Depression & Sleep Apnea

[DawnTCB]

amandalee-

Today's the day! I am thinking of you today... hope everything goes perfectly for you!

Dawn

[amandalee]

Thanks so much for all of the kind wishes! It helps alot!
2 hours till I go pick up my machine.

KAZ- It's good to hear that you are feeling better and your health problems have improved. You have come a long way, congratulations!
One of the surprising symptoms of OSA that I hadn't thought about until I started reading this board was food cravings/overeating. You mentioned:

ate large quantities of food in a vain/destructive attempt to get some energy.

and someone who posted on another thread mentioned eating carbs all the time to get energy. It's interesting because I crave sugary snacks and other carbs all the time. In the past I've been really disgusted with myself, but now I realize it's probably another nasty thing that will go away once the CPAP therapy starts working.
Anyway, all these success stories give me hope that my life will improve too. Thanks!

[Susanm]

It's interesting because I crave sugary snacks and other carbs all the time. In the past I've been really disgusted with myself, but now I realize it's probably another nasty thing that will go away once the CPAP therapy starts working.

It's always been the same for me ... and sodas especially. I've pretty much kicked the soda habit now, and my urge to eat sugary stuff, or breads, is much less, and doesn't last as long. If I can hold out for 5 or 10 minutes, it's usually gone. It did take a couple of weeks before the appetite started decreasing though.

Best of luck
Susan M

[amandalee]

Well, I picked up my machine earlier today. Now I can finally have those cool pictures at the bottom of my posts.
Already I feel less "depressed," and I haven't even used it yet. This therapy works really well! I know it will be weird to adjust to sleeping with a mask on my face, but it's got to better than feeling like crap all the time.
A few things I'm looking forward to once I get used to CPAP:

-More energy/not feeling like a zombie
-Being able to get stuff done at work and around the house
-Hopefully going off Cymbalta & Adderall
-Not making stupid mistakes and being in a constant mental fog
-Actually seeing results from my efforts to eat healthy & exercise
-Decreased carb cravings
-Fitting into my clothes again

and more I'm sure.

[phil1001]

Hi Amandalee,

Well having also zero energy, falling asleep at lunchtime, losing my short term memory, having brain fog, no energy, weight gain, low sex drive and so on (the kick-off plan), its amazing how much better I feel with my M series and just having air shoved up my nostrils
Its taken a few weeks to find a comfortable sleeping postion and the right fit for my mask, but I am starting to feel human again. I dont expect to have a quick fix as I have several years of missed sleep to catch up on, but its the way forward.

And as a bonus I am sure the mask will really scare the neighbourhood kids at halloween

Good luck
Phil

[amandalee]

And as a bonus I am sure the mask will really scare the neighbourhood kids at halloween

Thanks Phil! Now I don't have to find a costume for this year's Halloween party. I can just go as myself wearing my mask. Because if things haven't improved by October, I'll be looking really scary...

I have now done 2 nights of CPAP. I wasn't expecting to miraculously feel better over night; but I was also not expecting to feel worse than before I started.

Night 1/Yesterday
I excitedly set up my machine, put the humidifier at 3 and the C-Flex at 3. My pressure is supposed to be at 13, but that feels really high so I used the ramping. I wasn't feeling sleepy, so I had stayed up later than I should have. Even then, (and after taking some melatonin) it was still really hard to fall asleep. I could feel the pressure increase and when it got to 13 it felt like it was going to blow the mask away from my face.

I woke up yesterday morning around 7 am with the mask leaking, so I just gave up and took it off; then slept for another 2 hours. I was late for work, and it was (still) all I could do to drag myself through the day, because I felt just as tired and crappy as before using CPAP.

On top of that, my airway and lungs felt really sore, like they were irritated and inflamed. I'm not talking about discomfort--I was expecting that when starting this treatment. I mean pain, every time I move or breathe.

