Fed Up...Again

I had my baseline sleep study back in March 2006 and have been on CPAP since May. In that time I've gone through a series of masks, most recently the Hybrid. Each of them has its own unique challenges and I periodically rotate them whenever I get fed up with the one I'm using at the moment. The Hybrid goes back in the drawer tonight, by the way.

I have reached a point, as I suppose we all do at one time or another, of wondering whether all the hassle is worth it. This morning I called my sleep doc's office and asked for a copy of my sleep study from last year, something I probably should have done months ago.

I picked up the documents this morning and here's what I found on the baseline study:

* 65 obstructive sleep apneas
* 6 mixed apneas
* 17 hypopneas
* AHI 17.4
* Baseline oxygen saturation 97%
* Lowest oxygen saturation 87%
* Majority of time, oxygen saturation greater than 89% (the technician told me the next morning that it never dropped below 90%, but anyway...)

During my titration study a few weeks later, my AHI was recorded as 4.6 events per hour and my lowest oxygen saturation recorded was 93%.

I've tracked my stats (Encore Pro) almost from the beginning and here's how it looks:

* Average apneas: 53
* Average hypopneas: 11
* Average AHI: 8.7
* I don't know what my oxygen levels are, but my initial (untreated) sleep study results probably aren't that bad for this 63 year old dude.

I've periodically adjusted harness tension, mask selection, CPAP pressure, and all the other things that we do in our pursuit of successful treatment, but I feel like I'm hitting a brick wall. I really wonder whether all of this hassle is really worth it -- the taping, the leaks, the discomfort...all of it. I don't see any real progress and I'm thinking seriously of calling it quits.

I'm not looking for professional advice here, but members of this group have always been pretty good about saying what's on their minds so I'd very much appreciate your feedback. My "before" stats weren't all that awful and my "after" stats aren't all that much better.

What do y'all think?

OCO

I haven't had many real problems with my treatment since getting my auto and retitrating(thanks to everyone here!). I find 2 of my masks to be quite comfortable(ok I'm strange) the hybrid and the CL2. I don't even mind the mouth tape. I have had dramatic results in how I feel. I wish you had the same.
I know others have also had problems, hopefully some will chime in soon.
I also know it's not my place to tell you what to do...BUT...DON"T QUIT!!!!
There has to be an answer and hopefully some of the more experienced members can help you figure it out soon.

Brenda

[quote="OwlCreekObserver"]I had my baseline sleep study back in March 2006 and have been on CPAP since May. In that time I've gone through a series of masks, most recently the Hybrid. Each of them has its own unique challenges and I periodically rotate them whenever I get fed up with the one I'm using at the moment. The Hybrid goes back in the drawer tonight, by the way.

I have reached a point, as I suppose we all do at one time or another, of wondering whether all the hassle is worth it. This morning I called my sleep doc's office and asked for a copy of my sleep study from last year, something I probably should have done months ago.

I picked up the documents this morning and here's what I found on the baseline study:

* 65 obstructive sleep apneas
* 6 mixed apneas
* 17 hypopneas
* AHI 17.4
* Baseline oxygen saturation 97%
* Lowest oxygen saturation 87%
* Majority of time, oxygen saturation greater than 89% (the technician told me the next morning that it never dropped below 90%, but anyway...)

During my titration study a few weeks later, my AHI was recorded as 4.6 events per hour and my lowest oxygen saturation recorded was 93%.

I've tracked my stats (Encore Pro) almost from the beginning and here's how it looks:

* Average apneas: 53
* Average hypopneas: 11
* Average AHI: 8.7
* I don't know what my oxygen levels are, but my initial (untreated) sleep study results probably aren't that bad for this 63 year old dude.

I've periodically adjusted harness tension, mask selection, CPAP pressure, and all the other things that we do in our pursuit of successful treatment, but I feel like I'm hitting a brick wall. I really wonder whether all of this hassle is really worth it -- the taping, the leaks, the discomfort...all of it. I don't see any real progress and I'm thinking seriously of calling it quits.

