One month in....still feeling bad any advice here?

[moo2425]

I’m about 2 months in but the first month there was a lot of adjustments so I can say I probably have about a month of decent CPAP use.

I’m feeling better overall, less anxiety less feeling like I want to jump out of my skin but I’m nowhere near I would like to be.

I do feel depressed and lethargic a lot, I just don’t want to talk to anyone I want to be to myself.

Is there someone here that can tell me how it was for them on the first month? Did they go through the same thing I’m going through? And did it get better?

Idk maybe I’m expecting too much from CPAP

[ChicagoGranny]

Idk maybe I’m expecting too much from CPAP

Maybe it's not set up properly. Which model machine do you have? What are the pressure settings? What is your AHI and leak level?

[moo2425]

Ahi approximately 5 or lower every day
APAP set at 14.40
Leak is very low
Resmed s9 APAP

[Bookit]

It's 2 months for me too. The first month was rough cause I was already tired and then I had to try and sleep with this thing on my face. The good news is it gets better.

Please download the Sleepyhead software, post some graphs from it after carefully reading the thread at the top for newbies. And listen to the advice you are given here.

Tweaks to my settings (thanks to the wise people here) have helped me so much. You are not alone.

[Okie bipap]

It sounds like your treatment is not optimized for you. Many doctors consider anything under an AHI of 5 as being properly treated. That is like someone interrupting your sleep every 12 minutes. Most of us here have taken control of our own treatment and consider anything under 1 as properly treated. My AHI never got that low until I took control of my own treatment. If you don't have the Sleepyhead software, get it. Once you get it, you will be able to see how your treatment is going and give you an idea of what needs to be done to optimize your treatment.

[palerider]

Ahi approximately 5 or lower every day
APAP set at 14.40
Leak is very low
Resmed s9 APAP

One of the most pernicious lies from doctors sleep related doctors is that "5 is good enough".

It's not. 2 is good enough, barely. 5 sucks. it's like being poked with a sharp stick every 12 minutes all night long.

Disrupted sleep is bad for your health.

[mbushroe]

I am also a newcomer to this forum but I have had various cpap and now bi-pap machines for over a decade, with compliance ranging from near zero to over 90% now. And sleep disorders going back many decades.

How long have you had sleep apnea or other major sleep trouble? I have never found any reference to it in scientific literature but a personal theory of mine about how much longer it takes to recover from extended period of inadequate sleep. I remember from long ago studies that showed that someone had been kept awake for days until delirious and then was fine after one long night's sleep of 12-14 hours so people assume that lost sleep is something that doesn't accumulate. But those studies were done with young, healthy people with normal, healthy sleep patterns and who were well rested at the start. Whereas I suspect that just about everyone on this forum with a long term, chronic sleep deficit. My theory is that each night, when your body does not get the full, restorative sleep that it needs, or even fails to get any truly restorative sleep, some of the renewing and repairing work gets deferred, and deferred until it becomes the norm. And if you suddenly fix the sleep problem, your tries to catch back up with the whole backlog in one night, using up all your energy while trying to do the long overdue repair work. I know that one time after not using it for a long time I used the mask to take mid-day nap. When I woke up is was to weak to get out of bed for several minutes. And when my sister started using a cpap, she said that it took her a month to start feeling better, and was surprised when after 3 months she felt better still. Now she won't go without it, not even camping. Unfortunately in my own case I have more than one sleep disorder, and even with the bi-pap bringing my AHI down below 1 each night, I still don't get any stage 3 or 4 sleep and so I still wake up tired.

My sister wanted to quit early on and I convinced her to try a little longer. I am not sure how many of the 50% who don't use theirs didn't hold on long to 'turn the corner' and how many of them were not likely to ever benefit. I also don't if you have a large than normal backlog of repair work to get through or it the whole idea of a backlog from chronic sleep problems is just my imagination. But you have the possibility of feeling better, fresher, more energetic for the rest of your life, and possibly even having a longer life too, and perhaps the hope can help you press on a little longer.

