Headache?

From trying to look through the posts to discover why I am getting headaches in the a.m., I gave up at the 338 pages of hits, so forgive this. I use my CPAP all night, don't open my mouth, and recently had my settings checked by my sleep doc. If someone could list the other possible causes of CPAP-related a.m. headaches, I would be grateful. Thanks!

First of all, are you sure they are CPAP related headaches? Did you have them before starting CPAP? Have you checked out other possibilities that would cause early morning headaches? Have you had a recent physical examination? Could it possibly be anxiety? Is your mask comfortable? I know, so many questions. But if you want some ideas, you'll need to offer up some more information.

Wantok wrote:From trying to look through the posts to discover why I am getting headaches in the a.m., I gave up at the 338 pages of hits, so forgive this. I use my CPAP all night, don't open my mouth, and recently had my settings checked by my sleep doc. If someone could list the other possible causes of CPAP-related a.m. headaches, I would be grateful. Thanks!

Are you meaning after you get up in the morning? Or, during the night?
Are you on an aspirin regimen?
Do you have a home blood pressure machine?
Have you had a blood draw and evaluation lately?
Could be many things other than "CPAP-related".


Den

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You also need to get the software so you can really tell what's going on with your treatment. Many people get headaches from having apneas, that are untreated from mouth leaking or incorrect machine settings, the software will allow you to see what's happening. Jim

Wantok wrote:From trying to look through the posts to discover why I am getting headaches in the a.m., I gave up at the 338 pages of hits, so forgive this. I use my CPAP all night, don't open my mouth, and recently had my settings checked by my sleep doc. If someone could list the other possible causes of CPAP-related a.m. headaches, I would be grateful. Thanks!

You have been on CPAP over 2 years...how long have you had the headaches? Do you wake up with them or do you get the later in the AM? Why do you believe that they are CPAP related?

I am not sure they are cpap related, but they wake me up in the a.m. from sleep. I do not have them earlier in the night as I am a poor sleeper and am up. I have had complete blood work taken recently and it all checked out, and saw my sleep doc last month and he checked the recent month and my numbers were good. He changed the ramp settings and I increased the humidity to 5 which took care of my congestion/nose burning issues. I guess it could be BP. I'll take it next time (likely tomorrow morning) and see. But it is very good when I have been to see the large numbers of doctors I see. Could be anxiety I guess as I am laid up with a hamstring injury and I am normally very active.

I used to get them. Yes they were CPAP related. I told my Doctor about them and his response was a simple "they are caused by CO2 levels".
Turns out My T1 time was too short and the machine was cutting off my inhale before I was done. I increased this time (T1) and the headaches were gone. This of course is on a BiLevel machine, I don't know what to adjust on an APAP machine.

PoolQ wrote:I used to get them. Yes they were CPAP related. I told my Doctor about them and his response was a simple "they are caused by CO2 levels".
Turns out My T1 time was too short and the machine was cutting off my inhale before I was done. I increased this time (T1) and the headaches were gone. This of course is on a BiLevel machine, I don't know what to adjust on an APAP machine.

Or, maybe the O2 levels are too low.
You may be onto something here.
Maybe her pressure settings are too low or additional oxygen is needed.

Should be simple enough to check. If you don't already have a recording pulse-oximeter, your doctor could order one for you to use from your DME. Wear it for a night or two and then they download the data and see what your O2 levels look like.


Den

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Thanks very much for that helpful info.

Last night I noticed I had quite a headache when I first turned the machine on, sinus pressure is interpreted as a sinus headache (by me at least) but it was just CPAP sinus pressure and once I got used to it, it went away. CPAP seems to give us all kinds of new things to get used to