Does it ever get any better?

I've been on CPAP for close to a month now, and I'm not noticing any real improvement in my overall daytime health. I'm still having palpitations, indigestion, etc. Going by my data on my air,I'm sleeping okay, and am having a low amount of events per hour. But I don't know if it's really helping me. I'm not looking for technical data, or questions about my CPAP settings, because, been there, done that on this board- I just want to hear from people who have seen a definite light at the end of the tunnel.

Protege wrote:palpitations, indigestion, etc.

Can you give a precise description of the symptoms?

Protege wrote:Going by my data on my air,I'm sleeping okay, and am having a low amount of events per hour.

Have you read enough to see that most consider MyAir to be nearly worthless? Get SleepyHead and you will have some good data - see Pugsy's pointers at the top of the index page.

Sure it does, very few folks have an easy time of it and get improvement right away, but somewhere down the road you'll see a little change, then another and pretty soon you will be over the hump.

I see in an earlier post you said,

the closed off throat,or the indigestion

.

This is indicative of a common problem, but I don't want to guess until you provide more information about the symptoms.

herefishy wrote:Sure it does, very few folks have an easy time of it and get improvement right away, but somewhere down the road you'll see a little change, then another and pretty soon you will be over the hump.

I disagree. "Just hang in there" doesn't work for most people. If it did, this forum would not be so popular.

This forum is very popular because it helps people learn how to make changes to their CPAP therapy, their sleep hygiene, their diet and a host of other issues.

"Just hanging in there", without making some changes, rarely works.

If you have acid reflux overnight, you might try raising the head of your bed up on 4-5" blocks as it works well for many people... or else ask your doctor for something. Certainly GERD can awaken you overnight, especially if you drink a lot of coffee, even earlier in the day.

You said you don't want tech. data, but if you want to feel better, you need to make some effort to understand your therapy. What pressures is your machine set at? Often the doctor does not prescribe ones that reflect your titration numbers and sometimes moving the lower pressure up just a bit (e.g. from 5 to 7, or 6 to 9) can make all the difference.

My "sudden burst of energy" happened at about four months in.
I could offer more with more information from you.
Sorry, but I need to go catch and eat breakfast.
See what you can do about giving us something to go on. Please.

Protege,
Did you get your manual and Sleepyhead from the previous threads? Sometimes it takes knowing about and working with the machine to know we are getting the best therapy to begin to feel better. Also, improvement may come in ways you don't notice for a while. Such as healing or preventing the changes in the vital organs that can cause illness.
You want to know there is light at the end of the tunnel? Sure, that's why many of us are here.
I saw in another post where you have an Elite but It would help if you listed your equipment in your profile because then it will show in each post. This will show you how. wiki/index.php/Registering_Equipment_in_User_Profile

ChicagoGranny wrote:

Protege wrote:palpitations, indigestion, etc.

Can you give a precise description of the symptoms?

Protege wrote:Going by my data on my air,I'm sleeping okay, and am having a low amount of events per hour.

Have you read enough to see that most consider MyAir to be nearly worthless? Get SleepyHead and you will have some good data - see Pugsy's pointers at the top of the index page.

I've already explained that I'm having a technical problem trying to download sleepyhead, as in I'm not technically proficient. This whole thing started with constant palpitations during the day- My cardiologist says it's nothing to be worried about, but I just want to know when it's going to get back to normal.

ChicagoGranny wrote:

Protege wrote:palpitations, indigestion, etc.

Can you give a precise description of the symptoms?

Protege wrote:Going by my data on my air,I'm sleeping okay, and am having a low amount of events per hour.

Have you read enough to see that most consider MyAir to be nearly worthless? Get SleepyHead and you will have some good data - see Pugsy's pointers at the top of the index page.

I've already explained that I'm having a technical problem trying to download sleepyhead, as in I'm not technically proficient. This whole thing started with constant palpitations during the day- My cardiologist says it's nothing to be worried about, but I just want to know when it's going to get back to normal.
Grrr.... I thought i did that, and that's why I don't come here much. You guys keep asking me technical questions that I keep struggling with.

Julie wrote:If you have acid reflux overnight, you might try raising the head of your bed up on 4-5" blocks as it works well for many people... or else ask your doctor for something. Certainly GERD can awaken you overnight, especially if you drink a lot of coffee, even earlier in the day.

You said you don't want tech. data, but if you want to feel better, you need to make some effort to understand your therapy. What pressures is your machine set at? Often the doctor does not prescribe ones that reflect your titration numbers and sometimes moving the lower pressure up just a bit (e.g. from 5 to 7, or 6 to 9) can make all the difference.

this one i can answer; my pressure is set to 8.

chunkyfrog wrote:My "sudden burst of energy" happened at about four months in.
I could offer more with more information from you.
Sorry, but I need to go catch and eat breakfast.
See what you can do about giving us something to go on. Please.

I guess I'll do this later.

My non-technical answer, since you're not asking about technical stuff, is that it took me about six weeks to get used to using xPAP at night. After about six weeks my data got a lot better, and more important, I started feeling a lot better. And then I improved more and more from there.

Another important non-technical point is that xPAP only fixes disordered *breathing.* I had a number of bad sleep habits that I had developed as my OSA evolved (I speculate in response to it, but who knows?) that remained after my OSA was under control. So I got very interested in "sleep hygiene" (phrase to google) and paid close attention to those boring things as well.

A very wise doctor I know says, "Your body is not a clock, it's a garden." Changes are gradual.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

Having your pressure at 8 may or may not be enough for you.

From reading your posts elsewhere, I see you have an Airsense 10 Elite.
Can you see what your RAMP is set for?
If it is too long, you may feel like you are not getting enough air until you get full pressure.
This is a comfort feature, which is generally available to the patient--even the non-techies.
Sometimes palpitations are just anxiety, --sometimes.
As long as your cardio says it's good, that is usually true.