CPAP insights needed.

[CALCXX]

Imo, this is an old thread worth revisiting. 

Hope it's going well for you Mike ?

 

Any thoughts to share ?  

Edited May 14 by CALCXX

[Zero Knievel]

Nope.  CPAP isn’t a viable option, and without a real sleep study to eliminate other possible issues, I don’t like how doctors want to Rx a CPAP machine and call it done.

 

NEVER do an “at home” sleep study. It covers very little (enough to get a CPAP) but not enough to identify other possible causes of your sleep issues.

[CALCXX]

Sorry to hear of this. Can't imagine sleeping without it.

I wake up feeling rested @ 72yrs old.

Don't drag my ass out of bed anymore.

Lost 80lbs. ( that helped ) 

 

I had a respiratory shutdown in 2019 before covid reached the US shores in Seattle.

( me - was not covid )

Drove myself to emergency rm knowing something was wrong. Extremely lethargic.

Sp02 was 72. Dangerously low. I read somewhere that Sp02 below 86

is starving your organs of oxygen and will eventually damage them.

Thats how I got my referral to a real sleep study. Stayed the night at the hospital.

The techs watched me sleep and changed/tweaked a cpap with oxygen supplement

and recorded it.

 

Got my equipment and just can't image a night without it.

 

Big, Big differance. Just had yearly exam. ( 96 Sp02 at rest, 88 bpm )

Actually improving.

 

Do you have an Oxy-meter ?

[Zero Knievel]

The one they wanted me to take created variable pressure based on demand.  It actually kept me from breathing...especially if I had to clear my sinuses.  DME provider didn't want to work with me, so I left without it.  Mom and Dad have CPAPs (which they stopped using once they did enough to have Medicare pay for them).  I tried using both, and I simply CAN NOT sleep with that mask on...and I change position too much to deal with the hose in the way.

 

I don't have any issue with low blood oxygen during the day.  I typically sleep 3-4 hours...wake up...eventually go back to sleep for another 3-4 hours.  Bi-phasic sleep is actually the human norm.  We aren't supposed to sleep 8 hours straight.  Because I had the "at home" study, insurance won't okay a sleep lab study.  Lesson learned.  It's been a few years.  Maybe I could get my PCP to prescribe an actual sleep study to force insurance's hand.

[SwampNut]

16 minutes ago, Zero Knievel said:

Bi-phasic sleep is actually the human norm. 

 

LOL, and monumentally unhealthy.  Sigh.

 

[CALCXX]

Mike, talk to your PCP and insist on it.

A real sleep study.  It's worth it. 

[CALCXX]

1 hour ago, Zero Knievel said:

The one they wanted me to take created variable pressure based on demand.  It actually kept me from breathing...especially if I had to clear my sinuses. 

 

Your description stating "variable pressure based on demand" is new to me as it pertains to Cpap.

Did you mean to ref: Oxygen generator? On my third Cpap machine now. All have been constant.

Never heard of Cpap on-demand?

 

I thought all Cpap machines are constant while you sleep ?

 

My portable Oxygen generator is "on demand" as needed to save battery life.

My portable is set for 3L per minute.

Usually needed above 5000ft. Fishing high lakes in a boat. Little to no-movement.

The bike provides Ram Air Induction in the mountains.  Heart pounds. I'll be fine.😀

Never used in the valley.

 

My floor model Oxygen generator at home is a constant supply set @ 3L per minute as a supplement to Cpap.

Really helped me. 

 

 

Edited May 13 by CALCXX

[Zero Knievel]

10 hours ago, SwampNut said:

LOL, and monumentally unhealthy.  Sigh.

Take away clocks, and you find that it was the norm.  Humans weren’t intended to sleep 8 hours straight.  We’d sleep.  Wake up for an hour or so, and then go back to sleep.  Forcing yourself to go to sleep is counterproductive.  More so, if you’re limiting your sleep to an 8 hour block, the more you struggle to go back to sleep, the more stressed you become about losing sleep…which only makes it worse.

 

If I go to bed about 7:30 - 8:00 pm, I’m usually up around midnight.  Even if I do get back to sleep within 30 minutes (take a bathroom break and drink some water), the dogs will wake me anywhere from 3:00 - 4:00 am.  I get up, have a cup of coffee, do some basic stuff, and if I feel like it, go back to bed.  I sleep maybe 2-3 hours (getting up around 7:30 am) and wake up refreshed.

