New to therapy

[Tatooed Lady]

I'm an over the road truck driver, and recently was required (forced)by my company to take a sleep study. So I did, and voila! A month later I'm sleeping with an 8' plastic snake trying to hug me all night. I'm trying to stay positive and get compliant, as I'm interested to see if my "mild" sleep apnea is in any way helped by using the technology.
As a side note;
If you use nose pillows and are attacked by someone's little spazzing black cat RIGHT across the nostrils...therapy can suck.

[zoocrewphoto]

Welcome to the group.

Do you have your summary from your sleep study that tells you about your untreated ahi, oxygen levels, sleep stages, etc?

Do you know what your machine settings are?

A lot of doctors fail to really tell us much or help us adjust, so it helps a lot to ask questions here. I had trouble getting my mask to fit, and the people here helped me solve that. My settings were ideal for me, so I was lucky in that respect. Many people need adjustments to their settings once they get going.

I have found that my energy level goes up and down, and it isn't always obvious to me that it is better. But I did notice within a couple weeks that I was consistently more cheerful, rarely yawning, and my headaches were gone. I had other improvements as well such as no more gasping/choking until I puke, fewer bathroom trips, falling asleep faster, not thrashing around all night, no more nightmares, and my high blood pressure (even with medication) is consistently lower and pretty much normal unless I have a bad night.

So, be aware of little changes that may not seem as obvious. I had no idea before my sleep study that my excessive bathroom trips, headaches, and gasping/choking fits were all caused by sleep apnea. Even after a bad night with the cpap, I still feel better than I did before cpap.

[jencat824]

Welcome to the forum,

As a holder of a CDL you would probably have been forced to a sleep study eventually, so look at it this way - you are ahead of the crowd. The DOT is going to eventually require them as a part of the physical, no one actually knows just when that will be. My hubby was diagnosed with OSA in Dec 2012 & has a CDL (is a local driver). One recent change we encountered a couple of months ago is the DOT has changed some regs & sleeping meds of any kind are now disqualifing factors, so no sleep meds. He was on temezepam for about the last 6 yrs so that has been a hard hit. The reason I'm letting you know is just in case the Dr. offers you sleep meds, that could bite you when you go for the physical & suddenly have your med card pulled. Its not uncommon for a sleep Dr. to prescribe a sleeping pill to new CPAPers & I wanted you to know this just in case.

I noticed you are over the road, so I assume you will be sleeping in the 'sleeper' using the cig lighter adaptor? I don't know exactly how that works but we have some truckers & their bed partners here who can help if you need it, just post those questions.

Overall, you should be to see some helpful benefits of CPAP such as increased energy, improved mood & the general knowledge you are doing something that prevents heart disease, strokes, diabetes & high blood pressure. These changes don't happen right away for most, but usually are gradual. I've been on CPAP 14 years & still remember the initial frustration, but that does get better. As for little cats, I have 9 but they don't all sleep with us. A night in the bed with the us is a rariety, but I had a cat sick a few weeks ago & we knew she was better when she woke my hubby playing with his hose. Cats think we exist to serve them so your little one wanted that little hissing toy for herself.

This forum is a wealth of knowledge & you can ask anything, just post your question & someone will respond.

Welcome,
Jen

[Tatooed Lady]

Wow...okay, so I will try to respond intelligently to the wealth those two responses brought...good luck on my part.
Sleep study info was taken with an "at home" test, but I tested while in my truck sleeper. That was fun. NOT.
Sleep study time was 8hrs, 4 min. Plenty of time, IMO.
pAHI reading was 10.35
ODI 5.6
pRDI 17.7
Pulse ranged from 51-110 BPM
21% of time sleeping was REM
21.25% was deep sleep
My machine, of course, is set "wide open". Why wouldn't it be? *lol* I assume it's because they're not sure how high my highs will be, and my lows are pretty low...average pressure according to SleepyHead in 5.37 since the start (2 weeks ago), with a maximum of 12 at one point. 90% pressure shows 7.5.
Initially I had some nasty headaches...but I was lurking on here, and decided to play with about the only option that's available...humidity. I thought I was told it was set at 2 initially, but it turns out it was at 4...so I dropped it to 3, now 2. No more headaches, no dry mouth, sinuses seem fine. Another thing I noticed, since using a humidifier my sinuses, which are normally swollen, have shrunk down some...OMG...relief! That on its own is worth something to me. When I was told that a CPAP machine could make me sleep through the night without trips to the bathroom...I thought the woman was nuts, and I wanted to know who to blame when I didn't wake up at night and wet the bed. BUT...last night I was in bed a whopping 11 hours without getting up for the bathroom. And the bed was DRY. Dreams are odd, though. I woke giggling one night.

I know the basics on DOT and sleep studies...I know that if I didn't get hit with it now with the current company, I would get hit later with a different one, so I didn't argue. My company is ahead of the curve on most safety type things. And it's part of why I went with them, so I can hardly cry over it now. If I have issue sleeping, I suppose I'd start taking a low dose of Melatonin. But, as you say, I would have to check with the safety department first, to be sure it's legal. UGH. My unit came with the cig plug adapter, yes. It works beautifully. Except the one night I used the wrong plug (who'da thunk there WAS such a thing??) and when the batteries got low, *POOF* the power went off in that plug and another. I woke up in a panic, arms flailing...I no longer plug it in that one. I learn quick. I also look forward to improved mood. I'm a real b!tch sometimes...but I blame it on the people around me. *LOL* And the cat? Not mine. It was while I was on vacation at a friend of a friend's house. This little black monster (I actually LIKE most cats) was on the back of the couch behind me...started yowling...I turned around and got b!tchslapped. With claws. Here we have dogs. And they're more likely to tangle in a hose or lay on it and smother me than anything.

I appreciate the input, thanks!