Side Effects of CPAP

Hi everyone,

New here. Took the time to read the intro post before posting, and have some questions. I've only been using CPAP for less than a week so obviously I'm not going to ask when do I start feeling better, but I will ask folks if they can relate to my experience. I have found that I wake up dizzy, like I previously did, and I'm dizzy throughout the day but less at night. My saturations were also pretty low consistently during my sleep tests. My apnea is rather mild (about 17 events an hour without CPAP). Has anyone experienced the constant dizziness? Also, I still wake up multiple times throughout the night. I also have some pretty weird dreams, some nightmares, when using this. Anyone experienced this? Finally, my nose feels dry and scabby and I feel like I am still breathing on the CPAP for a majority of the day which feels like I am short of breath.

I have used it every night for 6 nights on avg for 9 hours a night. My events are super low, like 0.5 low and I notice I always wake up to the pressure at like 5.6-5.8 even though it would be around 10 when going to sleep. Pressure is set 5-16.

Hopefully, this info helps. Just trying to figure this whole thing out from folks who have done it. Sleeping without this thing was a nightmare. Many nights I didn't know if I was going to die. Horrific.

Sounds like your min. pressure could use a bump up to e.g. 7 - see if that makes a difference because what you're experiencing still sounds like untreated apnea to me.

Dizziness can result from a variety of things.
Has your doctor ruled out sinus infection?

chunkyfrog wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 07, 2020 10:55 pm

Dizziness can result from a variety of things.
Has your doctor ruled out sinus infection?

I've seen an ENT a number of times and he has never mentioned sinus infection, although my nasal passages are constantly stuffed up

Julie wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 07, 2020 9:32 pm

Sounds like your min. pressure could use a bump up to e.g. 7 - see if that makes a difference because what you're experiencing still sounds like untreated apnea to me.

Gonna see how tonight goes and if it goes not great again then I'll ramp it up to 7. Wouldn't my events show that I'm having apnea events though?

Fenianfield wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 07, 2020 11:18 pm

Wouldn't my events show that I'm having apnea events though?

There's more to sleep disordered breathing than just apnea events.
There's also snores and flow limitations that can affect our sleep quality.
Without seeing in more detail what your machine is reporting I don't know if you need more pressure or not.
My suggestion is download OSCAR and let's see some detailed reports. Maybe something is there besides AHI that is just screaming "fix me and you will feel better".

OSCAR https://www.sleepfiles.com/OSCAR/
http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.ph ... stallation
http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.ph ... rpretation

We don't need or want all those graphs you will see...so read this for hints on graph formatting.
viewtopic/t158560/How-to-post-images-for-review.html

Some people think that more pressure is the answer to all problems but sometimes more pressure isn't the answer.....and we just are guessing when we go changing settings without at least looking at the data the machine gathers.

Now it's unlikely that more pressure is going to hurt anything but I won't suggest it without evaluating the reports if at all possible and if you have the AutoSet....you have available data. I suggest you learn how to use it.

Oh....one question for you....do you take any medications of any kind and if you do what?
And exactly what symptoms are you having you wish you didn't?

As Pugsy suggests, you should try to use the Oscar software and post a chart so the experts can advise you.

Hypoxia can cause daytime dizziness, and you are reporting dizziness that started before you began CPAP treatment for your apnea. The question might be, then, why the dizziness persists even though your treatment is effective.

I would advise you to talk with your doctor about this, but I can say in a general way that the balance systems try to adapt to disturbances (e.g., positional vertigo), and then the adaptations themselves prove to be disruptive when the original problem goes away. Physical therapy aimed at retraining the balance systems can be very helpful (as I can attest).

But whether this is what is going on with you I don't know. Again, a check-in with your doctor would be a good idea.

Pugsy wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 07, 2020 11:28 pm

Fenianfield wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 07, 2020 11:18 pm

Wouldn't my events show that I'm having apnea events though?

There's more to sleep disordered breathing than just apnea events.
There's also snores and flow limitations that can affect our sleep quality.
Without seeing in more detail what your machine is reporting I don't know if you need more pressure or not.
My suggestion is download OSCAR and let's see some detailed reports. Maybe something is there besides AHI that is just screaming "fix me and you will feel better".

OSCAR https://www.sleepfiles.com/OSCAR/
http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.ph ... stallation
http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.ph ... rpretation

We don't need or want all those graphs you will see...so read this for hints on graph formatting.
viewtopic/t158560/How-to-post-images-for-review.html

Some people think that more pressure is the answer to all problems but sometimes more pressure isn't the answer.....and we just are guessing when we go changing settings without at least looking at the data the machine gathers.

Now it's unlikely that more pressure is going to hurt anything but I won't suggest it without evaluating the reports if at all possible and if you have the AutoSet....you have available data. I suggest you learn how to use it.

Oh....one question for you....do you take any medications of any kind and if you do what?
And exactly what symptoms are you having you wish you didn't?