 

I wouldn’t recommend bi-phasic sleep if you already sleep through the night, but if you find you can’t stay in bed all night, it’s not a sleep disorder.  Try rolling with it and allowing more time for sleeping and see if that works.

[Zero Knievel]

10 hours ago, CALCXX said:

Your description stating "variable pressure based on demand" is new to me as it pertains to Cpap.

The model they offered maintained constant pressure by reaching a given PSI and only ramping up if it detected demand.  I can see how that saves power and makes the unit more quiet, but just as you can trick the brain with sound that is out of synch so a person can’t speak, the lag between need and when the pressure ramped up (fraction of a second) made it hard to breathe…especially if I needed a huge draw such as clearing my sinuses.

 

Again, I tried my mom’s and dad’s CPAP machines.  I couldn’t get to sleep or stay asleep with it in place.  There is an implantable device that could solve the issue without a CPAP, and it’s designed for people who can’t make CPAPs work for them.

[Nova Scotia Mike]

I can't quite tell if you have been living with untreated sleep apnea for 3+years because:

 

a) you did not like the type of sleep study used to diagnose it for you

b) you did not like the device model or settings they wanted you to use to treat your SA

c) you feel you are unable to use a CPAP, period

 

?

 

I think the variable pressure feature you mention is in reference to APAP (auto adjusting positive airway pressure) which is a common selectable feature on most of the current top rated higher end CPAP models. There are several settings on current models that are determined and set by your PCP or sleep specialist; trying one that was set up for your mom or dad and not you will likely have less than optimal success for you. 

 

Depending on the cause of your SA there are also surgical procedures that can be explored.

[SwampNut]

7 hours ago, Zero Knievel said:

and you find that it was the norm.

 

So was dying from drinking from the wrong river, or dying at three years old.  I've spent decades working on sleep issues and studying this.  Biphasic sleep is terrible for you, and I suffer from it regularly, with measurements that show the damage it does for days.

 

7 hours ago, Zero Knievel said:

If I go to bed about 7:30 - 8:00 pm, I’m usually up around midnight.

 

Me too, that's a ridiculously early time to force yourself to go to sleep.  By not getting into bed at all before 9:45 or so, I've mostly eliminated that problem.  However 3am wakeup and biphasic sleep hits me, like many people, due to a cortisol resurgence (tested and mesured).  This is vastly more common than most people realize.

 

Anyway, everyone I've talked to besides you has found a CPAP to be so life-changing that it's more important than food, water, and maybe air.

 

 

[CALCXX]

4 hours ago, Nova Scotia Mike said:

 

There are several settings on current models that are determined and set by your PCP or sleep specialist; trying one that was set up for your mom or dad and not you will likely have less than optimal success for you. 

 

 

 

^^^^^ Exactly.

 

The Specialist has 24/7/365 access to my ResMed 10 connect to wifi.

She has made changes remotely that made a noticable improvement. 

You will also have limited access to online stats @ Resmed Worldwide. 

The charts/graghs will show daily events, mask leakage, hrs used, ect, ect

 

Do you want me to call your Dr. to get his attention?

I am pretty good at pissin off Dr.s these days.

 

Get a real sleep study.

Edited May 14 by CALCXX

[Zero Knievel]

9 hours ago, Nova Scotia Mike said:

I can't quite tell if you have been living with untreated sleep apnea for 3+years because:

 

a) you did not like the type of sleep study used to diagnose it for you

b) you did not like the device model or settings they wanted you to use to treat your SA

c) you feel you are unable to use a CPAP, period

All of the above.

 

At home studies only evaluate you to get you a CPAP…you may have other issues that only will be spotted with an in lab study…but the former means insurance won’t approve the latter.

 

The technician at the DME company just wanted me to sign for the unit and leave.  They didn’t even have a daybed or recliner.  The had me sit in a chair to test the unit, and I couldn’t breathe with it.  The technician didn’t care.  So, I declined the unit.

 

I tried both my dad’s and my mom's CPAP units.  No way I could sleep with one.  If you can sleep on your back all night or in a recliner, it’d be different, but I move too much in my sleep.

 

Sleep apnea has several triggers, and for as common as CPAPs have become, there is a sizable group of people they don’t help.

[Zero Knievel]

8 hours ago, SwampNut said:

Me too, that's a ridiculously early time to force yourself to go to sleep.

