Ahhh,   you're almost there.


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Dianne's: Remstar Auto M, C-flex, humidifier, smart card. Mask: Swift LT, AHI- 23, lowest blood ox 80%.

John's: Same cpap, Mask: Respironics Profile-lite mask.
severe apnea, Cpap user for more than 20 years.

One downside of a support forum is that people get the impression that everyone has trouble acclimating to using a CPAP but that simply is not the case.  Panic and claustrophobia are not inevitable and are not everyone’s experience.  Most people don't have major problems at all and therefore do not have the need for a support forum.  Attitude is 98% what it takes to successfully use a CPAP.  Go into it with positive thoughts that there will not be any problems and if there are little bumps, knowing that almost every problem has a fix which is usually pretty simple.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is about much more than fatigue.  If you and your husband are not aware of the effects of untreated OSA, here are some of them:
The effects of untreated sleep apnea are severe and systemic.  Some of them are; increased blood pressure, increased risk of heart attack and stroke (from the constant cycling in and out of hypoxia and increased blood pressure), heart arrhythmias, nocturia (because the increased pressure in the right heart ventricle makes the body think there is too much blood volume so urine is produced), headaches (probably from the hypoxia), fatigue (duh), memory and concentration problems, weight gain (sleep deprivation causes weight gain for several physiological reasons, one being the alteration of the hormones leptin and ghrelin), apnea induced seizures, there is a link to diabetes, there is a link to GERD, night sweats, depression, anxiety (each apneic event is a true suffocation and elicits the "Fight or Flight" adrenalin response), Fibromyalgia-like symptoms, impotence, relationship and job issues, car accidents, etc.

Also, if he has Periodic Limb Movement Disorder (PLMD, the sleeping cousin to RLS) then it is important that he be tested for anemia as it exacerbates PLMD/RLS.  I have PLMD/RLS (both for me) and take Requip as well.  A sleep study a couple of weeks ago showed that the Requip isn't controlling my PLMD.  My doc. (who I have a great partnership with) told me I could increase my Requip dose and/or add in calcium and magnesium, which I am trying before going much higher on the Requip since the doses of anti-Parkinson drugs such as Requip or Mirapex should be kept as low as possible.  A good sleep doc. will do a PLMD blood panel which, among other things, checks for anemia.

It sounds like he is getting great care, but make sure his sleep doc. is accredited in sleep medicine by contacting the folks at www.abms.org.

Keep us posted!

Vicki


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Being defeated is often a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent.
Marilyn Von Savant

That which does not kill you makes you stronger-Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich must of had apnea.

My Fiance's CPAP Coordinator just called and is ordering the CPAP TODAY so we should get a call from the home health co. soon!!! YAY!!! BTW ...How long does it take for them to contact you and come to house once they order it??

  XOXO