[Treatment] One Year in and still have tired days

[Sleepyv]

I am one year in Bipap. I have some good days but just as many sleepy days. My AHI is good and I can sleep 7 to 8 hrs. I have no trouble falling to sleep with bi pap. I am starting grinding my teeth really bad and am wearing a night guard. Has anyone had this trouble with still being tired after this much time? I'm discouraged about to stop.

[Beej]

Short answer: Yes.
Long answer: I have some other medical conditions that affect alertness and fatique, so I can't be sure what is sleep related and what is not.

Have you got any other medical conditions diagnosed? If not, that might be an avenue to explore, especially if there are any forms of inflammatory arthritis up the family tree, as autoimmune conditions often cause fatigue. So do endocrine conditions such as diabetes and hypothyroidism. So may certain forms of heart disease. So may depression.

[justMongo]

Long answer: I have some other medical conditions that affect alertness and fatique, so I can't be sure what is sleep related and what is not.

Me too. And I feel worn down every day.

[kwhenrykerr]

Low red blood cell count, hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid), one lung not working well and other fun stuff. Still tired some days but I will not give up my CPAP. It has helped a lot as far as I think. Some days I get a little down but I remember how I was. When my added oxygen quit working it took me two days to figure out how to fix it.That was a refresher course in waking up in head pain.

Stay positive if you can and think about what you want.

Hang in there.

[OpalRose]

Sleepyv,
I think most of us have our good and bad days, and a lot of us suffer from other medical issues besides Sleep Apnea that keeps us from sleeping sound at night, and therefore cause daytime sleepiness.

First, try to determine why you are so tired. Have you seen a doc, and had a complete physical?
Don't get discouraged. Stopping your cpap will not help you feel any better.

[Sleepyv]

I've had all kinds of test, heart, blood work. I'm lucky, I think I'm healthy other than the apnea. I will stick with it, like I said I do have some good days. It would be nice if I felt good everyday and had energy. It takes me a while to wake up most mornings. I start feeling better in afternoon. I just think I'm a bad sleeper. Always have been, thought treating the apnea would help. It has helped with the apnea and the palpitations I was getting from the apnea.

Thanks for all of your input.

[trish6hundred]

Hi Sleepyv,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
Sometimes it can take a while before you notice improvements with CPAP therapy.
You should discuss the continuing problems of fatigue with your doc so he/she can check for other underlying conditions.
Good luck to you on your CPAP journey.

[AshSF]

You may want to check out your Spo2 levels while asleep. You may use a wrist pulse oximeter to check. Sometimes, your pressure settings may resolve AHI but may still not up your Oxygen levels.

Since you have a bipap, you can try increasing your ipap to increase your pressure support and consequently, your o2 levels. You should consult your physician before going down this road.

[Galactus]

I'm somewhere around 2 years in, I'm tired most days, working like a dog though. The tired I am now is not the same tired I was before treatment. I was tired in an exhausted fall asleep anywhere way that was terribly awful. Now I'm normal tired, there's a definite distinction. I wouldn't even consider stopping treatment.

So when you say you're tired, is it the same tired you were prior to cpap or is it different?

I'm also surprised no one has asked you to post some data, so I'll ask, post a few nights please. You say you're ahi is good? How good? What are the numbers?

Don't stop, as stopping will certainly make it worse and not better.

[holden4th]

So when you say you're tired, is it the same tired you were prior to cpap or is it different?


Don't stop, as stopping will certainly make it worse and not better.

I was tired today as well after two very stressful terms. But, as Galactus has asked, this is a different tired to what was happening pre CPAP. I'm alert when I wake up and stay that way during the day despite a few yawn episodes. I can now sit at my desk when I have free periods and not start to fall asleep at 9:30 am. I think that my memory has improved as well.

These are all indicators to me that PAP therapy is working and starting to work really well. It's these little things that indicate that it's working for me.

Maybe you should also look for those little signs. The best way to test it (and I'm not recommending that you do it in any way) is to have a night without therapy. The few times I have fallen asleep reading a book before I've put my collar and mask on has highlighted the huge difference between therapy and no therapy.