09-11-2020, 07:25 PM
New To Therapy Feeling Tiredness Returning
I recently started CPAP therapy about a month ago. I’ve taken to it very well and sleep an average of 7 hours a night without removing the mask except upon awaking or when disconnecting from the machine to use the restroom which has become a once per night event (compared to a minimum of three bathroom tips per night before PAP therapy) and I have not slept one night without it since starting.
The first week of treatment I felt noticeably better as far as feeling rested and having more energy. I was not experiencing any daytime sleepiness which was great.
This past week I am feeling more tired and I notice more RERA events flagged than previously and looking over the details of the past month I see an uptick in RERAs this past week specifically. This seemed to happen about the time I started to use a chinstrap as I am a nasal pillow user and started noticing symptoms of mouth leaking by way of developing a dry mouth that I hadn’t noticed being a problem the first couple of weeks of therapy.
I also have a full-face mask which I finally slept in last night because I was experiencing some moderate nasal congestion that I could not resolve before sleeping. Looking at the details in OSCAR for last night this is the most events I have seen since beginning therapy. The full face-mask I used is a DreamWear Full Face Mask.
The mask I use daily is a DreamWear Gel Nasal Pillow Mask that inserts into the nose and sometimes switch to the DreamWear Nasal Mask that the nose just rests against due to the other nasal mask sometimes causing irritation to the nostrils. I clean the nasal pillows daily with a mild detergent and hot water and air dry them.
I have also started shaving my face to try to make sure I am getting the best seal with the masks I can, but I am accustomed to have a full beard and prefer not being clean shaven. Now that I have shaved even the slightest stubble on my upper lip makes using the Nasal Pillow Mask makes the skin painful from pressure against my lip.
I would like if someone could task a look at some screenshots of OSCAR to maybe give advice on what I can do to improve the tiredness that seems to be creeping back into my life the last two weeks.
I am going to have a follow up with the APN that works with the neurologist that diagnosed my sleep apnea at the end of this month to discuss how things are going but honestly I don’t know what to expect they will say considering that looking at the details in OSCAR my AHI stays mostly below 5. I do not expect them to review any data or make any suggestions to improve my therapy with numbers this low. During the sleep study it was determined that my AHI was 120.4 events per hour and I was having 79.1 events per hour during REM sleep. I've attached three different screenshots from OSCAR over the past week that I feel like were my worst days.
The first week of treatment I felt noticeably better as far as feeling rested and having more energy. I was not experiencing any daytime sleepiness which was great.
This past week I am feeling more tired and I notice more RERA events flagged than previously and looking over the details of the past month I see an uptick in RERAs this past week specifically. This seemed to happen about the time I started to use a chinstrap as I am a nasal pillow user and started noticing symptoms of mouth leaking by way of developing a dry mouth that I hadn’t noticed being a problem the first couple of weeks of therapy.
I also have a full-face mask which I finally slept in last night because I was experiencing some moderate nasal congestion that I could not resolve before sleeping. Looking at the details in OSCAR for last night this is the most events I have seen since beginning therapy. The full face-mask I used is a DreamWear Full Face Mask.
The mask I use daily is a DreamWear Gel Nasal Pillow Mask that inserts into the nose and sometimes switch to the DreamWear Nasal Mask that the nose just rests against due to the other nasal mask sometimes causing irritation to the nostrils. I clean the nasal pillows daily with a mild detergent and hot water and air dry them.
I have also started shaving my face to try to make sure I am getting the best seal with the masks I can, but I am accustomed to have a full beard and prefer not being clean shaven. Now that I have shaved even the slightest stubble on my upper lip makes using the Nasal Pillow Mask makes the skin painful from pressure against my lip.
I would like if someone could task a look at some screenshots of OSCAR to maybe give advice on what I can do to improve the tiredness that seems to be creeping back into my life the last two weeks.
I am going to have a follow up with the APN that works with the neurologist that diagnosed my sleep apnea at the end of this month to discuss how things are going but honestly I don’t know what to expect they will say considering that looking at the details in OSCAR my AHI stays mostly below 5. I do not expect them to review any data or make any suggestions to improve my therapy with numbers this low. During the sleep study it was determined that my AHI was 120.4 events per hour and I was having 79.1 events per hour during REM sleep. I've attached three different screenshots from OSCAR over the past week that I feel like were my worst days.
