Sleep Apnoea and CPAP

wonga77 · 20-01-2025 05:52PM

Interesting thanks, keep us posted. Always interested in hearing how these things pan out.
Ive tried melatonin but it just gives me a headache, been drinking a collagen supplement before bed the last while to help with a sports injury i picked up.
A friend read that it may be more effective to take at night and may also help with sleepso thats why i take it late on, maybe its a coincidence but i do feel like its helped my sleep. Still too early to tell for sure though

waxmelts2000 · 20-01-2025 06:00PM

just a little update on my CPaP journey , I’m on night 18 I think , I’m on the f20 resmed full mask after discarding the nasal mask as I couldn’t get used to it. My events are nearly non existent based on the app update

I’m still pretty anxious prior to going to sleep trying to get the right fit but I guess I’ll get used to it. Hoping I’ll feel more energetic with better quality nights sleep !

looksee · 20-01-2025 08:01PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123077859#Comment_123077859

That's great, hope it continues! 18 days is nothing, it has taken me 5 years and I think 6 consultants (who contributed nothing, it was all down to the Resmed clinic) to get to under 5 events. The biggest single improvement was my own discovery that sleeping on my side helped enormously, followed closely by the f40 mask that I got recently.

drunkmonkey · 25-01-2025 04:29PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123077829#Comment_123077829

I think this is an update worth sharing, it's only an afternoon nap (had a busy moring up since 6). This is a 1st though and last night I had a similar long stint above 90% it's definatley going the right direction what ever that NAC is doing to me. Just for comparison when using the cpap the blood oxygen is 89-95%. I've cut out Milk, Coffee and trying to keep away from anything loaded with sugar so maybe that's helping as well.

Andy From Sligo · 04-02-2025 12:17AM

I have to have a sleep study done soon, been on a hell of a long waiting list for it.

I have a fitness watch, not an expensive make so I dont know how accurate it is , but it does have sleep data and it has got a sleep breathing awareness mode - many a time it says on the sleep breathing awareness that "your breathing in your sleep last night was bad" and that there was interruptions in breathing detected.

Thing is that I dont have a problem every night. I got the watch for christmas so data has been detected since 26th December 2024.

High rates of poor sleep breathing were detected so far:
26th dec 2024
4th Jan 2025
6th Jan 2025
14th Jan 2025
26th Jan 2025

so, you see there I am not getting woken up by sleep Apnoea every night, there a some nights where I appear to breathing OK in my sleep (my watch still tells me my 'deep sleep continuity' is terrible most nights but that could be something else).

So with those figures is it even worth me going for a sleep study test seeing if my breathing in my sleep is OK most nights (which the watch reports) and also what happens when they do the sleep study but that particular night you have the machines on you have a good nights sleep and normal breathing? - is that it then , they tell you that you dont have Sleep Apnoea and you dont need a CPAP device?

My wife has heard me stop breathing in my sleep before and then start to breath shallow and fast and 'snuffle' - the local GP thinks I should have a sleep study test from what I described to him (he is the one that booked the sleep study test about a year and a half ago) - I went for an operation (for another procedure) in April 2024 and the anaesthetist saw me for a pre-op appointment and looked in my mouth and down my throat and reckons I have sleep apnoea too and urged me to go for the test , but I dunno if I am not getting breathing problems every night I will feel a fraud for even going for the test and if everything shows up on that particular night they do the test what then?

I see there are 2 sleep study tests:
Polysomnography - where they record your
brain waves,
the oxygen level in your blood,
and your heart rate and breathing during sleep.
It also measures eye and leg movements

However the one HSE (medical device they let you take home with you) which I should imagine would be the one I have done will only check:
oxygen levels
breathing movements
heart rate
snoring during the night

so how can they 'properly' check for Sleep Apnoea with the machine you do at overnight at home?
or is it a case that if something does show up in this 'cut down' medical device partial test do thy then send you off for a proper Polysomnography test?

mrcheez · 04-02-2025 12:21AM

I've probably got similar but I need to travel a lot so is there a portable light version of CPAP?

looksee · 04-02-2025 09:24AM

@Andy From Sligo , I suggest you should go for the test, have your information available and discuss it though. Have you noticed any correlation between how you sleep and the results? If I sleep on my back it has a dramatic effect on the number of events I have, even with the mask on. It is recommended that you sleep on your side with SA, maybe try and check what is happening.

