[Symptoms] Fatigue from sleep apnea

[Person]

Does the fatigue go away relatively quickly when getting proper treatment for sleep apnea or does it take 3 months like the internet suggests.

[G. Szabo]

The three months you probably come from the time needed for trial and error while optimizing your setting. Therefore, it is important to seek experienced help, not necessarily medical doctors, but who care about the details and your feedbacks during the fine-tuning process to reduce the optimization time.

[staceyburke]

Looking at your other thread, I think you could be helped changing 2 settings.

Min 7
EPR full time set to 3

That will help with your sleep and treatment.

[Phaleronic]

Hi Person,

I would suggest raising min pressure to 7.4cm and leaving EPR on @ 1 please. This will help with apnea control (turning EPR up to max curtails apnea and hypopnea control on resemd machines0.

[G. Szabo]

... (turning EPR up to max curtails apnea and hypopnea control on resemd machines0.

During decades with RESMED, I have never experienced these "curtails."

[Dormeo]

Person, what settings are you using now? In your other thread, you used a variety. Please turn off your ramp and set your EPR to 3. If your minimum is less than 7, please set the minimum to 7. Use these settings for at least 3-4 days before trying to evaluate them, unless they're a disaster.

Phaleronic, are you referring to the fact that sometimes people need to increase their minimum pressure when they increase their EPR? Person is doing very well with OAs, both with and without EPR, and I don't see a need to increase his minimum pressure. If you're referring to something else, could you explain it?

Person, a few lucky souls start feeling rested after their first night using CPAP, but for the rest of us, it takes a while. For some, it's a week or two; for others, it can be three months. As G. Szabo notes, there's variation that comes from how much fine-tuning of settings is needed, but I also think some people are just more sensitive than others to the new sensations involved with CPAP use.

So stick with it, and have patience. And keep us posted about how you're doing with revised settings.

[Deborah K.]

Stacey is correct, as usual.  Turn your EPR up to 3.  It has no power to raise your AHI, but it is great at adding to comfort and, more importantly, at lowering your flow limits.  Flow limits are short apneas that, while unreported, need to be lowered.

[Person]

I feel like I am over titrated I tried keeping stuff consistent for a couple of nights but had not luck I also have epr of 3 always on please offer advice. My sleep study recommended a pressure of 9 which has not worked well to say the least. I am getting myself supplemental oxygen in hopefully 6 days even though my doctors have not recommended it yet to see if that helps. Before then I am going on vacation and will be at see level instead of over a mile high so I hope that helps with sleeping during vacation because right now I am stuck in the to tired to function land. I also have asthma which I am https://sleephq.com/public/teams/share_l...f01c490a7f

[Dormeo]

It looks like you've been making fairly frequent changes to your minimum and maximum pressures and to your EPR, sometimes even within a single night. In addition, you go to bed and get up at different times and sleep for different lengths of time.

I think you'll find it helpful to work hard on going to bed and getting up at the same time every day. I'd also suggest you pick settings that feel comfortable to you and then stick with them.

In general, you're having a lot of arousals and a lot of periods when you lie in bed awake. This must be frustrating and tiring. Getting a more regular schedule may be of some help.

My own recommendation would be a minimum of 7 with EPR of 3. Your pressures go up and down, driven by your flow limitations. You seem to do OK with a fixed pressure. You might consider min = max = 8, or something like that.

I'll be interested to hear how you do at sea level.