Sleep Apnea

#1
VolKnight9

VolKnight9

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#1
Has anyone ever done an at-home sleep study with companies such as GEM/Lofta/Sleep Doctor? If so, was the process complicated? My insurance company recommends GEM but under my plan it is not covered. However, it’s still may be cheaper to go with them regardless due to my deductible. Thanks to anyone who has any recommendations or input.
 
#4
#4
I had one 15 years ago, worked great, easy peasy> Technician showed up at the house 9pm, hooked up all the leads and plugged me into the intrawebbs. Showed up the next afternoon to pick up all the junk. I liked it better than having to go to our local hospital (all that my insurance will cover) cause I got to sleep in my own bed.
 
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#5
#5
volmanjr said:
I had one 15 years ago, worked great, easy peasy> Technician showed up at the house 9pm, hooked up all the leads and plugged me into the intrawebbs. Showed up the next afternoon to pick up all the junk. I liked it better than having to go to our local hospital (all that my insurance will cover) cause I got to sleep in my own bed.
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Yeah, they do not do one in the hospital now. They have a kit to take home, you put everything on and sleep in your own bed, then take it back after the weekend. My insurance paid for the testing.
 
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#6
#6
Section N Row 5 said:
Yeah, they do not do one in the hospital now. They have a kit to take home, you put everything on and sleep in your own bed, then take it back after the weekend. My insurance paid for the testing.
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Name of the company on the take home kit?
 
#9
#9
One other thing to consider is the type of sleep apnea you have. I wear a CPAP and it works well. However, if I were to were an orthodontic device to correct my lower jaw, I would not need the CPAP.
 
#10
#10
I was diagnosed with it almost 10 years ago and have been on a CPAP ever since, and I can say I'm still not completely used to it. I have to wear a full face mask because I'm a mouth breather so the nasal only ones don't work, and I don't feel like taping my mouth up every night. I also still have pretty bad apneas every now and then where I still don't breathe even with the machine.

I recently got another study to see if anything needs to change. I also suffer from other stuff like sleep paralysis and I also will wake up with partial sleep paralysis where feels like half my body is still numb and usually in my state causes me to have a panic attack. Even with my CPAP have i have avoid sleeping on my back.

It also sucks because my apnea is pretty much structural. I'm not overweight and I've had a few sinus surgeries to correct what I can. Just one of those things and unfortunately they don't seem to have a lot of great options still to deal with it.
 
#11
#11
VolsSportsFan said:
I was diagnosed with it almost 10 years ago and have been on a CPAP ever since, and I can say I'm still not completely used to it. I have to wear a full face mask because I'm a mouth breather so the nasal only ones don't work, and I don't feel like taping my mouth up every night. I also still have pretty bad apneas every now and then where I still don't breathe even with the machine.

I recently got another study to see if anything needs to change. I also suffer from other stuff like sleep paralysis and I also will wake up with partial sleep paralysis where feels like half my body is still numb and usually in my state causes me to have a panic attack. Even with my CPAP have i have avoid sleeping on my back.

It also sucks because my apnea is pretty much structural. I'm not overweight and I've had a few sinus surgeries to correct what I can. Just one of those things and unfortunately they don't seem to have a lot of great options still to deal with it.
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I was in the exact same boat and I learned to use a nasal pillow mask. It wasn’t nearly as difficult as I was afraid it would be and it’s so much better than dealing with a leaky facemask.
 
#12
#12
VolsSportsFan said:
I was diagnosed with it almost 10 years ago and have been on a CPAP ever since, and I can say I'm still not completely used to it. I have to wear a full face mask because I'm a mouth breather so the nasal only ones don't work, and I don't feel like taping my mouth up every night. I also still have pretty bad apneas every now and then where I still don't breathe even with the machine.

I recently got another study to see if anything needs to change. I also suffer from other stuff like sleep paralysis and I also will wake up with partial sleep paralysis where feels like half my body is still numb and usually in my state causes me to have a panic attack. Even with my CPAP have i have avoid sleeping on my back.

It also sucks because my apnea is pretty much structural. I'm not overweight and I've had a few sinus surgeries to correct what I can. Just one of those things and unfortunately they don't seem to have a lot of great options still to deal with it.
Click to expand...
There was a conversation somewhere on here a few years ago about sleep paralysis. I've experienced that a few times, and it was a horrible experience each time.
 
