Still Feel Tired After all This Time

[Old Steve]

Expat31. I agree on that warning sticker...


Ockrocket. Sounds like my doctor too, all he ever says about my complaints is "if you would just loose some weight" or "you know, you're getting older"

[pholynyk]

From a licensed practical nurse... "At your age, I'd be surprised if you didn't have arthritis."

What can I say... it's better than not getting old...

[KeepSmiling]

Old Steve,

Your Nov 12 OSCAR scan is impressive.

It took 22 years, but at least you now know better rest and less tired days for you are possible. 15+ years ago, if AHI was less then five, you were good.

Hopefully it can last a nice long time.

If sleeping on your side causes pain/soreness etc. You can take a look if sleeping on your back is possible for you. (Tongue position, higher pressure causing CA etc.)

Hopefully the flow events and pressure changes are not disturbing your sleep.
Keep an eye on OSCAR for awhile in case better sleep will increase events.

When you decreased the EPR, your EPAP (exhalation pressure) increased because the difference of minimum pressure and exhalation pressure decreased. On the OSCAR Pressure graph the red line is the minimum pressure you set IPAP (inhalation pressure). The green line is the EPAP: The higher EPR is set, the larger the gap between the green and red line, the lower the pressure will be.

[Here is last nights OSCAR...

I changed EPR back to 1, left pressure the same, no collar, just the mouth guard while sleeping on my side. I am quite happy with these results, my second 0.00 AHI. I think I will leave my settings as they are for now...

It's hard to believe that for 22 years I have been using a CPAP machine and not feeling better. Now after discovering this site and OSCAR, in six weeks I am finally feeling rested...

Thanks everyone for all your help!]

[KeepSmiling]

By 'dorsal sleeping' do you mean 'supine position'?

From Wikipedia: "Using anatomical terms of location, the dorsal side is down, and the ventral side is up, when supine."

LOL,

I never realized Expat31 writing dorsal was not a common expression.  Supine is a word I look up if I have not seen it for a long time to make sure I have the correct meaning.

In my mind  I do not pronounce "dorsal" fin and "dorsal" on back the same way.  I guess I have heard it said in French enough that when I think of on the back, I think of it in French terms.

I looked it up in "The Oxford Dictionary of Current English (1998 New Revised Edition).


dosral
adj. of or on the back

supine
adj. 1. lying face upwards. ...

I wonder if it is an American/British thing OR I hear that I usually hear term in French.

[KeepSmiling]

Ockrocket,

My sympathies.

Tell your doctor he is wrong. Body pains can be a downer.

[Ockrocket]

Ockrocket,

My sympathies.

Tell your doctor he is wrong.  Body pains can be a downer.

For my almost 69 years I have avoided drugs, even the prescription and over the counter kind have been kept minimal.

But I thinking in my remaining years some form of cannabis may become an option for pain relief   but I'm a non smoker, and have no intention of taking up smoking in any form.

I had a mate who resorted to smoking pot after they kept chopping pieces off him because of skin and bone cancer, in the end morphine doses that would kill a horse didn't work for him because his body built up a tolerance to the drugs.
He was a single father who's wife walked out on him leaving him with their two year old son, his sole aim in life was to stay alive long enough to see his son reach an age where he could look after himself - he achieved his goal and died not long after his son turned 18 years old.
I miss my mate, he is the only true friend that would have been a lifelong mate through to old age, I have no others that stayed that solid.
We hung out together, he worked for me at one stage in the furniture removals and general freight industry before getting started with his own truck, he was like an uncle to my own kids.. we had the same sense of humour and our banter sucked in many a customer or onlooker when we were working together. 
I recall one day when we nearly gave a customer a heart attack - we were having great difficulty getting a hand made dining table worth over $1,200 out of the house to load in the truck (expensive for a table in the mid to late 1970s).. so to break the stress I said "go get the chainsaw and we will cut the legs off", he said "righto" and headed for the door, the female customer screamed "NOOO!" 
We couldn't stop laughing for a good ten minutes.
Fortunately the customer saw the funny side of it -- eventually.

But I digress.
Sorry.
My doctor tries to be funny at times.

[KeepSmiling]

Ockrocket,

Sorry to hear of the lost your mate. I did laugh.

I do not find pain a funny issue. I know a 56 year old diagnosed with calcification of the spine (mid back area).

[Old Steve]

KeepSmiling,

Here is last nights OSCAR chart.  I am trying to get my Flow Limits down, I plan on raising my pressure tonight to 10.2cm from 10.0cm.  Other than getting more sleep is there much else I can do at this point?  With my prostate problem a lot of times I wake up, go pee and can not get back to sleep.  



   

[KeepSmiling]

Steve,

Thanks for checking in, I have been thing about you and how you are getting along. You have come along way.

Are aches disturbing you?

Are feeling more rested than not recently? Are you reaching a new plateau.

Are you asking about treatment or in general for better sleep/refreshing sleep? [Other than getting more sleep is there much else I can do at this point?]

Read up on sleep hygiene for ideas. No rules are set in stone.

I feel I go into a deeper sleep and has made the biggest difference when I started covering my eyes for total darkness just two years ago. (A doctor told if I can see my hand in front of my face then it is to bright. I tried it and it was great. I looked it up and it was common knowledge. No one told me that a decade and a half ago.)

If you take medications have you asked doctor/pharmacist best way to take them to be effective and cause the least sleep issues.

A stroll (but not to close to bed time.)

I am going to use my weighted blanket tonight. (I was using a weighted vest, but to small and would fall off. I did not use it one night a couple of weeks ago and noticed the difference.)


For flow limitations, I think increasing pressure is about all you can do with a machine. There may be other things, I have not looked at anything. I find it hard to get rid of my I got myself an AirCurve to deal with them and am finally getting more sleep. It is a very new feeling for me as well.

I know it sounds counter-intuitive and I said it many times, the deeper sleep a person starts getting because of better treatment, the more events may happen if the airways did not completely relax before.

Recently when going up in pressure I noticed I got bloating if I opened my mouth, not the actual pressure. I use a full face mask. (I needed practice using EPR and would open my mouth to let air out quicker so I can start breathing in again.)

[Old Steve]

I am still having some issues with back and shoulders pain from sleeping on my side, not as bad as they were,  but occasionally waking me up.  I am still feeling more refreshed, although, if I could just get another hour or two of sleep I am sure I would feel better yet.  Prior to the side sleeping I was usually so worn out in mid afternoon I would lay down for an hour or so to rest and listen to the radio...I haven't had to do it since the side sleeping...
I do not take any meds other than the prostate pills I pop daily.
I am sure that I could see my hand in front of my face...I can take care of that.

I have never had any bloating in 22 years of CPAP use, I used a nasal mask for at least 18 of the years and think I had my mouth open half the night.  I am not real concerned with the few events I am having, other than the flow limitations. I think that the flow limitations are possibly arousals, so I am trying to eliminate them as much as I can.  What do you feel is a good number for flow limitations using My Resmed AirSence 10?  My plan right now is to creep up on my pressure to 11cm or until the flow limits quit dropping.