My CPAP Tritration - 1st Night with CPAP

[Madzamboni]

Well, for some of the newbies like me, I thought i would write about my experience last night. This is a second visit for me, the first visit 4 weeks ago was to diagnose the sleep apnea. Last night I went into the sleep center for my CPAP tritration where they put a CPAP on the first time and dial it in.

I had posted earlier that I was very skeptical apnea was the cause of my sleepiness, I had been rated a 6.5 on the lower end of the Mild scale. I didn't struggle with full blown apnea as I thought I would, with only 4 episodes in a 6 hour period. But I do have a lot of hypopnea (shallow breathing) with 37 in the same timeframe. In short, something bad was going on every 10 minutes and my oxygen level was at 85%. I was so sleepy that it affected my workday with daily naps at noon and a real struggle to focus.

I went in last night expecting to not have any difference in how I felt this morning. 1) I had convinced myself that its impossible for a mild case to be root cause of my sleepiness and I was starting to expect it was my low dose of Lexapro that I take daily. 2) Even if it was apnea, many people told me it took weeks to feel different.

I was pleasantly surprised. I'm not 100% but definitely felt a difference.

It did suck, I won't lie. I had a hard time dealing with the pressure at first. Having tried nasal pillows initially (as everyones recommended) I felt as if the pressure would blow my head clean off. She switched me to a nasal mask, which was much more comfortable and easier to bear and tried to sleep. It worked well but when I really relaxed and finally slept (after an hour of "this is unnatural and uncomfortable") my mouth would open and wake me up. Instead of a chin strap, I slapped on a nose/mouth mask at about 1.5-2hr mark. Wasn't as comfortable but worked better.

I was so confused this morning.

I woke up and swear I didn't sleep much at all but the technician said I actually slept quite a bit. To me it felt as if it was only an hour or two between feeling uncomfortable, waking myself up because of the pressure, etc. But I felt clear, sharp. I found it odd I was still yawning, but the fog was gone. I remember telling someone that I felt like I could roll out of bed and concentrate on solving an algebra problem right away. Normally I am dragging so bad and so foggy I am unsure how to tie my shoes. I also noticed that my throat is a little raw and that swallowing dry stuff was a pain. But I know this can be tweaked with dialing in humidity or changing the mask.

I did end up taking my lunchtime nap (I work from home) as I have been doing but the urge to sleep mid morning or the overwhelming urge to sleep at 3pm was not there. I may yawn now and then, or feel slightly sleepy, but mentally I am sharp and alert. This was enough of a difference to deal with the week or two of suckage that everyone says you go through when you first get your machine.

Now its more waiting as the analysis is done on last nights data, delivered to my doctor, and a prescription is written. So I am looking at CPAP/APAP machines online and confusing myself . But I'll chip at it slowly and steady.

[SGearhart]

It sounds like you're off to a good start. Here is a link to help out in understanding some of the forum's lingo.
Sleep Disorder Glossary:
http://sleepyhead.sourceforge.net/wiki/ ... p/Glossary

I hope it may help.

[Madzamboni]

I think we need to add the word "suckage" in the list to describe your first night. Make it official and all.

[yaconsult]

That is VERY encouraging - to notice an improvement from just the study! Soon, you will be coming up to a critical stage. You need to make sure that you get a good data-capable, auto cpap machine that is supported by the wonderful, free SleepyHead software. This will allow you to monitor your therapy in detail and know if any adjustments need to be made.

The equipment supplier/DME is NOT your friend at this stage. The cheaper/lower-end machine that they can get you to accept, the more money they make. The insurance company pays the same amount whether you get the low end machine or the top of the line. Of course, if you're buying your own machine rather than dealing with insurance, that's a different story. Keep us updated on how things are going.

[OkyDoky]

Here is a site where you can look at the different models to find out if they are data capable. https://sleep.tnet.com/equipment

[Pugsy]

I think we need to add the word "suckage" in the list to describe your first night. Make it official and all.

I added "the night from hell" to my list of descriptive terms for my titration sleep study.
Long story there that I won't go into but I left the place feeling like death warmed over, massive headache and blood pressure of 180/120 and my bp at that time was entirely normal otherwise. I never felt that bad on my worst pre cpap untreated night.

I am glad you noticed some improvement straight away...always makes this more easy to adjust to when we can see marked improvement in some symptoms.

I did do a lot better at home on my own though. I knew it had to getter better because it sure couldn't get any worse than "the night from hell".