Side effects of CPAP

SteveB · Post by **SteveB** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 2:47 pm

Deep Breath (If only I could) and here goes...
I visited my Dr. with nonspecific complaints. I'm tired, tightness in my chest, short of breath. I really expected him to tell me I was having a heart attack and put me in for a quintuple bypass! Instead, he referd me to a pulm. dr. for possible sleep apnea. I have been told I snore (I never quite believe anything I don't witness for myself) but I've never fallen asleep at a traffic light or even take naps during the day. I played along just to see if I could get to the bottom of what was going on. The pulm. dr. gave me some Advire samples, a rescue inhailer and said she wanted to do a sleep study. Again, I played along. The sleep lab calls and I give them a rundown of how I sleep including TV blaring, bunches of pillows and many trips to the bathroom. No problem they said. I arrive and they present me with a lenghty questionaire (the same one I'd filled out at the pulm. drs. the week before). Then they popped in a VCR tape form Resperonics (anyone remember the old duck and cover tapes from the 50's). Then it was on to getting hooked up! Well, I have never in my life seen so many wires leads and gismos. When I looked in the mirror I looked like Chewy from Star Wars. Cumbersome, Yes! But, doable! I've got my TV, my pillows, and the promise of a bathroom break any time I want (You should have seen me trotting down the hall with all those wires attached, not to mention purching all those boxes precariously under my chin while I was doing my business). I was just about to doze off when the door opened and the TV went off (There were reports on the news next morning of a strange noise heard all over the city, it was my eyes popping open). I laid there till I had to go to the bathroom, came back and layed there till I had to go again (This time I used the urinal, much easier). BUT, It didn't end there. A few minutes after I got back in bed the door opens, in comes the tech, on goes the gloves, picks up my deposit, down to the end of the hall, FLUSH, back to the room, return the container, off with the gloves, and finally out the door. Oh, I didn't mention the hall light that shined under the door. Off and on all night long! Long and short is that I made it through the night and I think I might have even dozed off for a little while. It was suppose to be a split study and they never came in to put a CPAP on me so no sleep apnea, right (I knew it!)
THE RESULTS-Out of 439.5 minutes in bed (or bath?) I spent 227.5 minutes asleep (I wonder if you can fake sleep). I had 282 micro arousals (74.4 per hour). I had 119 respirtory events. 0 central apneas, 1 mixed apnea and 18 obstructive apnea. The apnea index was 5 apneas/hr. There were 100 hypopneas observed. The apnea/hypopnea index was 31.4 events/hour. The lowest oxygen saturation was 83% with 32.5%of the night below an oxygen saturation of 90% (This is scary stuff).
I got this From my pulm. dr. a week later and my first question was this. If it was that bad why didn't they fit me with a CPAP? Her answer, because you didn't fall asleep before midnight. DUH!!!!!!!!!
Anyway, It was straight to the DME and I picked up my equipment on Monday. So far at least it doesn't appear to me that DME's are as bad as they are portrayed here. After only 2 nights I can tell a huge difference. I'm sure there are some tweeks to make but I'm sure glad I played along with the docs.
NOW FOR THE SIDE EFFECTS- It's my wife. She can't sleep. Even with the TV going, she says it's too QUIET!!!

alnhwrd · Post by **alnhwrd** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 4:09 pm

HA!, My wife experianced the same side effect! The first couple of nights she thought I had kackked off I was so quiet!!

Welcome to the wide wide world of CPAP!

sburke91 · Post by **sburke91** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 4:46 pm

Welcome! I was very similar to you--never felt like I was sleeping 'badly', never was tired during the day, really had no side effects of my apnea aside from snoring and my wife bugging me about it.

When I FINALLY gave in and did my first PSG, I had slimilar numbers to you, but with a min oxygen level in the 40's.

The second PSG with CPAP was a huge awakening, and the past 3 1/2 months have been just stellar. Last week I had a serious flu, causing my numbers to go up near the top of a 'normal' range, but the impact was enough to notice in the mornings.

Congratulations!

SteveB · Post by **SteveB** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 5:22 pm

sburke91

I also got the flu during all of this. What a bummer!!!

kteague · Post by **kteague** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 5:29 pm

Hi and welcome. Yes, it's a good thing you went along with the docs. Hopefully by not crashing and burning before seeking help you'll have avoided some of the adverse health effects.

Maybe you should have recorded yourself snoring since your wife misses it. A friend had a husband who snored horribly before being diagnosed with OSA and put on CPAP. Years passed, and then there was an ugly separation. Speaking on the phone, I was surprised to hear her say she hadn't been able to sleep since he left. Thinking she would have said "good riddance" I cautiously asked if she really missed him. After regaining her composure from a fit of laughter she told me she missed the sound of his CPAP machine. Who would have thought?

Hopefully one side effect is that your wife's sleep will soon be more restful.