As usual, once I got home I had no energy to do anything, so I collapsed on the couch and watched TV, and ate a lot of sugar to satisfy my nasty, disgusting carb cravings.

Night 2/Today
I thought that maybe the nasty "new plastic" smell from the hose, mask and humidifier might still be bothering me, so I cleaned them again: soaked in warm, soapy (dishwashing liquid) water for about an hour, rinsed, diluted white vinegar for half an hour, rinsed, then air dried.

I went to bed earlier because I was feeling more tired, but I took the melatonin again, hoping it would knock me out until my alarm went off, because usually I don't (consciously) wake up at any point during the night.
This time I turned the humidifier up to 4, thinking that might help my sore airway. It wasn't as hard to fall asleep, but being aware of the mask woke me up a few times, including once at 6 am to go to the bathroom. I went back to bed, put the machine on ramp again, turned the humidifier back down to 3 (it was too hot at 4) and slept till my alarm went off at 8. Then I took the mask off and slept for another hour.

Today I still feel tired and crappy, have had trouble dragging myself through the work day (I've basically accomplished nothing) my lungs and airway still hurt and feel swollen; and now my sinuses, throat and mouth hurt too, and I have a terrible headache. Again, I can deal with discomfort, but this is serious pain. It is making me feel worse than before I even started CPAP.

I really don't know what to do. I had to do a titration study in addition to my first sleep study because they couldn't find the right pressure for me. I think that 13 is too high.
I'm reluctant to call my doctor after just 2 days because he'll probably just blow me off and say I need to give it more time to adjust or whatever. And forget calling the DME; the experience with getting the machine showed that mine is basically useless.
I should hopefully be getting my software and card reader pretty soon so I will be able to check stats. Is there some way to get into the clinical menu on my machine so I can get this info without the software while I am waiting? It would be nice to have some numbers for whenever I call my doctor to complain about how much pain I'm in.

What should I do?
Help!

[Moby]

Hi,

I just read your last post, will reply later as have to go out (to the sleep clinic actualy!!!))

I'm sure the people here can helpl you with your problems. It's not unusual to feel airway discomfort at first.

Be back later. Hang in there!

love

Di

[phil1001]

Hi Amandalee,

Ok, my first few nights were worse, I mean disgusting smell of plastic which took about a week.
Then of course sleeping with a mask meant less sleep as I wasnt used to it and kept waking up.
I have my humidifier set on 1 or 2 - depending. And then my setting is 9cm, but I have it initially set to 4.5 ramping up over 20 minutes.

It also took me some time to break the erratic sleeping routine I was in.

Melatonin does not make you sleepy it just regulates your body as to when it *should* sleep ie: resets your body clock.

As for the lung soreness, I get very sore lungs from my asthma and allergies if my sinuses are not clear as the mask seems to flush out the pollen into my lungs.

As for the carb loading.... let it go for now, focus on the OSA, another couple of weeks of candy will not make a difference - really.

Ok, what to do... This is based on what I have done and I am *not* an MD so if your ears fall off or next door neighbours dog starts barking - its not my fault.

Do a sinus wash, this is 500ml of warm with 1/2 teaspoon sea salt and 1/2 teaspoon baking soda dissolved into it. Its kinda weird at first but with a neti pot or the attachment for your waterpik - its ok.

Then drop your setting to 9cm, I think 13 initially is way high. Set the ramp over 20 minutes starting at 4.5.
To get in the setup menu, turn off the power, hold both arrows, turn on power. If you need the provider setup manual scanned and emailed to you, let me know.

You are not on your own, its not an instant fix, but over the next two weeks we can get all the settings right.

Phil

[roster]

Hello Amandalee,

My personal preference would be to leave the melatonin out of the mix while you are adjusting to the cpap and dealing with some of the symptoms. That would be one less variable to be concerned with while you are tweaking the cpap treatment.

Good luck and know that there are many people pulling for you,

Rooster

[amandalee]

Thanks so much Phil. I'm going to try your suggestions ASAP.

rooster- I'll skip the melatonin tonight and see how it goes. Thanks!

