Mental Health Improve?

[Sissy63]

I would like to know if others mental health improved greatly after treatment. I was just doing life...happy, active, gym rat, healthy eater and out of nowhere I hit the wall with exhaustion, insomnia, anxiety, and depression. I had many different diagnoses. Doctors tried hormone therapy (estrogen, progesterone, testosterone), tried different kinds and amounts of thyroid, and was even said to have Lyme disease, but nothing helped. I was tried on probably 10 different antidepressant and still not relief. This started about 4 years ago. Finally, a new nurse practitioner ordered a sleep study and I have sleep apnea with restless leg syndrome.

I started CPAP (13) 4 weeks ago. I started on the Resmed Airfit F20 and did not like it. I switched to the Quattro Air, which is better for me. I was basically given a mask and machine from my REM and told good luck. They didn’t have me try on different ones or even really measure anything. I am seeing a Pulominogist/Sleep Specialist fir the first time on Monday and I am very excited about it. I don’t think my primary care NP has a clue and seeing that she is to be on a CPAP and doesn’t use it because she doesn’t like it doesn’t give me any confidence in her.

I want to talk to the new doctor about an APAP and maybe trying a nasal or pillows.

Sorry, this is much longer than I intended!

My question....did others who had “mental health issues” get much better once you got going on treatment? I am at 4 weeks and see subtle improvements, but still have a long ways to go. I assume the SA started decades ago, but my body and brain finally gave up one day.

Thanks for any encouragement or words of advise!

[Mogy]

Hi Sissy63,
Before I was diagnosed I was not doing very well at my job. If I had been my boss I would have got fired. In the morning I could get a bit a work done, but in the afternoons I would just sit at my desk and stare at the walls. I couldn't retire, didn't have enough money. I was also getting short tempered, small issues would frustrate me. I was thinking that old age really sucked, and I was only 59.
Since my diagnosis I started feeling better fairly quickly but I still don't focus as well as I think I should. I think the brain takes a fairly long time to heal. It has been 16 months for me, overall I am doing well, much better at my job, looking forward to retirement.
Keep at it Sissy63, it gets better.

[greatunclebill]

restless leg syndrome is just as important and causes similar problems as apnea. the restless leg syndrome also needs to be treated.

[kteague]

Seen lots of reports on here over the years touting improvement in mood with CPAP treatment. Some have mentioned having been easily agitated and hard to get along with before but being much nicer after treatment. It is hard to maintain positivity when one is sleep deprived and feeling utterly depleted. I remember being grouchy and tempermental and always on the verge of tears. I hope you'll come back and let us know after you've settled in to your treatment if your mental health has improved. If you have persistent sleep issues once you know your treatment is optimized and you've gotten used to your equipment, don't be discouraged about your treatment. Your CPAP can be doing everything it is intended to do and other things can be going on that need addressed too. Did your sleep study make mention of any limb movements? If the RLS continues to mess with your sleep, let's talk more about it. If you are not already on a med for RLS, hopefully you'll check back in before starting on meds. There are some things you can do to try to help yourself. Not sure where you are in that journey.

[Sissy63]

I am wondering if I need an APAP instead of a CPAP. I woke up at 4:00 this morning with my heart pounding. Today I feel horrible with internal jittering. I know I am early in treatment, but most of that had improved. I see a sleep specialist !nday, so hopefully he will look at my SD card and give me good guidance. I think the restless leg syndrome has improved.

This is such an awful feeling and I never know who I am going to be when I wake up everyday.

[jnk...]

I did not consider myself to have mental issues before PAP, other than some REM intrusions into wake now and then and a few bouts with mild anxiety. Once I began PAP and became successful with it, though, I began to look back and consider myself to have been seriously depressed in the years immediately preceding PAP.

I had those internal jitters a lot when starting out on PAP. My body was used to cranking out a lot of panic juice all night to jar me out of long apneas. After PAP, it took months before my body figured out it didn't need to make so much of it. Those early months of PAP were a roller-coaster ride of emotions and physical adaptations as my brain and body changed with the new circumstances of not needing to do what it/they had been doing for years. I just held on and waited for the bumpy ride to smooth out. It took a few years, but it was worth it. I am now a much more even-tempered, calm, joyful person because of the benefits of PAP.

