still struggling

On a plus note, I am getting better with the dreamweaver nose pillows (over resmed nasal mask), I don't itch as much, and when I do I can itch without breaking the seal much.
I do know I still wake up a few times, because as a side sleeper, my head will shift and loosen causing leaks, so I have to waken to use energy to move my head around to force the pillows to seal again (or tighten headgear).
I can sleep several hours (with several interuptions) after taking an hour or two, often, to fall asleep. My AHI numbers 'look' great, averaging close to 1.0

But I feel terrible. Even worse than when I started a month ago.
During the day, I get dizzy and lightheaded and weak have trouble walking around, feeling like I have zero energy and fighting to stay alert and sharp. The weird thing is, I don't know if 'tired' is the best description
because when I close my eyes, I still can't sleep for hours. I was like this before, but not as bad.
I also, more recently, wake up with pressure headaches.

I tried to set an alarm as others suggested, because I tend to sleep like 9 to 11 hours, and sometimes think maybe I am oversleeping. But when I cut it short, that amplifies the bad symptoms.
On the one hand I want to stop, because it rolls back the symptoms and I can sleep continuously, on the other...everyone keeps saying it takes a while to kick in.

I took several blood tests and don't want to keep going down the rabbet hole chasing the cause, when everyone points to apnea, even though my numbers are very mild... and they say give it time, but in the mean
time things are getting worse.

Am I on the right track?

Lightheaded may mean Cpap is doing what it says - lowering your blood pressure, but if you still have headaches and are sleeping 11 hrs (your body trying to make up for UNtreated apnea) something is wrong, whether your pressure settings are too low, mask leaking, something. You should investigate with Sleepyhead.

Thank you Julie,
I don't see anything unusual, what should I be looking for? The leaks are better than the nasal mask I had before.
The few spikes that are real high, are likely interruptions where I moved around and had to either tighten or reseat the nasal pillows.

http://tinypic(dot)com/view(dot)php?pic=eg766v&s=9#(dot)Wg4vJ7pFz9Q

*appreciate if anyone can clean up link.

dreamweaver nasal pillows
resmed airsense 10

I'm reading Park's 'Sleep Interrupted,' and there's a passage in the front that describes some UARS patients.

"Additional studies show that these patients exhibit additional common features such as cold hands, dizziness, and lightheadedness, low blood pressure, and orthostatic intolerance." The latter term refers to the dizziness, lightheadedness, and occasional short blackouts experienced too quickly. Here, the confused nervous system can't react quickly enough to tighten blood vessels leading o the brain, hence the familiar symptoms." (p 28)

This passage describes spot on, my symptoms. I wonder how one gets the diagnosis for UARS. I had very mild OSA, but again the overnight was terrible, I only slept about 2 or 3 hours, and always questioned results.

user232 wrote:I'm reading Park's 'Sleep Interrupted,' and there's a passage in the front that describes some UARS patients.

"Additional studies show that these patients exhibit additional common features such as cold hands, dizziness, and lightheadedness, low blood pressure, and orthostatic intolerance." The latter term refers to the dizziness, lightheadedness, and occasional short blackouts experienced too quickly. Here, the confused nervous system can't react quickly enough to tighten blood vessels leading o the brain, hence the familiar symptoms." (p 28)

This passage describes spot on, my symptoms. I wonder how one gets the diagnosis for UARS. I had very mild OSA, but again the overnight was terrible, I only slept about 2 or 3 hours, and always questioned results.

Cold hands, low BP, trouble concentrating, tired all the time, and low AHI with moderate RDI - that's me too.

Let's see if this works
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=eg766v&s=9#.Wg431jdryUl

Have you ever tried setting your minimum IPAP closer to 10? Doing so will help prevent events and also limit pressure swings which may be waking you up.

I've been on cpap for over 3 months and experience the same stuff you're talking about - light-headed and weak, and I get what you say that "tired" isn't the right description. I was diagnosed as moderate with AHI of 20. No mention of UARS, but sure fit the description, just as you say. My symptoms get better later in the day, with late afternoon and evening being WAY better than morning (mornings are hideous) and early afternoon. Do you experience that too? Hopefully we will find some answers!

@Rainmom17 .... Yes! I feel worse in morning and afternoon, esp. when I need to go out to run errands. For some reason, it gets better towards nighttime, at home, or sitting in bed, reading, coding, whatever.
It's almost like a surreal fog or dream layer around my previously sharp and clear alertness. I'm really glad another poster recommended Park's book, it's the first time some of the concepts are finally resonating with my symptoms (for me). He mentioned that there is a strong relationship between GERD and OSA-- things like that.

@TedVPAP interesting, I originally bumped the start from 5 to 6.5 and that helped a lot, as I was initially suffocating. I also found out later that the ramp setting was still at a very low initial value, hence why I struggled so much at the beginning of the evening, I bumped that to 6.5. I could start higher, like 10; is there any downside to it? And what would I look for on sleepyhead to determine quantitative improvements/changes?