Am I just impatient?

[stacia123]

I've been using my CPAP and full face mask for a week. I've been lucky in that I got used to it really fast, I get at least 7.5 hours of sleep with it per night and my AHI average is 4.2, so I'm sure it's working. However I don't really feel a lot of improvement. There is some improvement, mainly in brain fog which seems to have cleared up a LOT, but I still get tired after being up just 5-6 hours. Basically I still have no stamina. How long can it take before I notice improvement?

[ziggytosh]

Well that's great that it's working at least. Your numbers sound really good to me. I am a noobie too, so my answer is not at all authoritative, but in reading around it sounds like it can take some time to feel the improvements even once you're being treated right. Some say a few weeks.

[eutychus]

Tonight will be my 7th night on the hose. I'm with you, in that I feel as though a lot of the fog has lifted. Also, I'm napping less. My wife says that I've been in a "better mood lately" - whatever that means. I've been keeping a journal, so in a few weeks if I feel like not much has changed I can actually look back and see if there really has been some noticable difference.

Keep going - it only gets better.

[bdp522]

You need to give it more time. It takes time for your body to adjust to all of this. Some feel great the next day and others take weeks, even months to feel the smallest improvements. Just be sure to keep at it! an AHI of under 5 is considered normal. Of course it may go down more as you adjust.

Brenda

[DreamDiver]

stacia123,

Consider - your sleep debt may be years long. You may not be able to expect immediate results if your body is still recuperating from that. However - If you're getting 5 to 6 hours of clarity during the day and your AHI is already below 5, you're starting out great. Some of us have spent months trying to get where you're already at, so maybe your off to a good start, eh?

As you get more comfortable, you may find yourself experimenting with settings. However, the machine you have on your profile is not ideal for this. One thing you may want to attempt as soon as you can is to get a fully data capable machine. Ask your sleep doc to change the prescription to a fully data capable machine. Your current M-Series Plus only gives compliance data - not AHI or leak profiles. Even without software, the M-Series Pro will give you considerably more of a handle on your sleep therapy. Better yet, you'll be able to get the Encore Viewer software to let you actively participate in making your therapy easier to understand and work on.

Congratulations on a good start. It can only get better from here. Good luck on your sleep therapy.

[stacia123]

Thanks Brenda. I figured I was just impatient, but today I had a bad day health wise and I was worried. Plus my mask about killed my nose last night, so that didn't help!

DreamDiver, thanks! My machine is a pro, actually, did I pick the wrong thing in my profile? I'll check on that. I have a Remstar Pro M Series with C-Flex and Integrated Heated Humidifier.

EDIT: The CPAP I have is the one in your signature picture, DreamDiver! But I admit I have no idea how to do anything except flip through the menus, and don't even ask me what the System Leak screen means.

[SleepyNoMoreNotLoggedIn]

It took me about 4 months to get rid of ALL the Brain Fog and it seemed to have gotten worse before it all finally cleared up, just make sure you don't have much leaking of the mask as that will make the groggieness much worse and you really need to try to lower thay AHI some, that would also help!
Goodluck,
SleepyNoMore

[bdp522]

If the mask hurt the nose bridge, you can go to http://www.padacheek.com and get a nose bridge protector. Many have used one with great results. Padacheek also has strap covers to help with mask strap marks.

Brenda

[jnk]

For some of us it seems that the body does not use the benefits of therapy by making us feel better right away. Instead, apparently (at least according to my personal theory), the body senses that it has a newfound ability to heal itself in some areas that really need healing and goes to work on those deeper problem areas first. The healing process can be uncomfortable and the body may do what it can to slow you down for several weeks. In my opinion, that is why some of us find that we feel worse for some weeks or months, instead of better.

In one sense, none of us are patient when it comes to our health--it is too important to do what we can and to stay motivated. But taking the long-term view and keeping a positive approach is an important part of PAP therapy. Without that view and that approach, it is too easy to give up. The nice thing about this therapy is that when you see the data from your sleep study and educate yourself about what it means, you can get a lot of satisfaction from looking at the data you generate each day with your machine.

The trick is to be patient but not to be complacent, and that is a difficult balance for any of us to find whether we are feeling better or not. When we are starting out we have to pay particular attention to leaks and getting used to sleeping a new way while we try things that will keep us complliant. Eventually we move on to tweaking the therapy, so that's why it is important to get a data-capable machine and, for most, software.

Sleeping and breathing are good things, especially doing both together. It only makes sense for us to do all we can to keep doing both effectively. For me, visiting this forum is part of accomplishing that.

May it go well for you stacia123.

[Gerald]

Stacia......

i expect that most on this thread will disagree with me, but I don't think an AHI of 5.0 is good enough.