[jskinner]

My personal preference would be to leave the melatonin out of the mix while you are adjusting to the cpap and dealing with some of the symptoms.

Agreed.

I would also lower the pressure until you got used to it and set your ramp to start at 6cm.

[macr]

depression and other mental problems are caused by malfunctions of the mind. the mind is a complex system. Most mental problems are caused by malfunctions of hormones and neurotransmitters. levels of serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, gaba, glutimate, thyroid hormone, testosterone, estrogen, dhea, progesterone, pregenelone, growth hormone, cortisol, etc. sleep apnea can definatly cause depression because the brain sets these things into its optimal balance with during good sleep.

[DawnTCB]

depression and other mental problems are caused by malfunctions of the mind. the mind is a complex system. Most mental problems are caused by malfunctions of hormones and neurotransmitters. levels of serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, gaba, glutimate, thyroid hormone, testosterone, estrogen, dhea, progesterone, pregenelone, growth hormone, cortisol, etc. sleep apnea can definatly cause depression because the brain sets these things into its optimal balance with during good sleep.

Well, that was quite an interesting addition to this topic...

amandalee- if you aren't in bed yet, I wanted to say my first days were the hardest. I woke up WAY more often than I ever had (consciously) before. I fought with my mask, my pressure, my stress and probably even my inordinately high hopes. But you will figure it out. My sister did a painting this week that shows where I think I was that first couple of weeks, it's called No Place Left to Go But Up... maybe it will cheer you up.

Keep going, you'll get through this!

Dawn

[echo]

Amandalee,

First of all, can I suggest that you open a new thread, because i was wondering how your treatment was going and hadn't seen anything from you, then I randomly went into the depression post and saw it there. Others may also not find it.

Not sure what the pain in your chest means, but I assume that you've had a pulmonary function test during one of your sleep studies? (To rule out any underlying pulmonary problems... ). Alternately, as you say, the pressure might be too high. Again, if you post in a new thread more poeple will see it.

One other point - perhaps the humidifier setting is too high and you're getting too much moisture into your lungs? The nurse told me to start at 1 otherwise I would get rain-out (in the middle of the summer??). Anyway just a suggestion.

After my third night, I know what you mean about waking up!!! I NEVER wake up at night (even w/ the worst apneas) and since using the machine I wake up an average of twice every night. As slinky said in another post, part of it is getting used to wearing the mask (so wear it during the day to get used to it). I think another point is that if your mask is leaking, that will wake you up. And I'm no expert on pressure, but you know your body the best - so I would follow your intuition - however as others have said, don't tweak more than one parameter at a time otherwise you won't know what helped / worsened the situation.

Regarding the carbs - I'm there with ya on that one too! It not only gives you a kick, but it's also a comfort food (releases serotonin?? probably already mentioned on this thread before). I plan on paying attention to that later, once the sleep is a bit more under control - I'm going with Phil on this one.

I'm 100% sure that you can fix your problems and that you WILL feel better with the treatment!!

[ozij]

Let the machine run on empty for about an hour or two, it too has a plasticy smell (you'll have to cancel the alarm and automatic shutdown if they're on - but its worth it.

I think your soreness probably comes from breathing against the pressure.

And my first nights were also horrible. I called it "cpap boot camp" nothing felt easy or pleasant or sleep inducing about it in the beginning - the smell, the touch, the noise - it feels ike everything is working against you. It took my about a month - and my pressure is low, unlike yours. 13 is one tough level to breathe against. As a matter of fact, many people are eventually give a bi-pap at those pressure levels -- but the insurance has to be convinced you tried the cheaper option first.

And I second echo: please start an update thread, and put a link to it in a message on this one, so we will all know where to find it an respond.

Hang in there amandalee - it may take time, but it will get better. And we're here to help with tips, listen to your rants, and commiserate with you - not everyone has it easy when cpap starts.

O.