Good numbers, but still fall asleep

[tsmith3605]

I have been on CPAP for 2 months now and I am getting AHI's of anywhere between 0.13 and 2.8. Last night it was 0.58. I am still having problems with falling asleep when at my desk or while driving. Today after driving for about a half hour I actually fell asleep and woke up right away but my family noticed that i had jerked the wheel. Yesterday at work I was standing looking out my window and actually dozed off that I lost my balance and almost fell. Is this something that will eventually pass, or might I have something else going on? My daughter was just diagnosed with Narcolepsy, my wife and her feel like I am exhibiting similar symptoms. I am on straight pressure of 10 cm H2O and I feel like I am sleeping well.

[eseedhouse]

Have your oxygen levels been assesed since you started CPAP? CPAP alone doesn't always fix your oxygen levels - it didn't in my case.

[kaiasgram]

Please don't drive while you're having those symptoms. Have you been tested for narcolepsy? It isn't picked up in a regular sleep study.

[woozie38]

Please don't drive while you're having those symptoms. Have you been tested for narcolepsy? It isn't picked up in a regular sleep study.

Yes, you must not drive whilst this situation exists. You may or almost certainly will have an accident. It does sound like "Narcolepsy" & the sooner you have an MSLT the better. A multiple sleep latency test is an easy test if a little inconvenient.
You have to spend the night before the test at the clinic and you must sleep in excess of 6 hours on that night. Next day after breakfast you will be asked to go back to sleep. Once asleep they will wake you & instruct you to stay awake for the next hour before telling you to go to sleep again. This process is repeated three more times. The average time you take to go back to sleep each time is given as your sleep index, so if you average 10 mins, then your sleep index would be 10. A lower sleep index will entitle you to a script for "Modafinil", the "wake up" drug. But you must also regulate when you drive or perform any other risky tasks. I only ever drive in the mornings & never at night unless I've had an afternoon nap.
Best of luck

[iSnore]

AHI isn't the whole story. Respiratory Effort-Related Arousals (RERA) are not scored as part of AHI and can have a significant negative impact on your rest. (they are part of Respiratory Disturbance Index, which includes RERAs in addition to the components of AHI). If you don't already have it set up, install and use SleepyHead to see the bigger picture.