Started treatment
I've been using my CPAP now for almost a week. ResMed Air Sense 10 Autoset at a pressure of 12 and using Dreamwear FFM. The first few nights were great! Lots of energy the next day and all my muscle aching is completely gone! I didn't realize how much I was hurting until I didn't hurt anymore. The problem is after about 3 days I'm back to feeling exhausted. I don't ache so there's that, I just feel tired.
I realize it's only been a week, so, I'm not giving up I'm just concerned. Is this a normal state of affairs? And it will get better or is there something maybe I should be looking for? I've been using My Air which really doesn't give you a whole lot of info, my scores have all been 80-86 with AHI's of 2-3. My diagnosed AHI's were 29. Compared to some of you I feel lucky LOL. I downloaded Sleepyhead and put an SD card in my machine so hopefully tonight I'll have some good data to look at.
Any pointers would be appreciated.
BTW I'm lucky in that I don't think I'm having any problems acclimating to using the CPAP, according to My Air 1 mask removal and minimal leaks. So far so good. Now if I could just solve this sleepy issue.
RE: Started treatment
Hi Sleepstarved,
Hopefully you feel better tomorrow.
Since you’ve downloaded #SleepyHead, use the tutorials below in my signature line.
The first one shows you how to organize the graphs, and the second links explains how to use the attachment feature.
RE: Started treatment
(10-19-2018, 07:19 PM)Sleepstarved Wrote: I've been using my CPAP now for almost a week. ResMed Air Sense 10 Autoset at a pressure of 12 and using Dreamwear FFM. The first few nights were great! Lots of energy the next day and all my muscle aching is completely gone! I didn't realize how much I was hurting until I didn't hurt anymore. The problem is after about 3 days I'm back to feeling exhausted. I don't ache so there's that, I just feel tired.
I realize it's only been a week, so, I'm not giving up I'm just concerned. Is this a normal state of affairs? And it will get better or is there something maybe I should be looking for? I've been using My Air which really doesn't give you a whole lot of info, my scores have all been 80-86 with AHI's of 2-3. My diagnosed AHI's were 29. Compared to some of you I feel lucky LOL. I downloaded Sleepyhead and put an SD card in my machine so hopefully tonight I'll have some good data to look at.
Any pointers would be appreciated.
BTW I'm lucky in that I don't think I'm having any problems acclimating to using the CPAP, according to My Air 1 mask removal and minimal leaks. So far so good. Now if I could just solve this sleepy issue.
Hey Sleepstarved Welcome to the Forum! I am relatively new to pap therapy myself (three months) but because I had a similar experience, I thought I'd pipe up.
The first night was scary new, but I remember feeling so different the next morning. Not great, but lighter and rested. I was thrilled that this experience was going to make things better. But after that initial night/morning relief, the actual "work" of accepting the machine and the change in my life started to soak in. There's just a lot to process mentally and emotionally as well as physically. It is tiring to adjust. So even though my AHI was less than 1 most nights, I was still not my previous self. My mantra became "Don't fight the night".
Sleepyhead was my lifeline to understanding my night, so I hope you will join us in learning and using that tool. It is a steep learning curve but fascinating 'cause it's all about you! 
I saw my cardiologist today, and she told me that felt changes to the body can take from 3 to 6 months. I am starting to feel stronger now and I'm really rooting for you to just let time take care. You are doing you're best.
RE: Started treatment
Welcome,
Some people take months to actually start feeling good. You are trying to repair probably years of bad sleeping. Its not going to happen overnite foor most of us. It took me about 4 months to start feeling great. Have patience .
RE: Started treatment
2 1/2 years and still improving. 1step back and 2 steps forward.
My next goal is to get 2 zero nights in a row.
Patience, it doesn’t happen overnight.
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.
10-19-2018, 09:23 PM
(This post was last modified: 10-19-2018, 09:28 PM by trish6hundred.
Edit Reason: typo
)
RE: Started treatment
Hi sleep start,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
Good luckk with CPAP therapy.
