Working but not feeling better

[asinger]

This is my first post so I will add some background. Thanks

I have been on and off xpap three times in the last 8 years. I had a UPP after my first sleep study when I could not tolerate xpap. The surgery did not work and two years later I had another study (split night). The first time I was diagnosed as moderate to sever. The second study found mild to moderate. Again given a cpap and could not tolerate it without drugs. I gave up after about 6 months of on/off usage and every sleep aid known to man. About 2 months ago I had a third sleep study. I was diagnosed with sever this time and given my history I asked for an apap. Without drugs and with a lot of hard work I have really begun to tolerate it and believe I will continue to have success. I have good nights and bad nights but all in all I average 6-8 hours a night and have almost 8 weeks in. I was given a new apap for good about a week ago and have been able to review the data.
Here are some numbers from 2 nights ago:
AHI - 1.2
CA - 0.1
OA - 0
H - 1.1
FL - 0.9
VS - 29.8
RE - 5.1
90% pressure - 13.0
No large leaks.
Woke up 2 times in the night to lower the pressure back to min (8)

As far as I can tell these are good numbers. However I STILL FEEL LIKE SHIT. I really feel no better than before. I do not plan to give up because my BP has dropped and I do not want to die in my sleep. I suspect that the RE has something to do with this problem but I don't know how to deal with that. I have started to loss wieght in hopes of getting off the machine or atleast lowering my numbers.
PLEASE HELP ME.

Adam Singer

[BleepingBeauty]

Hi, Adam, and welcome aboard. Kudos to you for sticking with this and giving it your all to make it work for you!

Since you have the software, it would be helpful if you could post a couple of nights of detailed data here so we can better help you zone in on what's not optimal about the therapy settings (and hopefully suggest a change that'll improve how you feel). You just need to take a screenshot of the data and upload it to a photo-sharing site (like Photobucket or Flickr) so you can post it here (using the IMG tags around the link when you compose the post).

The 90% pressure figure means you spent 90% of the time AT OR BELOW that pressure. It doesn't mean you spent 90% of the night AT that pressure. So it would be helpful to see exactly what your pressure needs appear to be by looking at the detailed data.

Hope that helps.

[busylady]

Only been at this 6 weeks, but IMO you're doing well for the first day back on the job. If you can see your data, that will help you track how you are doing. Kudos for coming back into therapy. 'Tis a better option than dying in your sleep!!

[Mr Bill]

Hi Adam and welcome. Please change your equipment to text mode. Its so much easier that way. If your BP is coming down, you are doing something right! Take heart in that.