Is it possible to feel more tired after using a bipap than before diagnosis?

[Bella2010]

I have been using a bipap machine for almost 5 weeks. I honestly feel more tired most days than before I started using the machine. Is this normal? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Hanrahan]

Me too, and have been on it about the same time. At this stage I will not be spending the money to continue after the trial period.

[eseedhouse]

You should both be in contact with your DME supplier and they should be helping out.
If they don't or won't then go get another supplier if you can. Assuming you have a data capable machine then you can use SleepyHead to find out what's going on and what might help.

Hmm... "unsure" and "still testing" don't help us very much to help you though. Assuming your eyesight is OK you should be able to figure this out from the label on the machines.

[Hanrahan]

Had I thought the machine type relevant I would have mentioned it. It has an SD card and I have an appointment with the specialist at the end of the two month trial period and he will read it.

So far it has been disappointing.

[PoolQ]

Please do not accept failure. SleepHead software is free and all you need is an $8 card reader to see what is going on. There are many adjustments that can be made that will effect your results. Personally I am 3 weeks in and have adjusted everything that I can access (and a couple that I am not supposed to). I started out with an AHI of 32 and now I am tweaking the settings to get below 4. Before CPAP I was sleeping sitting straight up and feeling like I was getting 1-2 hours of sleep a night, I know for a fact that I looked at the clock every hour all night. Now I am getting 7-9 hours of sleep a night and waking up 2-3 times.

I have yet to see the Doctor or the DME for my one month checkup. You have access to ALL the raw data from all those weeks of use and there are people here that know what it means.

This CPAP stuff does work, but not by itself. You want some good sleep? You want to protect your health? work with us here.

[AshSF]

I have been using a bipap machine for almost 5 weeks. I honestly feel more tired most days than before I started using the machine. Is this normal? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Me too, and have been on it about the same time. At this stage I will not be spending the money to continue after the trial period.

In such cases, More often than not, the settings of the machine (IPAP, EPAP, PS, and their ranges) are set suboptimally. It could be due to multiple reasons (incomplete titration, no titration, titration night not representative of user situation on a daily basis, lazy DME etc. etc. ).

Different machines have different set of potential settings so the machine name and model is pertinent to this discussion of tweaking therapy settings to achieve good results.

The first advisable step in such cases is to install Sleepyhead software, upload data from your machine's SD card and review your summary and detailed data. I suggest that you guys do that first.

Relying on your DME or your sleep doc will not yield results fast enough. They don't have much time to look at your data in detail and you can't see them every few days either. So I suggest you become data aware and experienced members on this board can help you tweak the settings much faster.

[PoolQ]

AshSF +1 to all you posted. One other possibility is that the DME only set min/max and left everything else at default like mine did. Oh I see you did cover that with the Lazy

[OpalRose]

I have been using a bipap machine for almost 5 weeks. I honestly feel more tired most days than before I started using the machine. Is this normal? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Bella2010,
I can only say that is does take longer for some than others to start feeling better, but in all honesty, whether you are on a trial machine or not, you should fill out your profile and your pressure ranges that you are on. Also what mask are you using? You also need to download sleepyhead software so we can see some data. This way, someone here can help you. There is no information to go on.

[Sleeprider]

Until you take some control over your therapy, none of us know what your settings are, and what might alleviate any problems you have. Your DME is ONLY concerned about your use, not whether the settings are optimized to help you get the rest you need. Order your manuals through the forum, and download Sleepyhead. Choosing to fail is your choice. Just do nothing but wait for your provider to "fix" things.

[OpalRose]

Had I thought the machine type relevant I would have mentioned it. It has an SD card and I have an appointment with the specialist at the end of the two month trial period and he will read it.

So far it has been disappointing.

Hanrahan,
Same advice as to original poster. Fill out your profile with machine info.
If you prefer to wait out a 2 month trial that is up to you, but if you download sleepyhead software, we can better see your data and what is causing you to feel
the way you do. Then you can call your doc/DME and ask to see them sooner for adjustments.

I will say that the 4-20 pressure setting is too wide open. It should be narrowed down to meet your needs. We can help you.