Based on experiments my honey and I ran....using a recording Oximeter......we found that we had to get the AHI to at least 2.5 or less......before we could achieve 93% blood O2 saturation level for the whole night.

I think you'll see a big difference in the way you feel....after you are able to consistently keep the AHI below 2.5.

I realize that the "medical & insurance establishment" says that an AHI of 5.0 or below is "normal"....but I don't agree. The establishment also says that a blood-O2 saturation level of 93% or better is required for good health. AHI is only a half-assed guess of what our blood O2 levels "might" be....it's an indicator....but a CPAP machine isn't an Oximeter.

Because you have software....and you can monitor your therapy every night......you can tweak and tune your mask....over time....so that you achieve an AHI of 2.5 or better. If you're curious....and if you want to really know how you're progressing, get your finger inside of a recording Oximeter....and run your own experiments. You'll be enlightened.

You're already doing great....much better than the vast majority of hose-heads.....and with just a little more effort, you can make a big difference in the way you feel.

Gerald

[DreamDiver]

Stacia......

...an AHI of 5.0 is good enough.
..we found that we had to get the AHI to at least 2.5 or less......before we could achieve 93% blood O2 saturation level for the whole night. ...you'll see a big difference in the way you feel....after you are able to consistently keep the AHI below 2.5. ...The establishment also says that a blood-O2 saturation level of 93% or better is required for good health. AHI is only a half-assed guess of what our blood O2 levels "might" be....it's an indicator....but a CPAP machine isn't an Oximeter.
...
Gerald

Gerald,
I agree. I've spent months at a plateau with my AHI at or around 3.0 and felt like crap for most of it. I too got a pulsoximeter, and it helped me understand a lot more than just 02 levels. (And I still have a lot more to learn.) I found my best recuperative sleep was anything below 1.0 AHI. Recently, after realizing that minimizing leaks and trying different pressures was not enough, I started playing with the cflex settings, humidity settings, ramp settings. Finally, I just turned the cflex off and suddenly every night has shown an AHI below 1.0. I'm still napping some in the day, but my clarity for the time I am awake is significantly better.

For some of us it seems that the body does not use the benefits of therapy by making us feel better right away. Instead, apparently (at least according to my personal theory), the body senses that it has a newfound ability to heal itself in some areas that really need healing and goes to work on those deeper problem areas first. The healing process can be uncomfortable and the body may do what it can to slow you down for several weeks. In my opinion, that is why some of us find that we feel worse for some weeks or months, instead of better...

jnk,
I agree with this assessment too. I've been on several plateaus, first at about 13 for several months, then at about 6 for several months, then 3 for several, now 1 AHI. Any sleeping position had been painful during the 13, 6 and 3 AHI plateaus. Others' mileage will likely vary. However, with that last change in my cflex, things are getting even better. I've even slept through a couple whole nights without having to get up for the bathroom. That's a new thing for me. Preceding the beginning of each new plateau was a sense of 'could-this-get-any-worse?' but what followed as something better - if not wholly better, at least in part. I'm guessing my next plateau should be somewhere around .3 for every night, if I can make it happen.

@stacia123,
It's a little different for each of us. As Gerald points out, better oxygenation is obviously key for all of us. Some of us don't have as heavy a sleep debt as others, so the plateaus of 'deeper healing' that jnk mentions will likely be different for you. Yeah, I know there's a lot of jargon and concepts to learn, but once that all sinks in, you can start tweaking your settings, maybe even self-titrating, and getting your body to the ideal state of recuperative sleep for you. Just hang in there, learn what you can, take some of our ideas with a grain of salt, and latch on to the theories and tips that work for you.

[crossfit]

While I noticed the fog lifting immediately, it is just about now (3 full months) before I didn't feel tired still on most days. Maybe keep a log of how your feeling each day because you might not notice from day to day but over a few weeks you might see a huge change. Also, your spouse or partner usually can tell you changes immediately that you hadn't known about. For example, we don't fight as much anymore and have started having dates and being honeymooners again. This is all due to the change in my daily mood. I do notice that when I have a bad night with the mask, I feel similar to the old days. So that explains your bad day today after a bad night with the mask. That is also helpful to keep track of.

[jnk]

. . . we . . . started having dates and being honeymooners again. This is all due to the change in my daily mood. . . .

Nice post, crossfit! I can relate.

[Gerald]

Diver.........

Quality experimental work.....and quality writing on your part.

Based on your work, I'm going to experiment with a reduction of CFLEX.....I've got it set on (3) right now.

Thanks!

Gerald

[gasp]

It took me about 3 months : ) I should also add at 3 months is when I started to feel as if I was beginning to return to a state where I could not be tired all day and think more clearly. It took more months to be able to say that I didn't feel tired.