Feel worse since starting CPAP

I have been on CPAP a week and a half. I am on an Amara View full-mask and have no problems with the equipment or having the mask on my face. My reports are excellent, with no leak problems, good humidity, and very few episodes. I have been diagnosed with mild apnea but "severe" hypoxemia due to damage to my lungs that causes me to get too little oxygen with shallow breathing during sleep. My symptoms that led to diagnosis were extreme fatigue and headaches every morning, that are only relieved with prescription migraine medication. I like the CPAP and feel like it is working fine for me in terms of comfort but I am still waking up with headaches every day and I feel much worse...spacey, tired and disoriented. I cannot function. Is this normal or something that needs to be checked out? How long can I expect this to go on? Any help that you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

I am fairly new to cpap, but I know enough to where I know for sure that these are NOT normal symptoms. I would make an appointment with your Pulmologist doctor asap. Cpap may be overworking your reduced capacity lungs... tryv turning the pressure down for now maybe. .

What are your pressure settings - they may just be too low to do the job adequately (happens all the time).

I think I would be wanting to verify oxygen levels during the night to see if the low oxygen issue was been resolved.
With a history of lung disease it wouldn't be impossible for there to still be some serious oxygen level issues despite being "technically treated in terms of the OSA".

Usually when we have low O2...we also have high carbon dioxide levels and that's the main cause of the headaches.
It isn't so easy to monitor carbon dioxide during the night but it is easy to monitor oxygen levels.
An overnight recording pulse oximeter...you can ask your DME to get your doctor to order it or even buy your own if you think you might be wanting to keep an eye on it yourself. Not horribly expensive either...$50 to $100 depending on the features you want and your pocketbook.

Not all headaches are related to cpap or oxygen levels or carbon dioxide levels but if I had a history of low oxygen levels and lung disease...verifying that the oxygen levels are within acceptable limits would be one of the first things I looked at if it were me. In fact, I did this very same thing myself and I didn't even have a history of lung disease.

As crazy as it sounds , the cpap in your case may be DECREASING your O2 level. So the above advice of checkng your O2 level while sleeping could be useful information.

Could you suggest an oximeter that is compatible with sleepyhead? How often does one use the oximeter generally? Every night? Weekly? It goes on a finger, right? Do doctors ever prescribe them or are they usually purchased by folks keeping the best track of their own health? Just an out of pocket expense.

Grace~~~ wrote:Could you suggest an oximeter that is compatible with sleepyhead?

I think SleepyHead lists various compatible brands and models but many forum members use a CMS brand (easy to find and relatively inexpensive) but just make sure it records overnight.

Grace~~~ wrote:How often does one use the oximeter generally?

That depends on the person and how much they want to check it...I didn't want to do it every night but others will do it every night or once or twice a week or once a month. No hard fast rules. A lot depends on the person and what they are seeing in their results.
If someone just wants a one time check to make sure everything is okay and have no plans or reasons to check it again if it is normal then I would suggest going the DME route and not purchasing their own machine.

Grace~~~ wrote:It goes on a finger, right?

Yes, normally that is the placement.

Grace~~~ wrote:Do doctors ever prescribe them or are they usually purchased by folks keeping the best track of their own health? Just an out of pocket expense.

I don't know if insurance will pay for them even if a doctor prescribes one. That's up to the insurance and may involve the actual oxygen levels seen during the night. Most folks here that purchase their own do it without doctor or insurance involvement.

Again....if someone doesn't think that they are going to want more than a random O2 check ...go the DME route as those are typically either free or insurance will pay for because the doctor has to order it.
If someone is of the mindset that they are going to want or need more than a random check...just buy one and be done with it.