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[CPAP] 15 days, tolerate mask okay, but so tired
#1
15 days, tolerate mask okay, but so tired
I am starting a new thread as advised.  I have received good explanations (Robysue and Merilion) to this post from three members and I appreciate it. Sorry if I've butchered your names. 

I am 15 days and still tired.  I know it might be too soon, but I'm not sure what I'm awaiting to make me feel rested and refreshed.

I have always been a "long" sleeper, nine hours minimum with a nap if I had the time.  I suppose it could be the apnea, but I've been like this since I was a kid.

So 15 days on and I am averaging, I am told, 7 hours 45 minutes. But for an hour or two at the beginning, I am wearing the mask but am not sleeping.  So am I actually sleeping only 6 hours a night? 

Here are other stats I just received from the company that gave me the machine:

Leaks per min. 16.6 
Events per hr. 3.0  (ranging from 27 at the start of using mask to 9 last night.)
Leaks 16.6 (From 27 on day one to 9 yesterday.)
Pressure is 8. 

I don't have access to a graph chart; no sd card, so I can't figure out how to use the resmed program from here.

I can't fall asleep at night, a new problem. I now watch shows on my computer until I get sleepy enough.  I don't want to fall asleep to TV.  

I can't fall asleep for a nap either.  What is happening? 

Thank you for your time.

(The responses I received are at the bottom of "1 year and still tired.") I am trying to figure out how to use this forum. 

I have to admit that I took a 1 1/2 hour nap today without the cpap.  Made me feel better, but I understand why I should not do this.

I am retired so I am luckier than those of  you who have to get up for work.

This is my third diagnosis dating back 12 years.  Couldn't deal with a full face mask and stopped, then got a wacky dental appliance  and finally now I'm using the nasal pillows that are far better than anything else I have tried.  I am using "far better" loosely. 
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#2
RE: 15 days, tolerate mask okay, but so tired
For me, it has been over a year. Always made progress but it was slow. Now I cannot go to bed earlier than 10 and cannot stay in bed later than 5. (7 hours) leaks are under control and AHI less than 1. 

AND, I think I am still improving. 

Patience is the key.
CPAP is a journey like “The Wizard of Oz”. It’s a long slow journey. You will face many problems and pick up many friends along the way. Just because you reach the poppies, it doesn’t mean you are in Kansas. 
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#3
RE: 15 days, tolerate mask okay, but so tired
It takes each one of us a different amount of time to start feeling tired. Some  people start feeling better sooner than others. I 3 months in and i am just now having a little more energy.
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#4
RE: 15 days, tolerate mask okay, but so tired
IMHO (for me at least) is the problem that the therapy is working and getting apneas under control, but I was not comfortable using CPAP. I was not sleeping well. Limited REM if any. dozing on and off right at the sleep threshold.

things I looked at: ramp time, starting pressure both pre-ramp and after ramp, humidity, congestion, sleep strips on my nose, aroma therapy, and finally had to get the Aircurve and go bilevel and adjusting some other setting that the airsense did not have.

some you can get used to and some things you need to help the solution to work, try anything and everything, if you think it's better give it a couple of days. if you need to go back and readjust things you thought were settled
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#5
RE: 15 days, tolerate mask okay, but so tired
Correction. I ment to say, I am in 3 months and just starting to feel  better .
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#6
RE: 15 days, tolerate mask okay, but so tired
It sounds to me like using the CPAP is giving you insomnia.  You are not spending enough total hours actually asleep.  That is why you are tired.   You need to ask yourself why you are not falling asleep right away and work on that.
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#7
RE: 15 days, tolerate mask okay, but so tired
In the right hand corner of your machine, does it say cpap, elite or autoset ?
any sd card will work, you probably have one around the house.

rule no 1, don't sleep without the mask. when you wake uop, sit up and adjust, so you can't go back to sleep without it.

you aren't exhausted and not passing out anymore. So you are starting to notice sleep disturbance, that you didn't before.

it can take 3-12 months before your brain repairs
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25142557
mask fit http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php...ask_Primer
For auto-cpap, from machine data or software. You can set the min pressure 1 or 2cm below 95%. Or clinicians commonly use the maximum or 95% pressure for fixed pressure CPAP, this can also be used for min pressure.
https://aasm.org/resources/practiceparam...rating.pdf
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#8
RE: 15 days, tolerate mask okay, but so tired
Tess, I posted this on the other thread, but it should be here as well:

(07-11-2017, 03:28 PM)robysue Wrote:
(07-11-2017, 01:49 PM)Tess Wrote: Hello, all.  Not sure this is right place to post  . . . but I am 15 days and still tired.  I know it might be too soon, but I'm not sure what I'm awaiting to make me feel rested and refreshed.
It takes most people several weeks to a few months to start feeling less tired during the day. Many of us never have an "Aha" moment where we suddenly wake up feeling wonderfully different one morning.

Rather, we see gradual improvement in how we feel over many weeks and months.  The improvement can be so gradual that you don't notice it if you're not looking for it.

So you might want to keep a simple log of how you feel to track small improvements over the next several weeks.  What to track depends on what your OSA symptoms are/were.


