Just got AHI (24), waiting on CPAP

Billymadison420 wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 29, 2022 11:40 am

Just tried to nap. Couldn’t fall asleep. I can’t win lol.

I want to give up on this. I also feel like I should change something on my CPAP machine. I don't know what is going on. My #'s are less than 2 AHI per night and I don't feel well anymore.

zonker wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 29, 2022 12:40 pm

Billymadison420 wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 29, 2022 11:40 am

Just tried to nap. Couldn’t fall asleep. I can’t win lol.

I want to give up on this. I also feel like I should change something on my CPAP machine. I don't know what is going on. My #'s are less than 2 AHI per night and I don't feel well anymore.

i'm hoping that you won't quit. but i can't think of anything to say but the usual encouragements to stay strong and patient. the very things you've already been told.

perhaps google "sleep hygiene" and see if anything applies.

good luck.

Pugsy wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 29, 2022 12:59 pm

You need to learn to zoom in on the flow rate and be able to see each breath to proper evaluation of awake vs asleep.
Watch the videos I sent you a link for. It shows how to zoom in and what to look for.

I can't access my imgur.com examples. Imgur is screwing with me today.

I have posted them in the past but I don't have time right now to go find them. Sorry.

sleepyhead22 wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 30, 2022 3:42 pm

Hey Billy,

Apologies ahead of time I haven't gone through the whole thread (long thread) so I may be repeating some of what has already been said, but a couple thoughts came to mind.

Have you had recent blood tests? Including TSH (thyroid check).
Do you feel like you might be an overall anxious person? Anxiety disorders can cause a lot of physical manifestations, including brain fog, fatigue, palpitations, and sleep disturbance.
I couldn't help but to notice your username. Do you use marijuana? Occasional use wouldn't explain your symptoms but if you smoke most days, it could absolutely be a contributing factor.

Just some thoughts.

Janknitz wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 18, 2022 12:44 pm

I am late to this party, but something I want to add about "sleep debt". There's a lot of controversy as to whether or not sleep debt is real. My personal perception is that once I started to get good quality sleep with CPAP (and it took a good 3 months to get there!) is that I craved sleep because it felt so good. I couldn't wait to get to bed in the evenings, and in the morning I was reluctant to break that peaceful feeling I awoke with on CPAP (still do). So I was often tired, I think because I craved that good sleep. Over time the craving dissipated, and I was back to my night owl biorhythm. But it still feels good to sleep, especially with my ResMed machine, which doesn't cause the discomforts that the Philips Respironics machine did. Try to really work on getting good quality and quantity of sleep at night. For a while you may really crave sleep, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

I'm appalled that the first doctor didn't properly test for narcolepsy OR sleep apnea. If you had what was thought to be a history of narcolepsy, a home test was NOT appropriate. You need the full on test with ECG to see what's really going on, as well as the MSLT to rule narcolepsy in or out. Hopefully Dr. #2 will go back to basics, start at square one before throwing medications at you.

And as for caffeine--well, you know. Try cutting back gradually, not all at once. Either by mixing a percentage of decaf into your daily intake, or simply drinking less--use smaller cups if you need to for the psychological effect. You don't want to quit cold turkey because the withdrawal is hard. In my religion we fast totally a few times a year--not even a drop of water is supposed to pass the lips from sundown one day to past sundown the next. During religious services I watched a woman have a seizure from the caffeine withdrawal just because she hadn't had her morning coffee! She must have been some big caffeine addict. After seeing that I taper my caffeine intake down to zero over the few weeks leading up to the fast, and I only have one 12 oz mug of coffee a day anyway. I'm pretty sensitive to caffeine, so if I have any later than noon I know my sleep will be shredded.

So it doesn't mean you necessarily can't have ANY caffeine, but for quality of sleep's sake you do need to bring your consumption down and keep it to earlier in the day. If you do it slowly and gradually it may not be as bad, but some patience pills may be needed for that too. Expect your days to get worse at first but give things time to settle down. One step back, three steps forward.

One other thought occurred to me about the caffeine. Do you put sugar in your coffee, sugary creamer, or always eat something with your coffee (sugary cereal or pastries, for example, or an "energy bar")? Is there a possibility that what you are feeling with daytime sleepiness could be blood sugar drops? If you drink your coffee with sugar, along with the caffeine you get a boost of energy from the sugar. And then, your body secretes insulin to get the glucose you've consumed into your cells. If you are like perhaps 50 - 75% of the population and have any degree of insulin resistance, your blood sugar drops when this happens, and the symptoms you describe are also common with reactive hypoglycemia caused by insulin resistance.

This is not easy to test for. A standard A1C test is an AVERAGE of blood sugars, and it may show in normal range, even if you have this issue. A standard 2 hour glucose tolerance test won't show it either. You will need a 5 hour glucose tolerance test WITH insulin levels to test for this--most doctors don't even know they should order it this way. But if you are ingesting a fair amount of sugar with your caffeine, there's a clue. And sleep apnea, by the way, increases insulin resistance because of it's effect on your hormones. This is why you need a good test for narcolepsy to rule it in or out. And consider whether blood sugar issues may be the cause or a contributing factor as well.

Narcolepsy was ruled about by a MSLT. I am going to get the blood sugar thing checked. Other than straight up sugar, would sugar holding items (breads, etc..) cause this too?

