+- Apnea Board Forum - CPAP | Sleep Apnea (https://www.apneaboard.com/forums)
+-- Forum: Public Area (https://www.apneaboard.com/forums/Forum-Public-Area)
+--- Forum: Main Apnea Board Forum (https://www.apneaboard.com/forums/Forum-Main-Apnea-Board-Forum)
+--- Thread: New and confused. feeling worse with treatment (/Thread-New-and-confused-feeling-worse-with-treatment)
Pages:
1
2
New and confused. feeling worse with treatment - Rob S - 05-25-2015
5 days in to my treatment and i feel far worse than i ever have before.
i feel exhausted and fatigued, wake up with a mild but persistent headache, eyes are heavy and hurt. i'm so afraid of falling asleep driving i havn't left my house.
i've been reading posts here for 2 days now and you are all so helpful.
looks like my problems are not uncommon and should improve with time and maybe some changes to my equipments settings.
i just installed sleepyhead and don't fully understand what i'm looking at.
i havn't had any events in the last 3 sessions but there 2 hours or less each.
i know someone is going to ask for some settings or statistics but not sure what or where to find them or how to get there here. going to go read the posts on that stuff now and hope to have it sorted out soon.
::EDIT::
think this would be usefull info to start
Machine Settings
ModeCPAP Mode ASV
EPAPExpiratory Pressure 7 cmH2O
Max IPAPHigher Inspiratory Pressure 22 cmH2O
PS MinPressure Support Minimum 6 cmH2O
PS MaxPressure Support Maximum 15 cmH2O
RE: New and confused. feeling worse with treatment - Seabird - 05-25-2015
I can take quite a while before you start to feel better. I felt worse for 2-3 months when I started.
RE: New and confused. feeling worse with treatment - 2PAPs - 05-25-2015
CPAP treatment isn't like spectacles where they are put on and everything is clear. CPAP is a medical treatment that requires time and making a lot of adjustments. I was not used to having a pressurized air blowing up my nose with an appurtenance strapped to my face all night long. It was very uncomfortable in the beginning. Before my humidified unit came, the unhumidified test/loaner unit was burning my nose. When I got used to the machine, my sleep was tormented for several weeks. Then, everything became smoother sailing.
I had to adjust to not sleeping prone. I had to adjust to not abusing my mask and learn to handle it gently. It was getting costly buying new masks and parts.
RE: New and confused. feeling worse with treatment - retired_guy - 05-25-2015
Well Rob, we really need to think about this a little...
What brought you to the cpap plate? Was it a sleep test? What were the results.
The things I am most interested in seeing are how many events you are experiencing, and what is the makeup of those events. How many OA vs CA and such. Then I look at the pressure settings, then some other stuff.
In your case what I notice right off the bat is "no events," but also not much usage. Two hour sessions won't really help you much especially if you happen to have your machines "ramp" function enabled which can take a pretty good chunk out of those two hours before the machine would be trying to do anything with apnea events.
Usually it's comfort issues that keep us from using the machine all night every night the way we should. I suspect your mask. Re-evaluate how comfortable it is, and whether or not it is leaking too much. If it isn't making you a happy camper, then you might consider swapping it for another type of mask.
Then to the settings: The default on the Resmed devices is to have ramp on, for an extended period of time, and beginning at a quite low (4) pressure. That's a recipe for defeat. Go into your settings and turn ramp off. ..........I just noticed you're using an ASV, so the settings (other than ramp) I was going to recommend won't really apply. Hang tight for one of our ASV geniuses to chime in.
Check into these ideas an let us know what you discover and how you come out.
RE: New and confused. feeling worse with treatment - trish6hundred - 05-25-2015
Hi Rob S,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
CPAP therapy can take some getting used to but just stick with it, it does get better.
Hang in there for more answers to your questions about your settings and much success to you as you continue your CPAP journey.
RE: New and confused. feeling worse with treatment - Rob S - 05-25-2015
(05-25-2015, 05:51 PM)retired_guy Wrote: Well Rob, we really need to think about this a little...
What brought you to the cpap plate? Was it a sleep test? What were the results.
The things I am most interested in seeing are how many events you are experiencing, and what is the makeup of those events. How many OA vs CA and such. Then I look at the pressure settings, then some other stuff.
In your case what I notice right off the bat is "no events," but also not much usage. Two hour sessions won't really help you much especially if you happen to have your machines "ramp" function enabled which can take a pretty good chunk out of those two hours before the machine would be trying to do anything with apnea events.
Usually it's comfort issues that keep us from using the machine all night every night the way we should. I suspect your mask. Re-evaluate how comfortable it is, and whether or not it is leaking too much. If it isn't making you a happy camper, then you might consider swapping it for another type of mask.
Then to the settings: The default on the Resmed devices is to have ramp on, for an extended period of time, and beginning at a quite low (4) pressure. That's a recipe for defeat. Go into your settings and turn ramp off. ..........I just noticed you're using an ASV, so the settings (other than ramp) I was going to recommend won't really apply. Hang tight for one of our ASV geniuses to chime in.
Check into these ideas an let us know what you discover and how you come out.
at the time of my sleep test i didn't know i could ask for a copy of the results.
i'll be requesting a copy tomorrow.
i do know i was diagnosed with complex apnea at 70+ events per hour.
since getting the equipment 6 days ago i have used it 100% of the time but i have not slept more than 4 hours (in a 24 hour period) in 32 years other than a few surgeries under anesthesia.
the mask is comfortable enough but it does leak and it's extremely annoying when it does. it seems i can't move my head more than an inch in any direction without it leaking and at times the pressure is so high i think the straps might snap.
one of the first useful tidbits i found here was about my ramp. i did shorten it but with it disabled the constant pressure changes prevented me from falling asleep.
thanks for all the responses to far. how long or how many posts until i can post a screen shot?
RE: New and confused. feeling worse with treatment - retired_guy - 05-25-2015
It does sound like the problem is with the too aggressive pressures.
We've had some good discussions about ASV pressures around here in last few days, so see if you can tap into those for some guidance.
If your pressures are so high that they are causing discomfort and messing with your mask seal, then by default they cannot be theraputic. So it would be much more desirable to dial them down and allow you to get successful treatment, even if it's not perfect. I'll look for those other threads too. They can't have gotten far.
RE: New and confused. feeling worse with treatment - retired_guy - 05-25-2015
Rob, after snooping around a little, it looks to me that your setting of MaxPressure Support of 15 is too high. I think I would take a page out of Mr. Storywizard's songbook and set the Min pressure support to 3, and the Max pressure support to 10.
But hang on for awhile and lets see if one of the others comes in off the golf course soon.
RE: New and confused. feeling worse with treatment - storywizard - 05-25-2015
(05-25-2015, 07:57 PM)retired_guy Wrote: Rob, after snooping around a little, it looks to me that your setting of MaxPressure Support of 15 is too high. I think I would take a page out of Mr. Storywizard's songbook and set the Min pressure support to 3, and the Max pressure support to 10.
But hang on for awhile and lets see if one of the others comes in off the golf course soon.
Ha! no golf here....
I am surprised that those pressures are so high, but then I am an ASV newbie. I did find that reducing EPAP to 6 , and the PS min to 3, Max PS to 10 is helping me get real good sleep. See what that is like, get used to the machine, there will be more input from the ASV elders soon I am sure...
all the best to you Rob, you can do this...
Storywizard
RE: New and confused. feeling worse with treatment - quiescence at last - 05-25-2015
with a PS min of 3, you would likely not be upset having the ramp off. A shift of 3 cmH2O will seem like a dream after your PS=6 start.
Good luck.
QAL