As for feeling depressed, if it is because you are putting up with strapping this mask on your head, having a hose come out of your face, trying not to get tangled up with the rest of the hose, and having this fan going all night next to your ear and you feel like you have earned the right to feel better in the morning but not gotten it, that is a reasonable reason to feel depressed. Once you start waking up with energy this should switch from depression to joy. If you just plain feeling depressed, or waking up with energy is nice but not enough, then you should consider getting help. Clinical depression is very hard to get out of without help. I know, because I have been there myself. And it is not something that you can just 'snap out of it'. It involves more complex issues and often a chemical imbalance. OK, end of soapbox mode!

[moo2425]

ok im gonna hope it gets better from here maybe after 2 months ill start to see real benefits

[moo2425]

As for feeling depressed, if it is because you are putting up with strapping this mask on your head, having a hose come out of your face, trying not to get tangled up with the rest of the hose, and having this fan going all night next to your ear and you feel like you have earned the right to feel better in the morning but not gotten it, that is a reasonable reason to feel depressed. Once you start waking up with energy this should switch from depression to joy. If you just plain feeling depressed, or waking up with energy is nice but not enough, then you should consider getting help. Clinical depression is very hard to get out of without help. I know, because I have been there myself. And it is not something that you can just 'snap out of it'. It involves more complex issues and often a chemical imbalance. OK, end of soapbox mode!

im depressed a lot because i dont have much energy and can't think properly to take part in activities of any kind such as even cleaning up i just hope it gets better and i hope i get my energy back

[mbushroe]

I agree that you have good reasons for being depressed right now. Just watch and see if the depression outlasts the problems! Good luck!

[djams]

I’m about 2 months in but the first month there was a lot of adjustments so I can say I probably have about a month of decent CPAP use.

I’m feeling better overall, less anxiety less feeling like I want to jump out of my skin but I’m nowhere near I would like to be.

I do feel depressed and lethargic a lot, I just don’t want to talk to anyone I want to be to myself.

I was lucky in that I felt physically better in the first couple of weeks.This got me engaged in, and excited about my therapy - and wanting to learn more about it. Depression (which I never believed I was) started abating maybe 3 months in. I started noticing positive changes in my behavior and reactions and attitude. This made me realize that I was indeed depressed.

Keep in mind that the "feeling better" timeline isn't a set schedule. It is different for everyone.

Idk maybe I’m expecting too much from CPAP

In my experience you're not expecting too much. Stick with it. You've made a great decision to improve your health and your life. Use this forum as your support group. Bunch of great folks around here.

Definitely take the advice above and get SleepyHead software, so the knowledgeable folks here can help you get the most out of your CPAP therapy.
viewtopic/t172378/Sticky--Newbies-PLEAS ... STING.html

And don't feel badly if you didn't read this^^ before posting.

[djams]

How long have you had sleep apnea or other major sleep trouble? I have never found any reference to it in scientific literature but a personal theory of mine about how much longer it takes to recover from extended period of inadequate sleep. I remember from long ago studies that showed that someone had been kept awake for days until delirious and then was fine after one long night's sleep of 12-14 hours so people assume that lost sleep is something that doesn't accumulate.

I'd say there's a different outlook these days. Google "sleep debt". Present theory is that sleep marathons can actually be detrimental in trying to pay off your debt. So, you were right.

[ChicagoGranny]

ok im gonna hope it gets better from here maybe after 2 months ill start to see real benefits

Are you ignoring the information that an AHI of 5 is like being awakened every 12 minutes? And this is a very unhealthy condition?

"Hope" is not going to make you feel better in 2 months, 2 years or 2 decades. Go to the top of the index page to see the Sleepyhead tutorial. Put it to use and post some charts in this thread.

[nicholasjh1]

And it may not be just sleep debt. Studies show that in severe sufferers it takes up to a year for the brain to regrow it's lost weight, which is up to 30% brain mass loss in the study I read. That's both the lost sleep and the lost oxygen as well as possible metabolic factors. Reason I'm bringing it up is yes over the short term you'll see some improvements, but there are also improvements over the long term .

[moo2425]

ok im gonna hope it gets better from here maybe after 2 months ill start to see real benefits

"Hope" is not going to make you feel better in 2 months, 2 years or 2 decades. Go to the top of the index page to see the Sleepyhead tutorial. Put it to use and post some charts in this thread.

I looked at sh and don’t know how to take a picture of my chart