2 Months Now

[akosidave]

Hi everyone! I've been on CPAP for two months now, but this is the first time I've posted a message. I was diagnosed with Sleep Apnea in March and started CPAP in April. During the sleep study my AHI was 128 and my O2 dropped to the low 60's before they woke me up and put me on a mask. My pressure setting is at 18 and have been 100% complaint since the very first day. I am able to sleep the entire night with the mask on and have experienced very few problems with the mask and machine. I average about 8 hours of sleep per night and my new AHI is 1.

My RT thinks I'm doing great, but it seems that I have hit a plateau in my recovery. The first couple weeks I was completely amazed with how good I was feeling compared to what I used to feel. While I still feel better than I used to, it seems as though I am no longer progressing. I still get really tired in the afternoons, experience "brain fog," and still immediately fall asleep at 10:30. I do have more energy than I used to, however it is not the "life changing" experience that some people have written about. I think I should be satisfied with where I am at, but this is still affecting my work performance and is creating tension with my supervisor as she believes my sleeping problem should be solved now.

Am I being unrealistic as to how quick I should recover? I have heard that it takes two months to recover, and with my 100% compliance I figured that by now I would be doing better than I am. I am wondering that if after being tired and sleepy my entire life, that I have been conditioned to believe I am tired when I'm not.

Any insight is appreciated.

[BlackSpinner]

Your body has experienced those low O2 levels probably for several years, it will take more then 2 months to repair the damage. Some places say it takes up to 6 months until it really kicks in. One of the things too is the quality of sleep. My doctor warned that it may take time for your brain to allow you to really sleep deeply for long, it has been well trained to keep you from doing that in case you die from the apnea.

You might also consider some life style changes in exercise and food.

[Wulfman]

Do you actually have the software or are you getting the data from the LCD?

"Recovery" time varies from person to person. Try not to expect too much too soon.


Den

[akosidave]

I have a card in the machine which I take to the RT on a weekly basis who then prints out the reports for me.

[Husky Lover]

Some people also talk about a sleep bank. The concept is that you've made withdrawals from the bank with your time of unhealthy sleep and it is going to take some time before you pay back your account.

I've been at it about two months now myself. I noticed some good improvements immediately but not anything earth shattering. It may be that you need more sleep so you might have to retire at 10 instead of 10:30.

FWIW, I used to dream frequently. When I began treatment, I didn't recall dreaming. Oddly, last night was my lowest AHI results and I recall two very vivid dreams. I don't know what that means other than two months is too soon to draw conclusions on the long term results of continuing therapy.

[JoyD.]

Dave,

I just want to WELCOME you to the forum Stick around, use the WHOLE site & search engine --read all you can. We're here for you.

You certainly deserve kudos for your motivation to have the greatest amount of success with CPAP possible & for your commitment and compliance! You WILL get there, but you may need to be patient. I empathize with your concerns about your job, with your supervisor breathing down your neck.

The main thing is your health . . . your commitment to success (which you have) . . . reading and learning all you can (you are at the right place) . . . trying out the new things you learn . . . and P A T I E N C E (probably not what you want to hear).

Two months on CPAP with an AHI of 1 . . . you are further along that most of us! Your body is acclimating. Do you have good sleep hygiene habits and have you caught up with years of SLEEP DEBT yet -- how many hours do you "owe" before you've caught up? These things are important and will affect how you feel. It takes time and we are all different.

Glad you're here. Keep asking questions!

Joy

[Gerald]

A couple of suggestions........

Running your own software so that you can generate reports.....immediately......will give you a better handle on your therapy.

Also, you might consider purchasing a recording Oximeter.....with reporting software. I use a SPO-7500 and I've been very pleased. It was purchased from Turner Medical....nice people and safe to do business with. Using an Oximeter....periodically....gives you a way to cross-check the effectiveness of your CPAP machine.

To have achieved a score of 1.0 after being on the hose for such a short time is outstanding. It's so outstanding that you might want to make sure its really true....by running your own software.

Gerald

[JoyD.]

Dave wrote:

I have a card in the machine which I take to the RT on a weekly basis who then prints out the reports for me.

Dave, Do you only have the SmartCard that came with your machine? Or did you additionally purchase either "Encore Viewer" or "Encore Pro" Software and a "Card Reader" for reading the entire report yourself? Even though your equipment listed on our forum shows Software, I'm wondering if you really have it.