Janknitz wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 12, 2022 8:07 pm

Narcolepsy was ruled about by a MSLT. I am going to get the blood sugar thing checked. Other than straight up sugar, would sugar holding items (breads, etc..) cause this too?

Yes, absolutely. To your body, a carb is a carb. Starchy foods and fruits break down into simple sugars that enter your bloodstream.

You can test this yourself by purchasing a blood glucose meter and test strips. No prescription needed. Choose the meter with the least expensive test strips. They are like printers in that the initial set up is inexpensive but the test strips can vary widely in price. Try testing first thing in the morning, about 30 minutes after a meal or snack, and then again when you are feeling fatigued.

The way I was before I realized and treated my blood sugar issues, I would wake up feeling OK, have breakfast, and about 10 a.m. I would crash--horrible fatigue and brain fog, often the hangries. Had a sugary snack, felt fine until just before lunch, then felt fine again after lunch. The worst crashes were in the afternoon. When I worked in an office I'd head to the vending machines for candy around 2 p.m. and then barely make it until 5 p.m. Then I'd fall asleep on the couch until I woke a few hours later feeling like DIRT. I was usually OK after dinner (probably because I tended to eat more protein in the evening). It was a blood sugar roller coaster. When we tried to do any weekend activities, the first thing we had to do at our destination was find FOOD. I love that now I can wait many hours without crashing and enjoy life so much more.

Normal blood sugar is really in the mid-80's although you will be told anything below 100 fasting is "good" and that blood sugar can go up to 200 after a meal. While that's true, there's research showing that blood sugar over 140 is causing organ damage, and people who are not insulin resistant will generally run in the mid 80's and only go up 10 points or so from the "normal" of mid-80's after a meal.

If your blood sugars tend to run high (well into the 100's whenever you test), you may feel awful even well over 100 because your body is so used to a high blood sugar that any drop signals your body that you might go "too low" even though it's not really hypoglycemia (this is called a "false hypo").

Too low (hypoglycemia) is considered under 70 if you are on insulin, but if not on insulin it's not dangerous until it's 60 or below.

Good reading on blood sugar here: https://www.bloodsugar101.com/what-is-a ... lood-sugar

Janknitz wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 12, 2022 8:07 pm

Narcolepsy was ruled about by a MSLT. I am going to get the blood sugar thing checked. Other than straight up sugar, would sugar holding items (breads, etc..) cause this too?

Yes, absolutely. To your body, a carb is a carb. Starchy foods and fruits break down into simple sugars that enter your bloodstream.

You can test this yourself by purchasing a blood glucose meter and test strips. No prescription needed. Choose the meter with the least expensive test strips. They are like printers in that the initial set up is inexpensive but the test strips can vary widely in price. Try testing first thing in the morning, about 30 minutes after a meal or snack, and then again when you are feeling fatigued.

The way I was before I realized and treated my blood sugar issues, I would wake up feeling OK, have breakfast, and about 10 a.m. I would crash--horrible fatigue and brain fog, often the hangries. Had a sugary snack, felt fine until just before lunch, then felt fine again after lunch. The worst crashes were in the afternoon. When I worked in an office I'd head to the vending machines for candy around 2 p.m. and then barely make it until 5 p.m. Then I'd fall asleep on the couch until I woke a few hours later feeling like DIRT. I was usually OK after dinner (probably because I tended to eat more protein in the evening). It was a blood sugar roller coaster. When we tried to do any weekend activities, the first thing we had to do at our destination was find FOOD. I love that now I can wait many hours without crashing and enjoy life so much more.

Normal blood sugar is really in the mid-80's although you will be told anything below 100 fasting is "good" and that blood sugar can go up to 200 after a meal. While that's true, there's research showing that blood sugar over 140 is causing organ damage, and people who are not insulin resistant will generally run in the mid 80's and only go up 10 points or so from the "normal" of mid-80's after a meal.

If your blood sugars tend to run high (well into the 100's whenever you test), you may feel awful even well over 100 because your body is so used to a high blood sugar that any drop signals your body that you might go "too low" even though it's not really hypoglycemia (this is called a "false hypo").

Too low (hypoglycemia) is considered under 70 if you are on insulin, but if not on insulin it's not dangerous until it's 60 or below.

Good reading on blood sugar here: https://www.bloodsugar101.com/what-is-a ... lood-sugar

Hypoglycemia/Blood Sugar Related issues


Onset of these symptoms 2005/2006

-Eating food triggers anxiety 95% of time
-Feeling extreme sleepiness after Eating medium size meal, within 10 – 30 mintues
-Feeling full very quickly

-After eating sugar/drinking caffeine, extreme anxiety followed by confusion, slurred speech, dizziness, disorientation, depression, exhaustion, numb extremities, irritability, sweating and paranoia. Following this I HAVE to take a nap. If I don’t lay down I will inevitably fall asleep or pass out. When I wake up from this nap I feel the extreme need to eat sweets. I also remain very confused and tired.

-Things that trigger these symptoms

-Alcohol
-Caffiene
-Cereal (wheat based products)
-Milk
-Fruit
-Carbohydrates of any kind

Initial test results from reactive blood sugar test showed LOW BLOOD SUGAR AND HIGH INSULIN. I had been informed that insulinoma could cause this. Waiting for blood test results from similar test to confirm these findings.