Are my headaches caused by cpap?

Started at a pressure of 12 (straight cpap) about 2 weeks ago. Tried with and without the humidifier. Tried Quattro Air and Wisp.

No issues tolerating either mask for entire night. Overall good AHI (averaging about 2 or less) but headaches persist.

Not OSA headaches and temporally seem to coincide with starting therapy.

Leak rate of about 7liters.

Is headgear too tight? Maybe...

Just with I could stop these headaches that are now daily.

You have a data capable machine. Download Sleepy head and print off the graphs so people can help. There might be issues happening during the night.
You might also consider renting a recording oxymeter from your DME.

Headaches better now...I think it was the mask as I switched to the Quattro fx.

hsbroker wrote:Every day I am having pretty bad headaches. This morning I woke uo with a bad one but usually they come during the day.

I can't think of anything that is causing this except the cpap usage. I don't believe my mask is too tight but it could be. I have it adjusted to prevent leaks and max pressure is only 11.5

An occasional headache is part of living but every day is wearing me down.
Any thoughts, please?

Just a reminder that it's been over two weeks since you were invited to add your equipment to your profile and post your charts. This information could be very pertinent!

In my case, CPAP titration at the sleep lab gave me horrible, horrible headaches all the next day! I was ready to choke the sleep doctor, the lab technicians and everyone else!

It turned out from the charts in my report that I also have central apneas, and continuous pressure (CPAP) caused more centrals and gave me the terrible headaches.

The result was that I wound up getting an ASV machine (see below) which is constantly variable pressure and treats my apneas properly, preventing almost all of them, with no headaches the next day. (As a followup, one night a few months ago I accidentally switched my treatment mode on my machine from ASV to CPAP and bam! the next day I had those horrible headaches all day again!)

So if you included your equipment in your profile, and put up a copy of your sleep study if you can't put up your own charts, maybe the folks here could help you get to the bottom of this!

Or was central apnea ruled out in your original sleep study? You don't give us much to go on.

Best wishes, Nate

I just started using a CPAP machine 9 days ago. Now my morning headaches, which varied from mild to, only occasionaly, migraines are now almost always migraines. Unlike my two nights of testing where I slept 6 hours, I now sleep two or three which is about an hour or two less than what I used to sleep. And I have a migraine or prodrome that ends in a migraine very soon. It takes two doses of Imitrex nasal spray 20 mg to get rid of the migraine about 3 hours or so later. Today I'm going to call the place I get the CPAP. This didn't occur in the sleep lab so I figure it may be how I have it strapped, a pressure setting that is too low (7), or something that they may figute out. I have Chiari Malformation which causes Chiari headaches. And that's what these feel exactly like. Wish me luck!

You may be overtightening the straps to stop leakage, but if doing so worsens your Chiari problems you must make sure it's dealt with, plus overtightening doesn't let the silicone cushion inflate properly. You may need to try many different masks before finding the right fit.

Timmers wrote:I just started using a CPAP machine 9 days ago. Now my morning headaches, which varied from mild to, only occasionaly, migraines are now almost always migraines. Unlike my two nights of testing where I slept 6 hours, I now sleep two or three which is about an hour or two less than what I used to sleep. And I have a migraine or prodrome that ends in a migraine very soon. It takes two doses of Imitrex nasal spray 20 mg to get rid of the migraine about 3 hours or so later. Today I'm going to call the place I get the CPAP. This didn't occur in the sleep lab so I figure it may be how I have it strapped, a pressure setting that is too low (7), or something that they may figute out. I have Chiari Malformation which causes Chiari headaches. And that's what these feel exactly like. Wish me luck!

I think that it is very important that you work toward being able to view and use your xPAP machine nightly data to help choose the best course with your therapy.

Pugsy and the gang will guide you.

I wouldn't be surprised if the headgear was a factor.
I have stopped wearing a particular mask, since I always woke up in pain.
The limitation for me is single size headgear, but not for my size head.

Do you take Tylenol or other similar drugs every time you get one, trying to 'chase' the pain? If so, you may be causing 'rebound headaches'. The only treatment for these is to stop popping the pills cold turkey. Sounds awful, but sometimes treating the headache causes the headache & sets up a visocus cycle.

It happened to a friend of mine. She thought she had migraines like mine, went to my neuro Dr. & he diagnosed her with rebound headaches. Once she stopped the Tylenol & got the 'cycle' to stop. (took about 2 weeks) she was fine - no headaches.

Jen

The whole reason I am at the blog is to find out if others are having migraines due to their cpap mask. I have done isolation and it appears to be from my cpap mask. The muscles in the lower back of the head are agitated by the cpap mask straps. The straps must be type to prevent too much leakage. The tight straps stain the muscles and a migraine ensues. Is their a mask that doesn't require a tight fit around the base of the head?

What you need is a mask properly fitted for you so that it doesn't need to be overtight - that's counterproductive (can cause new small leaks) and uncomfortable plus the silicone 'cushion' won't inflate if straps are too tight. If you get leakage when the mask is adjusted so it's not too tight, you need to find another mask, better size, etc. What are you using now and how many others have you tried?

Cpap should get rid of headaches, not cause them, and if you have a neck problem, you should talk to your doctor about the possibility of that.

I'm a migraine sufferer, and having headgear that is too tight, or that my be too loose and slips can both cause headaches for me (but mostly too tight). I found some relief with the Pad A Cheek mask liner and neck pad.

zarathustra wrote: Is there a mask that doesn't require a tight fit around the base of the head?

There are masks available out there that don't require any straps around the base of the skull.
Unfortunately none in the full face mask type but there are lots of other masks that don't require any straps at all at the base of the skull.