You've only been at this for a week, so have patience
At least you've noticed that you don't ache any more. Hopefully you will continue to notice that and more as you go along on your CPAP journey.
trish6hundred
RE: Started treatment
Hi. I have been on this forum and on PAP therapy for about 10 months. I can't tell you how many threads people have initiated stating that the numbers all indicate that they are successfully 'treated', but that they still feel exhausted or that they seem to live in a fog. For whatever reason, that seems to be the nature of this beast. For many, not all.
Honestly, I don't feel different. That's a good thing because, in my case, I didn't feel as if I had a problem. The only giveaway was a sudden onset of atrial fibrillation, a complete and alarming surprise. It took a sleep lab result to pinpoint the likely cause because all the other bells 'n whistles said my heart and brain were in excellent condition for my age.
I will say that, since taking metoprolol for rate control (keeps the heart from beating strongly in response to stress), I have found that I get drowsy and want to snooze when wife and I are watching our recorded TV shows. This happens mid afternoon or soon after supper. I have never had that need prior to the prescription of metoprolol, not even when I turned 60 years back.
About all the advice I can offer is to trust the numbers. If the data sez yer under control, that will have to do until you find a way to feel less exhausted. About the only way I can suggest is to up your aerobic activity, even if it's a brisk walk for 10-15 minutes a couple of times a day.
RE: Started treatment
Good thread and informative! I've only been on a CPAP machine for 45 nights. No real sense of feeling any better......yet.
I too, have been told to be patient. My sleep doc told me it could take up to 90 nights before I felt any improvement.
11-05-2018, 04:29 PM
(This post was last modified: 11-05-2018, 04:37 PM by Fats Drywaller.)
RE: Started treatment
(10-19-2018, 07:19 PM)Sleepstarved Wrote: I realize it's only been a week, so, I'm not giving up I'm just concerned. Is this a normal state of affairs? And it will get better or is there something maybe I should be looking for?
It's a normal state of affairs, and it'll get so much better that you'll need to change your nym to "Sleepfed".
It's been two more weeks since that post. Any big improvement during that time?
As others have said, it does take time and you should hang in there. In fact, it's absolutely necessary and essential to hang in there. Here's my standard admonition on the subject: You can't expect miracles right away; those will happen later.
Edited to add: You have an excellent machine and, I assume, a good mask, possibly excellent for all I know. (I've used the Dreamwear n-p but not the f-f.) One important point: Part of the process of negotiating for the aforementioned miracles involves trying different masks, so don't assume that one mask is ever going to be the end-all and be-all, at least not for some number of months. You gotta shop around. So if you have problems with CPAP over the next weeks and months, not only should you look at your charts and machine settings and so on, but you should consider whether the mask you're using, whatever it might be at the time (IOW, I don't mean just the Dreamwear), could be a contributing factor. Unlike machines, masks are very personal & subjective, and you can't count on finding the correct one for you right away or just by chance. Or even by recommendation. You have to try some of 'em, which could mean buying 'em out-of-pocket.
RE: Started treatment
Actually this has been the start of quite a journey. I haven't posted any questions because I've been able to get answers just by reading other posts. So a big thanks to ALL the posters out there!! 
What I've learned so far:
EPR is not my friend. With EPR turned on my Hypopnea's increase along with RERA's. Turned off and they go down to <2. Also the headaches went away.
Changed my Mask size from small to medium. No more leaks.
How to deal with air swallowing. That solved took a different pillow.
Raised the humidity to deal with dry sinus.
Never thought learning how to sleep would be this difficult. LOL
My lowest has been an AHI of .21 and highest 5.41 and are usually around 2-3 so far.
I went into this knowing it would be a marathon and not a sprint, but I was a little alarmed at the drastic change in the way I felt, from good to bad. I'm back to feeling good again and I figure I'll have more trying times like this. At least I won't freak out the next time. LOL It's like you have to develop a relationship with your machine, get to know it, how you'll react to changes etc. and also with your mask. There is definately a learning curve. Well worth the effort.
|