No meds, yet, that would effect sleep or CPAP. I am about to start Gabupentin which I struggled sleeping on the first time I did this. The main 2 symptoms are daytime dizziness and feeling somewhat short of breath or like I'm still breathing on CPAP during the day. Both are slightly better today

Hi - if you're always congested - don't remember your saying if you use the humidifier at all or at what setting - try lowering (or even turning it off) the setting for a couple of nights as too much (in an already relatively humid climate/environment will cause congestion. Many of use have to play with it to find the right one and some of us rarely use it at all, if ever, depending on local conditions, season, etc... it's certainly not a mandatory feature, but needs only to be used if you feel the need.

Fenianfield wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 07, 2020 11:17 pm

chunkyfrog wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 07, 2020 10:55 pm

Dizziness can result from a variety of things.
Has your doctor ruled out sinus infection?

I've seen an ENT a number of times and he has never mentioned sinus infection, although my nasal passages are constantly stuffed up

Where is the logic in going to an ENT, and not mentioning a STUFFY NOSE?
Remember, the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
SQUEAK!

17 AHI is not "mild" sleep apnea, it's moderate, especially with desaturations. That's a little bit of denial talking. Not saying this to be rude, but you have to get real about your need for CPAP. Often people complain of side effects (and yes, what you experience is real, not saying it's not) because they are looking for an excuse not to use CPAP. With your desaturations and a 17 AHI, that's not an option for you. You have to tackle the side effects, but should not stop CPAP.

Your nasal passages might feel "dry and scabby" because you need to increase the humidity a little. Try raising it up 1 notch and see if it's any better. Don't make more than one change every few nights, so you know what helped or made it worse.

As for the dreams, that's an indication that you are sleeping more deeply and achieving more REM sleep. That's a good thing, but sometimes it does involve nightmares. And sometimes really good dreams, too.

Janknitz wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 08, 2020 6:07 pm

17 AHI is not "mild" sleep apnea, it's moderate, especially with desaturations. That's a little bit of denial talking. Not saying this to be rude, but you have to get real about your need for CPAP. Often people complain of side effects (and yes, what you experience is real, not saying it's not) because they are looking for an excuse not to use CPAP. With your desaturations and a 17 AHI, that's not an option for you. You have to tackle the side effects, but should not stop CPAP.

Your nasal passages might feel "dry and scabby" because you need to increase the humidity a little. Try raising it up 1 notch and see if it's any better. Don't make more than one change every few nights, so you know what helped or made it worse.

As for the dreams, that's an indication that you are sleeping more deeply and achieving more REM sleep. That's a good thing, but sometimes it does involve nightmares. And sometimes really good dreams, too.

Totally fair. I say mild because I was told it was mild. I did feel better today. Still kind of dizzy but not as bad as it usually is

chunkyfrog wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 08, 2020 4:54 pm

Fenianfield wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 07, 2020 11:17 pm

chunkyfrog wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 07, 2020 10:55 pm

Dizziness can result from a variety of things.
Has your doctor ruled out sinus infection?

I've seen an ENT a number of times and he has never mentioned sinus infection, although my nasal passages are constantly stuffed up

Where is the logic in going to an ENT, and not mentioning a STUFFY NOSE?
Remember, the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
SQUEAK!

I mentioned it. He said nothing looked like a Sinus infection

Janknitz wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 08, 2020 6:07 pm

17 AHI is not "mild" sleep apnea, it's moderate, especially with desaturations. That's a little bit of denial talking. Not saying this to be rude, but you have to get real about your need for CPAP. Often people complain of side effects (and yes, what you experience is real, not saying it's not) because they are looking for an excuse not to use CPAP. With your desaturations and a 17 AHI, that's not an option for you. You have to tackle the side effects, but should not stop CPAP.

Your nasal passages might feel "dry and scabby" because you need to increase the humidity a little. Try raising it up 1 notch and see if it's any better. Don't make more than one change every few nights, so you know what helped or made it worse.

As for the dreams, that's an indication that you are sleeping more deeply and achieving more REM sleep. That's a good thing, but sometimes it does involve nightmares. And sometimes really good dreams, too.

Also, I am in no way looking for a way out of using a CPAP. I am trying to figure out what to expect as I go through this whole process of getting used to it. I realize you all deal with people coming on here so they can justify not using, but try not to assume that's everyone. Sleeping before CPAP, for me, was a horrifying experience

Fenianfield wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 08, 2020 6:38 pm

chunkyfrog wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 08, 2020 4:54 pm

Fenianfield wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 07, 2020 11:17 pm

chunkyfrog wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 07, 2020 10:55 pm

Dizziness can result from a variety of things.
Has your doctor ruled out sinus infection?

I've seen an ENT a number of times and he has never mentioned sinus infection, although my nasal passages are constantly stuffed up

Where is the logic in going to an ENT, and not mentioning a STUFFY NOSE?
Remember, the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
SQUEAK!

I mentioned it. He said nothing looked like a Sinus infection

If the problem persists, note it, and become a pest if it continues.
Not everything is an infection.