Time frame for improvement after CPAP usage

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
andy2016
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Time frame for improvement after CPAP usage

Post by andy2016 » Thu Jun 16, 2016 11:49 am

Hi everyone! I am on my 2nd day of using the CPAP machine after increasing my pressure level to 8. I was diagnosed with severe OSA with an AHI of 67. I posted my sleepyhead results below for Monday and Wednesday. . I was just curious, how long did it take for you to see improvements in your fatigue, foggy head, depression, etc. once you started using the CPAP machine? Thank you.

Image

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bwexler
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Re: Time frame for improvement after CPAP usage

Post by bwexler » Thu Jun 16, 2016 12:16 pm

Improvements can be slow and subtle. Like not falling asleep at a red light or in stop and go traffic, or while watching your favorite TV show.
I never had headaches, so can't comment. Foggy head will probably diminish slowly, not like flipping a light switch, so you may not notice until one day you say wow.

After almost 6 years, I am still waiting for WOW, but I have noticed many benefits.

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CPAP_DAD6
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Re: Time frame for improvement after CPAP usage

Post by CPAP_DAD6 » Thu Jun 16, 2016 1:00 pm

Two weeks in I forgot to use my machine once. I hadn't noticed improvents, but the day after I felt like crap. So you may not notice the changes, but they are there

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Wulfman...
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Re: Time frame for improvement after CPAP usage

Post by Wulfman... » Thu Jun 16, 2016 1:19 pm

andy2016 wrote:Hi everyone! I am on my 2nd day of using the CPAP machine after increasing my pressure level to 8. I was diagnosed with severe OSA with an AHI of 67. I posted my sleepyhead results below for Monday and Wednesday. . I was just curious, how long did it take for you to see improvements in your fatigue, foggy head, depression, etc. once you started using the CPAP machine? Thank you.
It's important to optimize one's therapy........effective pressure(s), minimal leaks, getting enough sleep, etc., etc.
If the therapy is not optimized, it can take a LOOOOONG time or NEVER.

As previously mentioned, many experience the benefits gradually. Very few have that "AH HAH" moment.

When you had your sleep study, were you prescribed a specific pressure? (which is pretty standard for in-lab sleep studies)
I'm wondering how it is you're using a range of pressures?

By the way, that report is showing your minimum at 8 cm. but your 90% pressure is around 12 cm. That should tell you that your minimum needs to be increased. Maybe not all the way to 12 cm., but closer to it.


Den

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(5) REMstar Autos w/C-Flex & (6) REMstar Pro 2 CPAPs w/C-Flex - Pressure Setting = 14 cm.
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andy2016
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Re: Time frame for improvement after CPAP usage

Post by andy2016 » Thu Jun 16, 2016 1:33 pm

Wulfman... wrote:
When you had your sleep study, were you prescribed a specific pressure? (which is pretty standard for in-lab sleep studies)
I'm wondering how it is you're using a range of pressures?

By the way, that report is showing your minimum at 8 cm. but your 90% pressure is around 12 cm. That should tell you that your minimum needs to be increased. Maybe not all the way to 12 cm., but closer to it.
The study test was done at home. So you think the pressure needs to be increased? What should the pressure % be?

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Additional Comments: Started CPAP therapy June 13, 2016.......Sleep study showed AHI of 67.5. I use sleepyhead software. Pressure setting 11 to 14.5.

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Wulfman...
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Re: Time frame for improvement after CPAP usage

Post by Wulfman... » Thu Jun 16, 2016 1:50 pm

andy2016 wrote:
Wulfman... wrote:
When you had your sleep study, were you prescribed a specific pressure? (which is pretty standard for in-lab sleep studies)
I'm wondering how it is you're using a range of pressures?

By the way, that report is showing your minimum at 8 cm. but your 90% pressure is around 12 cm. That should tell you that your minimum needs to be increased. Maybe not all the way to 12 cm., but closer to it.
The study test was done at home. So you think the pressure needs to be increased? What should the pressure % be?
OK.
Your "Average" pressure is showing about 10 cm. and your 90% is showing about 12 cm. From my experience, I would suggest the minimum should be at about 11 cm.
If the nightly pressures start bumping and staying at the maximum pressure, you may consider increasing the maximum. If the 90% keeps increasing, you may need to increase the minimum. But, you need to scrutinize your nightly reports to figure out WHY the pressures are increasing. The main reasons are......Flow Limitations, Snores and (depending on the machine algorithms) sometimes Apneas.


Den

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(5) REMstar Autos w/C-Flex & (6) REMstar Pro 2 CPAPs w/C-Flex - Pressure Setting = 14 cm.
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andy2016
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Re: Time frame for improvement after CPAP usage

Post by andy2016 » Thu Jun 16, 2016 10:56 pm

Wulfman... wrote:
andy2016 wrote:
Wulfman... wrote:
When you had your sleep study, were you prescribed a specific pressure? (which is pretty standard for in-lab sleep studies)
I'm wondering how it is you're using a range of pressures?

