Nights Sweats and Tired

Hello all, so I was diagnosed about 11 months ago @ the age of 25 with moderate to severe sleep apnea and was given a pressure of 11. Since then I've become acclimated to the machine and don't have any issues falling asleep or leaving the machine on through the night. I have a Fiskar Paykel Sleep 600 series btw and keep the humidity setting around 2.0 which seems to be good.

My issues stem from never really feeling recovered in the morning. I know I feel better than before I had CPAP and if I don't use the machine(which is rare if ever) then I'm shot all day, but I never feel refreshed. I always seem to be tired no matter how many hours I sleep. I usually average 7-8 hrs a night with the mask on the entire time. However, waking up and getting going in the morning is extremely difficult and its starting to affect my work. I have to set my alarm sometimes two hours early just to make sure I can get going in time.

The second issue I'm having is in regards to night sweats. They are not regular, maybe 3-5 time a month, but are miserable. I wake up in a pool of sweat and have a hard time getting back to sleep. I never had this issue before CPAP and was wondering if anyone else has and what if any cause was found?

I've tried 3 different masks and switch between then regularly depending on how I'm feeling. I have a full face mask which I don't use as much because it is hard to get a seal unless its on very tight. I have a nasal pillow which I like but after a week or two can start to bother my nostrils and I have a nasal mask which I use the most. I'm going in for another sleep study soon to see if my pressure is correct but if anyone has any suggestions on things I can do to improve my situation, I would really appreciate it. Thanks.

I would suggest there are other things going on. Have you had your thyroid checked? Do you eat properly and get lots of water and vitamins?

I use to have night sweats during the night before cpap. I use to have them really bad now i might have one every once in awhile.

I don't know if cpap is what stopped them or not.

Sudsy

Without full data it is impossible to know what is happening while you are asleep. A new sleep study is definitely a good choice. You are also able to adjust your own machine if you get the clinician manual for it so you can tweak the pressure setting on your own.

Night sweats are a common event with OSA... usually stemming from events which make the blood pressure rise. However, on therapy, if at the right pressure, you should not be having these. It could be a thyroid issue or any number of things. Perhaps time for a good and thorough check-up, bloodwork, and evaluation is in order.

Is your machine the one with the super humidification system? I see that is the 604 model. I wonder if you may be getting too much heat/humidification and the sweats are a result of that. You could lower it to 1 and see what happens.

One other thing to remember, is that you are still only 11 months into this. Some folks have a sleep dept that takes a good, long while to pay back. I've read on this board that some folks don't feel energetic or refreshed for months or, in some cases, years.

On a very positive note, you are fortunate to be diagnosed at such a young age and get the help needed now. Many of us on here suffered for decades with not one doctor suggesting sleep apnea as a cause of our problems. We could be very bitter of those lost years and decades of good sleep, but that would be unproductive. Water under the bridge....... Embrace this new lease on life and move forward.

Best of luck to you.... keep us posted on your progress and how your new sleep study turns out. I am sure others will be along soon with their advice and expertise.

lali0020 wrote:Hello all, so I was diagnosed about 11 months ago @ the age of 25 with moderate to severe sleep apnea and was given a pressure of 11. Since then I've become acclimated to the machine and don't have any issues falling asleep or leaving the machine on through the night. I have a Fiskar Paykel Sleep 600 series btw and keep the humidity setting around 2.0 which seems to be good.

My issues stem from never really feeling recovered in the morning. I know I feel better than before I had CPAP and if I don't use the machine(which is rare if ever) then I'm shot all day, but I never feel refreshed. I always seem to be tired no matter how many hours I sleep. I usually average 7-8 hrs a night with the mask on the entire time. However, waking up and getting going in the morning is extremely difficult and its starting to affect my work. I have to set my alarm sometimes two hours early just to make sure I can get going in time.

The second issue I'm having is in regards to night sweats. They are not regular, maybe 3-5 time a month, but are miserable. I wake up in a pool of sweat and have a hard time getting back to sleep. I never had this issue before CPAP and was wondering if anyone else has and what if any cause was found?

I've tried 3 different masks and switch between then regularly depending on how I'm feeling. I have a full face mask which I don't use as much because it is hard to get a seal unless its on very tight. I have a nasal pillow which I like but after a week or two can start to bother my nostrils and I have a nasal mask which I use the most. I'm going in for another sleep study soon to see if my pressure is correct but if anyone has any suggestions on things I can do to improve my situation, I would really appreciate it. Thanks.

