One month in - good and bad

I've now been using CPAP for a month. I've used it all night, every night, 6-7 1/2 hours a night.
Here's how things currently stand.
Good:
*I am not snoring at all -- husband is happy about that.
*A few symptoms I've had quite a bit prior to CPAP seem to be much better: anxiety, wooziness when sitting and/or standing, PVC's, twitchy muscles
*I don't mind sleeping with the mask.
*I'm not having much leaking since raising my minimum pressure from 5 to 7.
*My AHI is routinely under 4 the past 2 weeks.

Bad:
*I am still SOOOO tired. I may be slightly less tired. I did manage a 300 mile drive to Oregon and then back by myself with no problem. I had been nervous about that, but it was okay. And we took a very busy vacation to Disneyland and I had a great time. Definitely lower energy than when I went 4 years ago, but still able to have a lot of fun.
*I have wakeups several times a night related to the equipment - making sure the mask is still centered on my face, making sure I'm not squishing the hose, making sure I didn't turn the machine off (it's so quiet sometimes I don't think it's on).

So, overall, I'm glad I've adjusted to the mask. And I'm happy to know I have cut way down on breathing problems during the night - I know that's got to be good for my body. But, I am disappointed that I'm not seeing an energy increase. Mornings are still a wretched beast, with a lot of the daytime not much better. (Evenings are my happy time.) I had really been hoping to be one of those people who proclaimed cpap was a total life-changer -- I've heard it from SO many people. But, I have yet to wake up and say, wow, that's what sleep should feel like. Maybe it just hasn't been enough time for me yet. I do have many years of crap sleep to make up for. And I am battling the perimenopause monster, so I think that may be a very big factor in things. Plus the stressors of working full-time, raising a teen, and having a parent who is having a lot of aging issues.
Anyway, I'm hoping when my second month is complete that I'll be feeling a good improvement to my energy level. I'd be happy to hear some encouragement to keep me positive! I sometimes worry cpap's just not going to work for me. But, I am trying hard to believe that is not true!

Rainmom17 wrote:*I have wakeups several times a night related to the equipment - making sure the mask is still centered on my face, making sure I'm not squishing the hose, making sure I didn't turn the machine off (it's so quiet sometimes I don't think it's on).

This alone can affect how you feel during the day. Fragmented sleep for any reason is going to impact sleep architecture and sleep quality. The good news...eventually you won't have so many equipment related wake ups as the brain comes to accept its new best friend.

Rainmom17 wrote:6-7 1/2 hours a night.

Which is it most nights 6 or 7 1/2? 6 hours is likely not enough. This is of course one of those YMMV things but maybe you need more 7 1/2 and maybe more nights. I pretty much am a zombie if I get less than 6 1/2 hours of sleep. I need 7 1/2 to 8 hours for optimal daytime feeling. Unfortunately it's rare that I get it but the reason isn't related to cpap or sleep apnea.

Rainmom17 wrote: But, I am disappointed that I'm not seeing an energy increase. Mornings are still a wretched beast, with a lot of the daytime not much better. (Evenings are my happy time.) I had really been hoping to be one of those people who proclaimed cpap was a total life-changer -- I've heard it from SO many people. But, I have yet to wake up and say, wow, that's what sleep should feel like.

I used to have similar thoughts because I never wake up bright eyed and bushy tailed. Then I realized that I was expecting cpap therapy to make me into something I never ever have been anyway. I have never ever been a morning person and I was expecting the therapy to turn me into something I have never been.
And I know I haven't had sleep apnea all my life...Mother Nature gave OSA to me along with menopause. I never snored or had any of my usual sleep apnea symptoms until menopause. Everything goes south and sags...boobs, butt, belly and the airway tissues.

