My name Walt & i am pushing 78 years of age Sept 2025.
I am going on ten years of using a CPAP machine for sleep apnea. I do not take any medications & use suplementation only. I have changed my diet, lost weight, now 55 lbs lighter & am still losing more weight though i have a little ways to go, about 40 lbs.
I wish a dr would just take the time to listen to my questions & concerns so maybe this site is a venue for that.
Here goes...i have had two sleep tests and though my sleep dr with the VA wanted to do a third test i adamantly refused. Why? because the Dr that did my second test refused to listen to my concerns about the results of the second test. At the time I was seeing the VA surgeon for a ''bad'' left knee which ultimately resulted in a total replecment. The sleep dr i saw prior to the replacement told me i had 116 episodes of apnea & 28 episodes of restless leg syndrome... go figure. I attempted to convince him that i did not have a prior issue with restless leg syndrome but he wouldn't listen & my apnea events on my first test that HE did were at 36. Why the large increase? He subsequently put me on 2 ltrs of 02 @ night which i disagreed with but allowed, he ordered an oxygen machine for me to use and a new CPAP machine ...i figured it probably couldn't hurt. The whole problem with this test & the reason i refuse to allow a third test is that i was on my back all night during the second sleep test , in pain with my left knee & could not roll to either side for better sleep. I probably got 2 hrs of exhausted sleep that night out of the 8 hr test. The 116 episodes of apnea was as a result of laying on my back all night. I do NOT sleep on my back as i am a side sleeper. When i tried to roll to one side or the other the leads fron the machine they used, to my body, were so short that when i tried to turn to one side or the other i would pull on the leads. The Dr refused to accept my input for the high nbr of apnea events & restless leg syndrome. Sleep test Drs do NOT test you the way you sleep but the way they want you to sleep. I was told that the apnea events need to be five or less. I am sleeping much better recently but not because of the CPAP machine ot the new full face masks that i finally convinced the VA that i needed as the nasal masks they sent me are useless. My APNEA events are in the range of 4 to 7. Though higher than the suggested five, i get into REM sleep which i haven't been able to do for quite some time. I attribute my better sleep to my Acupuncture Specialist, EMF DR & my Chiropractor...all three who are in the same office & who i see @ differing times.