Help!

[NewToThis23]

Hello,

I am a 30yo male diagnosed with moderate sleep apnea in 2022. Since acquiring my machine I have not felt like it has helped me much, I never got titrated, the doctor just gave me a range of 4-15 pressure and set every setting to auto. 

Lately I have been feeling really bad, I wake up a lot during the night, 4-10 times and I feel like I am not sleeping well. I wake up with headaches around my forehead and top of my head, my cognitive skills have declined a lot in the past months. I forget things right away, cant pay attention to things, my memory is really bad, and I have major brain fog, any little task feels like a lot as I cant seem to have sense of time, cant make up thoughts, I forget words, low libido, fatigue and the list goes on and on. 

My AHI shows as 1 or less most nights, but I wake up a lot during the night, and according to my smart watch I barely hit 30 minutes of deep sleep on a good night, some nights I get as low as 5 minutes. Like I said my current settings are auto and wanted to know if this was due to sleep apnea as per my graphs and information, or this is something else like insomnia or mental health related, as I cannot seem to know why I keep waking up so much. I noticed I have multiple hypopneas per night, not sure if this can cause awakening and the headaches and my brain fog and bad memory and all the other things I mentioned.

Can you guys advise on settings that could help me get better sleep. Please

[PeaceLoveAndPizza]

I believe your pressure is too low, which is the root of many of your issues.

Try this:

Mode APAP
Min pressure 8
Max pressure 12
EPR 3 full-time
No ramp

That should help with the pressure swings and hopefully be more comfortable. Give that a try for a few nights and let us know how it goes. It will feel a bit different without the ramp, but just relax and breathe with the machine. Let your mind wander. You will adapt to it quickly.

Regarding your watch, the best smart watch is about 80% accurate for determining sleep stages. Do not get too concerned with the specific numbers. It is fine for directional guidance on sleep quality, just treat it as such.

[Deborah K.]

OOPS! PLP and I were writing at the same time, so I erased mine. Good luck with your therapy!

[NewToThis23]

Thank you guys, I will change to these settings and update you on it. I appreciate your help.

[Crimson Nape]

NewToThis23 - What part or region of your head are your headaches located?  
- Red

[NewToThis23]

Mainly around my forehead and top of my head. Feels like odd and its hard to think when I have them, also feel some pressure. Most of them happen shortly after I wake up, or as soon as I wake up. If I take naps too, I get the headaches.

You use the same exact facemask I use by the way, the evora full face. It sits around that area of the head, but I doubt the band is causing the headaches. I think it has to do more with me waking up so often, and waking up during my deep sleep that is causing the headaches. Cause I have many other symptoms like i mentioned on my post. The brain fog, the bad memory, the bad cognitive abilities, etc that come with it.

[Crimson Nape]

This could be your sinus cavity. Are you using humidity? You might try using more, or even less. Each person responds differently.
- Red

[NewToThis23]

Yes I am using my humidity on auto. You might be right, my sinuses are partially blocked due to obesity swell I think. Like my nose always feels congested, even though I am not sick. 

So I have lost my sense of smell and taste big time. So yeah might be the cause of my headaches then. What humidity should I do? Since Ive always used it on auto.

[SarcasticDave94]

Maybe go manual 4 or 5 humidity, try it and alter up or down to suit. Why should we allow the doctor to have all the fun with controlling things?

[NewToThis23]

Haha right. Alright I will change it to 5 then, and 4 if needed after couple nights. Thanks! I started researching about sinuses after your response and I might have chronic sinusitis. Because this has definitely lasted more than 12 weeks for me. But yeah I’ll change humidity. Thank you again.