Then one night about 3 years into therapy I traveled away from home and forgot to pack the long hose. Was too late to do anything about it when I realized my problem. I had to sleep without cpap for the first time in probably 3 years and I got a rude reminder just how bad I could feel and used to feel. Things had improved a lot but the changes and improvements were very gradual and I really didn't notice things all that much. Oh, yeah, the sleep apnea headaches went away pretty quickly and the nocturia went away quickly but the other stuff didn't improve quickly at all. The fatigue, need to nap, etc...those symptoms gradually decreased and I didn't really notice how much better I felt during the day until I had a chance to remember just how bad I used to feel.

Now 8 years later...I have my therapy optimized (that's the easy part) but sleep is still fragile but because I have other issues working against me.
I still don't wake up rearing to go run a marathon but at least I don't wake up feeling like I just ran one and got run over by a bus at the finish line.

It took me 4 months into therapy before I had one of those "miracle" nights where you wake up and feel like superwoman.
And probably another 4 months before it happened again.
I have learned that there's so much more that impacts how I feel during the day than just this sleep apnea stuff.
I learned I need nearly 8 hours of sleep to have the greatest chance of feeling the good numbers....and I need those 8 hours to be fairly solid with minimal wake ups. Fragmented sleep will just trash sleep quality.

Those people you read about who start using cpap and from day one they say it was like night and day difference and a life changing moment....those people are in the minority. Most people will find it takes time, work, dedication, patience and having realistic expectations. Changes can be so gradual that we don't really notice them until for some reason we don't use cpap and get an ugly reminder just how bad things used to be.

So...do what you can to minimize your wake ups...you can't feel the good numbers if you wake up 10 to 20 times a night.
Don't panic if you remember an occasional wake up for no reason. It's normal to wake after completion of a REM cycle. Most of the time we just roll over and go back to sleep and don't even remember it but sometimes we do remember because we don't go right back to sleep. It's an unrealistic expectation to expect to sleep totally through the night with zero wake ups because a handful are normal. We just want to keep the number to a minimum and the time awake in the middle of the night to a minimum.

Do what you can to optimize your therapy and any comfort issues that might pop up but just remember that there is a lot of truth to the "give it time" thing. It does take time for most people. Since we don't really have much choice in the matter we end up giving it time because we have to use the cpap stuff.
But while giving it time you can explore anything and everything that could maybe be affecting how you feel during the day and your sleep quality at night.
Meds
Hours of sleep
Fragmented sleep
Mask comfort
Bed comfort
Other health issues
Pain
External stuff that we have no control over
ETC
you get the idea here. Getting the nice low numbers is the easy part. Feeling them is whole other different story because there's so much out there that messes with the restorative powers of sleep.

Thanks for sharing, Rainmom17. I'm a couple weeks behind you in (self-)treatment, and really looking forward to some improvement. Coming up on two weeks now, and at least now I don't feel like the machine is trying to kill me. Maybe you can find encouragement in the notion that your report is encouraging to me.

-Russ

Here we go again - are you afraid to bump your pressure just a little bit farther? So many of us could not feel 'right' until we got up to 9 or 10 (and many higher than that). You know now that terrible things won't happen if you raise it just 1-2 cms at a time, so why not try that and maybe finally feel adequately treated, rather than just 'well, as good as I suppose it gets"? You may well just feel better!

Thanks for the replies.
My average amount of sleep per night is just under 7 hours. I know it's not enough, but I really struggle to get into bed by 11:00. As I said, I feel better in the evening than I have all day, so I refuse bedtime somewhat. Fortunately when I do go to bed, I fall asleep immediately. I'd prefer to be a night owl, but I have no choice but to wake up early for work. I find that I still wake up early in the morning (5:00 or 6:00) even on non-work days no matter what time I go to bed. I usually don't try to go back to sleep for fear of waking up groggy. I hate being groggy. I rarely get 8 hours of sleep. But I try to get 7 - 7 1/2 as much as possible.

Other than you're still tired, it seems to be working. That takes time for just about everybody. While I did feel an immediate improvement, it took many years for my tired spells to subside.

One thing I used to do is to take a siesta during the weekend. On Saturday afternoons I would set up the machine, set the alarm for two hours, and dose off. I would sleep as long as I could or two hours, whichever came first. That seemed to help.