Overall I feel better than I did before therapy, but I still know that there's a lot of room for improvement. I still feel pretty groggy when I wake up and still have this slight feeling of detachment from the world when I'm tired. However, my mood has largely improved as I don't feel entirely devoid of energy and life. I understand that it takes longer to notice improvements when treating mild sleep apnea compared to severe sleep apnea, but I'm staying hopeful and excited for what the future has to offer. I will get a bright light therapy lamp and start taking melatonin after my exam next Monday to start fixing my circadian rhythm.
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Switched from APAP to BIPAP
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07-06-2021, 12:30 AM
RE: I've been using my APAP for a week, symptoms wors V2e.
Sounds good,
Overall I feel better than I did before therapy, but I still know that there's a lot of room for improvement. I still feel pretty groggy when I wake up and still have this slight feeling of detachment from the world when I'm tired. However, my mood has largely improved as I don't feel entirely devoid of energy and life. I understand that it takes longer to notice improvements when treating mild sleep apnea compared to severe sleep apnea, but I'm staying hopeful and excited for what the future has to offer. I will get a bright light therapy lamp and start taking melatonin after my exam next Monday to start fixing my circadian rhythm.
07-06-2021, 05:26 PM
RE: I've been using my APAP for a week, symptoms wors V2e.
I still feel absolutely awful. My brain is all foggy and while I'm constantly going in and out of microsleep when spacing out. I switched my settings back to EPR 2 since this week is going to be stressful, and I needed the mental energy to do all my tasks. The last time I remember feeling somewhat ok was with my current settings 10 - 13 cmH2O and an EPR of 2. Last night proved that even those settings made me feel like crap despite my numbers being better.
Here are the results for last night: Part 1: [attachment=33541] Part 2: [attachment=33542]
07-06-2021, 07:57 PM
RE: I've been using my APAP for a week, symptoms wors V2e.
I think the higher EPR is good for you. Going up to EPR of 3 in long run may be beneficial but I don't think you are ready for it just yet.
Trying a bit higher pressure (say 12-15) would be sort of interesting but might make for a bad night of sleep/aerophagia so I would save that test for a night you can recover from if you sleep poorly.
07-06-2021, 08:09 PM
RE: I've been using my APAP for a week, symptoms wors V2e.
The issue is that I'm still very much sleeping poorly. Yesterday, numbers were better than the last day I used EPR 2 when I slept fairly decently, but my flow limits were significantly worse yesterday. I'm really questioning whether my flow limits and possibly associated micro-arousals are the cause of my overwhelming mental fatigue.
07-06-2021, 08:20 PM
RE: I've been using my APAP for a week, symptoms wors V2e.
I am leaning towards restrictive as well which is why I am recommending the higher EPR and pressure tests although both have potential to make things worse since EPR of 3 hasn't given good results so far and you already have aerophagia from pressure.
Increasing pressure or flow (EPR) are only options to try and treat obstruction/restriction.
07-06-2021, 10:35 PM
RE: I've been using my APAP for a week, symptoms wors V2e.
Geer, if you have the time and empathy for it, could we do a detailed analysis of my OSCAR reports so that I know which direction I should go in. My course is difficult even for me, and my cognitive symptoms are making it impossible. I have to do well in it to declare my dream major to pursue my dream job, and can't drop the class since I won't get any financial aid for rent / medical bills. I know I'm asking for a lot, but my doctors really are giving me nothing. We could do a zoom call or use another form of chat to communicate.
07-07-2021, 12:20 AM
RE: I've been using my APAP for a week, symptoms wors V2e.
Looked at some of the data. Flow restrictions are present but some of the areas are hard to interpret if they are obstructive or central in nature (perhaps a mixture).
I can see a couple times that increasing pressure helped with the flow limitations, pressure would go higher at times but is limited by settings. If you want to go for broke try EPR of 3 and pressure range of 12-16 (if that pressure range is tolerable, otherwise 10-16). This will either be one of your best nights or worst nights so maybe not best to try if anything critical the next day. I would be tempted to try EPR of 3 for a few nights (even at current pressure settings) to see if AHI is always high (not enough data at that EPR) and also to see if you think your sleep quality is better even if AHI is higher.
07-07-2021, 12:50 AM
RE: I've been using my APAP for a week, symptoms wors V2e.
I'll try breathing with the mask on at 12-16cmH2O for around 20 minutes before I sleep, if intolerable, I'll decrement the min pressure by 0.6/0.8 till I feel comfortable or reach 10cmH2O. I set EPR to 3, and while I'm really hoping this helps me, I have no expectations. Tomorrow is my ENT appointment, so I'll have them check my deviated septum as well as my palate. Anything else I should ask them to check?
Also, thank you so so much for investing your time in my health.
07-07-2021, 01:09 AM
RE: I've been using my APAP for a week, symptoms wors V2e.
Instead of asking them to look at specific things ask them to look at your airways in general to determine what might be causing airway restriction.
The other test that could be interesting is trying a nasal mask.
07-07-2021, 01:25 AM
RE: I've been using my APAP for a week, symptoms wors V2e.
Will do,
The issue with using a nasal mask is that I almost exclusively mouth breathe while sleeping since my nasal passages are definitely restricted - don't need a doctor to tell me that. Hence, I'll hopefully do a septoplasty so that using a nasal mask becomes a possibility. |
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