How long till you feel better (less sleepy, more energetic)?

[Jewel]

It took me a few months before I realized that I was waking up earlier than I used to, plus when I woke up, I was more "awake" instead of being in a sleepy haze for the first hour or so after waking up.

It does take a lot of time to get used to using a machine, a mask on your face, tubing, etc. But I do believe it's worth it. Once I switched from a CPAP to an autoset machine, it did seem easier for me to sleep more consistently through the night. But even last week, I had a night or two where the leaks were waking me up, and I'd take off the mask out of frustration.

Stick with it, take the time to try out different masks if you're able to.

[tedburnsIII]

For me, the daytime sleepiness was the first to subside (within a few weeks). From then on, it was gradual and took months. I had sub 1.0 AHI numbers in the first week. But it depends on how long one has had OSA, how old the person is and how much damage it's done to the person's body (including other medical issues). The person's therapy needs to be optimized and they need to get a sufficient amount of sleep at night. I believe that at least 7 hours to be the bare minimum (average). My first year, my average was only about 6 1/2 hrs., but I had lots of projects going on at work which took lots of my time. But, I diligently worked at it and kept increasing it over time. Each year has averaged more. It's all about averages, too. One night or a few nights doesn't mean diddly squat.


Den
.

I'd agree with most everything said above, but I've also found that with the 4 hour Compliance minimum a night on CPAP, and 2-3 hours without it (such as ripping off mask in sleep), though not optimizing one's therapy, I've felt good. I've been on it for 5 months now, slept 6.5 hours on CPAP last night, felt super today with AHI of 0, but generally, if my AHI is less than 1.0 (sometimes even higher) and I've received a sufficient number of CPAP hours the more that I feel great. I'm 65 years old and BMI is high- 31.7.

Contrary to some views on here, I feel that once I lose a minimum of 20 lbs. I will feel even better, though I may need to change pressure.

[Krelvin]

...
but I've also found that with the 4 hour Compliance minimum a night on CPAP, and 2-3 hours without it (such as ripping off mask in sleep)

The compliance values are strictly an insurance base nothing more. If your are unable to reach that level, insurance won't pay. That is ALL that is for.

If all you are doing is getting to compliance values you are NOT getting the therapy needed and are 100% fooling yourself into thinking you are.

And what is most interesting is you are someone who keeps telling other people how they are doing it wrong, people are giving out incorrect info on how they should treat themselves etc... and then you post this?

Benadryl, Ambien, hydroxyzine, diazepam, lorazepam (benzos and Ambien in low doses). I may try melatonin.

Might be also why you are not getting the therapy you should be getting.

I think you need more treated sleep.

[SewTired]

Is there a point to increasing the pressure if my AHI is really low?

I will say that your 5 setting is pretty low, just barely above the default machine setting of 4, and if you know how to bump it by a couple of #'s to e.g. 7 and see how you feel then it wouldn't hurt and could possibly help.

Well yeah. Most of us can't even breathe well at that setting. To have it at 5 all the time? My thoughts are that those low settings are intended for very small women with much smaller passages and lower lung volume.

[BlackSpinner]

Is there a point to increasing the pressure if my AHI is really low?

I will say that your 5 setting is pretty low, just barely above the default machine setting of 4, and if you know how to bump it by a couple of #'s to e.g. 7 and see how you feel then it wouldn't hurt and could possibly help.

Well yeah. Most of us can't even breathe well at that setting. To have it at 5 all the time? My thoughts are that those low settings are intended for very small women with much smaller passages and lower lung volume.

Nope size has nothing to do with the internal structure and the pressure require to keep it open and neither has severity. Some people only need that much pressure. Lung volume has absolutely no relationship either to anything with regard to cpap therapy. Even at 20cm H2O you can not inflate a balloon.

[Krelvin]

Well yeah. Most of us can't even breathe well at that setting. To have it at 5 all the time? My thoughts are that those low settings are intended for very small women with much smaller passages and lower lung volume.

That is a wrong assumption. The pressure a person needs is very dependent on them and has little bearing on how severe their apeneas are. There is nothing that correlates the someone size, or whether they are male or female and has nothing to do with lung volume either.

[tedburnsIII]

...
but I've also found that with the 4 hour Compliance minimum a night on CPAP, and 2-3 hours without it (such as ripping off mask in sleep)

The compliance values are strictly an insurance base nothing more. If your are unable to reach that level, insurance won't pay. That is ALL that is for.

If all you are doing is getting to compliance values you are NOT getting the therapy needed and are 100% fooling yourself into thinking you are.

And what is most interesting is you are someone who keeps telling other people how they are doing it wrong, people are giving out incorrect info on how they should treat themselves etc... and then you post this?

Benadryl, Ambien, hydroxyzine, diazepam, lorazepam (benzos and Ambien in low doses). I may try melatonin.

Might be also why you are not getting the therapy you should be getting.

I think you need more treated sleep.

Thank you for your comments. They are well-taken.

I'd beg to differ with your point that 4 hours' only significance is for insurance purposes.

Please understand my post as not espousing it, but I've found that if one complies with the minimum there is therapeutic benefit that I can certainly feel, and for that and other reasons would think the regulators struck a balance with everyone including patients, doctors, insurance companies.

What is 'workable' while also being therapeutic?

But one might think without any reasonable doubt that 4 hours is therapeutic, no doubt about that in my mind!

And, of course, less than 4 hours is of less benefit.

