Breathing while sleeping gotten worse AFTER cpap

[torbendk]

Hello guys and thanks for having me.

I found this forum while searching for similar experiences.

I've been using a cpap for 10 years now. And while I did feel like it helped to begin with, at some point it started "not helping" as much.
Throughout the 10 years, my ear nose throat doc has always commented "well treated" after each check-up. Which annoys me, because I also feel like he's the kind of doc that rushes patients through his
office to make as much money as possible.

Anywways, recently I began having heart symptoms. In 9 days I'm going to have a esophagus examination, because of regurgitation at the aotic valva and now they spotted some calcification as well. But this made me start to think about my cpap treatment and how I haven't felt like I was well treated for quite a while now. I still consciously wake 2-4 times each night and 90% of those can't be attributed to nightmares.
As one of the first things I could do myself is starting to take notice of my breathing and pulse when I wake up.
For each and every awakening, I have shallow breathing and a puls of 100-105. If I then consciously use the 8 second breathing method, I can bring down my pulse immediately to 60-70. That tells me something is not right.

So, from having sounded like a freightrain while sleeping, it feels like the cpap almost took away my ability or made it erroneous for me to deep breath by myself. But my freaking doc isn't exactly helpful...

What to do, anyone else feels like this? Honestly I think there's something overlooked in this. Imagine having a machine that constantly lifts your arm for you... or walks your legs.
At what point do we forget how to do it ourselves, so that lifting the arm or moving the leg becomes a challenge without the machine?

[Julie]

Download Oscar (1st Stickie on pg) and post results - in this thread please - according to info given. Once we see what happens overnight we'll have a better idea of how to advise.

Don't worry about not breathing on your own due to Cpap - your body does it auto. regardless whether you are awake, aware, unconscious, or anything else... not a 'thing' at all.

[Pugsy]

What to do, anyone else feels like this? Honestly I think there's something overlooked in this. Imagine having a machine that constantly lifts your arm for you... or walks your legs.

Well.....unless you use the machine 24/7 for years and years the machine really isn't doing what you think it is doing.
This is an old wives tale that cpap changes lung function or weakens anything. It doesn't put out enough force to do what you are imagining. Even at 20 cm it won't even blow up a balloon.

Look elsewhere for causes of pulse changes. Correlations doesn't always means causation.

[chunkyfrog]

Also don't sweat waking up during the night.
I do it all the time.
Most frogs do.
It keeps us safe.

[Miss Emerita]

Even non-frogs normally wake up off and on during the night, whether they remember it or not. It's very common, for example, to wake up after a REM cycle. REM dreams can change breathing patterns and pulse rate. From a UCLA web site:

The process of sleep is made up of the following two primary stages:

Rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep
Non-REM sleep

When you first fall asleep you are in the non-REM stage. The non-REM stage of sleep is a time when your heart does not have to work so hard. About 80% of a full night's sleep is spent in this stage. During non-REM sleep, your heart rate, breathing and blood pressure all drop to levels below those that occur while you are awake.

REM is the stage of sleep when you have most of your dreams. It is only about 20% of your total sleep time. Your blood pressure and heart rate can go up and down during this stage. If you have a nightmare that wakes you up, you may find that your heart is racing.

When you wake up in the morning, your blood pressure and heart rate both go back up. It is time for you to be active again, and your heart has to get ready for a long day of work.

[zonker]

Hello guys and thanks for having me.

welcome to the zoo!

can you tell us what machine you use?

what pressure settings?

have you used the same machine for the entire course of your treatment?

[Janknitz]

Since we don't know what machine you are using, we don't know if the machine provides any data about efficacy--that is data that tells how effective your treatment is. If you have a machine that gives that sort of data, we can help you access it to see what's happening.

Have you or your doctor looked at efficacy data any time in the last 10 years, and most especially recently? Have you had a repeat titration study with CPAP at any time to determine if the settings are still optimal for your needs?

If all your doctor knows is that you are still using your CPAP every night, then his assertion that you are "well-treated" is unfounded. All he knows is you are compliant, unless he has reviewed a report of efficacy data. Has he? You might want to consider another doctor who will take the time to determine if the treatment is still effective and in fact optimized for you, if that is the case. Especially over a 10 year period, treatment that was once optimal but no longer is can certainly be a contributing factor to the problems surfacing now.

[ChicagoGranny]

At what point do we forget how to do it ourselves, so that lifting the arm or moving the leg becomes a challenge without the machine?

You are laboring under some serious misconceptions about how CPAP works. Keep posting in this thread to get up to speed.

But this made me start to think about my cpap treatment and how I haven't felt like I was well treated for quite a while now.

Your CPAP treatment may be poor. You don't mention efficacy data that is provided by most CPAP machines. Many things could be wrong - wrong pressure settings, wrong mask, high mask leak. These things can often be fixed with a little tweaking. Things could have been good at the beginning, but as the body changes with age and other factors, the setup needs reviewing.

I still consciously wake 2-4 times each night

That's normal if you can fall asleep again without extended periods of wakefulness.

But my freaking doc isn't exactly helpful...

An oft told story here!

Welcome!