Feeling more tired than before...

I have been using a c-pap machine for almost a week now. I was hoping to feel better, but find I am much more tired than I was before the c-pap. I do wake up several times a night, but am getting used to it slowly, but surely. I get a dry throat and sinuses, and it wakes me up - probably need a humidifier. Please tell me it will get better, and I will have more energy. I was hoping for better results.

By the way, this is a great forum, very informative!

Hi,

In my opinion, a heated humidifier should be de rigeur. Think about how much air is passing through the system - it is causing a massive amount of evaporation in your sinuses. If you have a humidifier on the furnace in your home, consider how much water that unit goes through because of the air passing through it.

If you don't have a heated humidifier, it's no wonder you're getting a dry throat.

Humidifiers: not optional in my opinion.

Rob

You may be opening your mouth at night. This is quite usual, especially if your nose is at all congested, or if you have snored. Check with your doctor and cpap provider. In addition to the humidifier you may need a chin strap, or a full face mask, or some other way of keeping your mouth shut at night. If your mouth is open the pressurized air goes in your nostrils and out your mouth, both drying your mouth and not sending the air to your lungs.

I did this. I am unable to keep a chinstrap on so I tried both a product call chinups (I think this is the correct name) and later on a full face mask. These worked and retrained me not to mouth breathe. Unfortuneately the training wore off after several years and I began to mouthbreath again and became fatigued. Now I am on a full face mask again.

Everyone does not respond to the same solutions, our faces, bodies and physiologies can differ. Keep trying different methods until you find a solution.

Hi.

I've been using a cpap for about 4 years now. I've never needed a humidifier, so I can't really comment on that. I will say that I used to think I was used to the cpap after a week or so, but in reality, I took about 6 months to get really comfortable with it so that I never felt like I had it on at night.

I started seeing results (feeling better, awake, alert, etc.) after the first month or so. Total quality of life change for me. Stick with it, you will be happy with the results.

Brad

Thanks for the quick replies! I do believe that I definitely need the humidifier, since I do have chronic allergies and sinus problems. I wish I had known before the end of the year, because now it's time to pay the new insurance deductible.

I had read that if your mouth opens when you're asleep it would cause dryness. I don't think that's happening, because as soon as my mouth opens when I'm aware of it and that air comes out, it's like I'm drowning. I have awakened a few times when opening my mouth while sleeping. The pressure is set at 11 - I'm not sure if that's real high or not.

I guess my biggest concern is feeling MORE tired with the cpap and wonder if this can be normal? I am really, really tired.

I sure wish I could offer a solution to the problem of being more tired because that is what I came here looking for an answer to. I know I'm not opening my mouth, my wife says I don't make a sound all night, and when I wake up I can't believe that it's already morning because I sleep so sound. Initially I am wide awake and ready to start the day but after an hour or so I am dead on my feet. It makes it so hard to get through a day of work that I would rather just not wear it and sleep on the couch. I hope someone can offer a solution/explanation.

cb wrote:I sure wish I could offer a solution to the problem of being more tired because that is what I came here looking for an answer to. I know I'm not opening my mouth, my wife says I don't make a sound all night, and when I wake up I can't believe that it's already morning because I sleep so sound. Initially I am wide awake and ready to start the day but after an hour or so I am dead on my feet. It makes it so hard to get through a day of work that I would rather just not wear it and sleep on the couch. I hope someone can offer a solution/explanation.

,,,,,,

[quote="cb"]I sure wish I could offer a solution to the problem of being more tired because that is what I came here looking for an answer to. I know I'm not opening my mouth, my wife says I don't make a sound all night, and when I wake up I can't believe that it's already morning because I sleep so sound. Initially I am wide awake and ready to start the day but after an hour or so I am dead on my feet. It makes it so hard to get through a day of work that I would rather just not wear it and sleep on the couch. I hope someone can offer a solution/explanation.[/quote]

I feel the same as you do "tired" but I don't sleep through the night since on the cpap (2 months). I have heard many knowledgeable househeads say that we have been sleep deprived for a long time. Our tank is empty. It will take time to make up the deficit. Stick with it. I am... too much at stake not too. Still can't sleep through the night either but I believe I will in time if I stick with it and keep "tweaking" the treatment.

Regarding "a dry mouth": I didn't think mine was open either and had a very dry mouth. I know it sounds odd but one person suggested taping you mouth closed. I tried it one night just to see. My mouth didn't get dry that night or the next. I "slept" without it and my mouth was dry. I do use the heated humidifer. Going to try a chin strap.

Well, I guess I'm going to try the humidifier and see if that helps. More $$$. I sure hope this is not all in vain.

I found that using the humidifer causes me to feel like I'm suffocating so I don't use it. I prefer cool air, so I just put some water in the humidifier and don't turn the heat on.

May I suggest you try a product called Rhinaris. Make sure it is not the saline solution or gel type. Salt tends to have a drying effect which makes things worse. The label should say the formula is adjusted to a PH of 6.0

I've used this product for years (available OTC) and I never wake up with a dry nose, or sore throat due to dryness, even with my CPAP.

It costs about $5.00 a bottle and should be good for a month or more.

Regards

The posters who are saying get a heated humidifier are correct, imho. Be sure it's a heated humidifier - not just "a" humidifier. Even if you don't turn the heat up much, a little bit of warmth will pick up water much better than air blowing over cold water. There are some who prefer no heated humidification at all, but most need it to be comfortable with this kind of treatment.

