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Cpap & Autopap NOT working - getting desperate
#21
RE: Cpap & Autopap NOT working - getting desperate
Thecleanser,

What I and DocWils and others are trying to tell you is this:

Since you say that your CPAP numbers look about the same on the good day and the bad days, your ongoing problems of feeling good for a while and then feeling bad again a sign that there's SOMETHING ELSE going on in your health that is responsible for your not feeling well on a consistent basis. The CPAP dial winging may have little or nothing to do with the periods you feel well.

You write:
Quote:Lets just forget about my head aches - the issue here is that I'm using this machine for 7 plus hours every night and I'm not getting no where near the desired results although I have gotten a taste of them.

You want to forget about the chronic headaches and everything else that affects how you feel each and every day. You seem to believe that CPAP will solve all your problems and hence you seem to blame how you're feeling on the CPAP by saying it stops working after a few weeks after you try each new setting.

You want to feel GREAT every single day? Then you are going to have to deal with fixing your CHRONIC HEADACHES which are NOT under control. (And your OSA and your CPAP do NOT seem to be the cause of those chronic headaches that are making your life miserable right now.)


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#22
RE: Cpap & Autopap NOT working - getting desperate
TheCleanser

You can adjust your EPR on your machine up to 3 and maybe that will help a little bit. I don't know if this has anything to do with your headaches but maybe your head gear needs adjusting so it isn't too tight. Check on your sleep hygiene too. Prop yourself up on 2 pillows. Maybe adjusting your humidifier might help. Also, check on allergies and/or sinus issues. These can cause headaches too. If your nose is stopped up then nasal sprays can help. As I mentioned earlier, caffeine could be contributing to the other issues.

I recently had a sleep study and they had me on got home, had a severe headache that did not go away the whole weekend. I slept most of the weekend. I do not attribute this to OSA but that was the worst I had felt in a long time.

We have to sometimes look outside the box and try to find out what might be contributing to headaches or other problems we have. You could have a food allergy, or as we age, we don't tolerate some foods as well so we avoid them.

As I mentioned earlier, to find out if things like caffeine, allergies, etc. are contributing to how you feel, test one at a time and don't treat all of them at one time or you won't know what is causing the problems. Keep a diary of what you eat, what you drink, what time you ate and what time and what you drank (also write down what you ate each meal). Look at any medication/vitamins you take and write down what you took, how much, etc.

If you think you have allergies or sinus issues, talk to your doc about nasal spray or some other treatment. Also, if you have dry nose, etc., adjust your humidifier. If your data shows a problem on EPAP, adjust your EPAP setting. Only make one change at a time so you can see if that is what is causing your problem or contributing to it.

Hope that you can figure this out. I think we have tried to make suggestions for you to check.


Post your info from ResScan and/or Sleepy Head and maybe we can help more.
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#23
RE: Cpap & Autopap NOT working - getting desperate
(11-03-2013, 10:17 PM)me50 Wrote: TheCleanser

You can adjust your EPR on your machine up to 3 and maybe that will help a little bit. I don't know if this has anything to do with your headaches but maybe your head gear needs adjusting so it isn't too tight. Check on your sleep hygiene too. Prop yourself up on 2 pillows. Maybe adjusting your humidifier might help. Also, check on allergies and/or sinus issues. These can cause headaches too. If your nose is stopped up then nasal sprays can help. As I mentioned earlier, caffeine could be contributing to the other issues.

I recently had a sleep study and they had me on got home, had a severe headache that did not go away the whole weekend. I slept most of the weekend. I do not attribute this to OSA but that was the worst I had felt in a long time.

We have to sometimes look outside the box and try to find out what might be contributing to headaches or other problems we have. You could have a food allergy, or as we age, we don't tolerate some foods as well so we avoid them.

As I mentioned earlier, to find out if things like caffeine, allergies, etc. are contributing to how you feel, test one at a time and don't treat all of them at one time or you won't know what is causing the problems. Keep a diary of what you eat, what you drink, what time you ate and what time and what you drank (also write down what you ate each meal). Look at any medication/vitamins you take and write down what you took, how much, etc.

If you think you have allergies or sinus issues, talk to your doc about nasal spray or some other treatment. Also, if you have dry nose, etc., adjust your humidifier. If your data shows a problem on EPAP, adjust your EPAP setting. Only make one change at a time so you can see if that is what is causing your problem or contributing to it.

Hope that you can figure this out. I think we have tried to make suggestions for you to check.


Post your info from ResScan and/or Sleepy Head and maybe we can help more.

Thank you for you suggestions, Just wanted to let you know that I've always had EPR at 3, it was just recently that turned it down to 2 and then off with no effect. Also it was only a few month ago that I had a septoplasti turbinate reduction. Although nice to finally be able to breathe through my nose like a normal human being, it has done nothing to improve my PAPing.
I did how ever feel noticeably better today - not 100% but quite good none the less(compared with most days) . I did jam 2 pillows, one on each side of me to prevent me from laying on my back the previous night. I can only assume that it must have been some what effective because every thing else was the same aside from the fact that I drank 6 beers and had a puff of weed before bedtime which usually doesnt help the situation.