But the longer on the machine the greater benefit- to a point of diminishing returns (as later suggested in the study).

Do remember one starts 'all over' again the next day. The therapy is not a cure. Some time over 4 hours is very good but not optimal. Full night on the mask is great and necessary for optimization of therapy, along with WEIGHT LOSS, exercise, the usual recommendations.

There likely is a history of how Medicare and other insurance carriers came up with the 4 hour compliance. And there's NO WAY the minimum of 4 hours a night is NOT therapeutic for that night!

I just found this, I've never researched the issue before: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1978355/

[BlackSpinner]

. Do remember one starts 'all over' again the next day. The therapy is not a cure. Some time over 4 hours is very good but not optimal. Full night on the mask is great and necessary for optimization of therapy, along with WEIGHT LOSS, exercise, the usual recommendations.

No you don't "start over", the damage done to your organs due to low O2 is cumulative. 3-4 hours of sleeping without your cpap can basically offset or worse the 4 hours on depending on your desats. 4 hours are barely training wheels.

[Krelvin]

And there's NO WAY the minimum of 4 hours a night is NOT therapeutic for that night!

FACT. If all you get are the minimum compliant amounts for OSA treatment you will not do well. They are to make sure you are at least using the expensive hardware they are paying for and nothing more (Insurance companies). They have to have some sort of low standard that shows the user is at least trying as it is very hard for some to even get to that point.

>4hours use 70% of the time with an AHI < 5 is not real therapy is considered "Compliant" which for a vast majority of people simply will drive them into the ground if that is all they get.

And you are correct, it is not a cure, that is why you should use it EVERY time you sleep ALL the time you sleep, not just part of the time. Espousing that it is okay to sleep without using your CPAP for a part of the night is not the right answer and gives people an excuse not to try harder.

You are apparently using that excuse yourself and like I said you are fooling yourself.

[tedburnsIII]

You start over in the sense that if you miss a night you are much more likely to feel considerably worse. But it is not a cure, though I agree in the long-term effects of making one healthier as you have stated.

Do read that study, you might find it of interest!

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1978355/



Also, and in a brief search, FWIW:

http://sleepdisorders.about.com/od/livi ... r-CPAP.htm

[joeljjk11]

Sometimes there are other factors as to why you don't feel energetic or alert. I know that if I eat healthier with more fruits and veggies and do some sort of exercising each day I feel way better mentally and physically.

[Krelvin]

Do read that study, you might find it of interest!

Actual I don't find the study interesting, study was done in 2007, ie now a long time ago sleep related terms.

Conclusions: Our analyses suggest that a greater percentage of patients will achieve normal functioning with longer nightly CPAP durations, but what constitutes adequate use varies between different outcomes.

In other words, using CPAP more helps, but they could not determine what is adequate.

Does not suggest that only using CPAP for part of the night and not using it the rest of the night is good, specifically when they determined more use made the patients better.

If you spend as much time as you do looking for studies and direct that more into trying to use your CPAP and come up for excuses why only using it part of the time is good for you, you would most likely come out a lot better.

[palerider]

You start over in the sense that if you miss a night you are much more likely to feel considerably worse. But it is not a cure, though I agree in the long-term effects of making one healthier as you have stated.

Do read that study, you might find it of interest! [study from 2007]
Also, and in a brief search, FWIW: [sleepdisorders.about.com]

ted's the new avi? quoting things from 8 years ago as gospel?

even so, let's see, from what major burns quoted, but apparently did not read:

First, from a population sense, functions for predicted probabilities of normalization show that more CPAP use is associated with greater relief of sleepiness (no matter how it is measured). However, there are patients who normalize on therapy with somewhat limited CPAP use. The actual need for CPAP in terms of reversing sleepiness is likely to be individually determined. We cannot assume that an individual using CPAP only 4 hours per night is inadequately treated for sleepiness outcomes; we also cannot assume that the patient is effectively treated.

yet, major burns is FULL Of ASSumptions.

quoting about.com, the epitome of knowledge is amusing, too.

[tedburnsIII]

Lookit, the purpose of my posts is not to espouse 4 hours a night. It's to espouse a minimum of 4 hours a night. It's to emphasize there was a basis for the Medicare minimum, and that minimum has apparently been proven to be therapeutic. So, let it be settled, that the 4 hours a night IS NOT ONLY based on insurance compliance requirements. There is a basis in science and medicine for such requirement, it is NOT arbitrary, contrary to what has been suggested by another poster.

That said, I considerably feel much better on CPAP >4 hours a night than on 4 hours, and agree, generally, the longer the better for one's overall health.

I espouse staying on it as long as possible between 6 and 8 hours, dependent on the individual outcome. Apparently, there is a point where one reaches a diminished return. That point may be where you've just slept too long with CPAP for the night, similar to just sleeping too long anyway.

As the study indicated, it's an individual thing.

Thanks,

[palerider]

There is a basis in science and medicine for such requirement, it is NOT arbitrary, contrary to what has been suggested by another poster.

you incorrectly infer too much out of what you don't understand. it IS arbitrary, it could have as easily been 3.5, or 5, or 6, but it's 4. just like <5 ahi was a line in the sand, even though many people feel like crap with an ahi of 4.9, it's good enough for classification purposes.

why is it impossible for you, when presented with a differing idea, to go "hmm, that's an interesting point of view, I'll consider it?" instead of doggedly trying to prove yourself right?