One week on CPAP

So it's been a week since I've been using CPAP. THe good news is i don't really mind the mask (I read here about watching a movie with it on while you're awake and I did that the first day and I think it helped). The other good news is that the machine is telling me my AHI is down to about 4 (untreated 33), and that I don't seem to have a leak problem.

The bad news is that I wake up a lot in the middle of the night when I shift and a leak opens up and I have to readjust the mask. I guess that's part of having to use a full face mask (deviated septum). I go right back to sleep though. The worse news - at least to me - is that I don't really feel any better. I'm still so tired and sleep way too much.

So people say it takes time to feel the benedits - but why should that be? If my AHI is so much lower, why don't I feel better now? Does that mean this is as good as it gets?

There very well could be any number of reason why you don't feel as good as you hoped or expected but this one here

sonnet wrote:The bad news is that I wake up a lot in the middle of the night when I shift and a leak opens up and I have to readjust the mask.

is pretty much guaranteed to slow down progress.
Fragmented sleep really messes with the normal sleep architecture and the normal stages of sleep that the body has to go through in order for the restorative powers of sleep to do their job.

So how many hours of sleep are you getting and how many wake ups for whatever reason are you having during those hours?

There could be other culprits....meds...pain...other health conditions....big long list of things that affect how we feel during the day that may or may not be related to sleep apnea.

Gotta get good solid sleep with minimal awakenings and/or discomfort to have any chance of actually feeling a lot better.

Also...one other thing...get the software so you can see exactly what is going on with that AHI of 4.0 which on the surface isn't all that alarming but you might be having clustering of apnea events that are pretty big clusters...offset by times with not much going on which brings down the overall average but still could be impacting sleep quality and how you feel in general.

Go to the top section of the front page of this forum and start reading Pugsy's thread about SleepyHead. You don't need to read and understand all of it - just get far enough to get the software installed and be able to load your data from the sdcard. Then, when you have questions you can go back and read the detailed explanations.

That one number you see on the display doesn't tell you enough about what's really going on.

You've got a nice data-capable machine - time to take advantage of it!

Wearing it while you're awake and watching tv or surfing the net is a great way to get comfortable with it. Believe or not, before long you will look forward to putting on that mask at night for the relief and rest it gets you. Hang in there - it's worth it!

sonnet wrote:So it's been a week since I've been using CPAP... I wake up a lot in the middle of the night when I shift and a leak opens up and I have to readjust the mask... I go right back to sleep though. The worse news - at least to me - is that I don't really feel any better. I'm still so tired and sleep way too much... why don't I feel better now? Does that mean this is as good as it gets?

No, this does NOT mean this is as good as it gets. You're just getting started. Once you get used to the new sensations and have conquered the mask leaks and are getting better sleep it's reasonable to expect to start seeing improvements in how you feel. I wouldn't worry about sleeping way too much at this point, as long as all of your sleep is with CPAP. Your body and brain are probably just trying to recovery from the assault of untreated sleep apnea. Healing usually does best with plenty of rest. As you settle in with your treatment and begin to be restored, your need for sleep should normalize. I nearly hibernated during the healing phase, then one day I woke up, saw the sun shining, and realized I was fully awake and felt ready to re-enter the world again. As much as you are able, try to suspend your expectations. It's much easier on us mentally when instead of the imperfections of every night being a disappointment, we embrace every little success as a pleasant surprise. You already have a degree of success in being able to go right back to sleep after waking. Some would find that enviable. Good luck going forward.

Everybody's mileage varies, but about mid-week on week 2, I noticed I wasn't having headaches lasting as long, I only needed one nap a day (and a shorter one) instead of 2 long ones. Some people are lucky to instantly feel much better. Going by postings on the forum, we are not that unusual. I'm week 3 (again due to prior cpap failure) and still not waking refreshed, but I got through yesterday better than usual, so it's working.

Thanks for the replies, it really helps to get so much information and encouragement when you're just starting out.

I don't know how much I'm waking up. I guess a lot from looking at sleepyhead. I looked at one day and I had 9 sessions, which means I woke up and took the mask off 8 times. I don't know how many other times I woke up without taking the mask off.

Otherwise sleepyhead looks good to me, as far as I can tell anyway. Here's a screenshot if anyone can just confirm that it's OK?

Are you are using the ramp feature? I didn't see it noted on your printout but wasn't sure if I would be able to see that.

No - no ramp.