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Possible changes I could make to help?
#1
Possible changes I could make to help?
Hello,

Well first of all, I started treatment about a month ago with an APAP. I was diagnosed with moderate sleep apnea. I feel a bit better, more alert, less brain fog, but out of everything I still can sleep for up to 20 hours at a time without meaning to. I mean I'll sleep for 8-9 hours with the APAP on, and then I'll take it off, take my Concerta (which for the past several months has some days been the only thing keeping me awake), and then go back to sleep for maybe 4, 6, 8 hours. I don't intend to do this, of course. I just do.

I know some people take a while to start feeling like themselves again after starting treatment, but my sleep is so wonky that it's keeping me from sleeping. I'll sleep for ages, wake up at 9 pm, then figure I should stay awake for 24 hours to get my sleep schedule back on track. So then I've missed an entire day of sleep + treatment. It's very frustrating. 

The thing is two nights ago, my air tube hadn't dried after I washed it (didn't whirl it around to get the air out) so I slept sitting up on the couch cause I saw this one study from the 80s where obese men with really high AHIs slept at a 60 degree angle and then some of them had a huge AHI decrease. It may have helped so much for them because they were obese, and I'm not obese, buuut when I did sleep sitting up I actually felt pretty good afterwards! So I know I can feel rested at this point. I just don't feel rested after using my APAP.

Looking at these charts myself I'm getting a little nervous that I'm opening my mouth at night. I never opened my mouth while sleeping before but I might be staring to due to the pressure.

TL;DR I'd like to just see if there's anything that stands out that I could fix that'd help with my sleep. The entire past rant might've just been me telling you this because it's been in my head for awhile. Thanks for any help.


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#2
RE: Possible changes I could make to help?
first your min pressure should be 7 to allow your EPR of 3 to fully work.

Your leaks are mostly mask leaks ( very spikey part of the Leak chart) with some leaks that are mouth breathing, (fairly flat tops) None of which are significant.
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#3
RE: Possible changes I could make to help?
Thank you, I will try moving my min pressure up tonight.
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#4
RE: Possible changes I could make to help?
It can be harder for some to adapt to treatment and Cpap use.  It may help you to read through some of the suggestions for working on your Sleep Hygiene. You really need to try and get on a consistent sleep schedule. There are some things you can probably change without too much effort, and other suggestions may take longer.

http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php/Sleep_hygiene
OpalRose
Apnea Board Administrator
www.apneaboard.com

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#5
RE: Possible changes I could make to help?
Thank you. I've had a sleep schedule like this for a while where I essentially have to constantly try and balance my sleepiness with the rest of my life. It would definitely not hurt to practice as much sleep hygiene as possible.

Here's last night's data. I moved the minimum pressure up to 7. I woke up and I felt rested! And then I fell back asleep for another 6 hours. I think I'll try to at least get out of the bed when I wake up instead of just going back under the covers again.  Coffee


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#6
RE: Possible changes I could make to help?
Yes, I think it'll be very helpful to you to go to bed at the same time every night and to get up at the same time every morning, with at least 8 hours of time in bed. As I know from experience, that can take some work, but the payoff for you would be really great.

For bedtime, you might try creating a little winding-down routine for yourself. At least a half hour before bedtime, stop using screens and do some stretching or meditation or take a warm bath. Once you're in bed, no screens or books.

For the a.m., try putting your alarm clock or device across the room so you have to get up to turn it off. And rehearse mentally what you will do after that, e.g., make coffee, read the news. Then do it.
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