Trying to dial in CPAP- have charts

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
thebearproofsuit
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Trying to dial in CPAP- have charts

Post by thebearproofsuit » Tue Mar 09, 2021 3:39 pm

Been on CPAP a little over a year. I had 24 AHI during my Sleep study and down to ~4 with CPAP. I would say perhaps around a 50% improvement in energy, headaches, brainfog but still having week-long stretches where I'm not able to work or only work a couple hours day due to brain fog and dizziness. It gets to the point where I feel much better on a night of 45 mins sleep than on a night with 7 hours. Like about 5 times better. Then I can have a week or two where I feel almost normal and I think it's solved then it comes right back. Typically if the AH is 3 or less and I get 6.5 hours or more I feel passable that day.....but there some days where the numbers are solid and still I feel like I got hit by a truck.


Uploading the chart from last night. Only ~4.5 hours of sleep but felt better today than I have in weeks. I'm hitting the wall in the afternoon, but that's probably expected with less than 5 hours of sleep. I would say today I feel 80% compared to how I would expect to feel on 4.5 hours sleep. For me this is really positive result because I was able to be productive for 3-4 hours before needing to lay down.

I'll upload a night when I feel worse soon for comparison. I recently upped the pressure minimum from 7 to 9.5 or so and will see if that helps. I don't notice any negative effects of the higher pressure. I do have a deviated septum and dust allergies, so have been on some antihistamines and spray for a few months and that seems to have cleared up the congestion, which helps.

I have insomnia too, so there's a 40 min section in there at the start while I was awake and then took off the mask and got up.

I'm probably going to go see sleep specialists again soon, but I move around a lot for work and it will be my third doc and starting all over with explaining symptoms etc and will be out of pocket expense so trying to gather all info I can before going in.


Appreciate any insights!




Image

https://imgur.com/a/r7WYZYj

thebearproofsuit
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Re: Trying to dial in CPAP- have charts

Post by thebearproofsuit » Wed Mar 10, 2021 1:52 am

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zonker
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Re: Trying to dial in CPAP- have charts

Post by zonker » Wed Mar 10, 2021 11:58 am

thebearproofsuit wrote:
Wed Mar 10, 2021 1:52 am
Image
i'd say bump that minimum up, maybe 10 or more.

you see on your pressure graph where it wants to go higher? raising the minimum will get it there faster so your relief will be faster.

good luck!
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thebearproofsuit
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Re: Trying to dial in CPAP- have charts

Post by thebearproofsuit » Wed Mar 10, 2021 2:15 pm

I'll try 10, thanks!

last night's chart. Slept 10 hours which almost never happens....no head aches, rested but still light-headed and a bit dizzy and brain foge=ged, curious how the day will unfold but it's feeling about average, better than most recent days.



https://imgur.com/a/h7Kc6YB
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thebearproofsuit
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Re: Trying to dial in CPAP- have charts

Post by thebearproofsuit » Wed Mar 10, 2021 2:34 pm

body feels rested but seems like the brain fog, lightheadedness, slight dizzyness is going to stick around all day

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Re: Trying to dial in CPAP- have charts

Post by thebearproofsuit » Wed Mar 10, 2021 5:32 pm

yeah day ended up being a wash, not sleepy as much as light-headed and dizzy all day, brain fog

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zonker
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Re: Trying to dial in CPAP- have charts

Post by zonker » Wed Mar 10, 2021 7:06 pm

thebearproofsuit wrote:
Wed Mar 10, 2021 5:32 pm
yeah day ended up being a wash, not sleepy as much as light-headed and dizzy all day, brain fog
yeah, it's going to take awhile to get the good feelings. and not everyone gets there in the same time span.

i'm a bit concerned about the dizziness, though. let's see what happens tomorrow morning.
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thebearproofsuit
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Re: Trying to dial in CPAP- have charts

Post by thebearproofsuit » Wed Mar 10, 2021 10:06 pm

been getting pretty heavy dizzy spells that last all day for months ...mybe 50% of the time.....kinda of a half miz between dizzy and light/headed and brain fog. But dizzy enough that I'm a bit wobbly when I stand. most symptoms fade slowly until about midnight when I feel almost normal for an hour or so before I go to bed and repeat it all over again.

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zonker
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Re: Trying to dial in CPAP- have charts

Post by zonker » Wed Mar 10, 2021 10:35 pm

thebearproofsuit wrote:
Wed Mar 10, 2021 10:06 pm
been getting pretty heavy dizzy spells that last all day for months ...mybe 50% of the time.....kinda of a half miz between dizzy and light/headed and brain fog. But dizzy enough that I'm a bit wobbly when I stand. most symptoms fade slowly until about midnight when I feel almost normal for an hour or so before I go to bed and repeat it all over again.
are you saying this appeared with cpap use?
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thebearproofsuit
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Re: Trying to dial in CPAP- have charts

Post by thebearproofsuit » Wed Mar 10, 2021 10:41 pm

I can't remember precisely, I think it's more generally related to the sleep apnea and predates the cpap use....at times I have wondered if the dizziness was CPAP related, but I seem to get it as well when I forget to use it and have a terrible nights sleep w/o CPAP....it's just accompanied by worse headaches etc when I don't use CPAP so I might notice it less.

I've definitely had dizziness w/o using cpap, it may have become more common with cpap use, I'm not sure, it's been a year

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zonker
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Re: Trying to dial in CPAP- have charts

Post by zonker » Wed Mar 10, 2021 10:46 pm

thebearproofsuit wrote:
Wed Mar 10, 2021 10:41 pm
I can't remember precisely, I think it's more generally related to the sleep apnea and predates the cpap use....at times I have wondered if the dizziness was CPAP related, but I seem to get it as well when I forget to use it and have a terrible nights sleep w/o CPAP....it's just accompanied by worse headaches etc when I don't use CPAP so I might notice it less.

I've definitely had dizziness w/o using cpap, it may have become more common with cpap use, I'm not sure, it's been a year
yeah, my inclination is for you to see a doctor about the dizziness, whether that's the sleep doc you mentioned or just a regular gp. things are tough for you with the insurance thing associated with moving from job to job. but i'm not certain that changing anything on your machine would help that.

let's see if someone comes in with a better perspective on this.

good luck!
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thebearproofsuit
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Re: Trying to dial in CPAP- have charts

Post by thebearproofsuit » Thu Mar 11, 2021 9:54 am

3 hours on cpap 1.4 AHI......took off mask in night...3 hours no mask......6 hours total...feel better than previous 2 days....slight brain fog, no dizziness

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Miss Emerita
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Re: Trying to dial in CPAP- have charts

Post by Miss Emerita » Thu Mar 11, 2021 10:33 am

I second zonker's suggestion that you discuss the dizziness with your doctor. A little light reading, in case it is relevant:

https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-he ... -you-worry
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zonker
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Re: Trying to dial in CPAP- have charts

Post by zonker » Thu Mar 11, 2021 11:18 am

thebearproofsuit wrote:
Thu Mar 11, 2021 9:54 am
3 hours on cpap 1.4 AHI......took off mask in night...3 hours no mask......6 hours total...feel better than previous 2 days....slight brain fog, no dizziness
progress.

when you can post some more charts.

was this at min of 10?
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thebearproofsuit
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Re: Trying to dial in CPAP- have charts

Post by thebearproofsuit » Thu Mar 11, 2021 1:24 pm

yeah min of 10. will post charts in a bit.

a bit tired and brain fog creeping in after being up and working for 3-4 hours now but overall probably 50% better than it has been. not dizzy, feels 50% of the way to normal, just running out of mental steam early in day.