I had my first sleep study a couple of weeks ago and was diagnosed with Sleep Apnea. I'm not real concerned about it, but it certainly explains quite a few things over the years.

My numbers were 198 Obstructive Apneas, 98 Central Apneas, and AHI of 56. O2 Desaturation as low as 78%. Elevated respiratory arousal index of 41.

I don't understand the specifics of what this all means, but I do understand the difference between Obstructive and Central apneas.

I have Titration Study scheduled for this coming Sunday night and I was wondering what I can expect and any suggestions that anyone can give me as far as things that I should do or ask along the way.

Thanks in advance for your help.

woodg wrote:I had my first sleep study a couple of weeks ago and was diagnosed with Sleep Apnea. I'm not real concerned about it, but it certainly explains quite a few things over the years. My numbers were 198 Obstructive Apneas, 98 Central Apneas, and AHI of 56. O2 Desaturation as low as 78%. Elevated respiratory arousal index of 41.
I don't understand the specifics of what this all means, but I do understand the difference between Obstructive and Central apneas. I have Titration Study scheduled for this coming Sunday night and I was wondering what I can expect and any suggestions that anyone can give me as far as things that I should do or ask along the way. Thanks in advance for your help.

Welcome.......your titration study should be the same as your sleep study #1 with the addition of wearing a mask and with the pressure from the machine adjusted remotely until theoretically reaching desired treatment. You may want to begin reading about OSA/Treatment in the "lightbulb" section to educate yourself further, learn about the sleep study results meaning, machine and mask options. You may also wish to call your insurance 800 # and inquire what options you have for acquiring durable medical equipment including your coverage. The study results you posted suggest significant OSA and a need for treatment...again welcome and embrace the wealth of information available to you as you begin your journey to treat your OSA.

elg5cats

Welcome to the forum!
They are pretty much going to have you sleep with almost all the bells and whistles you had the first time, but with a mask in place. The more you can mimic your at-home circumstances the better I think they'll be able to titrate you.

The main wisdom I can offer is to take the opportunity, if they'll let you, to try as many mask styles as possible while you are at the sleep lab. That will put you in a better place when you are selecting your at-home mask. You may not be able to "try before you buy", depending on your DME's circumstances and location, although you can usually make at least one mask trade within 30 days if one doesn't work for you.

In terms of advice after the sleep lab, this abounds on the forum. We'll all tell you to go after a data-capable machine, and if this can be prescribed for you it will be easier.

Good luck! Bring any more specific questions to the forum and we'll try to answer. You will someday be very glad you're going through all this.

Welcome to the forum. Perhaps you're not real concerned because you don't realize the seriousness and consequences of your sleep disorder...yet. But, based on your numbers, knowledgeable people here are concerned for you. Do some reading on this. Good luck with your titration, and let us know how it went.

Welcome! Glad you found us! And the others are correct. You have yourself a real good case of OSA. I know someone else already mentioned it...but it's worth saying again....be SURE they prescribe a data-capable machine for you...because eventually you will want to get the software that goes with it so you can monitor (daily) what is going on with your therapy. Some machines only show the doctor your compliance...just that you are using the machine. You need data!

Other than that...good luck...read up on all the articles here in the archives...and when you hit a bump in the road....never, never quit!

Thanks for all the responses. It's always nice to know that there is information out there to make dealing with anything easier and it's always better when the information can come from those that have already dealt with it.

Last week was busy for me so unfortunately, I didn't get to read the responses until this morning, the day after my titration study. But on that note I think it went very well.

I have always had a tendency to toss and turn a lot while I sleep, so that was one of my big concerns with the mask, but as it turned out, the technician said that I slept on my back all night. I did remember waking up once and shifting a little bit, but it was fairly minor. The technician did warn me about some people start breathing through their mouth and if I did that he would wake me up. He said that there were a couple of times that my mouth came open, but I closed it on my own fairly quickly.

Overall, I didn't find it as uncomfortable as I thought it would be and I'm sure that after a little bit of time with it, it won't be a big problem for me at all.
The tech didn't give me any indication as to the specifics and I didn't ask. I imagine he probably wouldn't have told me anyway. It's one of those things that although he sees them all the time and understands what it is that he sees, he's not allowed to make any kind of judgement. The Dr. that is going to interpert the results is a part of the same group as my primary care physician and last time he had my results in about 3 days.

The only additional question I have at this point is if I can get any recommendations from those of you out there, in terms of what kind of machine that I should be looking for? One concern is that I travel extensively for my work, so transportability is a definite issue for me. This time of year, I sleep 5 nights a week in hotels all around the country, so I need something durable and small enough that I can take it with me week to week. Also, what kind of issues are there with taking the machines through the TSA security screening?

I guess that's enough for now. Thanks again for all your help and I'll do my best to check back more often.

-Gary

Welcome aboard Gary,
Have you talked to your doc yet? Where are you at with this now?