Are these Sleep apnea symptoms?

[cpaptrini]

Hi there,

So I've been using Cpap therapy for about five months now with some mixed results. I would say that I have felt much better most of the time, but I don't think I have felt 100% at any time. The last two weeks in-particular, I have noticed most of my old symptoms re-emerging to varying degrees, though not as severe as before I started CPAP. My sleepyhead data indicates that there has been an increase in air leaks over the past few weeks, so some of my re-emerging symptoms may be attributed to this. My AHI's are still showing below 3 or 4 though.

I am convinced that CPAP makes a difference in my day to day health, but I am still unsure if sleep apnea is the core cause of my symptoms. Before I started CPAP, I went for several rounds of blood tests, did X-rays and mammograms of my chest and organs. No issues were found. I'm wondering if any of you can tell me if the following symptoms are typical of sleep apnea, or if I may be dealing with something else.

My symptoms are: lacking of energy- not just fatigue you might feel from getting little sleep, but the low energy you might feel when fighting off a cold. My breath becomes hot and I take shorter breaths, especially when active. Easily increased heart rate, especially when active. Mental fogginess and sleepiness/yawning during day. And I also sometimes feel slightly Nauseous.

My symptoms feel very much like a cold, but without the sore throat, stuffy nose, runny eyes etc.

Do these symptoms I have described sound like they might be sleep apnea alone? Does anyone else experience these symptoms?

I'm a 35 year old male. I am diagnosed with severe sleep apnea - ahi of 120 plus.

Thanks.

[palerider]

how often do you have to pee at night?

have you looked at the data, if your machine provides any?

[Pugsy]

Do you take any medications of any kind? If so, what?
Any other health problems?
When was the last time you had your routine labs done (blood drawn) and did they test for these
Thyroid (often included as routine but not always)
Testosterone...not normally included in routine labs
Vitamin D...also not normally included in routine labs.

How many hours of sleep are you averaging?
Are those hours of sleep fragmented with many wake ups? If so, how many and any idea why?

Probably should look at your SleepyHead reports to see if anything is just screaming..."I need fixing".

While a couple of your symptoms are common to sleep apnea...not all of them IMHO.
But it wouldn't be impossible for sub optimal cpap therapy to be maybe affecting things that we wouldn't normally think are related to OSA.

Start with the obvious and work from there by looking at the Sleepyhead recent results.

[cpaptrini]

Do you take any medications of any kind? If so, what?
Any other health problems?
When was the last time you had your routine labs done (blood drawn) and did they test for these
Thyroid (often included as routine but not always)
Testosterone...not normally included in routine labs
Vitamin D...also not normally included in routine labs.

How many hours of sleep are you averaging?
Are those hours of sleep fragmented with many wake ups? If so, how many and any idea why?

Probably should look at your SleepyHead reports to see if anything is just screaming..."I need fixing".

While a couple of your symptoms are common to sleep apnea...not all of them IMHO.
But it wouldn't be impossible for sub optimal cpap therapy to be maybe affecting things that we wouldn't normally think are related to OSA.

Start with the obvious and work from there by looking at the Sleepyhead recent results.

Hi there

I don't take any medications. Many rounds of blood tests, and X-rays have turned up nothing. They do say that my immune system is unusually highly active. They tested for Thyroid and came back negative. Maybe no tests for testosterone, but pretty sure it's normal. Vitamin D a bit low but nothing abnormal.

I avverage a little under 7 hours of sleep per night. I do wake up the odd time, but usually only once or twice. I do have to use the bathroom occasionally, but it's rare for the most part.

The sleepyhead data (as far as I can tell) indicates air leak issues, but nothing much else.

Which of the symptoms that Indescribed are not typically associated with sleep apnea?

Thanks.

[Pugsy]

I don't remember nausea being noted as a common sypmptom.
Also never heard of "hot breaths or shorter breaths"... and not so sure about an easily increased heart rate.

Now the mental fogginess, or daytime sleepiness, and the fatigue...yeah..common symptom.

I don't know that even with a software report I could offer any concrete ideas but I sure can't without something to go on besides your saying some air leaks and nothing else.
How much air leak? Maybe if the leaks are real bad and your AHI is real low...maybe the machine is missing flagging something because of the leaks.
Maybe your OSA isn't as optimally treated as you think it is.
Maybe it is something totally unrelated to sleep apnea...which is very possible.

[Tformhals]

What is your diet like? What is your activity level? How is your anxiety level/ are you taking any medication for anxiety? The yawning and daytime tiredness I can totally relate to. People would always ask me why I am so tired because I was yawning constantly. CPAP has definitely improved this but i think my improved diet has helped also.

