Do symptoms disappear right away?

[gam50]

I see a lot of people feeling better right away with using CPAP. Tonight will be my 5th night with treatment. However, so far, I haven't felt the slightest improvement. I guess I don't have the 'typical' symptoms, as I'm not overly tired during the day or falling asleep. However, for the past three years, I've had this lighthead/dizzy, off balance, weird brain fog going on. I've had countless MRIs, blood tests, visions/hearing tests, etc. They haven't found anything, so they chalked it up to vestibular migraines. One of the last tests was a sleep study, which found I have sleep apnea with an AHI of 20. I was hoping that all these symptoms would be related to sleep apnea and they would disappear when I started treatment. But nothing yet. Could it take time to feel the effects of using CPAP? Or maybe these symptoms aren't sleep apnea related? Is it possible to have no effects from sleep apnea that you can feel?

[Okie bipap]

Some people get relief immediately, while for others the change is gradual. I was one of the later. At first, I felt no different with the machine than I did with out it. After about a month or so, I noticed I could sit and work the crossword puzzle in the paper or sit and watch a movie on the TV with out falling asleep. My wife, on the other hand, noticed a big improvement almost immediately.Everyone is different, and we all react differently to treatment. Hang in there and continue with your treatment. Things will get better.

[K5MOW]

For me I felt the effects right away.

Roger

[Wulfman...]

I see a lot of people feeling better right away with using CPAP. Tonight will be my 5th night with treatment. However, so far, I haven't felt the slightest improvement. I guess I don't have the 'typical' symptoms, as I'm not overly tired during the day or falling asleep. However, for the past three years, I've had this lighthead/dizzy, off balance, weird brain fog going on. I've had countless MRIs, blood tests, visions/hearing tests, etc. They haven't found anything, so they chalked it up to vestibular migraines. One of the last tests was a sleep study, which found I have sleep apnea with an AHI of 20. I was hoping that all these symptoms would be related to sleep apnea and they would disappear when I started treatment. But nothing yet. Could it take time to feel the effects of using CPAP? Or maybe these symptoms aren't sleep apnea related? Is it possible to have no effects from sleep apnea that you can feel?

It's different for each person. Some find immediate results and some experience results over longer periods of time.
Some may find a mixture of some improvements right away and then other things over a longer time frame.
Most of it depends on how soon the therapy is optimized.


Den

.

[slowriter]

I felt obvious improvement for a couple of days in the first week (like 10 weeks ago), and then super slow, almost imperceptible, progress since. I have in my mind that I should give myself six months before getting too frustrated.

[gam50]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I'll give it more time. I guess I had it in my head that it would be a quick cure.

[ChicagoGranny]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I'll give it more time. I guess I had it in my head that it would be a quick cure.

It's not all about CPAP. Here's a checklist -

Good Sleep for CPAPers

- Practice good sleep hygiene (Google it and read several sources; ignore extreme advice.)
- Eat a good diet
- Have a regular, moderate exercise program
- Try to avoid daytime naps
- Practice total abstinence of caffeine including sources like chocolate (sigh)
- Review all medicines, vitamins and supplements you are taking to make sure none are interfering with sleep
- Use the bedroom for sleeping (and sex) only, and make sure the bedroom and bed are comfortable.
- Learn to appropriately handle emotional stress in your life
- Do not listen to your breathing or the sound of the machine as you are falling asleep. (Some people, including me, actually find listening to their breathing and the sound of the machine to be relaxing.)
- Distract your mind by thinking of a pleasant, relaxing activity that you enjoy.
- If you are awakening at night, do not be too concerned. It is actually a normal part of sleep. (It does become a problem though for people who, when they awaken, become frustrated and have difficulty returning to sleep.)
- Use CPAP software, such as the free OSCAR (or the free SleepyHead), to make sure your therapy is optimized
- If you still don't feel or sleep well, make sure you have regular medical checkups to confirm there are no other medical problems

This is a checklist. Some of the things you already do. Some are easy and can be done right away. Others you can work at over time.

CG

Good luck!

[ChicagoGranny]

BTW, I would raise the min pressure to 7.0. If this causes a problem, you can always change back the next night. download/file.php?id=7994

[rick blaine]

Hi gam50,

If after countless tests, MRIs, and so on and 'they haven't found anything' and you still have 'dizziness, off-balance, weird brain fog', you may have hyper-ventilation syndrome. That combination of 'nothing to find' but those classic symptoms is very suggestive.

Technically, HVS is a 'daytime breathing disorder'. And it's best diagnosed by someone who has experience of treating it.

The remedy is to do 10 minutes of certain breathing exercises five times a day in order to bring blood acid-alkali into balance, and also to make proper breathing a habit.

There is one good book on the subject, but it's best if you are shown what to do, and supervised by a trained breathing physiologist.

