Newly diagnosed

[laurieather]

Routine bloodwork indicated an elevated red blood cell count in my system. My doctor told me, "let's eliminate sleep apnea." Well, after my insurance first denying the in house study, then approving a home study (which I did and thought I totally screwed up on, but the results came back 'abnormal'), insurance finally approved the in house study. All this over the course of 2 1/2 months.

I went to the in house study and while I didn't like being hooked up to all sorts of things, I got through it.
A visit to my doctor the following week - she told me, yes, you have sleep apnea. You'll have to get set up with a CPAP.

Now, I don't feel like I have ever had sleeping issues. I get 7-8 hours of sleep every night. Yes, I do wake up once or twice to head to the bathroom, but sleep never evades me. I *think* I snore - I sleep alone, and my cats aren't telling me anything. I do not get tired during the day while reading, watching tv or being the passenger in a car. Even the pulmonary doctor in the sleep center I initially saw (not my Primary doctor who I saw every other time) told me I was not symptomatic of sleep apnea.

So, I was a little upset at the diagnosis. I fumbled with the machine the first few nights, then switched to the smaller nasel thing (sorry for not knowing the names of the equipment) and that was more comfortable, but I still hate having to 'gear up' before I go to bed. My going to bed routine has changed and I don't like it. (I started on the machine February 17).

So, I know it's only been 12 nights, but there is no "I FEEL SO MUCH BETTER" -- I simply feel the same as I did prior to using the machine. Nothing noticeable whatsoever. My nose is a little sore from the nasel thing (but Vaseline helps with that). I know I'll never be one to say "I love my CPAP machine!"

I know I need to use it every night, so I will. I just don't like that I don't have any symptoms and don't see any physical results. Guess bloodwork results will be my only proof of my health improving.

Anyone else having this experience?

[Mudrock63]

It would be interesting to see the sleep study report. Even if you are asymptomatic, it is not a good thing if you are suffering hypoxia at night.

It is a bummer of a routine to have to get used to, especially if you are not aware of feeling any benefits. Fortunately, I am feeling major benefits after four months. So I have a pretty compelling reason to accept the change to my routine.

[robysue]

So, I know it's only been 12 nights, but there is no "I FEEL SO MUCH BETTER" -- I simply feel the same as I did prior to using the machine. Nothing noticeable whatsoever.
...
I know I need to use it every night, so I will. I just don't like that I don't have any symptoms and don't see any physical results. Guess bloodwork results will be my only proof of my health improving.

Anyone else having this experience?

I've been PAPing for 5 years now.

Pre-CPAP, I was largely asymptomatic in terms of how I felt in the daytime. I did NOT have any excessive daytime sleepiness. Had no trouble staying awake during the daytime. Never took naps and never needed them (unless I had a migraine or was genuinely sick with the flue). Slept "ok" but not great and I never woke up at night needing to go to the bathroom. But I did have a bit of well controlled insomnia now and then. The insomnia was mainly stress related or tied to the fact that my circadian rhythm is a "night owl" circadian rhythm. And I'm a small female of normal weight. I'm also fairly active.

But hubby knew I snored. And hubby was waking up at night because I'd quit breathing for short periods of time. And hubby was alarmed about that. So hubby fussed and cajoled for a good two or three years before I consented to request a sleep test.

At the time of my diagnostic sleep study, I did have some morning headaches, but then I suffer from migraines, tension headaches, tmj headaches, and sinus headaches. If my morning headaches were OSA ones, it was impossible to tease that out from all the other headaches that I've suffered from my entire life. (More on that in a bit.)

And before my diagnosis, I would wake up with pain in my hands and feet most mornings. The doc thought it was mild arthritis and simply told me to take ibuprofen as needed for the hand/foot pain.

And rather than experiencing "I feel the same as I did prior to CPAP," within 4 days of starting CPAP, I was feeling much, much worse. And I was experiencing all kinds of symptoms that I did not have prior to starting CPAP: I was exhausted in the daytime. I was falling asleep while teaching. For the first time in my life I was worried about falling asleep while driving. I simply could not function at all during the daytime. And at night my insomnia problems exploded: I could not seem to get to sleep for hours. And the sleep I did get was fitful and I was waking up numerous times each night. And in the morning when I had to get out of bed, I would wake up feeling even more exhausted than when I went to bed.

And I wanted to quit. Every night. But I stuck with it because I understood the risks associated with untreated OSA and some of those things run in my family. I eventually got professional help to conquer the insomnia. It was during what I call my First War with Insomnia when I was keeping a sleep journal that something good finally started to happen: About 5-6 months after I started PAPing, the hand and foot pain just went away. As in it disappeared. And it's not returned. And that's really important to me.

The headaches? Alas, they didn't disappear. But as the migraines became worse, I finally started getting serious about getting them treated, and after about 4-5 months of try-and-fail on various medications, my headache doctor and I finally found something that worked. And at that point I finally started having more days than not completely free or almost free of headache pain.

In the end, I'm glad I stuck with PAP. I now realize that I usually feel better than I did the last year or two before my diagnosis. And I'm in a lot less pain than I was back then. I strongly suspect that the pain was related to my untreated OSA.

[Mudrock63]

Wow, Robysue, you are a trooper!!!

[LSAT]

It would be interesting to see the sleep study report. Even if you are asymptomatic, it is not a good thing if you are suffering hypoxia at night.

It is a bummer of a routine to have to get used to, especially if you are not aware of feeling any benefits. Fortunately, I am feeling major benefits after four months. So I have a pretty compelling reason to accept the change to my routine.

This routine can extend your life if you stick to it and monitor your therapy.

[RogerSC]

Another one here that was virtually asymptomatic during the day, no sleepiness, headaches, irritability, etc. The only hints that I got that I might have a sleep apnea problem was my wife telling me that I would stop breathing to 10 or 20 seconds at night sometimes, and that worried her. And I snored some, so I switched to sleeping on my side to avoid waking my wife so much...My GP suggested that I get a sleep apnea study after looking in my mouth, and then I mentioned about my wife noticing the night time breathing stuff, and his response was that was how people frequently found out that they had sleep apnea problems, from other family members.

Anyways, I don't notice much change in how I feel in the daytime as a result of cpap therapy since I felt fine before it, but I'm not snoring or stopping breathing at night. And my blood pressure was also creeping up, and it's back down under 120/80 now. Part of that is due to added aerobic exercise (daily walking program since I retired), and I attribute some of the lowering of blood pressure to the cpap therapy as well.

So, while I don't feel that I'm getting wonderful benefits in my daytime life, I do feel that cpap therapy is adding to my overall health. My father died somewhat before his time, and I'm sure that part of that was undiagnosed sleep apnea. He was a great snorer, so my mom slept with earplugs and wouldn't have heard any breathing problems. Or never remarked on them anyways. So I feel that it's well worth my while to do this, I want to be around and see my kids have kids *smile*.

[laurieather]

Thanks for all the replies.

I'm not going to stop using, even though I have no idea of what is going on while I'm sleeping. I'll do whatever my doctor says so I can be around for as long as I can.

[OkyDoky]

Thanks for all the replies.

I'm not going to stop using, even though I have no idea of what is going on while I'm sleeping. I'll do whatever my doctor says so I can be around for as long as I can.

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