Counter argument - many topics are not so complicated that they NEED a doctor to interpret the data. I don't need a doctor to tell me to eat better, drink less, sleep better, and exercise to help with many conditions (weight, blood pressure, OSA, etc...). I'm capable of understanding those correlations myself.
Just like not all book keeping is so complicated that you NEED a CPA for it...
Of course many dummies don't know what they don't know, and can't tell when they are in over their head/past their capability too. I'm that guy sometimes, I admit.
I've known some very good doctors, and I've known some that were clearly full of ■■■■/taking the easy route instead of thinking/following the script their group pushes/padding their bill. Same as any profession I guess.
My specialist actually suggested I look online or elsewhere when purchasing the CPAP machine, even though they could sell me one themselves. In the end I think they were competitive with online deals I could find, which I was surprised by.
My particular journey... I spent a large portion of my adult life waking up tired. It was so normal to me that I never questioned it and just assumed everybody else woke up the way I did, not well rested.
Then, I think it's 10 years or so ago, my wife started talking about fact that when I was in bed asleep I would stop breathing, sometimes for a minute, and then jerk into breathing again suddenly. I think the main reason she was able to see this happening was we kind of transitioned around that time where I was falling asleep before her, instead of her falling asleep before me, which had been our norm.
She started bugging me about getting checked, and I of course like a lot of dumb people, resisted. Finally she got me to go to the doctor and yes I came up with my sleep apnea diagnosis, they said it was low to moderate. If anything I think I was under diagnosed based on my wife's description of me laying there not breathing repeatedly.
When I was diagnosed I was 6 ft 2 in tall and 190ish pounds, very fit and active. At the meeting I went to with other individuals who had been diagnosed, there was a wide range of ages and body types, there was no sort of "oh here's all the fat CPAP people." The same when I'm at airports, I see a wide range of people (ages, bodies) carrying the telltale little gray case that I also carry.
So anyway I got the CPAP, took me a full month to get used to it and able to sleep normally. However ever since then I have enjoyed the bliss of waking up fully rested in the morning. I no longer get out of bed feeling groggy or tired, I just feel normal. A quality of life improvement for me that's hard to describe.
I am grateful to be able put it on each night when I go to sleep.
I am currently on an AirSence 10, this ia my 4th machine. Pressue is 10 with a 4 minutes ramp. I use an airfit N30 mask. I can sleep in pretty much any position. I cant stand those masks that cover your face or hearing air blow. On average in less than half an apnea per hour, but occasionally [usually when my nasal pillows start to get old] ill go up to 1.0 or 1.25 per hour.. by Dr. says I'm a poster boy for CPAP.
Back when i was in train service I would not take the machine over the road with me, and I learned really fast the dramatic difference between a nite well rested with the CPAP and a nite struggling to sleep without it. I joked with my Dr. if im ever cured, he wont me able to take me off of it. It has gotten to be that much a part of my routine, I don't think I could sleep without it anymore.
[quote="marktheknife, post:33, topic:141566, full:true"]
And Rick is correct, plenty of non-obese people have sleep apnea. That is only one risk factor.
[/quote
Yep. I had a Dr. in New Mexico, Japanees guy, maybe wighed 125 soaking wet, had sleeap apnea far more sever than me.
In the last 3 years i have lost 70 pounds over all (More at one point, gained some back, now loosing again), my apneas haven't changed at all as a result. On doctor told be its just the way I'm built. I could loose 200 pounds, and iI would still have the same issue.
I was actually diagnosed by my dentist, who was concerned that I’d fall asleep in his chair. So I got my PCP to refer to a sleep study - I had 60+ apnea events in an hour.
Took a little getting used to, but I’ve been using one for about 18 months now. Insurance paid for it after I submitted data that I used the CPAP for at least 3 hours a night.
I never had hypertension (~110/80), but the diastolic has improved (-110/70 now). And my pulse rate’s lower too.
Since we’re bragging over sleep scores, here are mine for the last week …
I think it's because it slipped off. I'm still getting used to it. My 1st night was 5. I've weirdly now had 2 scuba related dreams with the new one..lol (not kidding)
Maybe it is an AirSense 11. There have been so many machines over the last 30 years! I was diagnosed by my wife when I was like 25. I fought it like crazy the first few years until the jabs to my stomach and threats of sleeping on the couch led me to research masks. I found a sleep disorder cartoon about 3:00 a.m. one night (busy place too). Several people suggested trying nasal pillow mask and that made the difference. The one side effect, because I can’t stand hearing air blow, I tend to clinch my jaw, so I need a night guard (I’ve broken or chipped several teeth) My last study there were so many apneas they finally ended it after 3 hours, but they estimated 95 apneas an hour. Now in a bad day I average less than 2, most days well less than 1.
I’m under. Federal Safety order so I have to use mine or I get pulled out of service. Luck for me I have BOTH kinds of sleep disorders the FRA watches, but both are well treated.
I think (as @velvetfoot inadvetabtly) alluded to there is either a tendency to over diagnose sleep apnea, or just a lot more awa and research into it than there was a 20 years ago. It is odd how 30 years ago you rarely heard of it, and now seems like everyone has it.
I use an AirSense 10. I was diagnosed in March 2022 and have used the CPAP since then.
I have been a member of the Apnea board and there are several very knowledable people on that board with good info.
I also found an app that will read the SD card in the machine (only ResMed I think) and give you a VERY detailed view of your sleep data PER BREATH, with ALL your machine settings.
The app is called OSCAR (Open Source Cpap Analysis Reporting) and runs on WIndows/Mac/Chromeos/Linux/RasberryPi.
When you remove the SD card from the machine and insert it into your computer, OSCAR backs up the data on the card as well as loads it into the OSCAR interface.
It shows EVERYTHING!!!! Here is my last nights data:
This was a good night for me and NOT typical though....
There is also an area to enter notes and how you are feeling.
The overview tab and statistics tab show additional data as well.
I was hooked from day one and download my cards every day.
OSCAR is WAY more detailed than MyAir!!! Gives you something to see if you are curious and question your sleep.
Just thought I would throw this tidbit out there for someone that might be interested.....
MANY features!!! You CAN zoom in to breath to breath detail as well and when the cursor is scrolled around, the time/date and different parameters are displayed.
Has anyone found a way to use this without the SD card? My machine doesnt have one. Its all in the cloud (i guess). I dont have to take it in, Doc downloads it over cellular before my appointment. I just assumed the cloud since it has the app.
I actually think i may have used that before with one of my older machine s.
I don't need a doctor to tell me to eat better, drink less, sleep better, and exercise to help with many conditions (weight, blood pressure, OSA, etc...). I'm capable of understanding those correlations myself.
. But human knowledge has increased in leaps and bounds.
