New....15 nights in...

Hello,

Another new user here with questions. I don't have the sleepyhead software (yet) but do have the dreammapper app that shows a few stats.

I went to the doctor because I was done...done being sleepy all the time, done with headaches, done with waking up 5-10x a night, done falling asleep at my desk/worried about falling asleep while driving and done keeping my hubby awake with snoring (he's very supportive since he had a bipap for years).

How long did it take you to start feeling better?

I had high expectations that I would feel better after the first night with the machine but it didn't happen. My AHI during the sleep test was 39, first few nights with cpap it was 17-20. The last 2 nights that number has dropped to 7 and I only woke up once each night.

Am I being impatient? Did it take others this long to adjust/feel better?

Thanks for any input or advice....

SnoringPugs wrote:Hello,

Another new user here with questions. I don't have the sleepyhead software (yet) ... first few nights with cpap it was 17-20. The last 2 nights that number has dropped to 7

get sleepyhead, post charts, get advice, feel better.

SnoringPugs wrote:How long did it take you to start feeling better?

Define "feeling better". I had a couple of OSA symptoms go away within the first month but "feeling better" as in a new found super woman energy...still waiting for that but in lessor expectations...about 3 to 5 months before a real noticeable increase in general energy levels and actually sleeping better and feeling more rested.

SnoringPugs wrote:Am I being impatient?

Yes...a little bit impatient.

SnoringPugs wrote:Did it take others this long to adjust/feel better?

"This long"...2 weeks is nothing. While a few lucky people do get that "miracle" right away most people find it takes much longer and improvements are more gradual.
If you break your arm and put a cast on it...is it healed overnight? Of course not but we tend to expect the machine to fix damage to our body that has gone on for likely years..overnight and it simply can't do it.

All that said...even with the therapy is optimal it can take time and yours is likely not optimal yet.
The AHI of 7 being a good one for you...that in itself points to sub optimal therapy. Your therapy probably could be improved upon and until it is optimized the chances for feeling much better are slim and none.

Get SleepyHead set up and let's look to see exactly what is going on with that AHI of 7 and see what could stand improvement.

First question is...what is that AHI of 7 composed of? Meaning how much in each event category.
3 categories
Clear Airway/Central Index
Obstructive Apnea Index
Hyponea Index

See any snores being recorded on the SH detailed page?
How well are the leaks managed?
How many hours of sleep are you averaging?
Take any meds of any kind? If so, what?

How to post images so we can see what you see in SH
https://sleep.tnet.com/reference/tips/imgur
Do NOT do the full screen image thing if you use Windows. There's SH bug that you may not like if you do.
How to organize those graphs
https://sleep.tnet.com/resources/sleepyhead/shorganize
And finally for examples of what we like to see (we don't need or want all those graphs)
viewtopic/t103468/Need-help-with-screen-shots.html

So while you may just need to be more patient and "give it time"...let's use that time to make sure your therapy gets optimized.

Oh...welcome to the forum...and I bet your Pug snores about like mine does. When he sleeps in bed with me it can sure mess up my snore charts.

palerider wrote:

SnoringPugs wrote:Hello,

Another new user here with questions. I don't have the sleepyhead software (yet) ... first few nights with cpap it was 17-20. The last 2 nights that number has dropped to 7

get sleepyhead, post charts, get advice, feel better.

I tried and am having user failure issues. I was able to load data the first time but can't seem to update it now so it's 'old news'.

Pugsy wrote:

SnoringPugs wrote:How long did it take you to start feeling better?

Define "feeling better". I had a couple of OSA symptoms go away within the first month but "feeling better" as in a new found super woman energy...still waiting for that but in lessor expectations...about 3 to 5 months before a real noticeable increase in general energy levels and actually sleeping better and feeling more rested.

To me feeling better would be not waking up with headaches every day and feeling more rested.

The day I finally downloaded sleepyhead it showed my AHI at 30 with a note that it was horrible and I should call my doctor. Which I did. They are increasing my pressure, will review in 2 weeks to see if I need a bi-pap or another type (can't remember the initials).
On the new pressure last night I got this from the app:
AHI 11.7
No leaks
Total Clear Airway Apneas 7
Total Obstructive Apneas 34
Total Hypopneas 42

I'll try to use sleepyhead when I get home and post.

Oh...welcome to the forum...and I bet your Pug snores about like mine does.

We have 2 little pug puppies so the snores are minor for now. My older pug's snores used to help me sleep

Like a lot of people, I did not get an immediate change in how I felt. After being on the machine for about two months, I noticed I could sit at the table and work the daily crossword puzzle and not fall asleep, and I could sit and watch television without sleeping. My blood oxygen level was dropping so low while sleeping (less than 70%) when I had my knee replaced, my doctor ordered supplemental oxygen while sleeping until I could finally get tested and start treatment. It took almost ten months to get my testing done and actually start treatment. I used my machine the last time I was in the hospital, and my blood oxygen level did not drop during the night.

Some people feel relief and some fee it gradually. Just do this for two months and then really look at how our feel as compared to before.

I suspect that your husband reported immediate relief and that's why you have these expectations.

And yes, do use the Sleepyhead software. If your AHI is too high, call your sleep doc.

Update....

I'm using the cpap every night, all night. Overall I'm feeling better than I did before getting the cpap--not waking up as often, not quite as drowsy during the day and not having the headache every morning. My AHI was averaging 20+ so the sleep doc increased my pressure from 7 to 9. Now the AHI is averaging about 12.1 but I've had 3 random nights that were under 5.

The sleep doc had me to a quick trial of a few minutes on a bi-pap and a few minutes on an asv. The bi-pap felt too 'strong' for me so now I'm going in for another sleep study and getting an asv machine. I had the appointment schedule but decided to wait until I have surgery for large kidney stones. I asked the sleep doc if the pain & discomfort from the stones could affect my AHI and he said probably not?

So, it looks like I was impatient thinking 2 weeks and all would be better. At least I can feel some improvement and when I get a different machine it should be even better.

SnoringPugs wrote: I asked the sleep doc if the pain & discomfort from the stones could affect my AHI and he said probably not?

Actually in a round about way pain can affect AHI numbers...sometimes...
Sometimes awake breathing irregularities can sometimes get flagged by mistake so sometimes the AHI might include awake breathing flags which aren't really sleep apnea events.

Example...if you are having a lot of pain and awake often and tossing and turning your awake breathing is going to be very irregular and the machine doesn't know if you are awake or not. It only measures air flow and if the air flow going on with your breathing and tossing and turning is irregular it wouldn't be impossible for the machine to flag some sort of apnea event as happening but it really didn't happen because you were awake. Awake "events" don't count.

So in a round about way pain can falsely elevate an AHI because pain can sometimes create breathing situations that fool the machine into thinking an apnea event happened when in reality a person wasn't asleep so it doesn't count.

I have seen some rather remarkable changes in AHI just from elimination of awake breathing irregularities from the AHI. I remember one guy having an AHI of 20 something and it was mainly central but we figured out he was laying in bed tossing a turning for prolonged periods of time with the mask and machine on because of not being able to get to sleep but once we fixed that problem his AHI went down to a nice normal 3 ish. The bulk of his AHI was apnea events flagged during wake times.

So it can happen...now it doesn't always happen but it can happen.