Post by minx on Jul 15, 2018 11:19:14 GMT -5
I have been struggling with this thing for over 2 months now. I put it on, and while it's not the most comfortable thing around, I can stand it. After an hour or two I am still awake and staring at the ceiling, despite having taken a sleeping pill. The longest I've had it on was 6.5 hours with intermittent sleep. The latest recommendation is to change the mask from a full-face to a different type. If that doesn't work, then they would try a mouth guard along with the CPAP. Keep in mind that on the home sleep study, I was on the borderline for sleep apnea, and the pressure on the CPAP machine is at 10, which the DME people said was the low side of average.
Anyway, a year ago, my dentist said I needed a mouth guard because I have dyskensia (basically facial tremors - side effect of my mood stabilizers). She thought it would help because my teeth are wearing down from the constant movement. I forgot about it, but at my last checkup she asked, so I had the mouth guard made. Got it last week and tried it without the CPAP.
Guess what? It works about as well (don't feel all rested in the morning or anything), and is tons more comfortable. I downloaded a sleep app (Sleep Cycle) and according to it, I haven't snored for the past two nights. Did take a long nap yesterday, and I have been napping everyday after work, but that's nothing new.
So in short, I've wasted a whole lot of time and money, still have no real answers, but my teeth will be safe
I did ask the sleep doctor what would happen if the CPAP and the mouth guard didn't work, and he said that in that case, BC would pay for a full sleep study. I asked what the full sleep study would 'prove' that the home one wouldn't, and he said that they would basically be using an EEG to check for forms of narcolepsy. Looked up narcolepsy and treatments for it, and basically there are none - they give you stimulants during the day to make you more alert. Since I can't take any type of stimulant with my type of bi-polar, that means they can basically do nothing.
Seems like BC could have paid for the full blown study in the beginning and saved a ton of money, since it really looks like the final answer is going to be 'too bad'.
Anyway, a year ago, my dentist said I needed a mouth guard because I have dyskensia (basically facial tremors - side effect of my mood stabilizers). She thought it would help because my teeth are wearing down from the constant movement. I forgot about it, but at my last checkup she asked, so I had the mouth guard made. Got it last week and tried it without the CPAP.
Guess what? It works about as well (don't feel all rested in the morning or anything), and is tons more comfortable. I downloaded a sleep app (Sleep Cycle) and according to it, I haven't snored for the past two nights. Did take a long nap yesterday, and I have been napping everyday after work, but that's nothing new.
So in short, I've wasted a whole lot of time and money, still have no real answers, but my teeth will be safe
I did ask the sleep doctor what would happen if the CPAP and the mouth guard didn't work, and he said that in that case, BC would pay for a full sleep study. I asked what the full sleep study would 'prove' that the home one wouldn't, and he said that they would basically be using an EEG to check for forms of narcolepsy. Looked up narcolepsy and treatments for it, and basically there are none - they give you stimulants during the day to make you more alert. Since I can't take any type of stimulant with my type of bi-polar, that means they can basically do nothing.
Seems like BC could have paid for the full blown study in the beginning and saved a ton of money, since it really looks like the final answer is going to be 'too bad'.