[Sissy63]

Thanks JNK! That gives me hope that this will work itself out.

[Arlene1963]

I would like to know if others mental health improved greatly after treatment. I was just doing life...happy, active, gym rat, healthy eater and out of nowhere I hit the wall with exhaustion, insomnia, anxiety, and depression. ... This started about 4 years ago. Finally, a new nurse practitioner ordered a sleep study and I have sleep apnea with restless leg syndrome.
.....
My question....did others who had “mental health issues” get much better once you got going on treatment? I am at 4 weeks and see subtle improvements, but still have a long ways to go. I assume the SA started decades ago, but my body and brain finally gave up one day.

Thanks for any encouragement or words of advise!

Hi Sissy63, and welcome!

Just wondering if the 63 in your username refers to the year you were born? It's the year I was and so I am just being nosy.

So many times women's symptoms are explained as simply hormonal (eg menopause) or psychological when in fact we have sleep disordered breathing, RLS or PLMD that are big contributing factors, ruining our sleep and devastating our days.

I was diagnosed with moderate OSA slap bang in the middle of going into menopause in 2015 at the age of 51. I had thought that my awful night sweats, racing heart, disrupted sleep, horrible mood swings, and extreme anxiety could be attributed to hormonal changes and was very surprised at the diagnosis of OSA. Like you up to this point I had been active, quite healthy and although always somewhat anxious was not the emotional wreck that I seemed to become at 50.

Now after over 2 years of being on CPAP every night things are so much better. I sleep well, still wake up quite a few times each night, but fall asleep very fast compared with before treatment. Anxiety levels are way down, and the night sweats and racing heart are a thing of the past.

I believe that most of my symptoms were completely related to OSA and not to menopause. If I skip a single night of CPAP the night sweats return and ditto the racing heart.

So from my point of view CPAP has really improved not only my physical health but my psychological well being and mental health as well.

This took time, didn't happen overnight but looking back at how I was a few years ago I can only say the difference now is really significant.

[Sigridonocturna]

Yes, I will say that I had a positive mental adjust after starting treatment.

Also, with better sleep, my body requirements for medications used to treat attention deficit disorder, dramatically changed. [ different type at a much lower dosage]

So yes, I believe there is a positive good connection between breathing well and correctly, and health and well-being.

[Sissy63]

I would like to know if others mental health improved greatly after treatment. I was just doing life...happy, active, gym rat, healthy eater and out of nowhere I hit the wall with exhaustion, insomnia, anxiety, and depression. ... This started about 4 years ago. Finally, a new nurse practitioner ordered a sleep study and I have sleep apnea with restless leg syndrome.
.....
My question....did others who had “mental health issues” get much better once you got going on treatment? I am at 4 weeks and see subtle improvements, but still have a long ways to go. I assume the SA started decades ago, but my body and brain finally gave up one day.

Thanks for any encouragement or words of advise!

Hi Sissy63, and welcome!

Just wondering if the 63 in your username refers to the year you were born? It's the year I was and so I am just being nosy.

So many times women's symptoms are explained as simply hormonal (eg menopause) or psychological when in fact we have sleep disordered breathing, RLS or PLMD that are big contributing factors, ruining our sleep and devastating our days.

I was diagnosed with moderate OSA slap bang in the middle of going into menopause in 2015 at the age of 51. I had thought that my awful night sweats, racing heart, disrupted sleep, horrible mood swings, and extreme anxiety could be attributed to hormonal changes and was very surprised at the diagnosis of OSA. Like you up to this point I had been active, quite healthy and although always somewhat anxious was not the emotional wreck that I seemed to become at 50.

Now after over 2 years of being on CPAP every night things are so much better. I sleep well, still wake up quite a few times each night, but fall asleep very fast compared with before treatment. Anxiety levels are way down, and the night sweats and racing heart are a thing of the past.

I believe that most of my symptoms were completely related to OSA and not to menopause. If I skip a single night of CPAP the night sweats return and ditto the racing heart.