Tonight I will find an old shirt and sew something odd shaped to the back of it to prevent me from sleeping on my back and see what happens.

Ill see how it goes and check back in tomorrow .

Could it be possible all those times I felt good that I was just sleeping on my side?
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#24
RE: Cpap & Autopap NOT working - getting desperate
Well, I don't mean to be a wet blanket here but many have said that it appears your issues are not related to OSA and cpap therapy.

I think you know what a lot of the problem is and would agree that it isn't your OSA causing your issues during the day.

Have you considered the ramifications of a six pack of beer and some weed on how you feel the next day? If you drink a six pack each night along with weed, this may be why on most days you feel like crap.

Try drinking water, Gatorade, juices and eat an egg, banana and/or bouillon soup and don't take acetaminophen.
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#25
RE: Cpap & Autopap NOT working - getting desperate
Am not trying to beat you up in any way here. As I got older and started having different medical issues besides OSA, I ended up needing to kill certain habits. As my heart Doctor put it, he would much rather I get falling down drunk once per month, than drink a 'beer or two' each evening. When I asked why, he pointed out that any type of booze, in any amount can affect meds - so, if I must drink at all, better it to be once in a while, than a little bit every day.

Just something to think about.

Depending on where you are and where/whom you buy them from, recreational drugs may or may not be pure, may or may not be of a given strength, etc... so leaving aside whether legal or not, it is hard to control medical issues when taking stuff that may or may not be what you expected to get. This type of use adds even more variables to the problems that you are having, and we have no way to tell if they add (or not) to the mix.

Does this make sense?
*I* am not a DOCTOR or any type of Health Care Professional.  My thoughts/suggestions/ideas are strictly only my opinions.

"Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you. Jesus Christ and the American Soldier. One died for your Soul, the other for your Freedom."
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#26
RE: Cpap & Autopap NOT working - getting desperate
Well said Peter_C
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#27
RE: Cpap & Autopap NOT working - getting desperate
(11-05-2013, 10:52 AM)me50 Wrote: Well, I don't mean to be a wet blanket here but many have said that it appears your issues are not related to OSA and cpap therapy.

Really ....?? Being extremely tired some times from 9Am till bed time is not related to my severe sleep apnea? I should believe that its being cause by some other external factors? I told you guys forget about these mild head aches which are most likely a BYPRODUCT of just how tired and fatigued I am. As stated before a lot of times I take an advil and it does nothing . The other times it prolly just increases my Blood pressure to artificially wake me up [or so I think it makes my headache go away] as advil is the only one that does anything at all. I'm prolly just confusing the extreme tiredness and fatigue with a head ache.
What I think are the headaches are not there every day -And they are most certainly not there on any of the days when I actually did get a good nights rest. The tiredness and extreme fatigue are there 9 out 10 days, so that is why i say please just leave that alone and lets work on me getting rested for the night and feeling awake the next day.

(11-05-2013, 10:52 AM)me50 Wrote: I think you know what a lot of the problem is and would agree that it isn't your OSA causing your issues during the day.

Have you considered the ramifications of a six pack of beer and some weed on how you feel the next day? If you drink a six pack each night along with weed, this may be why on most days you feel like crap.

I know what the ramifications of a six pack of beer are every night and let me assure you that those days are long gone. I have a few beers some times on the weekends and I make sure to [usually] get an early start so that it may wear off prior to bedtime - cause any one with sleep apnea such as my self will know that it only makes it worse. The other night was an exception particularly the pot as I'm not a pot smoker. Do you seriously think I'd be here asking for help whilst drinking beer every night and smoking pot?

Any how this is day 2 of me feeling better - Not 100 percent great but .... get through the day better. I sewed on a pouch covering a small empty Perrier water bottle on to the back of a shirt yesterday to keep me from sleeping on my back - Im not getting too excited yet - I will keep doing this and see what happens.
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#28
RE: Cpap & Autopap NOT working - getting desperate
Okay Im posting a few screen shots here the first 2 days Oct 15 and 16 were good days, days i'd like to have all the time - oct 24 and Nov 1st are days I didnt feel good at all. What am I missing here on these reports? I notice on the bad days FLOW rate is at the top and on the good days its no where to be seen....?

[attachment=540]

[attachment=541]

[attachment=542]

[attachment=543]
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#29
RE: Cpap & Autopap NOT working - getting desperate
I don't know how to help you. I hope that someone else can help you and that your issues are resolved satisfactorily soon.
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#30
RE: Cpap & Autopap NOT working - getting desperate
also, have you been checked for narolepsy?
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