Desperate plea

Hello.
I feel like I'm a pest on this board, but I feel better by your encouragement.

I have severe apnea and have been on a titrated pressure of 15 about a month.

Although I feel like I'm somewhat better, I am still waking up feeling some fatigue and moody like depressed.

I was doing a lot better, then my daughter came to visit about two weeks ago. I stayed up late, didn't sleep with my machine one night, and that's when I started feeling really exhausted and irritable.

In the last several days, I've had aches in my back, legs, hands and feet. My doctor says it could be caused from lack of oxygen. I also have heard that laying more still now with cpap therapy can cause this.

Anyway, I'm tired of feeling moody and like crying, and the pain.

My doctor ordered blood work to see if my cholesterol medicine or something else is causing the pain.

Has anyone else had these symptoms?

I feel like it will never be better.

Thanks,
Jazzmynn

Yes. While in my never-ending quest for the perfect mask, I've had nights where I couldn't control the leaks and finally just shut the machine down in the wee hours. String a couple of those together and I begin to have symptoms just like you describe. (I've never measured O2 levels so I can't comment on that portion.)

Go back to your usual routine and get a couple of nights of good sleep and you'll gradually feel better. I've found that simply going to bed later on weekends can bring on adverse reactions...even if I sleep later to make up for it.

Jazz,

The "pestering", "whining", "ranting" and "venting" lamp is always lit here. No need to apologize. Everyone is different, and everyone has their own set of difficulties in adapting to CPAP therapy. I'm glad that you are in touch with your doc about this, hopefully he will find something, if there is something to find. The symptoms you list could simply be from sleeping more deeply, and could pass in time. A month or two after starting CPAP I began having some very bizarre dreams, and had a bit of emotional rollercoastering going on during the day. Since your untreated apnea was severe, like mine, then it means your body was out of whack for a long time, and it just may take a while for everything to settle down.

Are you able to access your nightly data on your machine? If you are still having apneas that may be the cause of your problems, and accessing your data would tell you if that is happening. Also, if bad sleep hygiene is what caused this problem (staying up late and not using your mask), then perhaps good sleep hygiene would cure it. I hope that you are now sleeping at regular hours, not eating before bed, limiting or eliminating caffiene and alcohol, and keeping a good sleep environment. If you have company in the future, maybe you should let them know in advance that you need to get to bed on time, and explain your need to use your CPAP.

I think that either time or your Dr will resolve you problems, so be patient, and keep using your cpap every night. It is something that you can control and will do nothing but good for you, especially over time. And by all means, come back and pester us whenever you like!

I've certainly had more muscle aches too but I think it's because I'm actually getting off my keister and doing stuff again.

I had been doing yoga off and on prior to starting cpap and never got muscle aches like I do now. I stopped yoga to see if there was a difference...nope, still sore everywhere so I'm thinking it may be just my metabolism playing catch up. Those muscles are actually getting oxygen for the first time and waking up (so to speak)

Yesterday I played my first round of golf for the year and I was in ouchie mode last night. I slept really well, and am not nearly as sore this morning.

My doctor advised me to start eating a banana a day to help get some potassium in me for the muscle aches.

My experiment this week is whether the banana will work or not for muscle ache. (not because of the banana article btw... )

Those pains could indeed be a side effect of your choleterol lowering meds.

If you search http://www.mayoclinic.com for "statins" you'll find the muscle and joint pains are a common side effect of statins.

O.

Your Dr may be on the right track, from personal experience, within a week of starting a statin I developed aching and tingling in arms and legs. My Dr took me off that med and symptoms disappeared after a day or two. Then he prescribed another statin that works a little differently and I've been on that one for several years with no ill effects.

jazzmynn, so sorry you're having problems. With a bit of luck, it will turn out to be as Dori and ozij suggested, and what your doctor is preparing to look into -- possible side effect of the particular cholesterol med you're on.

alnhwrd wrote:The "pestering", "whining", "ranting" and "venting" lamp is always lit here. No need to apologize. Everyone is different, and everyone has their own set of difficulties in adapting to CPAP therapy.

Well said! There's never any need to apologize for describing a problem and asking for help here.

jazzmynn1 wrote:In the last several days, I've had aches in my back, legs, hands and feet. My doctor says it could be caused from lack of oxygen.

If you didn't have those kinds of aches before you were diagnosed with OSA and were presumably having worse desats than now with CPAP keeping your airway open, I think lack of O2 is not very likely. That's assuming, of course, that your cpap pressure is right and you aren't losing cpap treatment out into the bedroom from massive mask and/or mouth air leaks.

Perhaps your doctor misunderstood and thought you meant you have completely quit using the machine, but you are saying you missed only one night using it...right? I think the cholesterol med track he's going to explore is more likely.

Good luck! Hope you start feeling better very soon.

ozij wrote:Those pains could indeed be a side effect of your choleterol lowering meds.

If you search http://www.mayoclinic.com for "statins" you'll find the muscle and joint pains are a common side effect of statins.

O.

I had this exact problem with Lipitor which is a statin and started taking COQ10 and Vitamin D, no more pains!!!