[Tformhals]

Also you didn't mention it but do you have any facial redness or feeling that your face is hot? Do you sometimes feel like you have a fever but you don't?

[Julie]

If you haven't had a cardiac work-up recently I would definitely ask your MD to initiate one... your symptoms are not necessarily from OSA but are much too vague to begin guessing at, especially for strangers online who have no access to your history and who are not doctors. The fact you feel the kind of fatigue you do though (OSA is sleepiness, not the same thing) and the nausea might be a concern and I wouldn't wait for a diagnosis from us, but call your MD tomorrow.

[cpaptrini]

Hi there,

I appreciate all of the responses. To answer some:

I have been less active in the last few weeks, partially because I have been feeling so tired. I normally try to excersise a couple times a week. No history of anxiety or medication, though work is rather stressful these days.

I do somtimes feel like I have a fever, but actually don't have one. This is one of the main symptoms. What could this indicate?

I have contacted my doctor and will go see him next week.

I noticed that my AHI was rather high last night - around 7. Today I felt rather low energy, but my heart also feels strained - like it is working extra hard. I woke up in my sleep many times more than usual last night. It was one of the worst sleeps with the CPAP machine I have had so far.

Thinking about this more, I suspect that my full face mask may be too small for my face, as I find that I am often waking up with the bottom part of the silicon frame close to my bottom lips.

I want to believe my symptoms are all apnea related and therefore treatable, But I am still worried it may be something else.

Again I appreciate all of your input.

[PEF]

I can relate to the "cold symptoms", which in my case were not colds or allergies at all, but a type of acid reflux called LPR. What happens is that, while you sleep, your struggle for breath, due to the apneas and flow limitations, causes stomach contents to be literally suctioned up into your throat. Your body responds to this by producing mucous to protect the delicate tissues of your respiratory system. Hence, the feeling you might have a cold or allergies.The specific symptoms depends on where the stomach contents reaches. If it reaches your throat, you get a sore throat. If it reaches your adenoids, that can give you a raging stuffy nose. Aspirations into your bronchial tubes can give you asthma symptoms.

In fact, this is the main reason why I began CPAP treatment. I have been much more comfortable, most of the symptoms have reduced or disappeared.

Also mouth breathing can give you a stuffed nose. What I did is to use a nasal pillows mask, (not FFM because you can still mouth breathe with a FFM), got my nose clear, and taped my mouth to stop myself from mouth breathing. My ENT told me I had to stop breathing through my mouth to clear up my symptoms. I believe he was right.

[Julie]

Mouth breathing does NOT give you a stuffed nose, but a dry mouth and reduced therapy. You mouth breathe because your nose is stuffed for other reasons like unnecessarily high humidity that can cause congestion if your local climate's already humid. And you've completely mixed that up with GERD, which is caused by a weak LES (esophageal sphincter) allowing acid to back up, but has nothing to do with nasal congestion. Really, get your facts straight!

[PEF]

Julie is DEAD wrong. I refer you to Dr. Steven Park's book "Sleep Interrupted". He is also almost ready to publish another book on CPAP.
He also has a very informative internet blog. I don't make this stuff up. There are several articles on his blog explaining how sleep apnea causes LPR.

Julie should not be taken seriously and should not be giving medical advice on this forum. All she does is google a topic and posts whatever the first article she sees says. I am only reporting what I have read from experts in the field, the latest research. Also, I am only reporting on what has worked for me.

She should stay off this thread because she has no relevant knowledge or experience with the subject of the thread.

Oh and Julie, don't you dare delete my post!

[Julie]

And if you can provide evidence (not links) of anything different, do so, don't attack me! I told you to stop using my name in your posts, to address the issue, not the messenger, but you insist on continuing to do it. Go to the new thread OT Time Out and post there if you need to say nasty personal things rather than talk about the situation you wrongly wrote about, but STOP using my name!

YOU are wrong medically and don't tell me your husband's a doctor... it doesn't make you one.

[49er]

Hmm, PEF's post was deleted so here it is again so folks know what Julie is responding to at the end.

""Julie is DEAD wrong. I refer you to Dr. Steven Park's book "Sleep Interrupted". He is also almost ready to publish another book on CPAP.
He also has a very informative internet blog. I don't make this stuff up. There are several articles on his blog explaining how sleep apnea causes LPR.

Julie should not be taken seriously and should not be giving medical advice on this forum. All she does is google a topic and posts whatever the first article she sees says. I am only reporting what I have read from experts in the field, the latest research. Also, I am only reporting on what has worked for me.

She should stay off this thread because she has no relevant knowledge or experience with the subject of the thread.""

49er

[Julie]

Thank you so much 49er for your gratuitous support of that ignorant poster. This is my final forum appearance. Bye all.