How long to feel better?

[sleepyruss]

So,

My sleep studies (in-home and at the clinic) have shown that I have mild sleep apnea. I have been struggling the last couple of years with fatigue. I have been able to get to work, but the day-to-day is really a fight more and more...

I was placed on a CPAP a while ago and admittedly have had trouble with compliance. One of the biggest reasons is that there seems to be little to no correlation between using this damn contraption and how I feel.

How long should it take to start to feel relatively normal? I am questioning if the sleep apnea is really what is beating me up. My doctor recently told me I also have the Epstein Barr virus active in my system which could also cause fatigue like symptoms.

[Wulfman...]

So,

My sleep studies (in-home and at the clinic) have shown that I have mild sleep apnea. I have been struggling the last couple of years with fatigue. I have been able to get to work, but the day-to-day is really a fight more and more...

I was placed on a CPAP a while ago and admittedly have had trouble with compliance. One of the biggest reasons is that there seems to be little to no correlation between using this damn contraption and how I feel.

How long should it take to start to feel relatively normal? I am questioning if the sleep apnea is really what is beating me up. My doctor recently told me I also have the Epstein Barr virus active in my system which could also cause fatigue like symptoms.

Soooooo.......

How long ago?
What are your machine settings? (your profile shows you're using an APAP/Auto)
How much sleep are you getting per night?
Are you monitoring your therapy with software?


Den

.

[kteague]

It's hard to predict how soon someone will feel better. For some it's a sprint, others a marathon. What is certain is it won't happen until one is consistently compliant with therapeutic treatment. Once you answer Wulfman's questions and give people something to work with, I'm sure you'll get some suggestions to help you with whatever the issues are that are making it difficult to be compliant. Sometimes little things can make a big difference. I struggled with the treatment for several months before finding my way here and getting some tips that helped turn things around for me. As to other things that could be causing your daytime symptoms, it's true, CPAP won't fix them. If compiance and consistency don't bring you the needed relief you can then methodically rule other things out. That won't change your diagnosis of sleep apnea and the need to resolve it. The good thing is, once your body is getting quality sleep and adequate oxygen, it will be so much better equipped to handle any other issues. Good luck going forward.

[sleepyruss]

I have had the machine over a year.

I am not using software...not sure how.

The machine is telling me my pressure is around 6-7 and AHI is 2-3. It is set for auto pressure. The longest I have gone with continuous use is a week or two...admittedly not very long but I keep hearing these stories about how much better everyone feels almost immediately. I get an average of 7-8 hours of sleep.

[Wulfman...]

I have had the machine over a year.

I am not using software...not sure how.

The machine is telling me my pressure is around 6-7 and AHI is 2-3. It is set for auto pressure. The longest I have gone with continuous use is a week or two...admittedly not very long but I keep hearing these stories about how much better everyone feels almost immediately. I get an average of 7-8 hours of sleep.

You NEED to be using software to monitor your therapy. Encore Basic or Sleepyhead are free and available to download from various sources. Check some of the links in Pugsy's profile. Others can give you links to them, too.

Since your machine is set to "auto pressure", the pressure changes during the night may be bumping you out of the needed sleep stages.......consequently, you may NEVER get restful sleep with that setup. I would suggest switching to CPAP mode with a single pressure to see if that helps.......maybe a pressure of 7 or 8 to start with.

Also, the software will tell you what's happening with your leakage during the night and if you are having some issues in that area. Since you're using a nasal mask, your mouth may be falling open and you're losing therapy air while you sleep. Ever wake up with a dry mouth? If you do, that might be a clue. Mouth leaking can adversely affect therapy results.


Den

.

[sleepyruss]

I did download the software, but I am not sure how to export all the graphs for people to look at here. I did grab this one snap that strikes me as odd. Why, when my AHI is at it's highest, does it appear my pressure is at its lowest? Am I reading this correctly?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/russdenney/9489048933/

[Pugsy]

Looks like the times where AHI graph appears elevated that the events close by are mainly CAs...clear airway apneas and the machine won't do anything in regards to pressure for clear airway events.

The machine by design ignores Clear Airway Apneas (Centrals) because the airway is already open.
More pressure is used to help prevent the collapse of the airway and the flow reduction because of that collapse. If there is no collapse there's nothing to fight.

[sleepyruss]

Could this mean I am dealing with more of an issue of central sleep apnea?

I see nearly as many CAs as Hypopneas (if I am reading it correctly)

[Pugsy]

Very unlikely that there is any issue of central sleep apnea going on.
It's normal for everyone to have a few centrals here and there. You don't have nearly enough centrals (at least on this report) consistently to even come close to the number needed for that diagnosis.
5 or 6 (or more) per hour...every hour...all night long...consistently every night...then we worry. Or maybe a truckload of them during sleep onset so that a person keeps getting kicked out of sleep and thus doesn't sleep well.

Also remember that sometimes the machine will flag a "central" when we turn over in bed and hold or breath or during sleep stage transition (sleep onset is common and quite normal) and so not every "central" flag is the worrisome type of central.

[KylaManhattan]

The longest I have gone with continuous use is a week or two...admittedly not very long but I keep hearing these stories about how much better everyone feels almost immediately

About those stories ... There are as many stories as there are folks undergoing treatment.

Some people do adjust amazingly quickly and start feeling better right away. I am not one of them. It took me at least a month of continuous use before I started feeling even a little bit better, and frankly, for much of that month, I felt more tired than I had when I started. But after a month or so, I began to feel incrementally more rested, and the improvement has been slow but steady. I have read at least as many stories like that around this community as I have stories about people who have experienced an immediate benefit.

But yours is the only story that really matters. I don't know whether it will turn out, in the end, that it's Epstein-Barr or OSA or something else entirely that's causing your symptoms. But I'm pretty sure you won't really know if it's apnea unless you give yourself more time with continuous use. Best wishes and sweet dreams to you!

(Shouldn't there be a sleeping smiley as an available emoticon?!?)