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Re: UARS -- easily detected / treated?

Posted by Jake on June 04, 2004 at 17:32:04:

In Reply to: Re: UARS -- easily detected / treated? posted by Sleepy Time Time on June 04, 2004 at 16:03:13:

"So what should a person like me do, then, who has been titrated five times and tried Cpap, Auto Pap and Bi Pap and now Auto Pap again -- an tried various pressure levels, with no improvement -- and suspects he might therefore have untreated UARS?"

Sleepy,

Have you thought about allergies or nocturnal asthma? CPAP is not going to address an inflamed airway, and I think that might be my problem.

Think of it this way...say you have a flat, "relaxed" garden hose. Pump air through it and it'll splint open. That's how CPAP addresses relaxed or sagging tissue.

But if that tissue is swollen due to allergic inflammation...how can forced air splint anything open? If it can be done at all, it would be at an enormous, possibly intolerable presure.

The allergic reaction will show up as UARS/spontaneous on PSG tests, and either a tech won't try to titrate it or it won't respond to CPAP.

I would recommend a brief burst of Prednisone to see if it alleviates your sleep disruptions. Acting as an anti-inflammatory, it'll reduce any swelling. For a period of time, it made me feel human again. I felt especially good after using both Pred and an AutoSet spirit, as the CPAP was able to work without going against swollen tissue.

If you notice an improvement, you'd want to get OFF the Pred and seek less invasive asthma treatment: an inhaler, nasal spray, etc. Like a lot of meds, Prednisone becomes less effective and more problematic after a period of use. I'm still trying to find something that agrees with me.

Whatever you do, remain pro-active. Believe me, I KNOW how apathetic one gets trying to run on no sleep. It's like you just don't have the energy to help yourself. It's a horrible feeling. But fight it. We can both be helped if we don't give up trying.


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