extreme fatigue

[Guest]

i would like to know if everyone with sleep apnea has extreme fatigue
sinse i can remember ive always felt fatigued...my body aches and i have dizzy spells..feel sickly and my mind is really fuzzy..no motivation
and concentrating is hard...my memory is bad...i have been diagnosed with sleep apnea
and have a cpap machine..sometimes i feel like i have had a good sleep but the fatigue doesnt go away
im not sure is there any other problems...i struggle to move about much and spend most of my time
sitting also not working anymore not much contact with people..
just typing this is a struggle to concentrate...does anyone else have similar problems
and did they get better when the sleep apnea was under control better control

[BlackSpinner]

Before - yes, after No.

I suggest you register and fill in your equipment profile so people can help you fine tune your therapy.

[Julie]

Hi, welcome to the forum. I read your note and it's made me wonder if you were ever diagnosed with depression. I know so many of us with apnea have been, but it doesn't mean that some of us aren't 'also' depressed regardless of it, and wonder if it should be looked into and/or treated in some way if you're already on Cpap and you don't feel any better. That could be a problem of your not having the machine set properly to treat you, or your having mask issues that e.g. create leaks that spoil therapy, or whether you might have thyroid problems on top of apnea, or chronic fatigue syndrome unrelated to apnea. When's the last time you had good routine lab/bloodwork done? And could you please let us know what machine and model # you use if you're on Cpap (or Apap), and which mask. Plus did you have an in-lab (vs home) sleep study in the past few yrs (vs 10 or more), and were any other problems found (like UARS, restless legs, etc. etc.), related to apnea?

Some of us have fatigue either before or even on Cpap (but they're trying to solve that), and some of us don't, though I guess most of us have bad days like anyone else would.

There's a lot to this, and if you haven't been treated properly with good follow-up, then you need to look at some of those things - I know it's hard if you're tired all the time, but there are many people here who can help, with lots of knowledge and experience, so help us help you by giving more info that we can work with.

[chunkyfrog]

Night and day. But it did not happen overnight.
Significant improvement sneaked up on me over several months.
Wearing the machine has become second nature to me.

[kal81]

sorry i keep forgeting to login
i think the hole fatigue..stress..depression is due to the apneas and lack of quality sleep from it

im just trying to get used to the equipment.so that i can regularly get some normal sleep

plus when i get some energy...i have to push myself a bit more...

thanks for the replys

[RogerSC]

Not everyone has daytime fatigue symptoms before they're diagnosed...I felt fine, the only symptoms that I had was that my blood pressure was going up, and my wife told me that I was holding my breath occasionally while I was sleeping. I felt fine during the day, not quite as good as I do now (for various reasons), but I've read a LOT of postings from people that were essentially non-functional and dangerous to themselves and others during the day because of sleep apnea. So there's a spectrum of effects that sleep apnea has on various people, and we all very likely have some symptoms that we're aware of to some degree *smile*.

[Todzo]

i would like to know if everyone with sleep apnea has extreme fatigue

Symptoms from sleep apnea vary all over the map. Extreme fatigue is common however.

sinse i can remember ive always felt fatigued...my body aches and i have dizzy spells..feel sickly and my mind is really fuzzy..no motivation
and concentrating is hard...my memory is bad

All of this could be related to sleep apnea. But then, where did the sleep apnea come from? I will say that much of your list makes me wonder if high respiratory control system gain is part of your story.

...i have been diagnosed with sleep apnea
and have a cpap machine..sometimes i feel like i have had a good sleep but the fatigue doesnt go away
im not sure is there any other problems...i struggle to move about much and spend most of my time
sitting also not working anymore not much contact with people..
just typing this is a struggle to concentrate...

Sleep apnea can cause brain damage. The damage affects executive functioning. In my case it put me in shelter, caused a change in career, and later, along with post traumatic stress, removed me from the work force altogether (well I hope that is temporary).

CPAP is a splint that helps some and varies in effectiveness greatly. It may help, it may help some, it may not help at all.

does anyone else have similar problems and did they get better when the sleep apnea was under control better control

I believe I do have similar problems to yours. As I have learned to use my nightly data to tune my therapy and deal with not only obstruction but high respiratory control system gain as well my health has improved.

I consider CPAP like a crutch. It helps my broken breathing during sleep. That helps me move toward health. But frankly the majority of the journey and progress comes from learning to take better care of myself in general. Learning to eat well (working with a professional dietitian, self study, learning every day). Learning to move well (working with a personal trainer, lots of self study, setting of goals, lots of time at the gym, lots of time walking and all to pursue an active lifestyle). And simply pursuing the over all metabolic health of every cell in my body.

With my “crutch” working better I am enabled to more toward health further faster.

[Julie]

If you're having trouble with the mask or machine, speak up and let us help - say specifically what the problems are, and also think about your 'sleep hygiene', i.e. whether you get enough hours of sleep at a time, whether you go to bed at the same time each night, whether you eat or drink spicy Gerd producing things after noon or 3 pm, does the mask fit badly? Are you aware of leaks? We need something to go on. If there's a chance that when asleep you begin mouth breathing (even in a small way during the time your partner may also be asleep) then you need to think about a 'full face' mask, or taping, etc. because you'd be losing Cpap air that way, and not getting therapy.