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[Treatment] Three Weeks In Need Help/Advice
#1
Three Weeks In Need Help/Advice
Hi, I (37 M) am at the end of my rope and I need to reach out and vent and get some advice. Since about Thanksgiving I have been dealing with what I consider really bad depression and sleep loss - but in reality I have probably been battling sleep apnea for years now that I have a better understanding of what goes into a diagnosis. My initial sleep test was 12 events per hour and blood oxygen down to 79%. So fairly mild.
Anyway, I am on day 21 of the Airsense 10 with a full face mask and I am falling asleep just fine which is a victory in itself. However I am waking up in just the most absolute hungover fog. Like, I feel like I've been slamming drinks all night type of feeling.
My ahi is good (right at or below a 1) and everything looks good in OSCAR.
Just a couple of things to add:

  1. I'm on 10 mg of Lexapro. I ramped up from 5 about three weeks ago.

  2. I am overweight (300, 6 feet tall) but I do workout religiously and I have shed about 35 pounds since February.

  3. I have two young kids who are up early and when they're up, the whole house is up.

  4. I'm also battling nocturia. I still get up a couple of times a night to pee. But I know as weight comes down so will the nocturia.
Should I just give this more time? I'm scared because it's hard to get going everyday and I don't want to feel like this anymore. Any advice or anyone who can share a similar story at all would be greatly appreciated.
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#2
RE: Three Weeks In Need Help/Advice
Welcome - there are many very knowledgeable people that can help you on this site. But to help they will need to see your oscar charts. See the bottom of the post for chart organization. Please post 1 or more nights, ask questions you have.
Apnea (80-100%) 10 seconds, Hypopnea (50-80%) 10 seconds, Flow Limits (0-50%) not timed  Cervical Collar - Dealing w DME - Chart Organizing
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#3
RE: Three Weeks In Need Help/Advice
Welcome to Apnea Board.

I agree, let's see an attachment of OSCAR and we'll gladly help you get this going right. Yes you're correct, for some it does take more time. Since most of us have suffered with undiagnosed Apnea for years, it'll take it a little bit of time to get you back on track. FWIW there's almost nothing Apnea related we've not seen.
INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEBSITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
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#4
RE: Three Weeks In Need Help/Advice
(05-17-2021, 01:46 PM)zetaphi938 Wrote: Hi, I (37 M) am at the end of my rope and I need to reach out and vent and get some advice.

I am on day 21 of the Airsense 10 with a full face mask and I am falling asleep just fine which is a victory in itself. However I am waking up in just the most absolute hungover fog. Like, I feel like I've been slamming drinks all night type of feeling.

  1. I'm on 10 mg of Lexapro. I ramped up from 5 about three weeks ago.

Should I just give this more time? I'm scared because it's hard to get going everyday and I don't want to feel like this anymore. Any advice or anyone who can share a similar story at all would be greatly appreciated.

Hi zetaphi938,

sounds like you started CPAP therapy about the same time as you ramped up on Lexapro. 

Might want to explore the possibility that the hungover fog is related to the meds vs the CPAP.  

Sometimes when you change two things it's tough to discern which one caused the onset of new symptoms. 

Maybe you could back off on one of the two for several days and see if the symptoms go away.   Then switch and try only the other one.  Might give you some good insight into where this is coming from. 

Caveats:  
 - if your insurance requires demonstration of compliance then don't break off the CPAP until you get beyond the window to nail that compliance. You might already be there or very close to finishing the initial compliance requirement. 
 - check with your doc before you make any changes to Lexapro, else you might end up feeling more miserable from withdrawal. 

good luck and don't give up.  This is a great place for getting help in figuring out Apnea therapy issues. 

Saldus Miegas

p.s.  I used to think nocturia was waking me in the middle of the night.  Then I read in the forum that I had it backwards ... when apnea wakes you up you naturally have to pee.  As I got better sleep from CPAP therapy, the nocturia went away on its own.  Turns out nocturia is a symptom of sleep apnea.  YMMV, but that's how it worked out for me.
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#5
RE: Three Weeks In Need Help/Advice
Regardless of whether or not your insurance company requires proof of compliance (proof that you are using your CPAP machine for at least 4 hours a night for 70% of the nights) I would not recommend that you stop using your CPAP machine. It takes a while to adapt to CPAP therapy and if you commit to using the machine every time you sleep, the adaptation will happen faster.

