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0 points_yb2s1y ago0 comments

Yes, I did a real sleep study and they said I do indeed have "mild" sleep apnea but it "isn't bad enough that we are willing to treat it." I do usually need several naps to get through a typical day- and that is after identifying and treating three other major health conditions that can cause fatigue.

The newer Oura rings actually have an integrated pulse oximeter and can measure apnea, but mine does not.

I wonder if I should just buy a CPAP on my own and see if I feel better. I probably should also lower my bodyweight... I am a weight lifter, although fairly lean, I am a big guy, and losing some weight might reduce apnea events.

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andriesm1y ago

I did. Bought it myself. Learn how to enter clinician mode by holding the right buttons for your model. It's quite shocking how controlled and artificially limited things are in CPAP-land. cpap, and more advanced machines have identical hardware, but they cost orders of magnitude different prices. For many people have different pressure when inhaling vs exhaling is important - so called BiPAP. Everyone tells you start with CPAP, but if it turns out you need BiPAP then you need to replace the entire machine even though hacking the software works in, ahem, certain cases.

_yb2sOP1y ago

Thanks- how did it work out for you? Is there a more hackable model you'd recommend, e.g. one that can be turned into a bipap?

david-gpu1y ago

> I do usually need several naps to get through a typical day

If that was me, I would pester either the same doctor or a new one to get a CPAP machine. It's not a set and forget device, you may need to try a few masks and tweak the settings until you find something that really works for you, but once it's dialed in it makes a big big difference to your quality of life.

Trying to lose weight when you are not getting adequate sleep is an uphill battle. There are plenty of lean people that still need CPAP to get adequate sleep -- I was one of them.

_yb2sOP1y ago

I'll try but it is Kaiser- typically at Kaiser these judgements are out of the physicians control, they will fund a treatment only if you hit some specific number on a test- and it is virtually impossible for the doctor to override this- they need to get a bunch of signatures from other doctors, and use tons of political capital.

I have two other major health conditions that badly needed treatment, which Kaiser would not treat, and I paid an outside doctor with cash to be able to receive treatment.

schwartzworld1y ago

Alcohol and other cns depressants increase apnea symptoms, which is likely related to the results you’re seeing.

Regarding buying your own and learning to program it, I had to do this anyway. My dr was not helpful after I received the machine, and this is true more often than not, which is why so many people don’t take to the treatment.

Look into OSCAR software.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 points_yb2s1y ago0 comments

The newer Oura rings actually have an integrated pulse oximeter and can measure apnea, but mine does not.

0 comments

andriesm1y ago

_yb2sOP1y ago

Thanks- how did it work out for you? Is there a more hackable model you'd recommend, e.g. one that can be turned into a bipap?

david-gpu1y ago

> I do usually need several naps to get through a typical day

Trying to lose weight when you are not getting adequate sleep is an uphill battle. There are plenty of lean people that still need CPAP to get adequate sleep -- I was one of them.

_yb2sOP1y ago

I have two other major health conditions that badly needed treatment, which Kaiser would not treat, and I paid an outside doctor with cash to be able to receive treatment.

schwartzworld1y ago

Alcohol and other cns depressants increase apnea symptoms, which is likely related to the results you’re seeing.

Look into OSCAR software.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse