can "severe" apnea be asymptomatic?

[arbo67]

Because of loud snoring, my wife convinced me to go to a dr. I have snored all my life, even as a child. The sleep study showed 42 events in an hour so they stuck a CPAP on me. The tech, nurse and resp. specialist were all shocked in the morning when I said I feel no different. Has anyone else experienced this?? I now have a home CPAP and I feel exactly the same? From what I read, I should feel terrific or something? Maybe it will take longer than a few days?

[Pugsy]

Level of symptom severity can vary between people.
Some people with "mild" sleep apnea can have significant debilitating symptoms and some with "severe" can maybe not have any horrible symptoms at all.
If you weren't having the usual symptoms of sleep apnea besides the snoring before cpap...then cpap use will likely not change how you feel overall but it will deal with the snoring.

Even if you had been experiencing some of the usual sleep apnea symptoms besides the snoring it can take weeks or months for those symptoms to resolve. It's actually more uncommon for people to see immediate improvement. It depends on the symptoms and the person and is anything else going on. Most people take some time before they see marked improvement.

If you didn't have anything that needed improvement besides the snoring...probably won't see much change in anything.
But your wife will definitely sleep better with your snoring not causing her sleep to be disrupted so she may feel better.

[AMK]

Hi, and welcome. My sleep nurse told me that the majority of patients do not experience a burst of energy with cpap treatment. It's just a lucky few who feel wonderful and energized. There may be more going on that makes your sleep less restorative than you would like. The important thing is that the machine is keeping your airway open, which will make you less likely to experience long term consequences of untreated apnea such as stroke and dementia. I am not sure why your treatment team was shocked that you felt no different. For one thing, your body has to get used to cpap at night every night. I recently changed the settings on my cpap and it took me a week to adjust...I could tell that I was not sleeping as deeply at first.

Some people do feel better over time. Some people have to make up for lost time...there's a term for that and maybe someone else will chime in with it. But sometimes it can take a couple months before you feel better. Though it would be nice to feel terrific right away, I wouldn't worry that it hasn't happened. The treatment is still helping you. Your wife did you a big favor!

[Goofproof]

My ahi was 150, at the sleep study. My only problems were sleep driving, falling asleep watching t.v. after dinner. My sleep study was triggered by the OR, not being able to intubate me, took them 20 minutes in the OR. Jim

No doubt sleep apnea, triggered my heart problems.

[ChicagoGranny]

The sleep study showed 42 events in an hour

What type of events? Were there oxygen desats?

I now have a home CPAP and I feel exactly the same? From what I read, I should feel terrific or something?

CPAP is not a magic box. Do you know how to see the reports in the machine display? What is your AHI and leak level?

[arbo67]

The sleep study showed 42 events in an hour

AHI was 42
What type of events? Were there oxygen desats? my lowest sat level was 87%

I now have a home CPAP and I feel exactly the same? From what I read, I should feel terrific or something?

CPAP is not a magic box. Do you know how to see the reports in the machine display? What is your AHI and leak level?

This morning, it said I had 1.6 "events" per hour. Sorry, as I am new to this, IDK exactly what that means. the leak status was "good" , I haven't delved into the machine at length to know if it provides a leak number.

I should have stated I don't fall asleep during the day, and I don't nap. Driving doesn't effect me unless It is over 4 hours. Once in a while, i'll doze off watching tv, but it usually means I spent the entire day working or playing outside in the summer sun.
I have been told I have world championship size tonsils...

[MaxINTJ]

Because of loud snoring, my wife convinced me to go to a dr. I have snored all my life, even as a child. The sleep study showed 42 events in an hour so they stuck a CPAP on me. The tech, nurse and resp. specialist were all shocked in the morning when I said I feel no different. Has anyone else experienced this?? I now have a home CPAP and I feel exactly the same? From what I read, I should feel terrific or something? Maybe it will take longer than a few days?

I too had loud snoring (could be heard throughout the house at times) but never went to a doctor about it. 6 months or so ago, my PCP stopped prescribing me medication to help me sleep and I started waking up over and over in the night and feeling worse than before. Had sleep study back in July, been on xPAP since the end of July, and the only change *I* notice is that generally I don't wake up multiple time per night. My wife noticed I didn't snore any more, but now huge leaks through my mouth end up waking her up most nights.

Even at this point, going on 3 months, I don't usually feel any different than before xPAP. There are odd days I can get by with 6-8 cups of coffee instead of 8-10, but otherwise I am still waiting to "feel it".

