1 Year Into CPAP Therapy: Headaches Everyday

Using a Resmed Airsense 10 with Airtouch F20 Mask

Started my sleep apnea journey last year by taking Lofta’s at home sleep study. Felt horrible everyday with extreme fatigue and not rested despite sleeping 9 hours a night. The results were that I had severe sleep apnea.. They prescribed me a pressure of 4 minimum to 20 maximum.

The first few nights I could barely breathe, I felt like I was struggling for air. Found out how to tweak settings on my machine and did some google searches on average pressures to try.

After a bunch of trial and error, I was more comfortable and my AHI went down.

Currently have a minimum pressure of 8 and maximum pressure of 13. Those settings have made me feel rested and more awake during the day. Also changed EPR to 3, it was at 2 originally.

But a month ago, I started getting headaches every day and the last week they have been horrible. Just a constant headache.

My AHI is down to .7 -1 an hour.

Last month I did change from sleeping on my back to being a side sleeper. (Heard it was better for sleep apnea.)

Also got a new mask, so maybe its a little tighter.

I am seeing a pulmonologist in a month and a neurologist in two months.

Don’t know if I should just stop therapy for a few days and see if the headaches go away, lower my minimum pressure or what.

Everywhere I call… doctors are booked for a long time and just want to get better and stop having these headaches.

Frustrated and desperate for advice. I found this forum online in an attempt to get me by while I wait for my appointment.

Could my everyday headaches be from my minimum pressure being too high and EPR to 3?

filmstreamer1 wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 08, 2024 9:11 pm

Could my everyday headaches be from my minimum pressure being too high and EPR to 3?

Extremely unlikely.

Now the mask straps over the head and face might be a factor if you have things too tight.

Also it could simply be one of the hundreds of other things that cause headaches. Cervical spine issues is one that I used to have until I had my neck fixed.

filmstreamer1 wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 08, 2024 9:11 pm

Also got a new mask, so maybe its a little tighter.

to follow up on what pugsy said, got to youtube and search mask fitting videos. be sure to use your mask in the search parameters. and look at more than one as you might not get everything in one video.

good luck and welcome to the zoo!

Thank you guys. I will try that tonight. It’s weird that I feel so well rested and so much energy during the day compared to the past yet my headaches are just getting worse.

filmstreamer1 wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 08, 2024 9:39 pm

Thank you guys. I will try that tonight. It’s weird that I feel so well rested and so much energy during the day compared to the past yet my headaches are just getting worse.

please come back and let us know how it went.

I watched the videos.. I don’t think my mask is too tight..

I did learn that I was wearing my mask on too low… Not high enough near the very top of my nose… makes sense about the leaks part if there is too much of a gap.

Could sleeping on my side be putting excess force on my mask and causing the headaches potentially?

filmstreamer1 wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 08, 2024 9:54 pm

I watched the videos.. I don’t think my mask is too tight..

Could sleeping on my side be putting excess force on my mask and causing the headaches potentially?

Maybe but as a side effect due to you maybe either putting your head/neck in a crimped position in an effort to not let side sleeping pressure on the mask to cause leaks.....maybe. So maybe neck position is causing stress on the neck and that is causing the headaches. If you could stand behind yourself and look at your spine while you are on your side....is the spine straight or level with no dips or crimps?

Lots of things can cause headaches and it isn't always where we get to blame cpap or the mask.
Could it maybe be related to mask or cpap therapy??? Very weak maybe IMHO.

Call your doctor....please.
Don't screw around very long with this.
The other list of potential culprits or headaches have both benign stuff and some real bad stuff.....it is also possible something else is causing the headaches.

Yeah you are right. Since they started getting worse from 2 days ago got me into setting up appointments.

Messaged my doctor on the portal to see what else I can do before the month appointment. If not I guess I should look elsewhere to be seen.

It’s crazy because when I first started CPAP… my exhaustion levels made me feel like an old man always needing rest during the day. Now I can stay up and be active in life no issues at all.

So maybe my therapy is effective and something else is the cause.

Thanks guys for being so quick at answering my post.

filmstreamer1 wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 08, 2024 10:14 pm

Thanks guys for being so quick at answering my post.

no problem. i'm just sorry it wasn't down to the mask.

Just a quick update and question…

I went to the doctor about the headaches, got a CT Scan.. Everything was fine.

Seeing a Neurologist on Wednesday to get evaluated to try to rule out other issues.

Wondering if it is from the sleep apnea, although I do have more energy during the day compared to the past.

Got this really cool flexible gel like mask that you freeze and then you put over your head that helps with the headaches… I’m sure its also going to come in handy to cool me down in the hot summer months. Got that off of amazon.

I got my SD card finally a week or so ago and put it into my machine, next step being to download OSCAR and set it up and get the data.

What do I do from there once I get the data?

Just take a screenshot of my data and upload to imgur and upload the link here so people can see it and help me optimize it?

Thanks in advance.

You might try getting a recording pulse oximeter--about $30 on Amazon to see what your 02 levels are doing during the night. That can be one explanation for headaches, even though your AHI is good and you feel rested.