You have a full face mask listed in your profile, but it sounds like you're using a nasal mask most of the time. If you are leaking air out your mouth when using the nasal mask, that would account for your experiences......you're essentially getting minimal therapy results. You need to keep the air from leaking out. Night sweats are a possible sign that your therapy is not effective.....for any number of reasons.
Air coming out the mouth is obviously leaking.
Improperly sized masks can cause leaking.
Masks that are too tight can cause leaking.
Bed pillows can cause mask leaking. There are some that are specifically designed for or work better with this therapy.
If you had a data-capable machine, you would know more about what your problem is. Saving the costs of repeated trips to the doctor would easily pay for one.


Den

I used to have night sweats before CPAP. I would come back from the bathroom in the middle of the night and find my pillow drenched. Very unpleasant. No night sweats since starting CPAP.

ATTENTION:
Night sweats are an indication of bad things happening. Period. (At your age)
You need to get with your pulmonologist and get checked out. I continued to have night sweats albeit very few after going on APAP and getting adjusted. My issue turned out to be low SpO2 due to compromised lungs due to what I thought was my bout of pneumonia last summer and 3 weeks on life support. NOT NECESSARILY SO! My pulmonologist has me set up for a whole new battery of tests including tests for hiatis hernia and allergen sensitivities and asthma and so on. The list is two pages long (three pages with the x-rays/MRI). THAT is what you want! I am no MD but am getting a whack of experience at how my body is working and spending hours every day doing so. My GUESS is that your occasional night sweats could be caused by high blood pressure (likely) brought on by low SpO2.... brought on by Lord knows what. I am getting my lungs tested (they are compromised) but the pulmonologist wants to eliminate things like mild asthma attacks and other allergic reactions during the night that are not noted prior to bed but are exacerbated by laying down to sleep and especially by REM sleep. We are having the entire house swept for molds and other allergens as well.

To be sure this is not a simple answered question my friend. But you CAN and should start with your specialist(s) and eliminate a bunch of things. And at the same time you should be thinking to eliminate SpO2 desaturations during REM sleep which is my present problem. I can tell you for sure that if I drop into the 70's during REM sleep (occasional) I am guaranteed GUARANTEED a night sweat or an awakening and feeling like crap the next day. If I sleep through all or part of the desat a night sweat is an absolute guarantee for me.

I wish there was a simple answer. There isn't even a simple answer if you visit your GP or one or two specialists. This is an issue that YOU and only YOU must address and advocate for yourself, like a pit bull. Otherwise, as with my first two pulmonologists/respirologists, it is going to be swept under the rug as it takes time and effort to diagnose and that does not make the big bucks nor does it clear a packed waiting room when YOU have been allocated 20 minutes of their time. Get it? In short, you are going to have to (a) educate yourself as best you can, and (b) be a pit bull in advocating for yourself and getting the issue resolved.

I know that I am on it as far as MY issue(s) are concerned and am approaching my 'magic bullet' slowly but surely. My AHI is generally under 1 and often 0, but I still have crappy nights and days and night sweats and pain from sleeping without moving around and a stuffy nose often and so on. Sloooowly, I am getting it all resolved. I don't know if my lungs will ever return to normal but my question right now is whether or not I am on a slippery slope as far as my lungs are concrned and I hope not.

If there are any smokers out there, be advised that you are issuing yourself a death sentence if you are on this board. Should you develop pneumonia your chances of survival are greatly reduced. I quit smoking 20 years ago after smoking for 20 years and that is the only reason that I am still around. That and a heart as strong as an ox. They are quite surprised that I am still alive to be honest. Now I know.

You might want to get checked for gastric reflux. It can cause night sweats.

See https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... erhidrosis . under "Associated conditions" eight down see "Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease".

Also see http://www.aafp.org/afp/2003/0301/p1019.html
"Night sweats are a common outpatient complaint, yet literature on the subject is scarce. Tuberculosis and lymphoma are diseases in which night sweats are a dominant symptom, but these are infrequently found to be the cause of night sweats in modern practice. While these diseases remain important diagnostic considerations in patients with night sweats, other diagnoses to consider include human immunodeficiency virus, gastroesophageal reflux diseasee, "

I had night sweats like that almost every night before CPAP, and they stopped, abruptly and blissfully for the first month and a half or so on CPAP, then came back.