[chunkyfrog]

Apnea symptoms vary from daytime sleepiness, morning headache, and chronic fatigue (all obvious)
to the quiet, gradual damage to your heart, brain, immunity, and metabolism.
Diabetes and heart disease tend to sneak up on us, barely noticed--untill suddenly you are very sick--or even dead.
It is lucky to have enough of the obvious symptoms to give immediate feedback, but most damage is silent.

[AMK]

This morning, it said I had 1.6 "events" per hour. Sorry, as I am new to this, IDK exactly what that means. the leak status was "good" , I haven't delved into the machine at length to know if it provides a leak number.

I should have stated I don't fall asleep during the day, and I don't nap. Driving doesn't effect me unless It is over 4 hours. Once in a while, i'll doze off watching tv, but it usually means I spent the entire day working or playing outside in the summer sun.
I have been told I have world championship size tonsils...

1.6 isn't bad. It means you've gone from the 42 events per hour in your sleep study down to 1.6. What machine do you have?

[bigdave36]

This completely describes my situation after nearly 1year of cpap usage.
All my numbers look, but always tired on 6-7hours sleep a night.
The good news is no more snoring, so my wife sleeps like a baby.
Happy wife,happy life

[arbo67]

Because of loud snoring, my wife convinced me to go to a dr. I have snored all my life, even as a child. The sleep study showed 42 events in an hour so they stuck a CPAP on me. The tech, nurse and resp. specialist were all shocked in the morning when I said I feel no different. Has anyone else experienced this?? I now have a home CPAP and I feel exactly the same? From what I read, I should feel terrific or something? Maybe it will take longer than a few days?

I too had loud snoring (could be heard throughout the house at times) but never went to a doctor about it. 6 months or so ago, my PCP stopped prescribing me medication to help me sleep and I started waking up over and over in the night and feeling worse than before. Had sleep study back in July, been on xPAP since the end of July, and the only change *I* notice is that generally I don't wake up multiple time per night. My wife noticed I didn't snore any more, but now huge leaks through my mouth end up waking her up most nights.

Even at this point, going on 3 months, I don't usually feel any different than before xPAP. There are odd days I can get by with 6-8 cups of coffee instead of 8-10, but otherwise I am still waiting to "feel it".

I gave up coffee & soda years ago. If I drank that much coffee I'd be up for days.

[arbo67]

This completely describes my situation after nearly 1year of cpap usage.
All my numbers look, but always tired on 6-7hours sleep a night.
The good news is no more snoring, so my wife sleeps like a baby.
Happy wife,happy life

My confusion stems from the fact that I am not tired... not at all. I'm still going to try it for the exact reason you mention. Plus who knows, maybe i'll get by on 6hrs in bed now rather than 8?

[Kitatonic]

My husband complained about my snoring at his sleep apnea appointment, the doctor who also had OSA, looked at my jaw which she described as "small" and that I should be tested. As it turns out, I desaturations down to 65, AHI=49, "severe" OSA. Now after treatment, I can see the late afternoon lethargy, the frequent nightly urination, the teeth grinding, headaches, etc... were all OSA symptoms.

[arbo67]

This morning, it said I had 1.6 "events" per hour. Sorry, as I am new to this, IDK exactly what that means. the leak status was "good" , I haven't delved into the machine at length to know if it provides a leak number.

I should have stated I don't fall asleep during the day, and I don't nap. Driving doesn't effect me unless It is over 4 hours. Once in a while, i'll doze off watching tv, but it usually means I spent the entire day working or playing outside in the summer sun.
I have been told I have world championship size tonsils...

1.6 isn't bad. It means you've gone from the 42 events per hour in your sleep study down to 1.6. What machine do you have?

resmed air sense 10

[ChicagoGranny]

resmed air sense 10

Which one? There are big differences.

AirSense 10 AutoSet
AirSense 10 AutoSet for Her
AirSense 10 CPAP
AirSense 10 Elite

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I'm still going to try it for the exact reason (Snoring bothers wife.) you mention.

There are other reasons to use CPAP. One big one is that vibrations from all that snoring damage the hypoglossal nerve. This nerve controls the muscles that hold the airway open. As this nerve accumulates damage, sleep apnea becomes much worse.

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My confusion stems from the fact that I am not tired... not at all.

Some people have been tired for so long, they think it is the normal energy level.

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I have been told I have world championship size tonsils...

How old are you? I don't want to get your hopes up, but in some cases, enlarged tonsils are the cause of sleep apnea. They block the airway when the airway muscles relax during sleep. I would have an examination and consultation with an ENT. Tell him what you are dealing with. He should have some idea whether a tonsillectomy would cure your sleep apnea.

I have snored all my life, even as a child.

This is a further indication that enlarged tonsils may be your biggest problem. Make sure to tell the ENT.