Can CPAP effect your memory / concentration

[Ulrika]

I have been on cpap now for 6 months now! I can see why they say give it at least 6 months - I didn't dislike it from the word go (which I gather is pretty rare) but still had many leak issues and adjustments which did frustrate me.

At about the 3 month point I was starting to get a cold/flu and wasn't still sleeping through the night with cpap comfortably.... I went to do a group work thing with some students at a conference and all of a sudden I couldn't think or process my thoughts. I couldn't even make sense of the writing on my note book! Afterwards (my GP - doctor) was there and I asked her what could have happened, she said that being sick a virus can cause that kind of reaction and didn't think that CPAP would be the cause, but I felt that in the early days of CPAP I felt kind of "funny" in my head and a bit jumbled. Of course the virus would have made it worse. I am frustrated because my doctor knows little or nothing about sleep apnoea I had to even show her how to read the sleep data that the sleep place printed out for her to look at. (is that common that doctors don't really know much about it??)

Now at the 6 month point I am sleeping so much better - like 8 hours easy without waking and next to no leaks!! I feel heaps better, clearer thinking and must say I am glad I kept it up.

[kitley]

My family Doc. really doesn't even want to talk about my CPAP therapy, which leads me to believe he does not know a lot about sleep apnea. Years ago, he would not even send me for sleep studies.At my last appointment, I mentioned that my data was showing central apneas, which I wondered about them being caused by previous TIA's....he just bipassed my questions. The TIA clinic I was sent to, ordered my sleep study, and my DME says that is the cause of my TIA's, mild asthma, heart palpitations, and memory issues. Also I must mention that my sleep Dr. likely has the knowledge, but really only cares how I feel. During a recent follow up appointment, he would not even take the time to read my data. What a waste of time and tax payers money, that was! Oh well...six months into CPAP...and wow, do I feel great!

[Dawei]

Hi, Ulrika. My immediate mental answer when I first read the title of your posted thread, was Yes, CPAP can improve both memory and concentration. But, seriously, I am not aware of CPAP causing those problems, although as we all know, it does take some adjustment to sleeping with "the hose."
Up here in the U.S., it is my understanding that any doc can write a Rx for CPAP equipment. For those interested, there is a sub-specialty of Sleep Specialist that's offered to doctors in 7 specialties. My large local hospital's sleep center is staffed by both docs who are and who are not board certified as sleep specialists. The one I see is a pulmonologist who is also a sleep specialist. You might want to consider seeing a pulmonologist who, it seems to me, should be well suited for helping CPAP patients. I guess I'd rank an ENT specialist as a number 2 on my list of docs who seems best prepared by training and practice to help us. A doc who isn't knowledgeable about sleep apnea and/or doesn't seem to care about it sounds like a poor choice to me.

[zonk]

what memory
just now my wife asked me to bring the washing basket from the laundry ... opened the fridge looking for it
now where is my glasses

[Sleepster]

.... I went to do a group work thing with some students at a conference and all of a sudden I couldn't think or process my thoughts. I couldn't even make sense of the writing on my note book!

My guess is that this type of symptom is caused by a lack of sleep. CPAP therapy caused me to get less sleep at first as I adjusted to it. It sounds like you had a similar experience.

Like you, I am glad that I stuck with it. I'm coming up on my one-year anniversary. In some ways it's been the worst year of my life, but in other ways the best. I think that a year from now I'll be doing even better and the memory of the way I felt before CPAP therapy will be faded even more than it is now. I am doing so much better in so many ways. I couldn't stand it if I had to go back to the way I was.

[Ulrika]

[ I'm coming up on my one-year anniversary. In some ways it's been the worst year of my life, but in other ways the best. I think that a year from now I'll be doing even better and the memory of the way I felt before CPAP therapy will be faded even more than it is now. I am doing so much better in so many ways. I couldn't stand it if I had to go back to the way I was.


[/quote]

wow.... that is EXACTLY how I feel, it's been a great high the past 6 months but at the same time really tough too.... and I also am forgetting life pre CPAP and never want to go back, my husband is still puzzled that I am not willing to give it up...??

[Sleepster]

wow.... that is EXACTLY how I feel, it's been a great high the past 6 months but at the same time really tough too.... and I also am forgetting life pre CPAP and never want to go back, my husband is still puzzled that I am not willing to give it up...??

Try to get your husband to understand that sleep apnea kills. Without CPAP therapy you'll live a crappy sleep-deprived life and die early of a heart attack or stroke.

For me CPAP therapy is a both a blessing and a curse. The blessings at first did not seem to outweigh the curses, but that has eventually reversed.

[trish6hundred]

Hi Ulrika, I'm glad you have been able to stick with it. I have been on the hose since June of 2008 and have not regreted it a bit. Oh sure, I have nights (like last night, Ha-Ha,) that are kinda bad but, I just keep going because despite the bad nights every once in a while, the benefits are tremendus. I hope your husband will eventually understand that CPAP therapy really helps you and that you need encouragement to continue it rather than to give it up.
BTW, a cold or virus can effect lots of things like memory and such.
CONTINUED SUCCESS.!

[archangle]

Quite a few people report tiredness and brain fog when starting CPAP. Some call it sleep debt. I think it may be that your body adjusted to apnea, and is out of whack for a while when you stop being strangled every few minutes through the night. It's sort of like stopping smoking, drinking, or many drugs. You're out of whack until your chemistry and brain readjust.

Apnea does tend to pump you full of adrenaline. You may not feel the same without your brain's nightly dose of terror of suffocation.

If CPAP disturbs your sleep, that can cause memory problems.

Dry throat/nose/sinus problems may make you feel "fuzzy." Ear problems can make you dizzy.

You could also have residual problems, even brain damage, from apnea. Sometimes they get better over time.

Sometimes, more and/or better sleep might actually leave you sleepier during the day.

If your CPAP settings aren't right, you could still be having apnea.