[T-10 Yrs] Nasal CPAP and Idiopathic Hyperinsomnia

So that was then I discovered CPAP. I was already off to a rough start. The CPAP machines then were primitive compared to the ones today. They made a lot of noise, there was no humidifier, the masks were barely functional. I persisted with them though my compliance was not that great. This went on for 3 years, leading upto 1999.

My daytime sleepy symptoms had not become better. I went back to my PCP and he sent me to a local sleep specialist in San Jose.

This doc looked at my report from 3 years ago. Interestingly enough the study indicated that I had only 27 Obst Apneas, RDI of only 10 and an apnea index of 1 over a 6 hour study window. Looking at the graphs, the Oxygen saturation level is well over 95% except for a couple of times. The sleep specialist physician in San Jose (whose name I will omit) concluded that I had Idiopathic hypersomnia and NOT OSA. Idiopathic means "I don't know the reason for your problem".

Recently I was reviewing my data with SeattleBill and he showed me that the doctor included one critical piece of data 151 TA without respiratory events. He thought that I may have a loose sensor lead or some such thing during this study, because all my subsequent studies showed severe OSA's. Of course I have had numerous overnight sleep studies at Cupertino and Stanford labs which proved beyond doubt that I had OSA (more later).

Anyway at that point I started exercising, lost some weight, slept on my side and learned to live with it.