I'm not looking for professional advice here, but members of this group have always been pretty good about saying what's on their minds so I'd very much appreciate your feedback. My "before" stats weren't all that awful and my "after" stats aren't all that much better.

What do y'all think?

OCO

if you have the software for your Pro2 here is what I'd do:

1. Set Cflex = 2 and leave it there.
2. Set the pressure to 8.0cm, and sleep with it one night.
3. Next night set pressure to 9.0cm and sleep with it one night.
4. Next night set pressure to 10.0cm and sleep with it one night.
5. Run a Encore Pro report and compare the AHI of each night to your current AHI at 11.0cm pressure.
6. If you feel brave, set the pressure to 12.0cm and sleep with it one night and compare to the other pressure AHI's.

This is how you manually titrate yourself and find the ideal pressure, you base it mainly on how you feel the next day and the lowest AHI. So some events get by, big deal still better than going without.

Don't feel bad you couldn't use the Hybrid, I couldn't use it either and I gave up on it after only 30-minutes. I tried the Soyala Full Face again last night, couldn't make it 30-minutes with it either. Put the Soyala nasal on and slept the rest of the night.

OwlCreekObserver wrote:What do y'all think?

I think you're not making much progress. What are you going to do about it?

Regards,
Bill

I don't have any baseline study..never went to sleep lab so I am doing all this voluntarily so to speak. I was snoring so loud I was sleeping in a different bedroom and was running out of bedrooms when all the family was home so I decided to do something about it. My machine says I have sleep apnea and my snoring has stopped since I went on the machine about the first of the year. My numbers aren't as low as some around here but they are better than when I started. I hated my mask at first but resolved if I was going to be in this for the long haul I needed to change my attitude. Now I treat my mask like it's something special. I carefully wash it every night, baby it and when I put it on I imagine I am crawling into my own little cacoon or cave for a good nights sleep. It's all in your mind....like anything you do. I am not quite 60 so you have a few years on me...but age doesn't really have anything to do with it.

Hey OC ... sorry to hear of your frustration. Ten months is a long time to be hitting a brick wall.

I gave up on my third night after starting due to my nares not being tough enough to handle the mask interface ... all red and painful. Let me just say that I felt like I had been smashed between a brick wall and a freight train with simultaneous symptoms of the flu and a hangover from hell the next morning.

My body has become so accustomed to the PAP treatment that I think I would likely die if I were to go a night without. Of course I had a really bad AHI of 102 w/ 60% O2 levels pre-PAP treatment … but the thought of that third night experience without is enough to do what ever it takes to treat my OSA.

You are absolutely right about the fine members of this forum and I … as I’m sure most others do want you to break through that brick wall. I mean, as long as it is not pancreatic cancer, I see no reason to give up.

Hang in there,

- roberto

Don,

Even if your AHI isn't where you want it to be, it's still half of what it was untreated. Do you feel more rested that you did pre cpap?

OCO,

What was your titrated pressure?

Since you also have the software.....

What's the typical duration (in seconds) of your apneas? (MyEncore)
Do the apneas tend to "cluster" in your Encore Pro "Sleep Therapy Daily Details" reports?....or are they pretty scattered throughout the night?

How do your leak rates look?

Hang in there.

Den

OCO,

Did you see my post about patience? My study numbers were low and I had many of the same questions you did but, for whatever reason, I persisted. One reason was that the two nights, in the last 14 months, that I went without treatment I felt terrible. My AHI numbers never became consistently sub-one until recently. My sleeping through the night consistently has been relatively recent as well. Regarding treatment for my OSA I am now more optimistic than I ever was but that is after 14 months. I would stick it out and see where it takes you.

I am somewhat confident that self-medicating with Ibuprofen to alleviate mild to moderate PLMD because of muscle/joint pain has made a huge difference. Perhaps there are other factors operant in your case as well.

I guess the main question is - what drove you to get a sleep study to begin with? Has whatever that was gone away? If you ceased treatment would it return, persist, get worse?

Good luck Don

David