Posted by pseudonym on June 01, 2007 at 17:12:32:

Hello!

I have been searching and reading these wonderful forums since diagnosis with severe hypopnea (60+/hr) at Stanford a little over a month ago. Thank you so much for all the detailed information and sharing of your experiences here, they are so helpful! For example, the many topics on masks and fit (I am a female with small features) are worth their weight in gold to me!

On to my post... I was not able to get a successful titration last night as I never fell asleep. I had no trouble with comfort or seal on the four masks I tried -- two nasal pillows and two nasal masks -- but in all cases I kept swallowing large amounts of air which kept me awake with constant belching and an uncomfortably distended stomach. I also experienced periodic sudden bursts of air from one corner of my mouth as my lips became very relaxed. This was with my teeth together!

I do not know the eventual pressure, the last setting I overheard was 10 and that was very early on. The CPAP pressure was always comfortable as far as inhaling or exhaling and I had no mask leakage that I'm aware of. The techs tried a BiPAP to help with the air swallowing and 'lip leakage' but I felt like I was suffocating and fighting the machine. So we went back to the CPAP.

The sleep tech's unofficial thought was that it might be possible for me to come back with some type of sedation so I will go to sleep before the pressure gets high enough for 'lip leakage' and air swallowing to begin. Or perhaps to get an AutoCPAP to try at home for a week to give them some idea of the settings needed. I checked with my insurance and an AutoCPAP is not covered without a titration first. :-(

I won't hear Stanford's next recommendation for for 2-4 weeks... In the meantime, have any of you experienced the problems I ran into? What do you think about the sedation idea? Will I will have to sleep with sedation long-term in order to get any benefit from a CPAP?

Over the four years I've had insomnia I have taken the usual gamut of drugs -- anti-depressants like elavil, trazodone, effexor, lexapro, sleep aids like ambien, ambienCR, sonata, antihistamines like benedryl, triprolidine, doxylamine, herbals like melatonin, valerian root, hot milk etc. Which either don't make me sleepy or I drift off but wake up within 30 minutes due to what we now know are hypopneas. Lunesta actually worked very well but stopped working after 8 months and still doesn't work a year later after stopping. What type of sedation would I be able to take that would be safe?

I am very frustrated as this is probably the only treatment option I have, I need to make a CPAP work if at all possible. If you have any information or suggestions for me and can share your experiences, I would so appreciate it.

I'm very sorry for what has turned out to be a very long post! Thank you for any help and God Bless.

Follow Ups:

• Re: Could not complete titration D.H. 18:52 6/06/07 (1)
  • Re: Could not complete titration pseudonym 10:27 6/19/07 (0)

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