RE: New to CPAP and EXHAUSTED
My first two nights I took the mask off after about 3-4 hours of use. Then I figured out how to tighten the mask so that it wouldn't keep springing leaks and waking me evertime I adjusted my position. The last two nights I have slept 7 and 8.5 hours respectively. For me a tight mask is equaling sound sleep.
Thanks to this sight which, I just discovered today, I am becoming a quick study. I did find the hidden info on my machine. So after 22 hours of total use I have the following data; Leaks 20L/min, AHI 6.2, Total AI 11.9, Central AI 2.9. Not sure what all this means yet but I am hoping it will improve now that I have the mask properly fitted.
I also just changed the mask setting from pillow to full face because i have the Quattro mask.
RE: New to CPAP and EXHAUSTED
Opps, that was Total AI at 4.9 not 11.9. In addition to CPAP I need reading glasses, lol.
RE: New to CPAP and EXHAUSTED
(06-19-2012, 07:28 PM)John Brown Wrote: I also just changed the mask setting from pillow to full face because i have the Quattro mask.
That will make a difference to leak reporting. The Quattro have a slightly higher vent leak rate than nasal pillows. The acceptable S9 leak anything below 24 L/min and if it goes over it might affect the accuracy of data.
RE: New to CPAP and EXHAUSTED
Trends don't really reveal themselves until at least ten nights. Going by hour used, I'd say about 80hrs or more. Now that you've changed some of the info (such as type of mask) make a note of when you did it so that later, in say, 10 days, you will remember when the change was made. It would be interesting to see what the data says then.
This is why making changes each night just will not be properly reflected in the data nor in the quality of sleep. Too many variables. The AHI of 4.9 is good but could be better. But, again, it really is too early to tell. That number will most likely drop or even out.
PaulaO
Take a deep breath and count to zen.
06-19-2012, 08:46 PM
(This post was last modified: 06-19-2012, 08:47 PM by archangle.)
RE: New to CPAP and EXHAUSTED
Sometimes I think apnea is like smoking, drinking, or drug addiction. Your body adjusts your chemistry to compensate. Then when you remove the thing that's upsetting your "balance," you are out of "balance" in the other direction until your body readjusts.
68% and 101 are REALLY bad. It's not surprising if your body has some aftereffects from something that assaults your body that badly every night.
Hopefully, the really deep exhaustion reaction will pass quickly. Maybe if you can hold on till the weekend, you can catch up some then. Can you go to bed a little earlier than usual and maybe catch a few more hours?
By the way, the free SleepyHead software will tell you a lot more about what's happening during your night's sleep.
Get the free OSCAR CPAP software
here.
Useful links.
Click
here for information on the main alternative to CPAP.
If it's midnight and a DME tells you it's dark outside, go and check it yourself.
RE: New to CPAP and EXHAUSTED
Okay, its been almost a week since I started CPAP. I am still exhausted. I couldn't go to work yesterday and I have not been able to make it into work before noon all week. (Happily, I have a very supportive work enviroment so thats not a problem.) But all day long I feel like I have not slept in three days. I can't think and I am having trouble performing simple tasks. THe odd thing is that I have taken to this treatment like a fish to water. Last night I logged more than 8 hours with a AHI of 2.4 and leak of 19L/min. I was diagnosed with severe apnea with untreated oxygen levels of 68% and 101 events per hour. I think that part of my problem is that the treatment has been so immediately effective that my mind and body are having trouble adapting. I am trying to tell myself that there may be a slight improvement in my exhaustion each day but not more than 5-10%. I know I am sounding like a broken record, and I don't normally complain, but I am wondering how long it will take until I can function.
RE: New to CPAP and EXHAUSTED
Talk to your doctor and get an oximeter to check oxygen level during the night.
RE: New to CPAP and EXHAUSTED
(06-21-2012, 02:48 PM)zonk Wrote: Talk to your doctor and get an oximeter to check oxygen level during the night.
Unless your titration study showed that your hypoxemia was completely corrected by treating your OSA, you may need supplemental oxygen. I am not sure a home pulse oximeter is the way to go, since pulse oximetry may not be accurate when the pulse ox gets that low. Still if it is low with treatment, you have a problem.
Check back with your sleep doctor to be certain those severe O2 drops were corrected by the treatment in the lab. If that pulse ox of 68 percent was accurate (I doubt it), it means that you were desaturating below what most people's venous blood saturation is, which is about 75 %. That's quite scarry to think about, but not to worry about as long as those periods of desaturation are brief and infrequent.
RE: New to CPAP and EXHAUSTED
The night I took the sleep study with the CPAP I was registering 94% oxygen. I hope that the home treatment is having the same results. The sleep technician told me that I was having the best results at pressure level 15 and thats the same level that my home CPAP is set. Day by day I am noticing only a small diminishment in the level of daytime sleppiness. It's worst in the mornings. Last night I slept from Midnight to 8 AM this morning. (8 hours with AHI of 3.4 and leak was 20L/min.) But I still didn't have the energy to get out of bed until 11 AM.
