Hi Rob, I got my AHI down to 0.5 last night!! I switched masks, and slept much more comfortably which I think helped a lot. I woke up feeling better then usual, but still pretty tired and headachey today. I know it can take a while and I'm trying to be patient. You don't know how much your encouragement means to me. Weeks to months is a loooong time so it's good to hear that if I do stick it out, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.Rob K wrote:I copied and pasted from the other thread. Better to discuss this stuff on your thread than to sidetrack another one.
Rob K wrote:
You mention insomnia and anxiety. Both were pretty bad for me as well as depression. Those were just the mental problems. It was the lack of proper cpap therapy and sleep deprivation that was causing it. AHI range from 2.5 to 5 was not working for me. When we got the AHI down to around 1 my mental health problems went away. It's amazing adequate therapy and restful sleep did for me. The lack for proper treatment and rest could very well be causing your mental health problems like it was for me.
JaneAsimov wrote:
Hi Rob, I saw you mention this on my post too, where I was talking about my AHI being a 3. It's gone down now to an average of 2.3 but I still feel like poop. I notice I'm clenching sometimes at night still and wondering if this is the problem. How did you get your AHI down so low?? I gotta upload the Sleepyhead program, I just have so much going on at home, I don't think about it until I'm going to bed and it's too late then. I have chronic migraine and daily headaches. I've been using my CPAP consistently for 1.5 weeks now and have only seen small improvements. I also struggle with anxiety and depression, but I don't know who wouldn't with the amount of pain and fatigue I have.
I got my AHI down to 1 by learning to use the Sleepyhead software and getting help from the forum members with interpreting the data. For me it was a matter of adjusting the pressure upward until the number of events were minimized. Took a few weeks to adapt and get used to the higher pressures. Took a few weeks to start noticing a difference also. It's been a couple months since we got the pressure adjusted right and things are still improving. I have about 4 years worth of sleep deprivation and physical damage to my body to get caught up on. This will be a process that will take time. The best thing right now is that I don't feel terrible every morning, still don't feel great, but not feeling terrible goes a long way in improving mental health. When I was in the 2.5-5AHI range I was really exhausted. Didn't feel any different with or without the machine. I woke many times and with frequent morning headaches. My body felt tense 24/7. This has all resolved now thankfully. I should probably update my thread so the people that helped me know how things are going. They certainly deserve to know and should have many thanks.
What do you mean by "clenching"? Definitely get the Sleepyhead software going and get your machine data posted so we can take a look. That is the first thing to start with. I still have a lot to learn about interpreting the data, but there are others here that have a lot of experience. That is just one piece of the puzzle though. Like Pugsy mentioned on the other thread there are a number of things that may be causing things to be bad for you. I know from experience that each day you suffer seems like one too many and you don' know how you will go on. Hang in there, it may take some time. Might be days, weeks, months or even years in my case to get back to feeling somewhat better. Weeks to months is pretty common. The more proactive you are with figuring things out the sooner they will get resolved. Take care, I wish you the best.
By clenching, I meant clenching my teeth. I've been diagnosed with TMJ/TMD though I think it might be a result of my sleep apnea. I noticed last night I wasn't clenching at all, maybe because I'm sleeping better.
I will get around to uploading the Sleepyhead data. My husband moved out of the house last night so it's just me and the kids at least for now. I'm hoping we'll get back on track, we're still doing counseling, but I don't know. Hey maybe that's why I slept better last night???
Good advice about many things causing the problems. I think part of my problem is my pillow, going to bed to late and stress from my family. All things I can work on. Thanks for all of your help Rob.