CPAP OK - Results Not

JimmyKSenior · Post by **JimmyKSenior** » Fri Mar 17, 2006 9:27 am

Hello again,

I've been on my CPAP for 150 nights. I am having no trouble with my machine, nor my mask, and I sleep all night. In late November on a scale of 1 - 10, I was a 12 and was soaring as high as can be, I felt so good. I was alert, organized, had clear thoughts, etc. Around the end of December I noticed the fatigue and sleepiness returning. I chalked it up to the stress and late nights of the holiday season and the fact I hated my day job. As we moved into January and February the fatigue, fogginess, lack of motivation, etc, etc, etc, all began returning and progessively getting worse. As a business analyst I do mostly writing or documentation and when you're tired it is hard to write and/or stay on focus. I am also not functioning well at home can't seem to accomplish anything but fall asleep on the couch.

I began taking the Provigil again as I was falling asleep at my desk and having difficulty driving (one hour commute each way). I went from half a pill to a full, each day. The Provigil is OK but it seems to take me to the opposite exteme - talkative, excitable, and the other side of normal. In the evening I crash as the drug wears off. To the point the days sucked and the evenings too. I looked forward to the mask for the peace it brought me. I now take 100 mgs in the AM and 100mgs around noon, without waiting to see how I feel.

I went back to the sleep doctor on Feb 23. He thought the culprit was mouth-breathing and prescribed a chin-strap and a return visit in 6 - 8 weeks. I don't go back until 4/20. I now have the chinstrap, it doesn't bother me, I fall asleep quickly and sleep all night and no mouthbreathing or snoring. Still not feeling well, maybe a little better but nothing approching my high in November.

My day job continues to deteriorate, I now have a lawyer as they refuse to recognize the disability and its affect on my performance. I am also looking at going out on disability. To hedge my bet I went to my family doc. All he could suggest was to stop taking the Lopid I take for triglycerides (sp?) and see if that makes a difference. I am confused and thought I'd see if anyone else has had a similar experieince with the feel good and then the decline. I hate it when they solve everything with drugs and don't seem to know what they're doing.

Thanks,
JimK

Wulfman · Post by **Wulfman** » Fri Mar 17, 2006 10:03 am

Hi Jim.

Good to see you here again, but sorry to hear about your problems.

Which machine, mask, pressure etc. are you using?
Are you using software to monitor your therapy? If so, what does it show?

When you were initially diagnosed with OSA, did you get a letter (or some kind of document) from your doctor confirming your condition and take it to your employer?
You might want to check out this website and see if it gives you any info on how to deal with your employer.

http://www.jan.wvu.edu/media/Sleep.html

Best wishes,

Den

sleepylady · Post by **sleepylady** » Fri Mar 17, 2006 10:11 am

Great questions Den, I was wondering those myself.

Sorry to hear you are having problems Jim. If you were mouth breathing you should be able to tell by an extremely dry mouth. Been there and done that. What I'm wondering is if your pressure is off? In the beginning I was titrated to a 14. Ok that helped some but I was still tired so they upped it to a 16. Ok still tired so they switched me from a CPAP to an APAP and bingo, much better. The problem???? My pressure was too high. I spend 87% of my time at 12 and 10% at 13, with only 2% of my time at 14. I have found I do need a certain amount of sleep to function well and help me "pay off" the sleep debt. Have you changed your sleeping habits and gotten less sleep???? I know that definitely impacts me.

I hope things look up for you soon. Please post back answers to the questions Den had so we might help you further.

Melinda

JimmyKSenior · Post by **JimmyKSenior** » Fri Mar 17, 2006 10:39 am

Sorry, I did go in and update my profile before posting the question but my changes didn't take. Just went back and did it again, looks OK now.

I have auto cpap with cflex and a swift mask. I tried Activa first but had too much trouble, no trouble with swift. The software doesn't show me anything I can see as significant. But what do I know. My doc wasn't interested. My prescription was for 10. I started at 8 - 12 per BMI and then went up to 9 - 12, and now at 10 - 12 and it seems best. I spend, and did spend over 90% at the lowest setting each time. The pressure does not fluctuate. I haven't downloaded for a couple weeks, I could check again if there is something specific I should look for. My wife watches me pretty closely, she still has not adjusted. The occasional snoring and mouth breathing have stopped with the chinstrap. Its all quite confusing and disappointing as I feelt so good for a short time. Melinda may have the best answer so far as I get 6 -7 hours sleep during week and 8 - 10 on weekends. Thanks for time to help!
Jim

TerryB · Post by **TerryB** » Fri Mar 17, 2006 10:53 am

Jim,
The thing which comes to my mind when I read your description of feelings is Seasonal Affected Disorder. The low sunlight levels in the North in the winter my be at least partially to blame. I personally no very little about this problem but have seen it described in the literature.

