Newbie telling my expierance.....was more tired with cpap

[SACHINM1]

Ok so heres my story.

34 male, slighty overweight.........started snoring up a storm 5 years back.......wife let me knew it. Told the doctor = sleep study.

When i got my results back the doctor told me that i had borderline sleep apena and it was up to me what i wanted to do. Im in canada so we get 700 for the machine from healthcare and my work covers the rest.............so for free might as well try it out!!

Ok, so first couple of nights nasal mask resmed s9 machine pressure set at 8.....felt good! Than night three started opening my mouth = full face mask.

Spent a week with the full face mask now here is were i hit the wall.........would be sooooooooooooo tired the next day and irratable, i couldnt function plus i had dark circles under my eyes like i got punched by mike tyson in his prime. So basically i stopped using the machine after two weeks of this.

Went for another sleep study last week with my machine. Told the tech about the tiredness.........he told me to cut out the humidifier......?????.

anyways, after the sleep study my pressure has been lowered to 7 and i have now been sleeping for three days without the humidifier.....i can say that although i still feel slighty tired the next day it is not nearly as bad as before. The dark circles are still around though...lol........help!

please tell me it gets better????????????

[Janknitz]

It's not unusual at all for your sleep to be disrupted at first. You have to get used to sleeping with a chunk of plastic strapped to your face and blowing air all night. But over time we acclimate--most importantly if we USE it. You can't get used to it if it's not in use!

This absolutely does get better. One morning you'll wake up and think "WOW". But it doesn't happen "overnight" (pun intended). It takes time. If you are having specific annoyances, let us know, we can help. But if it's just a matter of acclimating, it takes use and time.

If you have data, you can use that to see how you are doing and ferret out any problems. Sometimes that's very motivating.

Your tech was right that you may not need the humidifier. It seems counterintuitive, but sometimes humidity can make you more congested (for other people it works the opposite). Some people fill the tank with water but don't add any heat--this is called "passover" mode. Whatever works for YOU is the right amount of humidity for you.

Hang in there, just don't sleep a minute without the machine!

[josh73]

I had the black circles too, really bad the first couple weeks. It's been a month for me and it's gotten a lot better. I have a pressure of 12 cm and for the first time i was able to get back to sleep at 4 AM today witout having to use the ramp feauture. CPAP therapy is such a different experience for everyone but i can tell you that for me, it has gotten easier. Good luck !

[Sachinm1]

Thanks for the words of encouragment peoples.........much appreciated.

I will hang in there. Problem is sometimes i sleep with the machine for 4 hours and than take it off and sleep for 4 more which im guessing defeats the purpose.

i have another appt on march 1st to see how my sleep with the cpap went.

fingers crossed!!!

today i started half an hour of cardio at the gym...was really sleepy before the cardio, now after im wide awake!! cant hurt to add a half an hour on the eliptical everyday!

[Janknitz]

"I will hang in there. Problem is sometimes i sleep with the machine for 4 hours and than take it off and sleep for 4 more which im guessing defeats the purpose."

Not only does it defeat the purpose (organ damage occurs each time you have an apnic event, so you wipe out any healing from the first 4 hours), but it tells your body that it's OK to sleep without CPAP. It's NOT OK, ever, and the sooner your body learns that, the easier this will get.

Try to put the mask on and go back to sleep, OR take the mask off, get out of bed, and do something quiet and boring until you feel ready to go back to sleep WITH the mask on.

[Matty332]

YES YES AND YES!!

Sorry about that outburst!

My name is Matt and I am 33yo and in a similar situation to you (except I suffer from a mental illness and had SEVERE osa as well (OCD/anxiety)). I started getting more mental illness symptoms last year so I decided to finally buy a CPAP. I felt worse whenever I used it and my mental illness got 20 times worse (you can see my up and down posts in my history). I have had heaps of tests done to no avail but finally found the answer! I went to a private sleep specialist clinic and the doctor took one look at me and said I have severe chronic sleep apnea and the CPAP I have is NOT the right one for me, it may be causing other problems. I may have something called obesity hypo ventilation syndrome and I am getting a blood gas test done tomorrow.

If you are not feeling good GO BACK TO THE DOCTOR! It could be something else.

[archangle]

It usually gets better.

Think of stopping apnea as being like a heavy drinker stopping drinking alcohol. You have withdrawal because your body adapted its chemistry to handle the alcohol, and needs time to get back into balance.

Even if you don't feel better, not treating the apnea is doing damage to your brain, heart, and body. It's like boiling a frog. It kills you so slowly you don't realize it.

[Sachinm1]

Thanks a lot!

i dont feel alone in this anymore.........i was the only one i know usuing a cpap up till now!

I am going to stick with this..............

last night i slept 7.8 hours with the machine......the most i have ever slept...woke up feeling like a million dollars at 6:00 am. Now it is 8:00 am and im starting to get tired..........

[sachinm1]

so yesterday was the first day i didnt take off the mask.............a full 8.1 hours of sleep. I took everyones advice....woke up at four. Took off the mask, washed my face. put the mask back on and knocked out!!!

feel awesome today........now if i could just find a solution to the puffy eyes and dark circles...................

[SAchinm1]

so just to update everyone,

i am averaging around 8 hours a night, keep the nasal mask on all night. I stopped opening my mouth on my own...........body got trained i guess....lol

dark circles completly gone! energy level waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay up!!!!!!!!

had my first wow morning today.......woke up felt like a million bucks......everyone at work keeps asking if i got layed cuz my mood is so good now.......lol

thank good you guys gave me the encouragment to stick it out!!!!!

[Haley]

I've used cpap for 15 years. Very hard to get use to. Kept taking it off during the night or wake up the next morning with it off. I use to hate going to bed because I new I would have to wear the mask. Now I sleep great I'am use to the mask but I get circles under my eyes. Went on a trip and my machine broke OMG what to do, I had a enhaler for a lung thing at the time and it saved my bacon until I got home to get a machine. But the funny thing is my circles went away under my eyes until I used my machine again. I've use every mask out there and I found the nose piece works for me because its not so restricting.

[znurtdog]

so just to update everyone,

i am averaging around 8 hours a night, keep the nasal mask on all night. I stopped opening my mouth on my own...........body got trained i guess....lol

dark circles completly gone! energy level waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay up!!!!!!!!

had my first wow morning today.......woke up felt like a million bucks......everyone at work keeps asking if i got layed cuz my mood is so good now.......lol

thank good you guys gave me the encouragment to stick it out!!!!!

As a newbie, I'm glad to hear success stories. Congrats!