@mrcheez , the standard machine is not very big and packs neatly into a smallish bag which you can carry on board a plane as additional luggage with no cost (you should have a letter from your doctor, though I have never had to show mine). I don't know for certain but I can't imagine the machine being possible to design any smaller unless completely new tech comes available.

drunkmonkey · 04-02-2025 09:34AM

@Andy From Sligo you need a smart watch that monitors your blood oxygen continuously at night. You can pick one up cheap on adverts. I really think it's the most useful thing someone with sleep apnea can have. The Samsung app is excellent even without a Samsung phone.

I've got rid of my symptoms and cpap hasn't been used in months. There's no way I could have fixed myself without the oxygen data. I'm not cured but I'm happy where I'm at now.

Andy From Sligo · 04-02-2025 12:39PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123132555#Comment_123132555

@looksee , when I go for the consultation I will show the consultant it on my phone if she wants to see it - its quite hand it logs all the time and date into the app when events happened , plus you can just filter certain events and dates which is handy. i know though a lot of physicians are not fans of these fitness watches saying a lot of them are inaccurate so what this specialist thinks of it I shall have to wait and see.

I have always slept on my side , used to always be left hand side. but I have noticed its changed now, i get off to sleep on my right hand side . I dont know how long its been like that or when I changed. have tried sleeping on my back , but I can never seem to get off to sleep in that position and always in the end, end up rolling onto my side to get off to sleep.

Andy From Sligo · 04-02-2025 01:23PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123132582#Comment_123132582

This smartwatch I have is a Huawei smart band 9 - previous before that I had the Huawei smart band 6. - I have been pretty impressed to be honest, for cheap fitness watches they are not bad at all, and its great all the data that gets recorded down on the Huawei app on the phone.

one of the features of the watch is continuous Spo2 checking day and night when I am asleep, I think thats what you mean when you say about get a watch with continuous blood oxygen monitor isnt it?
many a time my Band6 watch gave me low Spo2 readings and saying breathing quality was low -

Figures for Dec 2024 using my Band 6 watch before I got my Band 9 as christmas present:

but then for this year so far on my new Band 9 smartwatch the lowest its reporting my Spo2 is 92% - so I dont know whats going on there , whether the band 6 was just not accurate or that the Band 9 is not as accurate as the Band 6 for checking Spo2 , but nothings changed. I still feel tired in the daytime and tired as soon as I wake up , like I havent had a nights sleep (mind you I am 60 this year) .

Hontou · 08-02-2025 11:31AM

I have not used my CPAP machine for 6 weeks now, as after 7 months of trying I could not sleep with it and it was therefore making me feel worse, not better. Two weeks of power cuts and living in an area with regular power cuts also make it unusable for me. I sleep on my front, and the sleep apnoea problems arise when I turn onto my back. I think I have trained myself to stay on my front in recent weeks, and therefore the events are not happening (I think). I sent an email to my consultant's office and ResMed today to say I don't want to pay the direct debit anymore and want to return the equipment.

Has anyone else out there come off it? Any issues cancelling the direct debit and returning the machine? Any regrets coming off it?

Andy From Sligo · 08-02-2025 11:39PM

I might try getting into a habit of sleeping on my front (prone position) to give it a try and see if I get better oxygen intake at night . I have never ever slept on my front before, I normally sleep on my side or back, but they reckon its a good position to try if you have sleep apnoea issues

Hontou · 09-02-2025 01:13AM

I was told something about my throat muscles relaxing when I sleep on my back, causing issues with my air intake. i just made the assumption then that sleeping on my front was better. I have no medical back up for this but I was shown an image of this change in the throat area.

Andy From Sligo · 09-02-2025 01:09PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123150202#Comment_123150202

I tried sleeping on my front for the first time ever last night. i couldnt get on with it, felt alien, my head was stuck in the pillow and I thought if I sleep like this I am going to suffocate! - for some reason my neck was not allowing me lie on my front and turning my head to one side, and for some reason my chest ribs were aching terrible lying on my front, maybe it was the weight pressing down on them, a pillow did help - but I just knew I werent going to get off to sleep in that position so reverted to side sleeping and then got off to sleep . I suppose its like any change have to keep trying it a few times to get into the habit.

looksee · 09-02-2025 01:26PM

I can't sleep on my front anyway, it gives me backache, but certainly not with a pillow.

Hontou · 09-02-2025 05:52PM

I think it may have something to do with what way we were put to sleep as babies. I come from an era (very long ago) when babies were put on their front. I think most, before and after, were / are put on their backs.

Andy From Sligo · 09-02-2025 07:12PM

I see in Covid times in hospitals some doctors moved the patients so they were lying on their fronts to help with their breathing.

