frustrated with results

Ok so i have had my cpap for about a week now. my husband says that i sleep a lot sounder, but i am still very tired in the day. i was wondering if that is normal and it will take awhile for my body to catch up, or if that is not normal? frustrated because i was hoping the cpap would finally give me some energy during the day? thank you!!

Hi, welcome tot he forum. Yes, it's very normal - you have a long "sleep debt" to make up and it can take weeks for some people to see a difference. However, it would be a lot easier to guess at things if you'd go to your member page and fill out the profile, so whenever you're here we can see what equipment (full name of machine on its top) you have, plus what mask, etc. Quick question - are you using a nasal mask of some kind, or a full face one? Many people end up once asleep with their mouths open and if you're on Cpap, you're going to lose air that way, so if your husband thinks you might fit, consider a full face mask that would allow you to breathe open-mouthed without losing the 'good' air going in.

yes i do wear a nasal pillow. i never thought to ask if i sleep with my mouth open! lol! that is definately something i will have to check on and thank you for the heads up on the personal page......i didn't know there was one! thank you!

Welcome to the forum. Lots of good support and advice here. I'm a newbie myself, in my 3rd week of cpap.

mdcgrl911 wrote:Ok so i have had my cpap for about a week now. my husband says that i sleep a lot sounder, but i am still very tired in the day. i was wondering if that is normal and it will take awhile for my body to catch up, or if that is not normal? frustrated because i was hoping the cpap would finally give me some energy during the day? thank you!!

Hi,

Sleeping sounder means that CPAP is making some difference. Yes, it is quite normal to have a sleep debt built up that you have to pay back. This is often compounded due to new CPAP'ers having challenges adapting to the new equipment. For example, it took me a week to get up to 5 hours of sleep a night on CPAP, 90 days to get to 6.5 hours, and about 5 months for me to get to a consistent 7 hours of sleep a night.

Give this another week to get settled in, and then we want to start seeing some numbers. That would include your AHI number and your leak number. It is important to make sure that your leak level is within specs. If not, and you are losing air, it could be compromising your treatment. Once leaks are confirmed to be OK, your AHI number should be low, at least below 5. If not, your treatment might need some tweaking.

Many people who are new to CPAP have had poor sleep for years, and it does take time to reverse that damage and for your body to unlearn all of its coping mechanisms. Sticking with it and seeing steady improvement is the key. It sounds like you are on track, but just have to give it some more time.

-john-

I hear you Mdcgrl911 -- I have to say, I'm frustrated myself. I've used mine for 2 weeks consistently; if I'm in bed, the mask is on. The first few days I did notice a little more mental clarity and a little more energy but then as of last Friday, I've been getting more and more exhausted each day. Yesterday I actually almost dozed off at a stoplight! I feel more tired on APAP than I did before starting treatment. This has me stumped because I'm going to bed earlier and getting about an hour more sleep, and going by the numbers on my machine, I'm getting a better night's sleep. I've got an appt. with my PCP on Monday to regroup and make a new plan of attack. On a good note, I am getting more used to my machine.

Snoozy,

I'm sorry to hear that you are having some issues. It will be interesting to hear if your MD has any ideas. There are a lot of variables. It is possible that this was just one medical problem, and another problem will be uncovered. Or it might be that you are one of the folks who do not do well on APAP, and a conversion to CPAP or BiPAP might be the key. Or you might have good AHI numbers, but still are having episodes of low blood oxygen. Sometimes there are no easy answers, but it is worth sticking with the process because this will eventually get sorted out.

-john-