re: Having a sleep study at the sleep clinic tonight. What to expect?

Was 165 when I got mine, and should have been on it when I was 150. Just the way my neck is

been using Cpap for 7 years now and really cannot sleep without it. the 1200 dollar sleep test is a rip. using a Cpap service provider is a rip. with only a doctor prescription you can buy one direct from Cpap.com for 400 dollars and I get about 4 years of service out of one. the insurance deductibles for the test and a single year of service provided will cost you several times the direct purchase. the service providers will tell you only a certified tech can adjust the set pressure. the directions are in the box. set pressure as high as is comfortable without blowing past the seals

Still alive?

I have a cpap because my wife was tired of me snoring. I generally tossed and turned a bunch and thought it was normal.

I don’t have the apneotic episodes (full obstruction) but I have the hypoapnea episodes (pariah obstruction). So basically I have a mild case.

Now that I have the machine I am dead to the world and don’t wake up for anything. I’m so rested in the mornings even on 6 hours of sleep. I don’t think I NEED it but I certainly see a difference.

what's to study?

close eyes, go to sleep.

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Wife does not like the CPAP cause it makes noise; especially when you go into deep sleep.

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How loud is it? Wouldn't she rather hear the CPAP than you snoring?

I can't hear mine if I have a fan on in the room because it's pretty quiet (it also helps if it's not sitting on a nightstand right at ear level). But mine almost always runs at the minimum pressure setting, which is 4 cm. I have the ResMed Airsense 10 Autoset.

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been using Cpap for 7 years now and really cannot sleep without it. the 1200 dollar sleep test is a rip. using a Cpap service provider is a rip. with only a doctor prescription you can buy one direct from Cpap.com for 400 dollars and I get about 4 years of service out of one. the insurance deductibles for the test and a single year of service provided will cost you several times the direct purchase. the service providers will tell you only a certified tech can adjust the set pressure. the directions are in the box. set pressure as high as is comfortable without blowing past the seals

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Some truth to this post. Sleep studies are almost completely avoidable in most cases. But, the healthcare lobby really pushes the insurance companies to require them, in order to cover the needed CPAP equipment.

Auto-titrating CPAPs can be used on a vast majority of people with sleep apnea. IMO, the only need for a lab-based sleep test is for complex sleep apnea.

Put an auto out on a person suspected of having sleep apnea. Download the data after a week or so. If symptoms improve and the data supports this, then all is good. If not, then send them for a complete sleep study. Quite possible that person my have central sleep apnea, which CPAP is ineffective at treating.

Side note, a few years ago, the normal procedure for diagnosing sleep apnea was a 2 night sleep study. Insurance finally wised up, and started requiring a split-night study. Cut the cost in half, much to the outcry of the sleep labs. There has been no discernible difference in treatment or outcome since them, despite the protest of the sleep labs. They have been fighting home sleep testing for as long as I can remember, also. Gotta protect that cash cow.

Your last sentence is not only wrong, but very dangerous. If you set your pressure too high, most likely you will develop Central Sleep Apnea while on CPAP. Set it too low, and CPAP will be ineffective. Please do not follow this very stupid advice you have just given.

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f your HR is 100 while you sleep you have serious health concerns that will not be fixed by a CPAP.

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I wasn't "sleeping". At times I would wake up in the middle of the night gasping for air (and still do if I take a Sunday nap on the couch). I was so exhausted during the day that I would doze off at red-lights. No BS, my sleep study revealed that, at times, I wouldn't breath for over a minute so my heart was working it's arse off to keep the residual O2 flowing. The CPAP fixed it.

You are correct about health concerns. Pulm Doc said that without CPAP, I'm a stroke waiting to happen. I believe that the years without the CPAP accelerated the heart disease that runs genetically in the family (100% LIDO blockage at 46). I was somewhat serious about the battery-pack CPAP strapped to my chest. I few years after the CPAP, day timeexhaustion set back in and I couldn't catch my breath after minimal exercise. A few months later, after a check-up, I get the dreaded, "you need to drive over to the infirmary and get a room. I'll see you at 5:30 AM".

I have a co-worker that refuses to get checked. He's 50, not a fatty, works on his tools, but is exhausted. I told him he is a dead-man walking.

You seem quite knowledgeable about this.
My brief stats this morning were an average of 24 stoppages of breathing per hour, many from 30-60 seconds long.
I'm not overweight, I run regularly, including marathons. Not gonna say I'm a 10/10 on fitness scale, but I'm above average, therefore it's genetics the problem.

I had my test done a few years ago after pretty much knowing my whole life I had sleep apnea. They woke me up in the middle of the night to put the CPAP on, and I just couldn't get used to it. In fact, I had a panic attack about it forcing air into my lungs and asked to leave. Turns out if you leave in the middle of the study, then insurance won't pay for it. So, I had to stay there the rest of the night, without the CPAP on, and just try to calm myself to sleep. I tried again to get a CPAP, and while at the doctor's office, the nurse told me that they monitor how much you use it, and then insurance won't cover the cost of the machine if it just sits at my house. Not being very confident that I'd use it and not wanting to spend whatever it cost (I think it was like $1k), I decided to just not even take it home.