Post treatment... how long to notice changes and how did they manifest?

[shewhorn]

Just curious. I know everyone's experience is different. I'm curious to know how long it took before you started to notice changes, and how those changes manifested over time?

I thought I'd already asked this question but it didn't show up in my thread list. I guess that's something I'm hoping will improve now that my doc and I have finally dialed in an effective treatment (all sub 1.0 AHI's for the past 6 days, and my first ZERO last night!).

ETA - I didn't think I had anything to report since I've only JUST recently dialed in a treatment that works (8+ hours of sleep every night over the past 6 days, a first ever for me) BUT... I'm starting to dream (and remember that I've had dreams) which I'm sure is the result of the treatment as I hardly ever dream (or at least, if I do, I never remember them).

Last night I dreamt that my dog knew how to use the Force! She was floating in mid air against the wall next to my bed and using an ancient Jedi mind trick to communicate with me telepathically. I asked her if she could levitate things with her nub, she said she'd never tried before and pointed her nub at me. I could feel her touching my ankle, and then my shoulder.

[cate1898]

In the first week or so I noticed I wasn't so groggy upon waking up. However, it took months for the morning headaches to go away. I never got that AHA! moment a lot get when they suddenly feel much better. But you are right, everyone is different!

[FrankNichols]

Four weeks in for me, and I am slowly taming the mask leaks and being comfortable with the hose attached to my face. My AHI is slowly coming down and I am sleeping less. Yup, less, I think because I wake early in the morning and feel more awake than before so I get up instead of going back to sleep. I still am tired most of the day, but feel a little better. I hope to see slow progress over the next month or so to actually waking up feeling good...

[HGMonaro]

I get woken way more than before CPAP mostly from the pillow (P10) being dislodged when I've rolled over and my wife nudges me to fix it because the noise has woken her up! I never felt tired before CPAP so don't feel more awake now however I had changed to sleeping on my side to minimise the snoring (i.e. pointed away from wife) but are now enjoying sleeping on my back most of the time. She is getting better sleep other than the 1st point where she wakes when I knock the mask loose. My blood pressure seems to have gone down.

So, I'm probably slightly better off (BP is down, woken during night is up) but I'm in it for the long term benefits, so will be sticking with it.

[DeepBreathing]

It took a couple of months for me, most of which was spent trying to find the right machine. After that the changes were subtle but significant. My heart palpitations stopped. I stopped waking up four times a night for the toilet. I stopped dozing off at the wheel on the way to work every morning, or at my desk in the afternoon.

I never had that Aha! moment, but there has been a tangible improvement in my overall health and wellbeing.

[trish6hundred]

Hi shewhorn,
I took to CPAP therapy right away, and noticed that I was more rested the next day after I started, but everyone is different.

[chill]

I am one of the lucky ones. The morning after my first night on CPAP was like someone turned on a switch! I had not felt that good in years. I did not feel perfect, but the difference was astounding and gave me hope for more. A couple of days later, I noticed that I was not depressed and not having anxiety attacks. It has been a bit up and down since then. I still wake up too often, and I still feel tired and sleepy most days. My AHI bounces around a lot for reasons that I have not discovered. 8.8 one night, 2.02 then next. Anything much over a 2 and I don't feel very good. Mind you, that not very good is MUCH better than I felt before starting this. It gets relative quickly.

[robysue]

I'm one of the unlucky ones. The first 3 months of PAPing were hell. My daytime functioning plummeted and an insomnia monster moved into my bedroom. I was dealing with severe aerophagia at the time.

Months 3-6 were purgatory. Things were no longer going down hill. A change to BiPAP and two additional pressure changes went a long way in making the aerophagia manageable. And some serious CBT for Insomnia along with some judicious use of prescription sleeping pills was bringing the insomnia under control.

About 5-6 months into therapy, the following phrase started to appear in my insomnia log on many mornings: Woke up with no hand/foot pain. That was the first sign that PAP was doing something positive for me.

By the end of the first year, I was actually starting to feel a bit better on PAP in terms of waking up feeling more rested and feeling less tired during the daytime. By that point I was waking up more often than not with no hand or foot pain. And a lot of my low-level daytime aches and pains (mainly in my hands and feet) disappeared.

A couple of years later I had to sleep without my BiPAP on three different occasions. I woke up the next morning feeling really miserabe---the hand and foot pain was back. The TMJ pain was more severe than normal. And I had a low grade headache most of the day---just like pre-CPAP. My improvement on PAP was so gradual that I'd forgotten just how rotten I used to feel every day until I wasn't able to use my machine for a night or two.

I'm sharing this with you not because I want to discourage you: I am an outlier. Most people do feel much better within a couple of months of PAPing. Some feel better almost immediately. But its important to realize that patience and perseverance can be very important in making this crazy therapy work if you wind up being one of the unlucky ones.

Best of luck!

[holden4th]

I'm about two months into effective CPAP therapy, the months before that were all about finding the right balance of mask/machine/pressure. I still feel tired at parts of the day but there have been some gradual changes.

I don't yawn anywhere near as much during the day.

My mind is no longer in a fog in the morning

My emotional demeanour has changed in some very positive ways. I'm hoping I'm much more pleasant to be around and I no longer give a 'rats' about any of the small stuff that might upset my mood.

Some nights I sleep right through and don't have to get up to go to the bathroom.

My back pain (ankylosing spondylosis) has lessened considerably.

I had a morning recently where I literally bounced out of bed and felt great for the next 8 hours (this took me through to 12:30 pm and was a revelatory experience). I haven't had a repeat yet but it will happen.

My last BP was 113/70 - I take BP meds and am wondering if I need to reduce them. I'll ask my GP.

I still don't feel 100% but, like Robysue, when I don't use my machine properly I really notice it and feel like crap.

The Japanese have a philosophy called 'kaizen' best translated as little by little improvement. CPAP is like that for me which is good as I use this principle in coaching my swimmers.

I hope Kaizen works for you.

[kwhenrykerr]

I felt better after the first night. Now I want more improvement and keep working on that. Nice dream