Nodzy · Post by **Nodzy** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 5:53 pm

Steve,
Welcome... to "hoseheads not-so-anonymous." It's good that you accepted therapy without a fight. Many of us were in what could be called... severe deterioration by apnea.... before getting on therapy. Then, getting good therapy was a battle... with numerous strategies tried. Most of which originate, or are made known, through this forum. I was stunned by the wealth of accumulated and shared knowledge here... all for the small price of a few mouse clicks and some focused time.

I can certainly relate to your wife.... LOLOL. I had used an automatic sound recorder on many nights before starting PAP therapy... and on a few nights since. The difference in sounds was like going from a war zone... to a small remote island. But, besides two cats I live alone... and they never complained much about the noise. But maybe that's why they used to wake me so many times each night... to silence my thunder for a few minutes.

Live long and strong... and stay PAP-happy.

Nodzy

deerslayer · Post by **deerslayer** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 7:49 pm

nice story Steve ! it sounds familiar Welcome to sleep city * we're all in it together

Capri · Post by **Capri** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 9:48 pm

Since resuming CPAP about a month ago on new technology and mask, I can't get a night's sleep to save my life. In bed hours late, up at 2 or 3, crawl into work at 8, come home a zombie at 5, but then up to nearly midnight. Does this settle down after resuming CPAP? Yeah, I have more energy and am more alert, but sheesh! I need some sleep...

larbabe · Post by **larbabe** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 11:18 pm

Yes, the stories sound familiar and we're all pretty much in common. I had a sleep study a few years ago. Verified the apnea, rls and plmd, but they said the apnea was borderline. After the last year of sleep deprivation and lots of medical hopscotch, I did an overnight oximetry that showed events about every minute and levels down to 60 and 70. So it was back into the lab for a long night of wires and tubes.

To make a long story longer... ... I got my machine this week and tonight will be my 3rd night on cpap. I'm still getting used to it, but I'm dreaming, not nearly as groggy in the morning and my wife says I'm no longer the aggressive thrasher I was. My guess is that as I learn to adapt I'll stop avoiding bed and actually be a member of society instead of a sleepwalker.

Kudos to all of you for sharing your stories, lives and insights.

lifeartist59 · Post by **lifeartist59** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 11:20 pm

Capri, yes it gets better. It has taken me ten months to get 6 to 7 hours a night with cpap. Hope you can hang on till then!

SteveB · Post by **SteveB** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 10:12 am

Night 3-
I seem to be developing the habit of waking up and taking the mask off for a few minutes (could I also be clostrophobic and not know it).
The first 2 nights I was awakened by the mask hissing and leaking. When I readjusted the mask, it felt like it was blowing the full pressure that the RT demonstrated. I found my mask has an adjustment for the forehead pad. Acouple of clicks back gave a much better fit (Apparently I have the sloped forehead of earlier ancesters).
I had to kick the humidifier up a notch last night.
SIDE EFFECTS-
My wife seems to be getting use to the quiet.
The fog has lifted. I think I might have been giving coffee to much credit!
That guy that looks back at me in the mirror every morning must have gotten some Botox injections!

Wulfman · Post by **Wulfman** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 10:23 am

Capri wrote:Since resuming CPAP about a month ago on new technology and mask, I can't get a night's sleep to save my life. In bed hours late, up at 2 or 3, crawl into work at 8, come home a zombie at 5, but then up to nearly midnight. Does this settle down after resuming CPAP? Yeah, I have more energy and am more alert, but sheesh! I need some sleep!!

Try getting to bed earlier!

Den

Capri · Post by **Capri** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 1:40 pm

Try getting to bed earlier!

According to some sleep specialists, it's not healthy to go to bed until you're sleepy. Obviously evening caffeine, gaming, excersize, boozing and other practices don't help matters, none of which I am currently involved in.
*******
Has anyone been told not to use CPAP because of seizure disorder? My neurologist treats me for both and sees no risks.

Thanks everyone - Cheers!

motogary · Post by **motogary** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 7:12 pm

I think my wife is liking the CPAP thing. Says it sounds like "white noise" and she's sleeping better. This CPAP is sort of a "two for one thing". You get better sleep, and so does your mate.

KarenAZ · Post by **KarenAZ** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 8:18 pm

LOL I had to laugh out loud at this one. It sounds exactly like my first sleep study. Only they did not get sufficient enough data to be able to recommend a CPAP the first time, just sufficient enough to recommend it the 2nd time. Apparently I didn't fall asleep long enough to be able to do the split study either so my doctor had to recommend a 2nd study with the CPAP. Add to your mix 287 occurances of Periodic Limb Movement Disorder disturbances with 147 of them enough to wake me up (no I don't remember ever waking up). That's WITH the CPAP! That was last July - I'm going in for another sleep study (can I say OMG I HATE THEM!) because I have recently lost almost 50 lbs and I feel like I am smoothering with my CPAP right now.

I still wake up during the night even with my CPAP but not as much as I was.

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