Fortunately, I was able to take a look at my data. Although the numbers were great, the pressure graph showed that my pressure needs were bumping up against the high pressure setting a lot of the night, especially around the time of the night sweats. So we increased my upper pressure limit, and the night sweats stopped.

I also have GERD and had constant reflux before CPAP, none on CPAP, even when those night sweats came back. So personally, I think it's an SA issue, not a GERD issue.

Of course, you should always check in with your doctor to rule out other serious causes. My doctor said it was peri-menopause--the longest in history at about 9 years at that point! At least men don't get brushed off with THAT excuse.

I really appreciated all the help and suggestions. I just recently came to find out that my machine doesn't do squat for data. No leak or AHI info. It only tells me average number of hours per night and when the doctor looks at it closer, it shows more accurately length of time per night as my average includes time where it may have been accidently turned on etc. I wish I could get a new machine but it doesn't sound like that is possible currently without me paying cash for it. So another sleep study it will be and I'm schedule a GP exam, full bloodwork up. Maybe its a thyroid issue, I'm not sure, I am a heavy guy always been bigger and never been able to lose weight no matter what point in my life I was at. I could always maintain and put on weight from weight lifting but cardio never does anything. I was even tracking my calories for 3-4 weeks in august and was eating 1500-1800 calories per day and exercising 3+ times a week and I think I lost 3 lbs. And the exercising completely wipes me out, I have no problem doing the exercise when I 'm there but since I'm so tired every day anyways, it just makes that worse.

ClayL wrote:You might want to get checked for gastric reflux. It can cause night sweats.

See https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... erhidrosis . under "Associated conditions" eight down see "Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease".

Also see http://www.aafp.org/afp/2003/0301/p1019.html
"Night sweats are a common outpatient complaint, yet literature on the subject is scarce. Tuberculosis and lymphoma are diseases in which night sweats are a dominant symptom, but these are infrequently found to be the cause of night sweats in modern practice. While these diseases remain important diagnostic considerations in patients with night sweats, other diagnoses to consider include human immunodeficiency virus, gastroesophageal reflux diseasee, "

Ah, that's yet another thing that they are going to be testing me for. Reflux or GRD as well as hiatus hernia. The list of things that will cause night sweats is looooong. In fact, some of my night sweats are caused by pain associated with sleeping better! I don't move around like I used to and my joints and bones begin to ache something fierce after a while, waking me up in a cold sweat from the pain. AND, the pulmonologist recommends strongly against pain meds as they suppress breathing and change the whole sleep cycle.

Night sweats are one of the few symptoms of sleep apnea that I had.
Try and get hold of a recording SPo2 device, most people here use the Contec CMS-50F, or the 50D? I expect you will find your still desaturating.
Personally my sleep study was the worst nights sleep I've ever had, forced to stay on my back all night, and waking up every time I moved because of the wires.

I suffered with night sweats for years and was tested for various causes none found. I was tested and went on cpap 10 mos ago and the night sweats have disappeared. I learned too make sure I was getting optimal treatment with my cpap and control leaks.

Hi,

Before CPAP, I also had issues with getting very sweaty during the night. This is how much of an idiot I was...I went on-line, and saw some people complaining about their Sleep Number bed building up heat and causing them to sweat. So, I sent a E-mail to Select Comfort asking if there was a solution to this problem. I was blaming it for causing me to sleep poorly. They told me that they had never heard of that issue. I dismiss them as liars. Fast forward, I get my sleep study and get on CPAP. No sweats since day one on the machine. The bed doesn't build up heat. All I can guess is that the people that were discussing this problem also had undiagnosed OSA.

-john-

I had severe night sweats, along with being so tired I would fall asleep at red lights. Come to find out (just before OSA diagnosis)that my testosterone and vitamin D were way below normal, so I was started on androderm and Vit D. After a week on these, I was a dry happy sleeper, still tired but definitely not as bad. My pulmonologist thinks my OSA is contributing to my low-T so i quit taking the androderm when I got on cpap about a month ago-still no sweating at night. None of my doctors could offer a definite reason why I was sweating so much, they just told me turn the temp in the bedroom down, that just made me cold and sweaty. Good Luck!