No amount of heated humidification is going to help, though, if therapy air leaks out of the mouth while wearing a nasal mask.

I truly believe (I'm no doctor) that unless people have underlying health problems in addition to OSA, the three biggest reasons why people continue to feel bad, tired, etc. (or even worse!) after a week of so into cpap therapy are:

1. The treatment itself. It's a strange, often uncomfortable way to try to sleep at first. Until a person gets used to it and reasonably comfortable with it, the treatment itself can cause disruptions to sleep that leave a person just as (or even more) fatigued as did the hopefully-now-under-control apneas and hypopneas they were having before starting treatment. Simply trading one kind of sleep disruption for another. A person has to be absolutely convinced in his/her own mind that it is of the utmost medical importance to do whatever it takes to continue this kind of treatment. Even if they are not seeing the results they expected or that an overly enthusiastic doctor told them would happen.

2. Tying in with #1, but a subject in and of itself, is the biggest stumbling block of all - the mask. Most people are given cheap, uncomfortable masks at the beginning. Sores on the nose, masks that have to be strapped on too tight, masks digging into the face, leaky masks...you name it. Message boards like this one are often the only place a new cpap user would ever hear that they don't have to put up with that. Message boards are often the only place new users find out there are many masks which are likely to be more comfortable than the one the DME foisted off on them.

3. Air leaking out the mouth while wearing any kind of nasal interface. Lucky is the person who just slaps a nasal mask on, goes to sleep and never has a bit of treatment air leak out the mouth. Their tongue maintains a leakproof seal against the roof of the mouth naturally. It's my gut instinct, absolutely unprofessional, that most people do leak air from their mouths at some, perhaps many, points during the night, whether they realize it or not. Not even the most observant bed partner is going to be awake all night long to see if it happens. And it doesn't have to be a big gush of air that anyone would hear or notice. It can be as subtle and quiet as treatment air regularly puffing out from between closed lips.

Enough treatment air escaping through an open mouth or puffing out from the lips instead of keeping the throat open - no wonder people wake up with a dry mouth and still feeling tired. They just think they've been getting cpap treatment all night. Yes, the machine was on, the mask was on; but... where was the treatment air going? Out into the room? That sure won't hold the throat open. Mouth air leaks really have to be addressed aggressively with whatever it takes to stop them. Who wants to have endured using a mask and machine all night long if it was really the bedroom instead of the obstructed throat receiving the treatment air?

Work on those mouth air leaks. You'll be glad you did. How? If you have even the least suspicion that you're leaking air through the mouth (dry mouth is a telltale sign in many cases) do searches on every message board for "leak". If you have mouth air leaks or lip air puff leaks and can't find a method that keeps the lips sealed shut (chin straps are rarely the answer - personally, I use tape) then a full face mask is sometimes the best answer....containing the treatment pressure so that it doesn't matter if you breathe through the nose or the mouth. Either way, nose or mouth, with a full face mask the treatment air goes where it's supposed to go. As long as the mask itself isn't leaky. Hey, if it's not one thing, it's another.

Rested Gal - Thanks so much for the reply, it is very helpful to a newbie like me and much appreciated.

I guess it is a little of everything... getting used to wearing a hose at night and trying to get comfortable with it is probably a major issue to overcome.

I am hoping the humidifier is of some help, because when I wake up, not only is my throat dry, but also my nasal passages... to the point of being painful from the pressure of the dry air. So I am thinking it is probably something that is needed.

The reason I don't think I'm mouth breathing is because when I put the mask on while awake, I can't open my mouth to let the air out without a big gush of air coming out...a very uncomfortable feeling - there's no way to talk with the thing on. But maybe it's different while asleep - even with a pressure of 11? I'm new at this, so I'm trying to figure it all out.

I have an Ultra Mirage nasal mask, and sometimes it leaks when laying on my side, but usually I can just adjust it a little and that seems to take care of it. It is pretty comfortable, (I guess, since I have nothing to compare it too) and found that it doesn't have to fit tight. The first night I looked like I was punched in both eyes and the RT said it was probably too tight. I might just have to look into those nasal pillows, since I am a side sleeper - can't sleep on my back at all. How the heck can you determine what size pillows to use?

guest wrote:The reason I don't think I'm mouth breathing is because when I put the mask on while awake, I can't open my mouth to let the air out without a big gush of air coming out...a very uncomfortable feeling - there's no way to talk with the thing on. But maybe it's different while asleep

As rested gal said it doesn't have to be a big gusher. Try this, keep your lips together and softly blow/whisper pa...pa...pa...pa. This is what it may be and if it occurs for a while it can add up to a big gusher without you being aware of it.

Thankfuly my wife keeps good track of me and mentioned my "puffs"

The key to solving the mouth leak problem is to train your tongue to sit up and back in your mouth. Try it some time with your machine on. You will find you can actually have your lips apart and still prevent air from leaking out. Practice this a little and you will find you can even get a few quick words out without sounding like a computer speaking. It's a strange feeling, isn't it?

As far as the pillow sizes, talk to the folks at cpap.com they will help you figuire out the right size pillows if you like sell you a nasal pillow (mask) for the best price you will find.

The RT said he would give me a chin strap when I pick up the humidifier. I guess maybe he thinks that could be the cause of the dry mouth too. I just hope this all works so I can feel halfway alive again. I am going to look into the the nasal pillow thingy as soon as I recuperate from the expense of the humidifier.