So from my point of view CPAP has really improved not only my physical health but my psychological well being and mental health as well.

This took time, didn't happen overnight but looking back at how I was a few years ago I can only say the difference now is really significant.

Yes, I was born in 63!

Thanks for your encouraging words. This is a very lonely road and it is nice to find support and others who can walk you through it!

[Sissy63]

Yes, I will say that I had a positive mental adjust after starting treatment.

Also, with better sleep, my body requirements for medications used to treat attention deficit disorder, dramatically changed. [ different type at a much lower dosage]

So yes, I believe there is a positive good connection between breathing well and correctly, and health and well-being.

I think I need switched to an auto PAP.

[Arlene1963]

I want to talk to the new doctor about an APAP and maybe trying a nasal or pillows.

I think this is a very good idea, Sissy. The Resmed Airsense 10 AutoSet For Her is an excellent machine that has both APAP and CPAP modes. Also it is fullly data capable which means that you can monitor your own nightly data.

You will find that taking charge of your treatment and checking your data regularly to make sure that it is optimal will make a huge difference.

Most of us use software that is available for free called "SleepyHead". It is very easy to download and use. There is a pinned post at the top of the board written by Pugsy that deals with SleepyHead, please check it out.

It is vital that your machine is fully data capable, don't get fobbed off with a cheap "brick". I am thinking that your current machine shown in your profile is just that?

PAP is for life for most of us, so it has to be convenient to use, and many of us use pillows rather than a full face mask, preferences matter a great deal, so press for equipment that will work for you to make PAP successful, and not what makes your DME's life easier.

[blacknebula]

In a nutshell, yes, I had a huge improvement in my mental health after starting CPAP. My doctor had prescribed me some antidepressants that had worked for me in the past but this time round they seemed to do nothing (except gain weight). Which, after my apnea diagnosis, made a lot of sense because I was actually sleep deprived, not depressed! Starting noticing improvements around 2 weeks and mood/motivation continued to improve until around the 3 month mark. Hope you see some upswing.

[kteague]

I'll let others talk with you about machine data. In general regarding getting an APAP, knowing where the effectiveness of your treatment stands could help you know what to push for. Someone on a relatively low pressure will not be so likely to benefit from a auto adjusting pressure. What is your pressure? What is your AHI on the machine screen? Early only on when I came here I became focused on getting an APAP as the holy grail. I hoped it would solve my treatment problems. While the APAP I got did provide a bit more data, it turned out to not be of treatment benefit. The pressure I needed the moment I fell asleep was within a digit of what it took to treat me when I rolled on my back or hit REM. I only say this to say check out the details of what is going on with you. Your answer may or may not lie in gettting an APAP. Now true, it would be better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. But if getting your machine swapped out is going to be a major deal, you may want to weigh its value. I would be more concerned with what data you can get than the mode of treatment unless you see need to think otherwise. Maybe your titration report holds some clues as to the effectiveness of pressures in differing positions and sleep stages. Your description of how you feel makes me think your treatment may not yet be optimized.

[Sissy63]

I want to talk to the new doctor about an APAP and maybe trying a nasal or pillows.

I think this is a very good idea, Sissy. The Resmed Airsense 10 AutoSet For Her is an excellent machine that has both APAP and CPAP modes. Also it is fullly data capable which means that you can monitor your own nightly data.

You will find that taking charge of your treatment and checking your data regularly to make sure that it is optimal will make a huge difference.

Most of us use software that is available for free called "SleepyHead". It is very easy to download and use. There is a pinned post at the top of the board written by Pugsy that deals with SleepyHead, please check it out.

It is vital that your machine is fully data capable, don't get fobbed off with a cheap "brick". I am thinking that your current machine shown in your profile is just that?

PAP is for life for most of us, so it has to be convenient to use, and many of us use pillows rather than a full face mask, preferences matter a great deal, so press for equipment that will work for you to make PAP successful, and not what makes your DME's life easier.

You are correct, I got a brick! I had no idea. I have ordered a new machine like yours off the internet. Now I will be able to monitor my data!

I also ordered a pillow mask online.

Thanks for all of your help!