[CPAP] New to CPAP therapy, feeling miserable every day. Are my settings correct?

[SerinitySW]

Hey all. I recently was diagnosed with OSA with an AHI of 20.6. I was recommended CPAP (APAP) therapy, and purchased a ResMed AirSense 11. 

My first night using it I had an AHI of 21.09, and felt pretty normal when I woke up in the morning and throughout the day. 

My second night, AHI went down to 5.94... great! However the next day I started feeling even more groggy and tired than before I started using the CPAP. 

Night 3, AHI 2.21... I woke up feeling the most miserable I think I've ever felt after waking up. I felt like I couldn't move, much less get out of bed. I accidentally fell back asleep without wearing my mask and woke up feeling a bit better but still pretty groggy and 'sick' feeling. I started feeling a bit better around 9PM.

Night 4, AHI 0.99. I woke up much better than after night 3, but didn't feel great right away. I once again didn't feel better until late into the night.

Night 5-19 I think have been pretty similar. AHI has bounced around 1-2. I've been waking up feeling slightly groggy to even better than before sometimes. But every single day I had some sort of 'crash'. For others who take stimulants for ADHD, its quite similar feeling to that but 10x. The earliest the crash would start was around 10:30am, the latest around 3pm. Symptoms include: headache, 'eye pressure', dizziness, nausea, low-energy, low-motivation, groggy/tired, skin (especially head) touch sensitivity, and feeling warm.

I've tried adjusting settings according to some guides online and some feedback on reddit without much luck, so I've turned to this forum after hearing very good things from others who have gone through similar. I'll attach screenshots of OSCAR results from nights 1, 3, and 19 (will provide others upon request). I made a doctor's appointment for a few days from now to discuss my experience, but was hoping maybe playing around with settings could help as well.

Thank you to everyone who reads my post, and thank you especially to anyone who responds.


Night 1
   

Night 3
   

Night 19
   

[Deborah K.]

I see a couple of things that should help you. Turn your start pressure up to 9 as your median pressure is 8.8 anyway.

Also, turn ramp off. You have been at this long enough that you probably don't need it anymore. Also, ramp starts again each time you get up and return to bed, robbing you of better therapy. If you feel you do need it, run it for about 10 minutes, then eventually turn it off.

A lot of what you feel is normal for people still pretty new to pap use. It gets much easier over time and starts to feel normal as well.

Again, welcome, and good luck!