Higher and lower gave central apnea of over 30 events per hour. So they set my CPAP to be steady, and not adjust automatically.
I got my CPAP the Monday after Christmas, and have been using every night since. All of your posts on this forum have been very helpful in my adjusting to this diagnosis and treatment. I have other posts to make as time allows on some of the other threads. This is my first time joining a forum, and I believe it can be very helpful to myself and hopefully I can contribute something that will help someone else.
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Permalink Reply by susan mccord on
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Hi RL--glad you've joined us. Sounds like you've had a bit of a rough ride getting here! This is a GREAT site for support and info.
Welcome!!
Susan McCord ;-)
RL said:One more thing - RL stands for "Right Life" as in Seal's song "The Right Life" on his album "System". This represents my hope that I can get back to my own "right life" with the use of my CPAP.
RL said:Greetings PSAs (People with Sleep Apnea & friends)! Nice to meet you. I was diagnosed with sleep apnea in December 2009. After struggling with feeling tired all the time with nothing I tried helping much, I am grateful to know what is going on. Of course there may be other contributing factors, but this is a big one! I had asked my PCP about getting tested for this in Dec. '08 at my annual physical. She had said she would have someone call me about it, but that never happened. Not knowing anything about the process for this, I did not follow up with my PCP (having not received any call). Also just procrastinating and letting life's demands get in the way kept me from focusing on addressing this (not to mention the mental fog). I again brought up the subject at my 2009 physical in November 2009. PCP apologized for "dropping the ball" and there after set me up for my first of two "sleep studies". Also of note, my BP had been increasing over the year (I have a meter at home) and cholesterol/triglycerides were up too. Well, stress was probably also a factor, but my mostly sedentary lifestyle wasn't helping either. Problem was, I was always too tired to exercise and when I tried, I would not recover in what I consider to be reasonable time from past experience. I also was having increasing issues with short term memory, and ability to focus.
My first sleep study was a split study, first with just being scanned, then after, attempting use of nose/mouth type mask. Well, yes, I had apnea, both obstructive and central, and using the mask made the central apnea worse. I felt worse after this test than after a usual night of poor sleep and developed a migraine level headache the day after. So, they sent me for a second test, first using just oxygen (related to the central apnea), then with a nasal pillow mask & cpap, with oxygen added. I did better with that. Still not energetic, but not worse, and able to participate in activities the following day.
First test resulted in moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea with AHI 32/hour, Medicare AHI 23/hour, REM AHI 45/hour. (I still don't totally understand the AHI terms) Baseline central apneas "fairly frequent" with desaturations (oxygen) below 80%. CPAP pressures tested brought out "severe underlying central sleep apnea" greater than 90 events per hour. The second sleep study tested for what combination of CPAP pressure and oxygen gave the best result. Titration of the CPAP/oxygen resulted in a prescription of 7 cmH20 with supplemental oxygen at 4 lpm. This gave an AHI of 4 (within the normal range). Higher and lower gave central apnea of over 30 events per hour. So they set my CPAP to be steady, and not adjust automatically.
I got my CPAP the Monday after Christmas, and have been using every night since. All of your posts on this forum have been very helpful in my adjusting to this diagnosis and treatment. I have other posts to make as time allows on some of the other threads. This is my first time joining a forum, and I believe it can be very helpful to myself and hopefully I can contribute something that will help someone else.
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I am new to this very informative community and i have a question right off the bat! I have been using a cpap for 20 years now and i have always had a good job with health coverage. However this economy has taken its toll on me and i find myself unemployed and with no health coverage. So my question is, how and where do i get inexpensive masks,headgear,and hoses without putting myself in the woods living in a tent? thank you for allowing me to participate.
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Permalink Reply by Laura on
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Hello, I'm Laura. I am an elementary school music teacher in TN with fibromyalgia, severe allergies, asthma and a past brain injury when I was 17. I decided to seek new testing as a sort of progress report on possible new symptoms of my brain injury and went to a neurologist. I took a sleep questionnaire and failed it, so I had a sleep study and scored a REM AHI of 45. I am hopeful that the CPAP machine will have a positivie impact on my life. I still plan to go through with all the testing used to sort out what symptoms such as short-term memory loss might be brain injury related, foggy fibromyalgia brain, or apnea related. I have been told that the neuropsych testing may be able to sort that out to some degree.
I have my titration sleep test Tuesday night. Wish me luck!
Anyone have any advice or thoughts on my situation?
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Jerry, I find cpap auction to be the most convenient place for me. You may want to watch several items to get the best price. You can watch the items you need and wait for the lowest price near the end of the auction. The prices can vary widely. Good Luck,
Mary Z.
Jerry D Quinn said:I am new to this very informative community and i have a question right off the bat! I have been using a cpap for 20 years now and i have always had a good job with health coverage. However this economy has taken its toll on me and i find myself unemployed and with no health coverage. So my question is, how and where do i get inexpensive masks,headgear,and hoses without putting myself in the woods living in a tent? thank you for allowing me to participate.
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Permalink Reply by Walt Service on
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Fantastic site Rock!!! The computer finally let me sign up....yeah!
Rock Hinkle said:My name is Rock Hinkle. I am a sleep tech in the indianapolis area. Welcome to sleepguide!
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