VPAP DOES NOT HELP SLEEPINESS

[PhilE]

Hi All,

I have been using a Resmed VPAP Adapt S9 for about a year as I have central sleep apnea. I am getting constant AHI readings below 2 with a few exceptions. This is a huge improvement considering it started much higher. While the AHI readings have improved, using the VPAP has done absolutely nothing to alleviate my sleepiness. It is just as bad if not worse than it was before I started using the VPAP. Can anyone please make any suggestions as to how I can overcome the sleepiness. Should I be having additional medical tests or taking additional medication? Not that I'm having any problems in using the VPAP but since I'm not getting any apparent benefit from it, I am questioning what the point is in using it. Thanks very much

[Krelvin]

Did you change equipment? Your listed equipment is not an Adapt.

[PhilE]

No, I never changed equipment. I had the incorrect description displayed

[Krelvin]

Oh ok. The machine you have then will not show up on your equipment list since CPAP.com no longer sells it. Go to your profile and under signature just enter this instead if it is the correct machine:

S9 VPAP Adapt

Ref:
https://sleep.tnet.com/cmd/unit?id=71

[kteague]

I'll let others address your treatment. Just want to throw out some other considerations.
- Getting enough hours of sleep?
- Any issues with limb movements during sleep?
- On any meds with this as a side effect?
- Been checked for medical conditions such as diabetes, and maybe anemia and hypothyroid?
- Any indications of narcolepsy?
If it's an option, getting a repeat sleep study while using your prescribed treatment for the entire night should reveal if there is a remaining sleep issue. I think that's what you need to know - whether it's sleep related or something else that needs explored. I wouldn't waste my time on another diagnostic study without your machine. You already know what that looks like. If meds or another medical condition have already been ruled out, an MSLT to check for narcolepsy might be in order if an overnight study doesn't reveal answers.

I'd like to encourage you to look at your VPAP treatment separately from how sleepy you feel. If your sleep breathing issues were the sole cause of your daytime sleepiness, you should see improvement. If there were other contributors, the machine could be doing an excellent job yet have unrelated symptoms. If you have been proven to need the machine and the machine is proven to be doing what it's supposed to do, then you need to continue using it. Do let us know how this progresses. Always interesting to hear the causes of continued daytime sleepiness in spite of therapeutic CPAP treatment.

[PhilE]

Hi kteague,

Maybe I should change my name to "fatague" given my condition.

Thanks for your input. I do have some of the symptoms and conditions you mentioned and do see the doctor regularly for them. I'll mention you suggestions and see how they go.

[M'ohms]

It took me over a year and a half to find out that I was having very low blood oxygen levels at night. I have been on ASV for complex apnea, and thought that it would finally allow me to sleep. Wrong! After documenting my low SpO2 I was put on supplemental oxygen at night, and that has finally given me the ability to sleep better. It's still not great, but it's the best I've had in probably 10 years.

[Julie]

K. Teague asked about medication you take, but you didn't exactly respond and it can matter a lot... how certain meds interact with sleep, apnea, Apap, etc.

[Hang Fire]

I am questioning what the point is in using it

So you can breathe and sleep simultaneously.