A AHI of 12 is clinically classified as mild apnea, but that is a statistical stipulation used by medical researchers. It can still result in symptoms that can make you feel like crap, and those symptoms will fade away if you are diligent about using your CPAP machine and getting it adjusted properly by using OSCAR. You could, for example, have some large leaks that disrupt your sleep but aren't large enough to show up in the leak statistics. You have to use OSCAR to examine your leak rate graph.
Sleepster

INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
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#6
RE: Three Weeks In Need Help/Advice
Hi there. Smile

The others have already given you good advice, and do upload an OSCAR chart if you can.

My first thought re: the hangover, feeling, if that's new, would be to suspect the increased Lexapro first, over the PAP treatment. That said, you've got a number of things also interrupting your sleep and it can take several months or more to feel significantly better, even in ideal situations. Not to mention that worsening depression symptoms can also cause sleep issues as well.

I agree, the apnea itself triggers the nocturia - if you are having a lot of arousals, that tends to stop your body from producing the hormone to reduce your overnight urine production, and that will improve with the sleep apnea over time.

I would definitely consider asking your doctor about the hangover symptoms if the change in dosage of your antidepressant happened at the same time, and especially if your OSCAR charts look healthy. Good luck and I hope you feel better soon with everything. There are so many incredibly helpful people on here. Smile
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#7
RE: Three Weeks In Need Help/Advice
I’ve had lexapro before and I felt so ridiculously tired on it. This was before I was diagnosed with sleep apnea so I was already tired all the time… but when I was on lexapro, I literally couldn’t function and it got worse and worse until I just stopped taking it.

And today, now that I’ve figured out I have some form of sleep apnea (which seems surprisingly similar to yours), I feel like the depression was me having are negative outlook on life all the time because everything is harder when you’re constantly tired.
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#8
RE: Three Weeks In Need Help/Advice
I used to get up 4-5 times nightly to pee, which I incorrectly blamed on enlarged prostate (benign). After being on PAP for a while (maybe a couple weeks?), I found I did not awaken or need to pee.
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#9
RE: Three Weeks In Need Help/Advice
Really all anyone can do is guess why you are feeling so tired. I have a couple of guesses but I would much more wish you to put up OSCAR charts so we are not guessing.
Apnea (80-100%) 10 seconds, Hypopnea (50-80%) 10 seconds, Flow Limits (0-50%) not timed  Cervical Collar - Dealing w DME - Chart Organizing
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#10
RE: Three Weeks In Need Help/Advice
I always hear that 50% of people prescribed CPAP therapy give up and stop.   Good job and hanging in there and looking to improve your situation.     I'll add four things:

I could never stand full face masks after trying them multiple times over 11 years, and at a high pressure (original prescription was for a pressure of 13, my normal pressure on Auto CPAP is 14).   I only keep a full mask now in case I have a cold (etc), where I can't use a nasal pillow.   The only issue with getting use to nasal pillows (I found) is the discomfort you get at the very beginning of trying them).  

The best sleep I ever get, after all these years on CPAP therapy (and by far), is on a day where I've done some good exercise or manual labor.   I sleep like a baby on those days, and without waking up at all.   There's also cutting yourself off from any food or caffeine, 4 or more hours before bed.   I've seen my Oscar data and felt the difference on days I eaten late or had caffine vs cutting myself off early.

I keep a stock of all 3 different mask types (Nasal Pillow, Nasal, Full Face).   I like to retry and revisit from time to time.   A mask you can't stand today, might become your new best friend next month.  

I've been getting into Nasal breathing exercises (and taping my mouth shut at night).  Both for better sleep and to learn to relax myself through nasal breathing exercises when I feel tense.  That is helping me a lot right now.
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