Maybe give it some research and thought?

TerryB

Wulfman · Post by **Wulfman** » Fri Mar 17, 2006 11:01 am

Jim,

You might want to do some downloading for awhile and see what your "numbers" look like......AHI, leaks, etc.
You might want to consider a fixed pressure for awhile.....maybe 12?....C-Flex options?.....humidifier settings?
Make sure the filter is clean, too.

Just some thoughts.

Best wishes,

Den

NightHawkeye · Post by **NightHawkeye** » Fri Mar 17, 2006 12:40 pm

JimmyKSenior wrote:My day job continues to deteriorate, I now have a lawyer as they refuse to recognize the disability and its affect on my performance. I am also looking at going out on disability. To hedge my bet I went to my family doc. All he could suggest was to stop taking the Lopid I take for triglycerides (sp?) and see if that makes a difference. I am confused and thought I'd see if anyone else has had a similar experieince with the feel good and then the decline. I hate it when they solve everything with drugs and don't seem to know what they're doing.

JimK,

I'm confused about what information you're looking for. Are you looking for information to help you improve your health, or are you looking for information to help you and your lawyers in hopes of getting disability? This forum will, I'm sure, be able to offer suggestions for either.

Regards,
Bill

PS: Please don't flame me. I'm not trying to criticize either. Both are legitimate goals.

JimmyKSenior · Post by **JimmyKSenior** » Fri Mar 17, 2006 1:45 pm

I think we got the lawyer bit down pretty good. I just thought others may have similar issues in the workplace. All I really was looking for was if anyone else experienced the euphoria of the first month and then downhill. I thought I remembered some others saying something similar when I joined last year and I was wondering if it levels off and then the feel good comes back or what. The distinct possibility exists that the CPAP is working fine and the issue is something else like the Lopid medication. When doctors are vague about side effects, it kinda makes you nervous.

I don't have mask issues, no zits, no marks, no condensation or anything. I go right to sleep, don't wake up until the alarm goes off. I like my machine and it likes me. My battery setup even worked when we lost power for 36 hours last month. I just find it weird to feel so good then back to normal. I'm just tired of the blah feeling and I guess I don't want to be feeling my age.

Thanks to all,
Jim

Selena · Post by **Selena** » Fri Mar 17, 2006 2:27 pm

Hi, my impression was also (like the poster who mentioned SAD) that you may be just plain depressed and possibly talking to your MD, maybe trying an SSRI might do the trick before you get into a serious slump and don't have the initiative to even do that. It's great that your CPAP's working, but it can't fix your whole life (duh!), and your expectations that way may have been a bit high. Even without OSA you're obviously having work problems, etc. and should maybe try to get help for them. Good luck.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Mar 17, 2006 3:37 pm

JimmyKSenior wrote:The distinct possibility exists that the CPAP is working fine and the issue is something else like the Lopid medication.

JimK, earlier I started to write up that you could use an oximeter to determine if your CPAP is effectively treating your apnea, but then began to wonder just what information you were looking for.

Anyway, by using an oximeter you can independently verify that the xPAP treatment is working. If you don't see desaturations, then the xPAP is doing its job in correcting your apnea. With that knowledge you can confidently move on to pursue other avenues to address your issues. On the other hand, if you see significant desaturations then you've got some issues to deal with in your xPAP treatment, possibly mouth leaks, or who knows what.

Oximeters are common and folks here have previously indicated they are readily available from DME's.

Hope this helps. It's a quick, easy and non-invasive thing to try.

Regards,
Bill

NightHawkeye · Post by **NightHawkeye** » Fri Mar 17, 2006 3:39 pm

That was me, above.

Regards,
Bill

CPAP OK - Results Not

CPAP OK - Results Not

Re: CPAP OK - Results Not

CPAP OK, Results not

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