sleepy during the day

[sleeplessinnorcal]

i am a new cpap user. only have had mine for 1 month. Went back to the doctor to download info and checkup. She told me everything looks good. Only changed cpap from auto to constant 10 cm pressure. Before cpap i would be lucky to get 4 hours of sleep. Now i average about 6 hours. i am still feeling tired all the time.

[WindFlyer]

Welcome and thanks for stopping by the forum! It might take a while until you get back to feeling "normal". Everyone's different. Like with me it took a good year or so before I got my rhythm down and really got good at tweaking the mask and the straps, and my pressure needed to get bumped up a couple times to eliminate the snoring completely. I don't need it every day, but I also take Provigil on days when I need to sit still for a long time like if I've got a lot of boring meetings to go to.

Hang in there and stick with it. You've always got friends here to offer help and advice.

[roster]

Your profile shows you have Encore software. Are you checking the Daily Details report?

[sleeplessinnorcal]

i just have the smart card. i have tried samples of sleep meds like ambien and lunesta which i got a better nights sleep but i felt tired during the day. lunesta has a medicine aftertast that last me for a day. i am hoping a pressure change helps.

[roster]

....... i am hoping a pressure change helps.

I can only encourage you to get a card reader and Encore Viewer software for reports. The information in the reports includes occurrences of flow-limitation events like snores, hypopneas or apneas, time at specific pressure levels (on auto CPAPs and BiPAPs), event histograms and mask leaks. The information is given in short-term detailed formats as well as in long-term trends.

IMO, this is the only way to get an optimal therapy. Anything short of this is hoping and guessing at what to do.

[SaltLakeJan]

Hi There,
Unless you have unusual problems, it takes as long to become accustomed to therapy . . . and feel better . . . as it takes. Some do it very fast. It took me about 4 months to get the hang of everything. How to adjust my mask, all the stuff that comes with cpap therapy.

I'm sorry you are so tired. Could be several things. Are you sleep deprived? That will make you tired in the daytime for sure. You have only been on therapy for a month. Several others have mentioned that it takes a while for the body to adjust to this new way of having air pumped into your throat.

One of the posters mentioned Provigil. My doc gave me a prescription for it. I took it to the pharmacy. It turns out my insurance will allow it, but my co-pay is $285.00 for 30 pills. That isn't in my budget, and I do have daytime sleepliness.
I have found, that as soon as i start feeling sleepy, sometimes in the early morning. I do an exercise routine, or better in this weather, I go for a short, brisk walk. That wakes me up for quite a while.

Good luck to you.

Jan

[schwawi]

Best thing you can do for yourself is to take control of your therapy. Get the data from your machine, analyze it yourself, and make hyour own determination if your pressure is OK or if it needs to move up or down.

My (former) Dr. recommended initial pressure of 11 despite my titration study of 8. She did this because at the initial setting of 10 (I got cpap before titration based on a home study), my AHI was around 6.0. When I came back to them a few weeks later at the 11 setting, my AHI had risen to 6.5. Dr. recommended a new pressure of 12. Having done my research myself by that time - I questioned why up, not down? After all, data indicates there may be central apneas present by my reading of it and, after all, my titration did say 8 with lots of hypopneas present. Ooops, you're right, lets goto 8 (she didnt even look at my history, just the most recent AHI). I have been fine ever since.

Make sure you understand your results and dont rely on others to do it for you. If you can't access the data in your machine (some brands make it hard for users to get their data), do research on this forum - you'll probably find all of the answers.

Good Luck

[sleeplessinnorcal]

i know it will take some time but i have been tired for awhile. my sleep study indicated that i had AHI=9. with cpap therapy is has dropped to AHI=2. so that is encouraging.

thanks for the support