Please note: even when daytime breathing has improved and symptoms from that have disappeared, you may still need sleep apnea treatment.

[Ograx]

To me it sounds like anxiety symptoms that you are experiencing if the tests turned up nothing.

It took me about 3 months before I really noticed the difference.

The irritability went within a few weeks then after about month 3 I noticed I was no longer wiped out after lunch.

[Aggiehorntwins]

Don’t get discouraged. It may take up to six months to feel better. I am four months in myself and other than not waking up multiple times with an increased heart rate anymore, or rarely. (Still titrating my pressures with Oscar software) I have not noticed a drastic change. I was not really that tired....just terrible anxiety. But I am 100% compliant because I am well aware of the health problems down the road for untreated OSA. So keep on keeping on! P.S. are the programmers for Oscar on this forum?? If so, I salute you all and your amazing work.... best thing ever!!

[Auntducky59]

My sleep lab tech told me that I would feel great, bouncing off of walls, and losing a lot of weight. None of that happened, & I didn't notice any difference at first, but my husband did. After the first few days, he told me I no longer snore. It took me about 3 months before I noticed a marked difference. I realized that I was no longer getting sleepy at work in the afternoon, this was a concern while trying to drive home from work. I struggled to stay awake & alert. But the best part was getting at least 7 hours of sleep a night on average when I was lucky to get 4 hours every night before. After a year and a half of therapy, I can actually make it through most nights now without needing to go to the restroom, (provided I don't drink a gallon of liquid before bedtime) . As far as weight loss goes, I still have to exercise & eat right in order to lose weight. That magic weight loss that was "promised" did not happen. I think that the extra energy & alertness I have now is the reason why I am finally losing weight. I am no longer too tired to go to the gym, take a walk, & cook my own food. Just hang in there. Great things will happen.

[DreamStalker]

I see a lot of people feeling better right away with using CPAP. Tonight will be my 5th night with treatment. However, so far, I haven't felt the slightest improvement. I guess I don't have the 'typical' symptoms, as I'm not overly tired during the day or falling asleep. However, for the past three years, I've had this lighthead/dizzy, off balance, weird brain fog going on. I've had countless MRIs, blood tests, visions/hearing tests, etc. They haven't found anything, so they chalked it up to vestibular migraines. One of the last tests was a sleep study, which found I have sleep apnea with an AHI of 20. I was hoping that all these symptoms would be related to sleep apnea and they would disappear when I started treatment. But nothing yet. Could it take time to feel the effects of using CPAP? Or maybe these symptoms aren't sleep apnea related? Is it possible to have no effects from sleep apnea that you can feel?

Sorry to hear of your slow (to you) progress.

To your question, for me the walking dead symptoms most certainly disappeared right away. I became a superman sensation after the very first night. Of course, I really was almost half dead with an AHI of 102 with O2 desats down to 60% -- so I had a lot of room for improvement. I'm pretty sure I lived with sleep apnea for over 20 years before I was ever diagnosed -- so it usually is a slow process getting to half deadness. Getting back to 110% life should not take nearly as long.

This web site is life saving if you hang in there (and here) and ask for advice as needed. Keep working at maintaining a good solid air seal followed by some tweaking for optimal pressure. Best wishes.

[DreamStalker]

I see a lot of people feeling better right away with using CPAP. Tonight will be my 5th night with treatment. However, so far, I haven't felt the slightest improvement. I guess I don't have the 'typical' symptoms, as I'm not overly tired during the day or falling asleep. However, for the past three years, I've had this lighthead/dizzy, off balance, weird brain fog going on. I've had countless MRIs, blood tests, visions/hearing tests, etc. They haven't found anything, so they chalked it up to vestibular migraines. One of the last tests was a sleep study, which found I have sleep apnea with an AHI of 20. I was hoping that all these symptoms would be related to sleep apnea and they would disappear when I started treatment. But nothing yet. Could it take time to feel the effects of using CPAP? Or maybe these symptoms aren't sleep apnea related? Is it possible to have no effects from sleep apnea that you can feel?

It's different for each person. Some find immediate results and some experience results over longer periods of time.
Some may find a mixture of some improvements right away and then other things over a longer time frame.
Most of it depends on how soon the therapy is optimized.


Den

.

Hope you are well my old friend.

Me, staying busy trying to get younger as I get older.

[NoOnesPerfect]

After 5 months, the only improvement I have seen is the complete absence of morning headaches, and that was an almost immediate benefit, the daytime sleepiness and other related are still there for me, but that’s because I average under 5 hours sleep a night. Odds are I would see more improvement if I could fix the insomnia. Just shows that apnea isn’t always the only thing you need to fix. My AHI is consistently under 2, so the machine is doing its job.