#13
#13
I suffer from "severe" sleep apnea and have been on CPAP for 6 months with the full face mask. I did the at home test many years ago, but could not make it through the night because I kept getting tangled in the cords and wires. Finally, 7 months ago, I did another test and made it through the night and was immediately diagnosed.

My observations based on my journey so far:

1. Six months of wearing the mask and its still hard to get used to. I have a full face mask ResMed Air Touch F20. There are times where I wake up in the morning and find I have removed the mask in my sleep. I am a back and side to side sleeper, so it can take a while to get used to the tube that connects from the machine to the mask.

2. When you get started, you may discover there are certain settings in your machine you cannot adjust. For example, you may have to have your doctor or care provider adjust the air pressure. My initial setting was too strong.

3. The term DME is durable medical equipment - which is used a lot in discussions about your machine and accessories for the machine. You will find that the DME supply company will offer up re-ordering programs for supplies such as replacement tubes, filters, etc. Everyone has a different opinion, but I feel like its a bit of a racket to get you to spend more and more money. I have set reminders on my phone to regularly clean all of my equipment and change my filter, but have also ordered an extra tube and filters to change out ever so often as I am cleaning the original equipment. But again, everyone approaches this differently and some users are adamant on re-ordering and discarding their tubes every 2 or 3 months. I bring this up so that you can be aware that the costs add up. In my experience, I have found that replacement supplies are much cheaper on Amazon than from the DME supplier.

4. I have learned so much from other people's experiences on CPAP through the subreddit page: r/cpap Some people love reddit and others hate it. On this particular subreddit I have found that when I experience something new or have an issue, there are lots of people with the same issues and sharing solutions.

Best of luck on your journey.
 
#14
#14
I had surgical correction at 20 years old, and it worked like a charm after 2 weeks of recovery Hell. Google "uvulopalatopharyngoplasty" if interested.
 
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#16
#16
I did my study in a clinic, though during covid they did use the take home type.

Thankfully I only need the nasal pillow, and it works great. Doesn't bother me at all. The machine itself is basically silent.
 
#17
#17
I have it also and I absolutely hate my mask. I am an extremely light sleeper so any noise will wake me up and there's another 30 min of lost sleep. My machine had to to be ultra quiet otherwise I'd stay awake. Of course during the night it'll come loose or lose the seal and wakes me. To be truthful, I've never had a full night sleep using my machine. It seems I wake as much without the mask from snoring or stop breathing as I do with the mask. My BP is better since I've been using it but could be also extra meds. I thought the implantable device might be the trick but it seems they are for light apnea not severe like I have. I'll be watching this thread to see if anyone has suggestions that could help.
 
#20
#20
I've been in cpap since Dec 2022. While it's been a life saver (literally) , it can be a pita too. When I got referred for my sleep test I was only getting about 1.5 hr sleep a night. I was constantly falling asleep during the day. I could be in the middle of talking to you and just pass out. I can't count the number of wrecks I almost got in. I was consuming over 6000mg of caffeine a day and still barely functioning. They did my test and said a normal person has <5 events an hour, bad sleep apnea was anything over 30 events an hour. I was averaging 135 events per hour, and one point my o2 levels got down to ~50% and they were fixing to head into the room with an o2 tank.
After I got on the cpap it's been amazing. The only thing that limits my sleep is choosing when I go to bed or get up. I'm a different person now. That said, cpap ain't fun. I have the resmed airsense 11 machine, and use a f&p simplus full mask. I'm constantly dealing with dry mouth even though I use humidity. If I turn the humidity up too high or the room is too cold I have rain out (condensation) in the mask. If the vent holes in the mask get even the slightest clogged by moisture or anything the whistle loud as hell. I highly recommend getting a heated hose if that's an option for your machine. It helps to allow you to run a higher humidity while minimizing rain out. I'm a back sleeper and it's a good thing because anytime I try to side sleep the mask leaks like crazy and makes all sorts of strange noise. All that considered, I wouldn't dream of going without it. I even carry a battery pack to summer camp so I can use it there when I'm with my scouts.
 
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