Hi, wondering if its at all normal to feel worse after starting CPAP with mild apnea.

[underswamp1008]

"Results of Sleep Testing which was indicative of an average AHI of 9.6 per hour with an SpO2 nadir of 83% and SpO2 of < 88% being 3.3 minutes."

Hello again. So I just want to start by saying that I realize that my apnea is pretty minor, as are my symptoms, so I get that I may not experience dramatic results.

However, CPAP does tend to make me feel worse in the morning, for whatever reason. I'm hoping this data will help get to the bottom of things.

OSCAR stuff is attached. Thanks in advance!

[mesenteria]

Hi.  Yes, it is quite a common complaint from people who seem to take to their therapy well, and whose machines serve them well based on their nightly reports, to feel unwell, ill-at-ease, somewhat anxious, fog-on-the-brain, and other effects, real or imagined.  It's unfortunate because they'll swear up and down that, prior to their diagnosis and the imposed regimen of therapy, they didn't really notice any degradation in their health or in the way they were able to socialize and to solve problems, or to stay awake at 1300 hours near the end of the noon-hour news on TV.

So, I don't know what else to say.  The results you post seem fine, even enviable for some.

[Rcgop]

Yes, my sleep test was an AHI of 7 and it immediately jumped to 12 early on. Improvements came slowly but consistently. Getting used to sleeping with a monster strapped to your face can take some patience. BTW, my AHI is always less than 1(median=.3). 

Hang in there, patience.

[Deborah K.]

Yep, it's normal to feel worse at first.  It takes your body and mind time to really adjust to pap therapy, but it is definitely worth it.

[OpalRose]

Welcome to Apnea Board!

From the chart you posted, nothing jumps out to explain why you feel worse in the morning. Although, I hope you can get more sleep that what is showing... a little over 3 hours. And your pressure range of 4-20 is far from optimal.
You should have a minimum pressure of at least 6 or 7.

We would be better able to advise if you could revise your chart by using the format in the link below. This will give guidance on Organization of the daily page and what graphs we need to see. Include the left sidebar, get rid of the calendar and pie chart. Use the F12 to take a screenshot and then use the attachment feature to post here.

[staceyburke]

You have quite a few flow limits. They are apnea also but smaller and not timed (see the bottom in the signature)  To limit them we use EPR. You have set yours to 0.  You need to raise the low number so the EPR can work.  So set the low number to 7 EPR=3.

Also you need to set up your screen shot so we can see the information needed.  To begin with - Turn off the Calendar (there is an arrow next to the date box) Turn off the Pie chart (Press F3) set the standard graphs (go to view and down to reset graphs standard).  Now you are ready to do the screen shot.  Use F12 it sets the res and size.  I am putting an example of a the correct screen shot in this post so you can see what it looks like.

[underswamp1008]

Thanks for all your advice guys. I went ahead and made the recommended adjustments. Hopefully these new screnshots are better. Hoping I can sleep better with CPAP tonight. Thanks again!

[OpalRose]

I think just an adjustment in your pressure range would help with the Obstructives. Let's move the minimum pressure from 4cm to 8cm which is close to your median pressure. You can bring the maximum pressure down to 15cm.

So your pressure range would be minimum 8, maximum 15. Set EPR to 3 for now. The EPR should help with Hypopnea and Flow Limitations. If we see an increase in Clear Airways, then we can change that.

Be sure the ramp is set to off.

Try these settings and see how that feels. Hopefully will be more comfortable.

[underswamp1008]

Thanks so much! I have updated the settings. I will report back