Quote:I have always been a "long" sleeper, nine hours minimum with a nap if I had the time.  I suppose it could be the apnea, but I've been like this since I was a kid.

So 15 days on and I am averaging 7 hours 45 minutes.  I'm thinking oh, I'm not sleeping much although sleep is supposed to be better. 
It's not uncommon for new PAPers to sleep less at night than they did before starting PAP.  Sometimes it's just that the OSA was causing them to sleep too much.  Sometimes it's a matter of the body adjusting to the new kind of sleep.

Think of it this way: Pre-CPAP you had 9+ hours of apnea-filled sleep: Your AHI = 24, which meant that in 9 hours of sleep, your body had to deal with an apnea or hypopnea 216 times during the night.  That's a lot of interruptions to disturb the over all quality of your pre-CPAP sleep.

Now you're sleeping about 7.75 hours and your AHI is in the neighborhood of 3.0. That means your body is dealing with 23 apneas or hypopneas over the course of the night.  In other words, your body is getting far more uninterrupted sleep in 7.75 hours with the machine that it was getting in 9+ hours without the machine.

Sometimes that confuses the body and it wakes up thinking, "I'm done with sleep for the night because it feels like I've got as much sleep as I ever managed to get before starting to use the machine."  With time, the body begins to realize that it is no longer struggling to breathe at night  and it starts to crave a more normal amount of sleep.  And once your body starts sleeping an appropriate amount to get the rest it needs, slowly but surely, your daytime energy levels should return.


Quote:I don't have access to a graph chart; no sd card, so I can't figure out how to use the resmed program from here.
Get a generic SD card from a store like Walmart, Target, or a camera shop. There's nothing special about the SD card the machine uses.  (You may need to hunt for a plain SD card rather than an SDHD card, however. Some cpap machines cannot use the SDHD cards.)

Quote:I can't fall asleep at night, a new problem, so sleep numbers could be an hour or two less.  Am I really sleeping 6 hours a night? 
Teaching your body to fall asleep with a six foot hose attached to your nose takes a bit of time and effort. But it can be done, and we can help you figure out how to do it.

Right now you might indeed only be sleeping 6 hours a night. As I said before, your body is not used to uninterrupted sleep, and it may not realize that it needs more than 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep.  It's possible that 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep gives your body about the same amount of rest as 9+ hours of apnea filled sleep does.

Quote:I now watch shows on my computer until I get sleepy enough.  I don't want to fall asleep to TV.  I don't think that is a good sleep routine for me; did that years ago when I was in high-stress/depression mode.
So don't get into this habit.

I would suggest listening to quiet, sleep inducing music while you are lying in bed instead of watching TV on your computer.  

Or read with the mask on if you like reading in bed.

Quote:I can't fall asleep for a nap either.  What is happening? 
You're trying to get to sleep with an alien monster on your face. Smile

More seriously, it takes time for your unconscious mind to fully accept that the mask is a friend rather than an alien monster out to do something nasty to you in your sleep.  Your unconscious mind has been vigilant through the years, waking your body up just enough to restart the breathing every time you had an apnea or a hypopnea. Now that you're using a CPAP, the unconscious part of your mind has not yet accepted that (a) it doesn't need to be super vigilant during the night and (b) this new, and not particularly comfortable, thing on your nose is not a threat.

As a result, you're having trouble fully relaxing into sleep.  

(07-11-2017, 02:08 PM)Tess Wrote: Not a new reply.  Just me again.

I wanted to note that I have dark circles and bags under my eyes, which is unusual.   I think I am not sleeping enough. 
Probably.  I had a real problem with this for the first several months when I was most definitely NOT sleeping very soundly with the CPAP.  Sensory stimuli from the CPAP takes some of us a long time to get used to, and until we do, our sleep is often quite light, even if it is apnea-free.

Quote:I have no recollection of waking up a lot at night.  Get up once to use the bathroom and that's all. 
That's good.  Much better than feeling like you're awake for most of the night, which is what happened to me.

Quote:The mask is comfortable enough.  I did look up how to end condensation from collecting and dripping into my face.  Going to put the machine on the floor tonight. 
Are you using a heated hose? That can help. Hanging the hose can help. Running the hose under the covers can help.

Quote:I am considering using CPAP at night and then sleeping later in the day without it.  I am retired but still have stuff to do. 
Personally I would advise against that. Here's why: Every time you sleep without the hose, you continue to let the unconscious part of your brain believe that it does not have to get used to the CPAP.

My advice about the naps is more hard nosed: If I were you, I'd try skipping the naps altogether for a few days. That may make it much easier for you to fall asleep more quickly at night.
Questions about SleepyHead?  
See my Guide to SleepyHead
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#9
RE: 15 days, tolerate mask okay, but so tired
Wow. A year.  I'm 66 and worry I don't have years and years left though apparently I am improving my health.  Congratulations on your progress and I will try to remember patience, patience, patience (not my best attribute!).
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#10
RE: 15 days, tolerate mask okay, but so tired
I can do 3 months!  That would be just in time for a trip I booked as a celebration for dealing with my apnea.  Of course, it might take me longer than 3 months so the trip will be a celebration anyway because I'm being patient and persevering (two fine reminders from members here). 

Glad you are feeling improvement.
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