How long until I am normal?

[chief900]

Hello again guys,

I feel rather like the annoying kid with too many questions, I hope that i dont start to get under any ones skin. So I had my gear for over a month now, with my new mask i am don't sleep so bad. But.... I still feel absolutely terrible in the morning. During my test AHI was around 36, now its around 3 so my machine tells me. It says mask fit is good also. But I still feel like a truck hit me in the morning, right now i cant concentrate. Will this ever work for me? if so any idea how long it takes to get those miracle results ?

The nurse here examined my results, from the S9, it seems that on average its good, but I still have some rather long apneas during the night. Could this be the cause ? I downloaded the sorftware and will get a card reader tomorrow so i will be able to post results. I dont seem to have much leak rate, does this mean i sleep with mouth closed??

thanks for help

sorry to bother

bob

[Desperate_in_DM]

I wish I could help. It appears I've posted almost the same thing at the same time you did. I've only been using my equipment for 9 days though. I can only offer sympathy. I can completely relate because I too was under the assumption (based on talking to family and friends) that I would feel immediate results. I haven't. You finally find out why you've been feeling awful for months/years, but you still don't feel better after getting the test results and starting "treatment". It's discouraging, isn't it? Wishing us luck and good sleep!

[Emilia]

I can't offer any specific or technical help, as I am a newbie myself and haven't even started with my equipment, but I have read enough on this forum to know that you both have to give it some more time. Some folks do feel better right away, but I suspect they are in the minority. It takes the body a long time to catch up on the sleep debt you've had for years, and it also takes time for your body to adjust to the therapy, increased O2, and healing itself on the cellular level.

It would help those who are better able to help on the technical side if you were to give them more info on your pressure settings, # of hours you are sleeping, and, of course, more details once you have the software up and running.

Best of luck! I hope you begin to feel the benefits of your therapy soon. Just stick to it and be patient!

[chief900]

Thanks guys, I plan to post some more data on Monday when i have it.

Today I am feeling particularly cranky, just hung up on some unhelpful guy in the phone and now i am stressed....

[chunkyfrog]

Let me guess: insurance gatekeeper?

[davecpap]

chief900,

Maybe my response in another thread will provide some encouragement/ideas:

viewtopic/t54540/Think-CPAP-is-working- ... ml#p509402

[BlackSpinner]

The nurse here examined my results, from the S9, it seems that on average its good, but I still have some rather long apneas during the night. Could this be the cause ? I downloaded the sorftware and will get a card reader tomorrow so i will be able to post results. I dont seem to have much leak rate, does this mean i sleep with mouth closed??

Never assume - mouth leaks are insidious all you need is to open it a few times to create apneas.
You might want to try taping, a chinstrap or a full face mask to see if it makes a difference.

However - some people need time. Some peoples minds take a long time to accept that it is ok to sleep deeply with "that thing" on your face. You might be sleeping but not going deep enough to get to REM sleep. For years your mind has been working at waking you up to keep you alive - it might not trust this thing any more then it trusted you to keep breathing on your own in the past.

[andyw715]

Also you need to concider what is "normal". The end result of cpap therapy isn't "feeling great" its "making sure you don't stop breathing when you sleep".

There are way more factors than minimizing O2 desaturation that make you feel great. Often times untreated OSA amplifies the "non normalness", but it usually isn't the main contributor.

ie. having AHI of 0, minimal O2 desat is great, but if you are working 14 hours a day and then getting only 4 hours of sleep, you might feel like crap.

I don't think of cpap therapy as a way to get back to normal, more like a way to remove a large obstacle preventing me from getting back to normal.

It isn't a silver bullet.

[kteague]

Based on being told you are still having rather long apneas I would want to know exactly how long. It may be that you will need to do a night with a recording pulse oximeter to see if those long apneas are causing significant desats. Has there been any discussion of raising your pressure to prevent those? Oh, just a thought, be sure your vents on your mask aren't blocked. In the meantime, elevate the head of your bed (NOT just add pillows) and stay off your back till things settle down.

[GumbyCT]

How long until I am normal?

Said another way - How long did it take for you to get where you are?

[DreamOn]

ie. having AHI of 0, minimal O2 desat is great, but if you are working 14 hours a day and then getting only 4 hours of sleep, you might feel like crap.

That is a very, very good point!

I concur with the other suggestions that have been made here too. Chief, we should be able to offer more specific suggestions once you can post your software results. Those graphs will show what's happening throughout the night. Your leaks will be obvious there. Be sure to post your pressure and other statistics also, as that can help.

[dtsm]

I'm been in cpap therapy for over 8 months now. I had similar 'complaint', and even had a follow-up visit with sleep center and my doctor. My numbers were good, within limits (eg AHI <5, leaks < 0.25) but just didn't have that well rested feeling. I brought in data from my oximeter to also share with doc - they too were within limits.

His advice was to give it some time - some folks just take longer. My brother, who has been in therapy for 3+ yrs said the same thing. In my case, I started feeling the difference after about 4 months, although would get up 2-3 times a night. After about month 5, I started averaging 7-8 solid hours per night,
and only in the past 7-10 days have slept through the entire night without waking up!

Be patient, it's a marathon. Lots of little tweaking to get it just right.

[WearyOne]

Also you need to concider what is "normal". The end result of cpap therapy isn't "feeling great" its "making sure you don't stop breathing when you sleep".

There are way more factors than minimizing O2 desaturation that make you feel great. Often times untreated OSA amplifies the "non normalness", but it usually isn't the main contributor.

ie. having AHI of 0, minimal O2 desat is great, but if you are working 14 hours a day and then getting only 4 hours of sleep, you might feel like crap.

I don't think of cpap therapy as a way to get back to normal, more like a way to remove a large obstacle preventing me from getting back to normal.

It isn't a silver bullet.

Very well said!

[Guest]

Hi Guys thanks for all the good words.

So, I realise that this is not a cure all therapy, however the reason I found I had it was because I feel pretty shitty and I have undergone the therapy to stop myself feeling like that. Its that simple for me.

Anyway that said, today i have got my card reader and have reviewed some results. I have to say that so far, in terms of being consistent, I am not. Even last night I seemed to have taken the mask off for 3 hours and not known it (if that's possible) so its good that its highlighted this. I have recently changed my mask and have far fewer leaks too, so another posititve point.

So I guess, I will spend a bit of time to try and understand how the machine works and what the data means.

Did anyone export the data into excel? I would like to look atthe data in a different way and include other factors not enabled by the software.

Cheers again for all the help!

Chief

[DreamOn]

Even last night I seemed to have taken the mask off for 3 hours and not known it (if that's possible) so its good that its highlighted this.

It sounds like you're getting some very valuable information from the data already. Sleeping for three hours without your mask may explain why you're not feeling better. At least you know that is happening now, so you can monitor that.

Did anyone export the data into excel? I would like to look atthe data in a different way and include other factors not enabled by the software.

The data can be exported from ResScan in .csv format and read in Excel (via File, then Export). You select the patient file(s) and then you can select a range of dates or all data. I haven't written any application in Excel to manipulate the data, but I'd be interested to know if anyone else has!