Question for the Spouses of apnea sufferers.

[yankee_hoser]

I have been on cpap therapy for about 6 months now. it has gone fairly well. the first time i was on a cpap machine for the sleep study, it was the best night sleep that i could remember in years. after that, my treatment has gone fairly well. in addition to OSA, i have a few things going against me that make getting restful sleep possible. I also work from 10 pm - 6 am. and if an irregular work shift were not enough, we have a 15 month old and our second coming in about 2 months. so when i do get to sleep on time it is usually broken up with my wife needed to take a nap due to pregnancy fatigue or helping change a messy diaper.

About a month ago i brought up the fact that my therapy was going well, but i still have a lot of daytime sleepiness. i had been on welbutrin, so we stopped that one and i started using pro vigil for late night shift work disorder. results were so so. a little bit more energy when awake, but i was still having concentration/focus issues during the day(this usually happens when I'm off welbutrin). so i started taking it again like normal.

so, i need to be on two medications, my cpap machine, get uninterrupted sleep, and oh yeah there must be a full hunters moon that night!

and i just learned that after a year and a half of waiting, i will be able to go to second shift (2pm - 10 pm) soooooo happy.

so, with all that background out of the way, my question is this.

before your spouse started successfully treating there sleep apnea what kind of short term memory/concentration/focus problems did they have?

[Julie]

Hi - I'm going to ignore your big question for the moment and ask if you've tried to improve on the therapy you're getting now... do you track your progress with software on a daily or weekly basis, or are you just going by how you feel (which doesn't sound so hot to be honest)? Could there be an issue of you're e.g. being a mouth breather when sleeping, allowing Cpap air to be lost that way and not helping to keep your airway open as it should (a trial of taping or a FF mask would be in order if so). Have you considered the possibility of separate bedrooms until the babies are a bit older?

We've all had quite varied versions of memory/concentration loss and/or feelings of being in a fog (along with other symptoms as well) before Cpap, and some continue to have them if not being treated effectively... it's hard to put a number on these things so it's really about whether or not you feel you're getting enough good sleep consistently or are using the machine, but not really feeling a lot better (as you seem to be to some extent). I think it's important now for you (especially as you do drive) to make sure your therapy's working well, and not just 'kind of', sorta.

[LSAT]

Hi - I'm going to ignore your big question for the moment and ask if you've tried to improve on the therapy you're getting now... do you track your progress with software on a daily or weekly basis, or are you just going by how you feel (which doesn't sound so hot to be honest)? Could there be an issue of you're e.g. being a mouth breather when sleeping, allowing Cpap air to be lost that way and not helping to keep your airway open as it should (a trial of taping or a FF mask would be in order if so). Have you considered the possibility of separate bedrooms until the babies are a bit older?

We've all had quite varied versions of memory/concentration loss and/or feelings of being in a fog (along with other symptoms as well) before Cpap, and some continue to have them if not being treated effectively... it's hard to put a number on these things so it's really about whether or not you feel you're getting enough good sleep consistently or are using the machine, but not really feeling a lot better (as you seem to be to some extent). I think it's important now for you (especially as you do drive) to make sure your therapy's working well, and not just 'kind of', sorta.

Julie....Your answer has NOTHING to do with the question.................
before your spouse started successfully treating there sleep apnea what kind of short term memory/concentration/focus problems did they have?

[Julie]

I disagree.

[yankee_hoser]

well julie, i suppose you answered my question in a very broad sense.

" We've all had quite varied versions of memory/concentration loss and/or feelings of being in a fog (along with other symptoms as well) before Cpap, and some continue to have them if not being treated effectively. "

but what i am looking for is spouse's specific experiences with the memory/etc problems of their partner, prior to therapy. i know that everyone has different symptoms and reactions to sleep apnea. i am curious to hear about those experiences.

I forgot to add that since being on both of my medications i am noticing a significance difference in how i feel when i wake up. in addition to that i am having more energy after work. i would say that i have gotten several nights sleep in the past two weeks (on both meds) that i would describe as "restful". aside from my sleep study 6 months ago i cannot remember the last time i had a night sleep where i felt rested.. years maybe.

I am due soon for a check up with my sleep doc. i just have to wait to get caught up on all my current bills and debts first.

it will be good to know if my troubles with therapy were due to environmental disruptions (3rd shift,toddler,pregnant wife) or if i need to tweak some settings or both.