Excessively Sleepy after three years of Therapy ! Why ?

[DannyPh]

fter three years of Successful Therapy I have been having bouts of Really being sleepy like I am not getting enough Sleep but I have been getting around eight to ten hours of sleep a night and still find the need for a two Hour Nap during the Day. This has been occuriing for about three weeks now but prior to this I have been sleeping an average of nine hrs a night and no daytime sleepiness or need to nap. I am wondering if my Therapy isn't working now and that I might need a Pressure Increase ? I sleep thru out the night with only a bathroom break during the night Can't figure out why I am suddenly in need of so much sleep. Could it be that my Sleep Patterns have been disrupted ? It is all puzzling to me.

[Uncle_Bob]

Whats your AHI ?

[LSAT]

Have you had a check up with your doctor lately? Could be some health issue other than OSA.

[Julie]

Are you sure you're not mouth breathing overnight and losing all the cpap air that way? If so, it would be a good idea to try a full face mask like the Quattro.

[harry33]

with a full face mask and a humidifier, mouth breathing doesnt matter, but its always best to nose breathe both when awake and asleep

[Spirit]

3 yrs into treatment. Narcolepsy could be a possibility. My sleep doc stated if my cpap treatment is perfoming as it should (data), and I still feel tired or not energized, he would have me scheduled for narcolepsy/oxygen study.

Actually, I was suppose to be tested for narcolepsy during my sleep study, but technician sent me home that morning, stating titration resolved apnea.

But my philosophy is, nothing stay's the same forever.

[archangle]

Maybe your CPAP is not right now for some reason.

Do you have the software and check your results? As someone said, check your AHI.

What's your pressure? I might be tempted to bump up the pressure a point and see if I get better.

[chunkyfrog]

Bug them until they look again.
Easy answers are just too big a temptation.
--even for professionals.

[Treesap]

3 yrs into treatment. Narcolepsy could be a possibility. My sleep doc stated if my cpap treatment is perfoming as it should (data), and I still feel tired or not energized, he would have me scheduled for narcolepsy/oxygen study.

Actually, I was suppose to be tested for narcolepsy during my sleep study, but technician sent me home that morning, stating titration resolved apnea.

But my philosophy is, nothing stay's the same forever.

I had this issue a few years ago. I had been on CPAP for over a year when I notified my Pulmonologist of my problems. First he sent me home with an oximeter to make sure I was getting enough oxygen with therapy. I was. Then he wanted to do a sleep study (big $$$). So I asked him:

Q: What happens if I do have narcolepsy?
A: We'll prescribe Provigil.

Q: What happens if I don't have narcolepsy?
A: We'll prescribe Provigil.

I told him to save me the money on the sleep study and prescribe me the Provigil. I took it for awhile, but I didn't notice anything different. IMHO your body has to adjust if you've been "out of wack" for many years. I didn't feel refreshed for the first few years of CPAP no matter how much sleep I got. I experienced daytime sleepiness no matter how much sleep I got.

As time progressed, I experienced less sleepiness, and I now wake up more refreshed. I now get up on my own on weekends before 8:00 a.m. Before I would sleep no later than 9:00 or 10:00 a.m.

[Mary Z]

I've been on the machine for over three years and still have excessive daytime sleepiness. I take Nuvugil. Some of us never get over the EDS. I have hypersomnia (a fancy way of saying "sleepy"), not narcolepsy.

[ChristianC]

I have used CPAP with only one day of non compliance since April 2010. I need a nap an hour or more every day and am more tired now than when I started treatment. For me there seems to be a strong correlation between food intake and the need for a nap.

I developed a chronic bad habit of not sufficiently chewing my food about 60 years ago and the result seems that my stomach has to work harder to facilitate digestion. That in turn, allied with any sugar content, seems to put me in nap mode every time. Anybody else dealing with this?

[Wulfman...]

I have used CPAP with only one day of non compliance since April 2010. I need a nap an hour or more every day and am more tired now than when I started treatment. For me there seems to be a strong correlation between food intake and the need for a nap.

I developed a chronic bad habit of not sufficiently chewing my food about 60 years ago and the result seems that my stomach has to work harder to facilitate digestion. That in turn, allied with any sugar content, seems to put me in nap mode every time. Anybody else dealing with this?

Do you have diabetes? In any case, I would suggest cutting waaaaay back on the carbohydrates. They increase your blood sugar (some faster and some slower) and cause the type of problems you're describing.


Den

[Guest]

My last annual check up said nothing about diabetes but I think your advice about carbohydrates makes sense. I suffered two separate heart attacks and have been on a nonfat diet for years (no pizzas, hamburgers, meat, etc...) so you are right, my carbohydrates intake is probably out of line. Thanks for the suggestion.

[ChristianC]

My last annual check up said nothing about diabetes but I think your advice about carbohydrates makes sense. I suffered two separate heart attacks and have been on a nonfat diet for years (no pizzas, hamburgers, meat, etc...) so you are right, my carbohydrates intake is probably out of line. Thanks for the suggestion.

(Forgot to login prior to posting above, so ended up as "Guest". Sorry..)

[Woody]

A couple of years ago my Dr. changed me from Lipitor to Simvistatin and in a short time I found that instead of 8-9 hours
of sleep a night i now had to have a 3 or 4 hour nap and the 9 hours at night. I did a google on this and found a report that
many people had " poor quality " sleep when taking simvistatin. When I stoped taking it my excessive day time sleeping
got a lot better.

I have type 2 diabetes. I find that even if my blood sugar is under controle a realy big high carb meal will make me verry
sleepy. But again this sleepy ness does not come about because of a high blood sugar level.