By the way, that report is showing your minimum at 8 cm. but your 90% pressure is around 12 cm. That should tell you that your minimum needs to be increased. Maybe not all the way to 12 cm., but closer to it.
The study test was done at home. So you think the pressure needs to be increased? What should the pressure % be?
OK.
Your "Average" pressure is showing about 10 cm. and your 90% is showing about 12 cm. From my experience, I would suggest the minimum should be at about 11 cm.
If the nightly pressures start bumping and staying at the maximum pressure, you may consider increasing the maximum. If the 90% keeps increasing, you may need to increase the minimum. But, you need to scrutinize your nightly reports to figure out WHY the pressures are increasing. The main reasons are......Flow Limitations, Snores and (depending on the machine algorithms) sometimes Apneas.


Den

.
I requested an increase in the pressure to 11 from the clinic. Apparently they need approval from my doctor. Maybe it will help some more. Also, my APAP has 3 FLEX settings. What are those and do they make a difference? Thx.

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Additional Comments: Started CPAP therapy June 13, 2016.......Sleep study showed AHI of 67.5. I use sleepyhead software. Pressure setting 11 to 14.5.

verbatim
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Re: Time frame for improvement after CPAP usage

Post by verbatim » Thu Jun 16, 2016 11:41 pm

andy2016 wrote:how long did it take for you to see improvements in your fatigue, foggy head, depression, etc. once you started using the CPAP machine? Thank you.
My AHI was 92 before CPAP (less than about a month ago).
My headaches, aching feet, and falling asleep at red lights ceased the first night and haven't returned since.
My AHI on APAP is invariably less than 1 (with settings set at 10 to 20 cm of water, averaging around 14 for the 95% mark, on three different machines, both ResMed and Philips). Image

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Re: Time frame for improvement after CPAP usage

Post by Pugsy » Fri Jun 17, 2016 7:25 am

andy2016 wrote:my APAP has 3 FLEX settings. What are those and do they make a difference?
3 settings available for exhale relief...for use if you are having trouble exhaling against the pressure

I think changing the minimum to 11 without seeing some reports is premature.
90% pressure numbers aren't always indicative of something that is close to where the minimum needs to be.
90% pressure numbers are very easily skewed high and thus not always the holy grail that people tend to think they are. Now sometimes they are spot on but more often they can't be trusted until someone has several months of 90% numbers to get an overall trend. A newbie to therapy isn't going to have nearly enough 90% numbers to establish an accurate trend.

So I would want to see a couple of nights of detailed reports and not the summary statistics before I would think of making such a increase (to 11) in that minimum pressure that is now 8 cm. 3 nights summary isn't enough to prove a need for such a jump.
Now maybe something closer to that average of 10is...like 9.5 minimum or 10 would be sufficient.

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Re: Time frame for improvement after CPAP usage

Post by SewTired » Fri Jun 17, 2016 11:49 am

I did not have as high of AHI as you, but here goes. I started cpap just shy of 1 year ago. My need for two naps a day dropped to one nap a day within a week. My headaches stopped about 10 days after I started. My need for a nap dropped to a couple of days a week (and continues to this day) after another 3 weeks. I continue to be plagued by RLS, so I don't get as much sleep as I need (about 6 hours). Around December, things seemed to be returning to pre-cpap days. Fatigue, naps, foggy brain, although the RLS seemed better. I was getting up to pee 4-5 times a night. Finally turned out that it was my blood sugar. Now that I'm on insulin, I'm almost back to those first cpap days of 7-8 hours of sleep with getting up only 1 time, far less foggy brain and headaches almost gone again. So, keep in mind that you could have more than one thing going on.

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Re: Time frame for improvement after CPAP usage

Post by jaw » Fri Jun 17, 2016 5:54 pm

2.5 month of CPAP, droping of AHI 50 to AHI 0.5.

I noted down how I feel at several moments at 90% of the days. While I see an improvement over pre-CPAP, the variation between the days is big. I feel worse the next day mostly when

- If I have stressed my brain too much (in the evening, when my brain is already tired, if I continue working or even read news while lying down)
- If I have sex the night before
- If I sleep in one "bad" room (comparing to a "good room" inside my house.

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avi123
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Re: Time frame for improvement after CPAP usage

Post by avi123 » Sat Jun 18, 2016 3:38 pm

Andre, it took me several years of OSA treatment on APAP to reduce my AHI from 43 during my sleep study in 2010 (and 96 during REM) until 2014 when my AHI dropped to below 5 and stayed so until now. After losing 10% of my body weight I can even skip using the APAP for long periods, see it here:

Image

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Last edited by avi123 on Sat Jun 18, 2016 3:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Time frame for improvement after CPAP usage

Post by Goofproof » Sat Jun 18, 2016 3:48 pm

Depends what you define improvement as, I define it as waking up each day alive. I've been using it every night for 11 years, I'm sure if I didn't use it every night, I wouldn't have had this long a run. What you won't is totally your choice, just remember your choice controls your outcome. Jim
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