Before CPAP

[Ms. OwLMooN]

I was wondering what were the problems that people were having before diagnosis and CPAP?

I just wanted to compare to what I was going through.

I had felt like a total Zombie!

I was forgetting absolutely everything and was asking questions over and over about what I was just being told.

I would fall asleep the second I sat down dropping anything I had in my hand.

I was very quick to anger and would snap at everyone.

I would often cry hysterically about something miniscule.

[Sir NoddinOff]

Hmmm... I smell another poll coming on It would be a prohibitively long poll tho. There are so many things that often start to go wrong it'd be hard to list them all. Yours are very common BTW, join the club!

[Ms. OwLMooN]

Thank you for your reply. I am relieved to know now that I am not alone with this.

[RogerSC]

Not so much daytime zombie-ism as blood pressure steadily creeping up and wife complaining about snoring and my not breathing for a while in my sleep *smile*. Now she just complains about the weird noises that I make sometimes (second order effect, I guess *smile*). Seems that people experience sleep apnea symptoms in their own individual way, although there are several common threads. Lots of reports of daytime sleepiness, irritability, headaches, and so on.

[sc0ttt]

1. Bad snoring
2. Bad headaches in the morning
3. Shaky stressed out malaise in the morning
4. Daytime sleepiness
5. Frequent night-time waking due to stress and need to pee... followed by another glass of wine to get back to sleep.

[SleepCatz]

Extreme fatigue, felt like a zombie! No energy to do much of anything. Thank god the kids were older, since they pretty much took care of themselves as it got bad this summer. Body felt like I had been hit by a truck when I woke up every morning. Many trips to the bathroom at night. I'm happy to report that energy is coming back after a few weeks and I'm completely off the Advil.

[chunkyfrog]

---Very little sleep; due to waking up every few minutes with strenuous, often bizarre nightmares.
---very loud snoring, or so my family claimed.
---Waking with rapid heartbeat and splitting headaches.
---falling asleep at my desk, at the movies, in front of TV, and micro-sleeps while DRIVING.
---concentration--what's that?
---occasional shaky, weak feeling in the daytime.
---hair-trigger temper or weepiness.

I'm a WHOLE LOT better now!

[CaptainRaven40]

I was ugly before and am equally if not slightly more ugly now.

Serious note. I was tired all the time. Very bad dark circles under eyes. I could nap very easily. If I was driving long distances I would get sleepy. I was very quick to snap. Had seizures. Cpap didn't cure that. I am sure there are more but I don't want to think to hard about it. Have to keep whatever brain cells I have left to think on some things that might need to get done today.

[Ms. OwLMooN]

---Very little sleep; due to waking up every few minutes with strenuous, often bizarre nightmares.
---very loud snoring, or so my family claimed.
---Waking with rapid heartbeat and splitting headaches.
---falling asleep at my desk, at the movies, in front of TV, and micro-sleeps while DRIVING.
---concentration--what's that?
---occasional shaky, weak feeling in the daytime.
---hair-trigger temper or weepiness.

I'm a WHOLE LOT better now!

You were shaky too? I thought I was the only one? I had chalked up my shakiness prior to cpap to being bipolar along with sleep apnea.
The shakiness was moments of mania which I believed to be (brought on by the apnea) but I guess everyone can feel that way with severe lack of sleep.

[DWaldman]

Loud snoring, so much so my husband was kept from sleep
No energy... I mean none.
Lost work days... felt so bad in the morning I just could not face the daily grind
weight gain... Dieting was totally inefective, the less I ate, the more tired I felt and the less I moved.
Low sex drive
Sleepy all the time... Hated having to drive for more than 15 minutes as it became a struggle to stay awake. Napped at lunch and break time at work.
Felt like crap all the time.
Now, let me say I am only 4 days in and I can see and feel the difference. Energy level is up, daytime sleepiness is way down, no snoring, and jsut feel better.
I am sure the other things will improve with time, but it has been well worth the effort. I resisted the idea od wearing a hose to bed for a long time, and am real sorry I did. Lots of lost time there. If you are new to this, or thinking you may have sleep apnea, get checked out and treated. It is changing my life.

[kteague]

I had chalked up my shakiness prior to cpap to being bipolar along with sleep apnea. The shakiness was moments of mania which I believed to be (brought on by the apnea) but I guess everyone can feel that way with severe lack of sleep.

Not sure if you are on bipolar meds. If so, just want to mention some on here have reported that their medication needs changed after starting treatment. If some of your symptoms were exacerbated by the untreated sleep apnea, your healthier brain and body may not have the same medication needs. Just something for anyone to be in tune to if on any meds, but particularly mood meds, in relation to this post. My dosages of blood pressure and blood sugar meds were able to be significantly reduced once my sleep began to stabilize.