Was doing great but all of a sudden...

[sleepyruss]

I have been on CPAP now for 2 years and been very good with compliance. After getting used to the machine and extended use, I really started to feel better.

Recently, however, I have started to feel like I'm headed back downhill - headaches, tired, like back to the days before CPAP but I am still compliant and the numbers on the machine look good - AHI is good is the .8 range!!! Pressures are not that high - around 9.5. I am set to Auto which I am told is supposed to give me the pressure I need.

Anyone have any suggestions?

[Pesser]

Do you think you have UARS?

[Julie]

How are your leak rates?

[sleepyruss]

Leak rates are normal...nothing changed there.

What is UARS?

[sleepyruss]

I just read about UARS. I wasn't aware of it and don't know much about it.

I can tell you that my stats look very clean at night with very few events. Recently, I've struggled with the occasional sensation like I am breathing through a straw (like to much resistance for comfortable inhalation). I am using a nasal mask so I am breathing though my nose.

I see the treatment for UARS is also CPAP so shouldn't I be okay? I also just read that there can be respiratory-effort related arousals (RERAs) - meaning the person is trying so hard to breath that it awakens them (even though there might not be associated apneas or hypopneas).

Could I be having these RERA events and the CPAP doesn't pick up on it and increase the pressure accordingly?

[Pesser]

Someone who knows more than I do will surely be posting to you. I can tell you that I set my pressure above that recommended by the techs. I did it because in this forum someone had that idea. It certainly helped. Increasing pressure has to be done gently and slowly. I am trying C flex instead of A flex to see if there is a difference in my arousals. I think our machines are similar???

[robysue]

I have been on CPAP now for 2 years and been very good with compliance. After getting used to the machine and extended use, I really started to feel better.

Recently, however, I have started to feel like I'm headed back downhill - headaches, tired, like back to the days before CPAP but I am still compliant and the numbers on the machine look good - AHI is good is the .8 range!!! Pressures are not that high - around 9.5. I am set to Auto which I am told is supposed to give me the pressure I need.

Anyone have any suggestions?

If the CPAP data looks good on paper, you may need to look somewhere else for an explanation of why you are no longer feeling good.

There are also a whole host of things OTHER than OSA that can cause daily headaches and daytime exhaustion. When was the last time you had a thorough physical exam with your PCP? Thyroid problems and vitamin D and B deficiencies are both common causes for the symptoms you're having. And there are a whole host of other things that present with "tiredness" or "headaches" as the most common symptom. Even something as overlooked as eyestrain from a badly outdated glasses prescription CAN cause daily headaches and the headaches can cause the fatigue. If you're on any daily medications, then it's worth talking to the PCP about whether the headaches or fatigue might be a side effect of one or more of the meds. So if it's been a while since you've seen your primary care physician, that's the starting point in my opinion.

And there are also a lot of potential sleep disorders that can occur independently of OSA, regardless of whether the OSA is well treated or not. So a chat with the sleep doc might not be a bad idea if the PCP can't find anything to explain the headaches and fatigue.