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Why Sleep Apnea Patients Rely on a CPAP Machine Hacker

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Re: Why Sleep Apnea Patients Rely on a CPAP Machine Hacker

#151

Post by tptacek »

tomcam wrote: post #149
tptacek wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My understanding is that if you're not going to fall asleep in the setting of the sleep study, they'll Ambien you out.

Have gone through 3 sleep studies. No drugs were offered and I never got to sleep. You would be fully within your rights to decline any such offer and they wouldn’t give a shit anyway. Given your sleep routine I promise the study would be pure hell. They are for me. But I need that APAP.

See! You get it! If I felt I had an urgent problem I'd just deal with the study, but "feeling tired during the day" is very, very low on my list of complaints. I sort of feel like I get away with murder, biologically; I go to sleep at 1AM and get up at 7AM and do just fine.

On the other hand, my wife tells me I snore and randomly stop breathing, so I have reason to believe there's something going on.

Re: Why Sleep Apnea Patients Rely on a CPAP Machine Hacker

#152

Post by crimsonalucard »

crimsonalucard wrote: post #38

One way around this is to get a bed that has something like a zero gravity mode. Sleep a bit upright and your airway won't collapse in on itself. I don't need CPAPS yet, but if a CPAP alone isn't working for you, you can try this combined with CPAP or just using the bed itself.

Another solution is a pluggable hole in your neck. Remove plug when sleeping.

Re: Why Sleep Apnea Patients Rely on a CPAP Machine Hacker

#153

Post by beef234 »

ergothus wrote: post #100
WJW wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does it bother you at all while sleeping?

I just started a about a month ago, and let me share my experiences that I don't see others report often in response to this question. (The responses are out there, but they are harder to find) There are many "masks" available - from covering the face to a nose mask to a tube under the nose (like an oxygen, but with a much fatter tube, including running up the sides of the face to the 1-1.5 inch diameter tube that ru…

If it makes you feel any better, I've read that most people require 4-5 different masks before they find one that works well for them. Usually there's a 30 day trial period on each mask so if it's leaking or not working for your sleep position, take them up on your free replacement mask.

Not sure how your AHI is but I need to be under 3 (and no leaks) to feel "great". Some people can self titrate to 0, but I'm not one of those lucky ones. Best I've ever hit was 2.0, but it was like night and day from my usual 4-5.

Good luck!

Re: Why Sleep Apnea Patients Rely on a CPAP Machine Hacker

#154

Post by ryan-allen »

Karunamon wrote: post #147
ryan-allen wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my case, my OSA is most likely due to being overweight. Having effective CPAP treatment alongside active weight loss measures would work wonders. It's no fun trying to diet and exercise while being completely exhausted day in and day out due to poor sleep.

Worse, the constant exhaustion makes your mental state absolutely horrible. Not just in the obvious stuff like being more scatterbrained, but in lack of motivation and, I dare say, depression. Wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.

Yep, I most likely had it for 5 years without realising it. I had no idea why I was so tired.

Every day, getting to work on time was a huge mission, slogging through the day trying to get stuff done jacked up of caffeine.

Then the nights, despite being exhausted I was unable to fall asleep, my experience was that I was lying awake in bed for hours but actually I was falling asleep many times per minute and choking myself back awake. The only easy way to get to sleep was to have a few drinks which naturally made my apnea worse, not to mention the negative effects of alcohol.

Once I realised I was doing it, I learned to sense when I had choked back awake. I did everything I could to get a CPAP Machine ASAP (it was expensive and not covered by health insurance in Australia).

2 weeks of using it every night I felt like a new person. My compliance using the device is nearly 100% over the last year (as reported by the device) and it's been so great.

I fall asleep in about 5 minutes these days.

The reason why I didn't realise I had this condition was because I had been single for about 6 years and slept on my own. It wasn't until I started dating that my (now fiancee) said 'you snore and choke all night'.

So, as a PSA, anyone overweight and long time single that is always tired, get a sleep study!

Re: Why Sleep Apnea Patients Rely on a CPAP Machine Hacker

#155

Post by beef234 »

auntienomen wrote: post #76
snuxoll wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know I suffer from sleep apnea (poor sleep quality, relatives have noticed me stop breathing for brief periods while asleep, loud snoring) but I literally cannot bring myself to get a sleep study done because I know it's not going to be cheap, and to top it off I don't even know how expensive it's going to be in the first place. It's not like I can't afford to pay either, I do have some money stashed in my HSA but…

You don't need to do a full sleep study. Standard procedure these days is to prescribe an at-home sleep apnea test. A sleep health company will send you a little monitoring device by mail. You wear it while sleeping during the night. It measures your pulse, blood oxygen levels, breathing patterns, etc, and transmits your data back to the medical provider. After about a week, they send you and your doctor the results.…

Or if your family has definitely seen apnea events, just get an apap off Craigslist and a new mask and give it a test run.

Edit- Sorry didn't see this exact comment below, so I concur

Re: Why Sleep Apnea Patients Rely on a CPAP Machine Hacker

#157

Post by goshx »

goshx wrote: post #133
khendron wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm more concerned if it bothers your sleeping partner.

Modern machines are very quiet. My wife says it doesn't bother her at all.

And even if the machine made any noise, my snore is louder. :)

Re: Why Sleep Apnea Patients Rely on a CPAP Machine Hacker

#159

Post by daeken »

tptacek wrote: post #151
tomcam wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have gone through 3 sleep studies. No drugs were offered and I never got to sleep. You would be fully within your rights to decline any such offer and they wouldn’t give a shit anyway. Given your sleep routine I promise the study would be pure hell. They are for me. But I need that APAP.

See! You get it! If I felt I had an urgent problem I'd just deal with the study, but "feeling tired during the day" is very, very low on my list of complaints. I sort of feel like I get away with murder, biologically; I go to sleep at 1AM and get up at 7AM and do just fine. On the other hand, my wife tells me I snore and randomly stop breathing, so I have reason to believe there's something going on.

Have you thought about an at-home sleep study? My wife and I both did that to get our CPAPs prescribed. Just had to wear a band around the chest (with a little unit that read the force of expansion, I presume), a pulse-ox sensor (IIRC), and something else I can't recall. I'm sure it's not perfect, but my doctor recommended it and was happy enough with it.

Re: Why Sleep Apnea Patients Rely on a CPAP Machine Hacker

#160

Post by beef234 »

HillaryBriss wrote: post #109

> “If things go wrong, they may end up dead in their bed." They make it sound kind of risky, but ... does anyone have a way to quantify the risks here? I mean, is adjusting your own CPAP machine as dangerous as say, driving a car across country, or drowning on a trip to the beach, etc?

From what I've read, if you raise slowly (like 1cmh2o per day maximum) you'll notice an increase in Central events and a higher AHI or obvious aerophagia if you get too high. I haven't read a single case of exploding lung though even at 20cmh2o. This is not medical advice though!
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