Hi, just an update on my experience so far,
To summarise, diagnosed severs obstructive sleep apnea after home oximetry showed 68 breathing interuptions per hour in early April, put on CPAP trial waiting list for mid May, instructed to stop driving by DVLA while okayed by CPAP doctor, got cancellation appointment for yesterday and had my first night using CPAP last night!
I went to the sleep clinic and was issued with Resmed S8 for the trial and fitted up with a Resmed Mirage FX nasal mask.I was a little sceptical about this as I class myself as a mouth breather and all the info I have read pointed to me needing a full face mask. However, after trying it on, I could see no reason for not giving it a whirl. I all so mentioned about a humidifier and was told probably wouldnt need one. The nurse was very helpful and informative and did imply that there was a possiblility if things went okay during the week I might get nod to drive again.
Now I was obviously concerned as to when it came to the crunch could I nod off with CPAP gear on, so got home rigged it up and laid down on the bed to have a tester! I was concerned that when I started the machine was not supplying quite enough air for me to breathe comfortably but when I woke up an hour later to my mobile ringing I realised this is not much of an issue!
My concerns about the nasal mask seemed to be unfounded and mouth/throat did appear not to be dried out when I woke up as is usually the case!
As a gadget geek I had all ready purchased a wrist oximeter and fitted this up as I settled down for my first nights sleep on CPAP. I did again experience the feeling the machine was not supplying me quite enough air before I nodded off but next time I woke up it was 5am and after a short trip to loo I was straight back to sleep and eight hours in all I now have 9hours 20 min usage logged after the first day!
I was interested to see my oximetry results as I would'nt say I felt that much more refreshed but from having anything from an index of 15 to 30 it has dropped to 6 with only 6 desaturation events falling below 90% and only 2 below 88%. Seems very impressive for one night and assume the machine will improve this more over the week. I think from the reading the machine has settled on a setting of 12 at the moment and will be keeping a daily check on this.
I am now looking forward to completing the rest of the trial and reaping the obvious benefits associated with undisturbed sleep!
Regards
Colin