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Switched to Auto-PAP and am sleeping better!!!
#1
Switched to Auto-PAP and am sleeping better!!!
Switched to Auto-PAP and am sleeping better!!!

I was at my wits end of waking up completely exhausted... I do not remember exactly the rising feeling before PAP therapy but I almost think it was not as bad as the way I was feeling well into this.  After almost a year of wearing the pillows my mornings were no better and in many ways I think the CPAP made it worse.  I was dumbfounded as to how it could be this bad of how my mornings felt.  To some, PAP therapy helps sleep and it changes a person dramatically (or so I have heard.)   After reading many posts on this site, I find that there can be more problems than resolutions... I felt as if I am in this latter category.  I could not believe how exhausted I feel in the morning, yet I am remembering the dreams that happened during the night.  If I am dreaming I must be sleeping, so how is it I am so damn tired?

I have been on AutoPAP now for about 3 weeks and feel more energy in my ability to get out of bed.  Can switching from a constant to an auto setting make that dramatic of a difference? 

Falling into sleep before PAP was difficult.  If one thing I do remember in past years that initial slumber was difficult and time consuming.  Once starting therapy, it became easier.  Now on APAP the quick slumber is just as easy as well as returning to the pillows after a night's bathroom trip.  Previously on the CPAP after the pee break, the return to sleep was difficult often finding me awake for an hour or more.  This was very frustrating.

I seem to sleep AND wake much better now on the AutoPAP.   How can it be that this is better settings for me and is this common?
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#2
RE: Switched to Auto-PAP and am sleeping better!!!
You were probably getting beat up by flow limitations that aren't recorded when your on a fixed pressure. They can disrupt sleep just as much as other events. Now that your on Auto the machine can respond to those flow limitations which is why your sleeping better.
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#3
RE: Switched to Auto-PAP and am sleeping better!!!
Have you ever posted your data here for review? I quickly looked back over some of your posts, but didn’t see anything.

The tutorials in my signature line will guide you.
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#4
RE: Switched to Auto-PAP and am sleeping better!!!
Sometimes it's best to discover for yourself. You have a great machine, but as I recall the only time you posted a chart your AHI was 0.64 or so, and you had a long 45 minute ramp. I think even with great results like yours, auto CPAP is worth a try, especially with the Airsense 10 Autoset. The therapy ends up being about the numbers to some people, but your observation of how you feel is much more relevant. Glad you finally gave the auto mode a go.
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#5
RE: Switched to Auto-PAP and am sleeping better!!!
Well, I tell ya'  I think I needed to sorta' hit bottom in some sort of way.  A few weeks ago my mornings were not good. I know from my time in the service of what it feels like to go with little sleep... this felt similar and it was pure will- power (then and now) to get through the day and "get 'er done."  Was a lot easier to do that when one is in their 20's

My machine was changed by my DME after consulting with my doctor.  I literally did not have the energy nor desire to adjust it on my own.  Doc was satisfied with my numbers as provided to her from the DME tech.  I did post a chart once here and IIRC generally the feed back here was good for my very mild apnea.  Over the past year, doc seemed pleased with them as well;  we aslo ended up eliminating other possible  items such as blood tests etc for the whole work-up.  

Blood work is all very good and doc was very pleased with everything.  I am glad that cholesterol is no worry.   Vitamin D is a little low for which I am taking a supplement.  She wanted to eliminate any other factors before changing machine settings to closer dial in as to better understand what was causing my exhaustion.  I wish that I got to this point much sooner.  I'll post a chart soon.

I am noticing one possible side effect but am not positive if it is a true cause and effect or just coincidence:  vertigo   (uhg!!)

I have had episodes in the past that began about 10 years ago when I took a pretty good check in hockey that really cleaned my clock.  I perhaps am more prone to it because of this.  I currently play in a non-checking league to help avoid jolting contact like that again.   But because of it, I have a better understanding of the physiology of the inner ear and the vestibular physical therapy to correct it. 

The first occurrences of these recent spin-episodes started 2 days after switching to Auto-PAP  about 3 weeks ago.   Imagine my super-frustration of finally getting good sleep but waking up on the free merry-go-round ride!  The first day it was so bad I had to take a sick day from work.  Was lucky to get an appointment with the P-therapist that same day to get on course to correct it.  

I was also experiencing slight toothache recently and a visit to the dentist this week showed that my only crown installed some 3 years ago needed a little grind-adjusting to allow for a more proper bite pattern.  I do not actually know what is causing the vertigo and if this mis-alignment contributed,  but I know that the bite pattern being even only slightly off can cause all sorts of symptoms.  

I asked the doctor when she called me back on the day I took off if a deeper, sounder sleep in one single position all night could have caused that crystalline thingy in the ear to settle in a spot where it should not be.  I asked if my previous not-sleeping-well (pre-AutoPAP) which did not permit me sleeping soundly was dispersing it even if from only turning over during the night.  She thought it to be more coincidental.  The PT dude thought there was that possibility.

Woke up today today to 16" or so of snow in my driveway with 2 foot drifts is some spots.  Waking today almot vertigo free made the clearing of it all quite pleasant!  Nice winter;s sunny day that warmed up to about 35.  Better sleep makes it easier to put on my winter game-face.
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#6
RE: Switched to Auto-PAP and am sleeping better!!!
Quote:Falling into sleep before PAP was difficult.  If one thing I do remember in past years that initial slumber was difficult and time consuming.  Once starting therapy, it became easier.  Now on APAP the quick slumber is just as easy as well as returning to the pillows after a night's bathroom trip.  Previously on the CPAP after the pee break, the return to sleep was difficult often finding me awake for an hour or more.  This was very frustrating.

You said it yourself, you found it hard to get to sleep with CPAP and would lay awake, if you are loosing two hours sleep a night trying to get to sleep, it mounts up just like waking so many times an hour.  You did get to sleep though, so you did get sleep.  You said you did dream, so I suspect you were getting some good sleep, some not so good sleep and worst of all, loosing sleep trying to get to sleep.  It does mount up, I have seen it when it is hot here and I can't get the quality sleep and after a while it builds up.
Not everyone finds CPAPs works for them, some can't use APAPs as the change in pressure wakes them, but if you set an APAP up to suit you you should find it easier to get on with.
I was at 18 with a CPAP, now I am (well it is creeping up, but I suspect it is slight leaks though not enough to get an angry face) at 12 which is quite a difference.  The machine I have acts quite fast if I stop breathing, I don't feel it so much now, but when I got it I could feel it react in small steps until I breathed again.
So maybe the APAP suits you better, they are a lot gentler even if you do not use ramp, they do not come on at full pressure unless you are doing a mask test.  So I hope you are now finding it easier to get to sleep and back to sleep if you have to get up.
If you have two hours knocked off your sleep, it can have quite an effect after a few days!   Thinking-about
I am NOT a doctor.  I try to help, but do not take what I say as medical advice.


Every journey, however large or small starts with the first step.

Sleep-well
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