PatMurphy021987 · 20-03-2025 07:10PM

Hi,

Has anyone ever purchased a travel cpap, they are pricey, but I have a bit of travelling.

Any experience with AirMini AutoSet Travel Auto CPAP Machine

Thanks

pummice · 20-03-2025 08:25PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122657141#Comment_122657141

In my experience, this may not be completely true. You wont get back the pharmacy dispensing fee, and depending on which medicine you are on, the HSE have a different (lower) price than the price you paid to the pharmacy, so you may not get back absolutely everything over 80euro

looksee · 20-03-2025 09:19PM

So far I have only been asked to pay €80 per month for Resmed and about €250 worth of medications per month, over the past 12 months.

Glebee · 22-03-2025 10:20AM

I really need to get my finger out an claim back for my CPAP rental over the last few years. Probably spending €160 a month on family medication at this stage. Is the process straight forward once ive my old receipts?

looksee · 22-03-2025 11:07AM

Its a little bit confusing initially. I set up a book of plastic envelopes to keep resmed receipts, pharmacy receipts and ready dated forms, a set to a month, so that I can see what I have sent off. You get your pharmacy reciept each current month, but your resmed (or whatever) receipt after the month, so you are sending off a pharma receipt from last month and cpap receipt received this month, this month, meanwhile you already have this month's pharmacy receipt that you cannot send off till next month.

You need a Drugs Payment Scheme card (the link is not working form me, but google it) first, then the forms which you can print off. Be aware that if you are claiming for cpap you send it to DPS refunds - all services, not just DPS refunds.

The staff are very helpful and pleasant so don't hesitate to ask.

You get a refund cheque the month after you send in the form, so two months after you paid the money.

Once it is set up it is straightforward, but its worth getting organised.

Edit - it is important to make sure your drug collection works out at each month. I juggled mine with the help of the pharmacy so that collection falls in the middle of the month, otherwise you can end up with two collections in one month and none in the next. You can only claim once per month so initially I lost one month's claim. The pharmacy can give you a 'ten day extra' prescription to push the collection date to the middle of the month.

Edit again - I am not sure but I don't think you can backdate claims, ask. You could of course claim it against your tax.

Glebee · 22-03-2025 11:11AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123286743#Comment_123286743

Thanks for that, just need to get it sorted. Been meaning to do int for ages now. I did see in earlier post I can back date, im just going to get something into system and see what happens. Could you just claim once a year for CPAP also?

looksee · 22-03-2025 11:18AM

I don't know about claiming once a year, you can ask. I had my medical card discontinued - something to do with a ruling a couple of years ago about income limits on medical cards, apparently they only apply the limit when the card expires every (?) four years, or whatever. So prior to that it was not costing me anything for cpap or drugs, I had to investigate all this when I applied for the DPS, so it is fairly new to me.

I edited my previous post so just check it :)

Hontou · 23-03-2025 08:20PM

I have come off CPAP and am looking at alternatives, such as the oral device. Meanwhile, I came across this basic and cheap alternative on an ad. Does anyone out there know anything about it? https://tryvitavix.com/products/necksupportww?fbclid=IwY2xjawJNSulleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHa0_XP7xMlIcHNolXqKFa4JmnnMss2d_xTOoxq_lQ4Rjw3WSNw_hP4nKGA_aem_w_zA0p22EV2N0CqYzciiog

looksee · 23-03-2025 08:43PM

That seems very expensive for what it is. There are a few alternatives to cpap around, I have not tried any of them but if you did want to give them a go, wear an oxymeter or similar to see how you are sleeping. And report back 🙂 I'd be interested to hear how you got on.

Hontou · 23-03-2025 11:05PM

@looksee Well. the cpap was costing me 96 euro a month, whereas this is 36 euro in total. Definitely a cheap alternative for someone that cannot cope with a device on their face. Certainly worth trying before getting an expensive dental device made, is my thinking?

wonga77 · 24-03-2025 10:04AM

You would get the exact same product off Temu for €4

PerrinV2 · 05-04-2025 12:03PM

Would anyone recommend a smart watch to monitor for sleep apnea?
Or from I've read on thread to monitor blood oxygen levels

I seen one poster above recommend the Huawei smart band 9 but just wondering about others

waxmelts2000 · 05-04-2025 02:14PM

I’m into my fourth month of f20 full mask , while it’s a love hate relationship I’m endeavouring to use it

however my skin is getting lots of breakouts since started using the mask , I do wash the mask

Any other tips

Sleep Apnoea and CPAP

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