OSA+Hypersomnia=unbearable UPDATE

[snnnark]

I third that! It's miserable trying to sleep on a bad bed. If you can try to fix that variable first.

Next, it may be worth a trail on straight CPAP. Looking at your data a pressure of 8 cm should take care of all your apneas. Some people do not handle the APAP pressure changes well. If your centrals increase at 8 cm then try 7cm.

But do the bed first!

[LARS929]

I have taken the advice of the majority of the post on here and looked into my bed comfort as the leading issue at this point. I don't know if it is because everyone was saying my bed may not be comfortable, but I have noticed the last two days how stiff my neck and back are. For quite some time now when I wake up I feel awful and end up cracking my neck throughout the day.

Ironically my fiance was over three days ago and laughed at my pillow, telling me how bad it was. I have had the same pillow for 4 years now, and it never was a great pillow, so I decided to make a change.

First I bought a new pillow, one that seemed right for me, and was comfortable. Also I bought a new pillow case, thinking I might as well do both at the same time.

I also bought a memory foam mattress topper. I bought a good one that had very good reviews online and it feels very comfortable. I have limited options for buying a new mattress where I live, so it seemed like the best choice for me. I never realized how uncomfortable my old mattress was until I added the new pad.

My room gets very light in the morning due to awful blinds and the sun coming up on the window side. To solve this I bought an eye cover to sleep with and block out any light. I already sleep with ear plugs so I know that noise isn't an issue.

If this is what is keeping me tired, how long until I expect to feel better? Will I wake up tomorrow feeling like I slept better, or will it be several weeks or months?


As far as locking my machine on one pressure level, can I do that myself? Or do I have to have my doctor do that?

[Pugsy]

If this is what is keeping me tired, how long until I expect to feel better? Will I wake up tomorrow feeling like I slept better, or will it be several weeks or months?

I wish my crystal ball was working so I could give you a specific answer but there really isn't one. We just don't know because it can be so many little things adding up to a big total.

As far as locking my machine on one pressure level, can I do that myself? Or do I have to have my doctor do that?

Do you mean changing from APAP to CPAP? You can do that from the clinician menu if that is what you are wanting to do.

[LARS929]

If this is what is keeping me tired, how long until I expect to feel better? Will I wake up tomorrow feeling like I slept better, or will it be several weeks or months?

I wish my crystal ball was working so I could give you a specific answer but there really isn't one. We just don't know because it can be so many little things adding up to a big total.

As far as locking my machine on one pressure level, can I do that myself? Or do I have to have my doctor do that?

Do you mean changing from APAP to CPAP? You can do that from the clinician menu if that is what you are wanting to do.

Yeah I agree silly question about when it will help, worth a shot though right?

I am not sure what the difference between APAP and CPAP is, but the poster a few above said I should try making my machine stay on the same level.

[snnnark]

Some people are very sensitive to pressure changes. But try the bed first before changing the machine. One variable at a time will help differentiate what is and is not important for your sleep.

[robysue]

snnnark is right: it's important to not change too much all at the same time. so try the new mattress pad and pillow for a week or so before worrying about changing from APAP to CPAP. but if after a week with the new mattress pad and pillow you're still not feeling any better, then the change from APAP to CPAP is reasonable because you might be one of those who are sensitive to even small changes in pressure.

[Pugsy]

I am not sure what the difference between APAP and CPAP is, but the poster a few above said I should try making my machine stay on the same level.

The CPAP mode gives out a straight pressure all the time.

APAP mode which you have now gives out a variable pressure. Starting at the low end of the range and increasing as needed to ward off events. I don't know what your maximum is set at but the one report you gave us data from showed really not a very high max and the average and mean number is not overly high either. Looks like your minimum is 4 or 5 or 6 . Can't really tell from this info. I would suspect 4. Maximum it ever went to was 7.9, the actually setting that it can go to is unknown from these numbers. I wouldn't be surprised if your Maximum setting was well over 10, probably 20. You will need to go into the clinician menu to determine exactly what the current settings are now. Now in theory the maximum doesn't really matter as long as the machine never wants to go there for any reason. Yours apparently is quite happy to have a max of 7.9. It simply doesn't go over that number.

Apnea Index: 2.5 Obstructive: 1.7 Central: 0.7 Unknown: 0.0
Hypopnea index: 0.0 AHI: 2.5
Leak: Median: 0.0 95th percentile: 2.4 Maximum: 10.8
Pressure: Median: 6.2 95th percentile: 7.7 Maximum: 7.9

Some people are very sensitive to the changes that come with having an APAP going through the changes of pressure. This is very common with higher pressures example would be maybe someone with a minimum setting of 8 and a maximum of maybe 18 or 20. If the machine often went to 15 or 16 it could disrupt sleep if a person is particularly sensitive to the changes. I have APAP, set 10 min 18 max. It rarely climbs to 18 now but it did when I first started treatment. Changes never bothered me but that doesn't mean the changes wouldn't bother you.

I do think that it would be best to make one change at a time an evaluate how things are after a few nights.

Sometimes APAP use can be more "comfortable" because we can stay at a lower pressure range until the events try to occur and the machine will respond. Your maximum pressure ever reached was 7.9. It is not wildly fluctuating but if the minimum is 4, there is a range from 4 -8 that it is moving around with.
It is possible that this fluctuation is disturbing your sleep and affecting the quality of the restorative powers of sleep.
It's really not much of a fluctuation though. If your maximum report was showing 12 or 15 or higher, then yes variations to that amount sure could mess with things.

If it were me, and I was wanting to see if cpap mode might be different I would choose to instead create a very narrow window in APAP mode. I would try a minimum of 6 and max of 8, Looks like your machine never seems to need to go above 8 but I like to stay at the lowest possible pressure that will get the events.
Your choice though. 8 cm is not huge amount of pressure in straight CPAP mode but you might not need all that much all night...

Anyway, wait for few nights till the new bed stuff is evaluated and you ask your questions about what I rambled on about here. I am sure I probably confused you.

[LARS929]

Just wanted to post a little update of how my new sleep set up has been going. I have slept 2 nights with the new mattress pad and pillow and eye cover. Both nights I slept better than I had in a long long time. I still hit a wall in the middle of the day where I get tired, but I am guessing that's sleep debt. Also today I thought I was good enough to not have any caffeine because I wasn't tired. I was wrong though as I didn't feel to well after an hour or two awake. I had some coffee and felt much better.

Keep your fingers crossed that I only continue to improve! and Thanks for the ideas and help!

[Drowsy Dancer]

Also today I thought I was good enough to not have any caffeine because I wasn't tired. I was wrong though as I didn't feel to well after an hour or two awake. I had some coffee and felt much better.

Eeek! Don't forget that, if you are used to drinking a lot of coffee, caffeine withdrawal can give you a wicked headache. Abrupt discontinuance of caffeine can also trigger migraines (see other thread!) in some people.

Hope you continue to feel better.

Drowsy Dancer

[Pugsy]

Doesn't even have to be a lot of coffee. Just depends on how much you usually drink. I never have more than 2 cups of coffee and small ones at that. It does make a difference if I miss them.

Eeek! Don't forget that, if you are used to drinking a lot of coffee, caffeine withdrawal can give you a wicked headache.