[CPAP] jdougc - Therapy Assistance

[Pokey49]

Morning JDoug. I read a few more of your posts. Seems we could be two peas in a pod when it comes to struggling with Cpap. You’ve been at it some time now and I’m a newby. You have neck and shoulder issues. I have back, shoulder and plain old anxiety issues. Sleep & sleep anxiety has been a huge issue for me for some time. Didn’t use to have that problem but somewhere in midlife I developed travel/health anxiety and the sleeplessness that goes with it. If I have to catch an early morning flight chances are I won’t sleep much the night before. Now I’m 75 with aches and pains, on 3 medications and trying to adjust to an uncomfortable mask blowing air up my schnoz waking up some days feeling the positive benefits of Cpap and other days feeling like hell.
Today was one of those days feeling like hell and no idea why as my AHI last night was 2.5. Not the best but not bad. ? Some days are diamonds, some days are stones as some philosopher said. That’s life I guess. I’ll post last nights Oscar report later and will be interested in hearing what you and Super Pilot and EJ think
Cheers
Pokey

[jdougc]

Pokey,
Sadly anxiety has been an issue with me recently with my neck injury and subsequent surgery. Recovery is a bit longer than I expected, but I am moving along.

I hope that you get some rest on your trip

When summer comes around and I can exercise 2-3 times in my (p)ool daily with minimal risk of falling and hurting myself, I should get considerable better.
I hate using the therapy/well pool that I work out in, as they have harsher chemicals in it.

[jdougc]

Another night of good AHI , but fragmented and short sleep and the tiredness that accompanies it
My REM or deep sleep seems to be interrupted by events, not sure what do do about this.
My back tightness in my shoulder blade area prevented me in falling back to sleep after 4 AM.

Any thoughts on the arousals? There were not many thankfully.
I didn't have as many REM sleep groups with the indicative ragged breathing like after 0:40 am. But many more spikey breathing through the night.

Thanks in advance.
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[ejbpesca]

I try to help out with beginners of PAP therapy.  Your OSCAR report looks like you have it down like a long term pro.  I can only wish/hope for such excellent results which I will never see.

I will crawl out on a proverbial branch and give an example of what can help me sleep when my back becomes taut with spasms due to my permanent injuries.  I take a prescription muscle relaxer.  This may have a negative effect on sleep for some, but at times the spasms produce a pain level of 6 keeping me from sleep.  I wake over and over, can't get comfortable, and roll from side to side way too much. I feel the next day as if I had been in a WWW cage match.

I am not saying take anything, just sharing what helps me.

[jdougc]

Thank you for the kind response. 
I am on muscle relaxers as you are, could not sleep without them. 
A second round of steroid shots Wednesday, helped even more. 
I just started one of those steroid packs today, hoping not to get the rage.
Rolling over to the other side is still difficult, so I am trying to figure out how to minimize the arousals. 
Stairs are not in the near future, so I am relagated to the dining room in an inflatable bed with memory foam mattress toppers.
I bought a cheap projector from Amazon, $99 and use the onscreen keyboard, so I am looking at the ceiling.
Yesterday an ice pad broke and leaked, so no mattress toppers, inflatable bed was stiff and chilly

[ejbpesca]

Steroid injections both epidural and facet joint did not help my spine nor did the dosepak steroids.  Injections to muscle of I think lidocaine helps calm one pain generating area. That was a strange experience.  Doctor reloaded a syringe three times shoving an anesthetic into my back.  I am offered epidurals to lumbar and thoracic areas often but found them ineffective.  I understand they work well for some.  After 25 years of getting every therapy modality offered for a very messed up spine, I've settled down to 1 or 2 true pain-reducing oral meds a day that give me a few hours of mobility.

[jdougc]

I was having a marcaine infusion and had a slight reaction, rash and nausea, weird. I was hoping to get relief.

[Pokey49]

I have low back pain that wakes me up at night.  I’ve had steroid shots in the past that helped  but now they don’t seem to last very long and they do keep me hyped up and awake for a couple three nights. I’ve stopped getting them. I use to take tramadol too but that’s a dead end to go down. So I live with it the best I can. My anxiety issue is a bigger challenge.

[jdougc]

A night of perfect AHI , but fragmented and the tiredness that accompanies it.  The machine mights as well give me a smiley face like the useless App. 
A uncounted event woke me up around 11 pm and a flow limitation around 1 am and a "small" leak woke me up around 2:30 am.
Rolling over is still difficult. but getting easier.
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[Pokey49]

Yes your scores for the night appear they can’t get any better than that yet you wake up unrested ????? It’s a mystery to me as to why one’s numbers can be really good but still feel rotten. I’m to new with all of this to come up with an answer. I’ll leave that to EJ and Super Pilot to diagnose. I guess I think a persons cpap can improve one’s  breathing while sleeping getting rid of the apneas but if a person is dealing with  pain, medication issues, etc that can still fragment sleep and leave a person tired despite a successful night of Cpap.