It's important for you to have your own Software and a Reader so you can monitor your own therapy. You want to focus on pages 4-11 of the report that shows DAILY graphs for leaks, flow rates, apneas, hypopneas, and vibratory snores -- along with the indexes for each (number per hour of the various events).

When you first download these full therapy reports, you can post them here and we will help you learn to interpret them. You will enjoy doing this since you obviously are committed to achieving the best therapy results. (I assume that when you take your Smart Card in, the DME is only printing out page 12 -- that's not very helpful.)

Monitoring your own software regularly is how you will know what your daily indexes really are, and when something needs to be "tweaked".

Joy

[Guest]

Hi....I've only been on c-pap for about two weeks now. Most days I feel great, but last night my mouth kept coming open and the air kept getting blown out...not a restful night.....this is the first time I have had this happen (I had allergy problems last night so maybe that was why...?)...

Some days I feel like "WOW" what a difference, but at work I still get very sleepy (I work on the computer most of the day....).....I too am having trouble grasping the concept of a "sleep bank"......

[Gerald]

Dave.....

What Joy is telling you is "straight-on right".....she said it much more eloquently than I did.

Her words are very wise......

Gerald

[Gerald]

Guest.....

Please register....join the forum......and fill out your profile showing what equipment you have.

We can all help you much better if we know more.

Gerald

[rested gal]

Welcome to the message board, Dave.

Please check your Private Messages -- click "_ new messages" at upper left.

[akosidave]

Thanks everyone for your help. I would love to buy my own software as well as an oximeter which I think would help out a lot. I am limited financially by what I can purchase and rely mostly on what my insurance is willing to cover. Does anyone know of a good source to purchase these items at a low cost? On another note, I met with my doctor for the first time since he ordered the sleep study. He's now advocating removing my tonsils (size 4+) in order to improve my untreated AHI, he then wants to do another sleep study to determine whether I should be on a bipap instead.

[Muse-Inc]

...first couple weeks I was completely amazed with how good I was feeling compared to what I used to feel...

Keep reminding yourself of that!

...not the "life changing" experience that some people have written about...

I quite peeing 8-10 times/night the first night...yippee! My exhaustion started to lift but I still fell asleep in front of the PC, esp if wk was particularly boring ( what work isn't boring at times ). And, I fell asleep in front of the TV, at parties , movies...sitting anywhere was a chance to sleep . My energy levels didn't come back to anywhere near normal for 9 months!!! My doc said to have patience, some of his patients didn't get much benefit for nearly a year...so you're doing great, esp compared those poor folks.

...still affecting my work performance and is creating tension with my supervisor as she believes my sleeping problem should be solved now

It's never solved as in cured; it might be managed but it's always there. Get a brochure on sleep apnea or print out an article or two and let her learn more about this condition. You have my sympathy with a boss like that, my ex-boss was like that until I was diagnosed. Her hubby has apnea so she finally understood that I was wasn't malingering. My oversleeping 3 alarms didn't stop for months after I started CPAP therapy and I was often late to work -- her pet peeve. I think she thought my apnea was just like her hubby's; we're all different in how it's mangled our lives. Anyway her hubby musta been a morning person 'cause he woke up early...or maybe his therapy isn't as effective as he claims ! Being late was always in my job performance reviews but i worked late/overtime to try to make up for that.

Hang in there, it gets better!

[ozij]

Thanks everyone for your help. I would love to buy my own software as well as an oximeter which I think would help out a lot. I am limited financially by what I can purchase and rely mostly on what my insurance is willing to cover. Does anyone know of a good source to purchase these items at a low cost? On another note, I met with my doctor for the first time since he ordered the sleep study. He's now advocating removing my tonsils (size 4+) in order to improve my untreated AHI, he then wants to do another sleep study to determine whether I should be on a bipap instead.

Good thinking by your doc. Large tonsils can add badly to your obstructions, and having them removed often results in lower pressure needs.

BIPAP, which lets you exhale against lower pressure, is often given to people whose pressure is higher than 15. I can easily imagine that exhaling again 18 nightly could be a tiring effort by and of itself.

There are AutoBIPAP's; Ask the doc. about timetables -- if he suggests the tonsillectomy first, great. If he suggest doing a BIPAP titration first, try to understand why, and ask if a tonsillectomy might not change your pressure needs.

Welcome to the forum!
O.