It’s a holdover from before my dad passed.  I went to bed by 7 and was up at 2 am.  I honestly struggle to stay up past 8pm.

 

5 hours ago, CALCXX said:

Do you want me to call your Dr. to get his attention?

I am pretty good at pissin off Dr.s these days.

 

Get a real sleep study.

I’ll try to bring it up at my annual physical next week.  It’s not the doctor…it’s insurance.  I don’t know how much time must pass before they will cover an in lab study.  If my doctor prescribes it, they may not have an option.  My first study was through one of those BS deals your find when researching sleep studies.  Had I known where it would lead, I’d not have bothered with it.  Hell, the security guy at my office uses a CPAP, and his insurance wouldn’t pay for anything but an at home study.

[CALCXX]

12 hours ago, Zero Knievel said:

I’ll try to bring it up at my annual physical next week. 

 

👍

[Nova Scotia Mike]

Yikes, sounds like you have pointed out several reasons why you think CPAP treatment is not for you, then you mention you struggle to stay away until 8pm. 

 

Hopefully it goes well for you with your upcoming doctor visit.

[SwampNut]

43 minutes ago, Nova Scotia Mike said:

Yikes, sounds like you have pointed out several reasons why you think CPAP treatment is not for you, then you mention you struggle to stay away until 8pm. 

 

Yeah, this seems so fucking obvious from the outside looking in, but...

 

Apnea causes brain damage.  Just sayin'.

[SwampNut]

I actually wish apnea was my issue so I could solve my sleep problems instantly, as so many of my friends have.  I have made some progress on the biphasic problem, and it's definitely unhealthy, with simple minerals.  Unfortunately quite often, anything I ingest for health reasons, eventually becomes ineffective.  My body is so good at building a new baseline and ignoring that input.  My ongoing home sleep metrics, and an actual sleep study, show that CPAP won't help me.

[Zero Knievel]

4 hours ago, Nova Scotia Mike said:

Yikes, sounds like you have pointed out several reasons why you think CPAP treatment is not for you, then you mention you struggle to stay away until 8pm. 

 

Hopefully it goes well for you with your upcoming doctor visit.

Wrong interpretation.  I’m used to going to bed early and getting up early.  When I’m forced to stay up later, I’m fighting the bedtime that I’m accustomed to.

[CALCXX]

Just a thought. YMMV

 

fwiw, I got my ResMed 10 in 2019.

Never voted for donny again. 

I think everyone should get a Cpap. 

[SwampNut]

1 minute ago, CALCXX said:

Just a thought. YMMV

 

fwiw, I got my ResMed 10 in 2019.

Never voted for donny again. 

I think everyone should get a Cpap. 

 

Glad I was not eating or drinking anything.

 

I wonder if there's a stat I could pull up on this.

 

[CALCXX]

AI would know. Get some stats.

[SwampNut]

Is this political if it's just known and proven fact?  Can something be racist if it's true?  It says his voters are fat, old, and out of shape, therefore, they would have more sleep apnea issues.  The correlation between voting and CPAP usage, therefore, it can't be analyzed as to cause or just coincidence without a specific major study.  You and I can just keep enjoying the unproven opinion that reversing apnea-induced cognitive disorders would reduce voting for Diaper Don.

 

Last night I talked to one of the people I know whose life was changed by a CPAP, regarding this thread.  Mike, he said to tell you that you're retarded if you don't push to do everything possible to get the study and machine (if warranted by the study).  Also he pointed out that the cognitive issues caused by the apnea may be making you less able to realize you need to do this.  A funny, but possible,  vicious circle.

 

[CALCXX]

Yes it is.

A life changing piece of equipment.

 

edit: Almost as much as an XX.  When you get older, sometimes,

         you must be content with the fatter ones. Like Big Suzi.

 

          

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

]

 

 

 

 

 

Not a perfect world but I try. 🙄

 

Edited May 17 by CALCXX

[Nova Scotia Mike]

On 5/15/2026 at 4:53 PM, Zero Knievel said:

Wrong interpretation.  I’m used to going to bed early and getting up early.  When I’m forced to stay up later, I’m fighting the bedtime that I’m accustomed to.

So if I’m reading you right, you don’t think your struggle to stay awake later than 8pm has anything to do with your moderate sleep apnea that’s been left untreated for several years?

 

What time do you get up in the morning?