unusual sleep apnea symptoms

Hello all!

My name is Michelle and I'm new to your forum. I've been looking for a support group or someplace where I can share ideas and get information. Short version- I was diagnosed with severe obstructive sleep apnea after going through tons of expensive tests to rule out all kinds of other things. Basically my body just stopped working. I had no energy I would feel my fight or flight response constantly during the day. And then I almost passed out just doing yard work that was the last straw. So it was determined that perhaps my sleep apnea being fairly serious, although I had none of the normal symptoms, could explain my daytime issues. I'm a personal trainer and extremely active or at least I was. In the last 3 months I've been home from work because I can no longer function. I've been using my CPAP for 3 weeks and I am very compliant. I mean it's not perfect, But I found a mask that seems to work fairly well. I'm not a great sleeper to begin with so it's not like that's been fixed. But when I do sleep I'm getting the oxygen I need. so I expected at this point that my energy would return and I would be able to recondition myself so I could get back to normal. That's not happening at all. So I wanted to see if anybody else had fallen into this category of unusual symptoms for their sleep apnea that affects their day activities to such an extent that they don't have any energy to do anything. I'm open to any and all responses. Thank you!

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mishgoddess wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 28, 2022 7:46 pm

[...]I've been using my CPAP for 3 weeks and I am very compliant. I mean it's not perfect, But I found a mask that seems to work fairly well. I'm not a great sleeper to begin with so it's not like that's been fixed. But when I do sleep I'm getting the oxygen I need. so I expected at this point that my energy would return and I would be able to recondition myself so I could get back to normal.

If you're CPAP is giving you the correct therapy, then, as you said, you should be getting the oxygen you need thanks to your pressurized air stented airway.
However, compliance isn't the only measure. You could be compliat to a CPAP that isn't configured to fit your needs.

Maybe your body need time to heal from the effects of severe, undiagnosed, untreated sleep apnea.

Please read viewtopic/t172378/Sticky--Newbies-PLEAS ... STING.html -- it tells you the information we need to best help you (Julie's questions have the same reason).

Welcome, and good luck on your journey!

Just getting used to the new sensations of the treatment can in itself be detrimental to sleep for a while. Have read several people on here saying they went through a period of even worsening fatigue in the early weeks of treatment. Some have theorized on the whys. One theory is we had become accustomed to having adrenaline shooting through our bodies all night long, and that the body needs to adjust to the letdown of less adrenaline. Another theory is that our body has been through a trauma - untreated OSA is traumatic, and healing takes time and extra rest. Another is that once we know we can relax and let ourselves sleep, we crave more of what we'd been missing. At any rate, therapeutic treatment should put you on the road to recovery over time. I remember feeling in a daze for such a long time, then one sunny morning I woke up, stuck my head out the door into the sunshine and realized I felt awake and ready to rejoin the world. Hopefully you'll see a noticable difference soon.

Yes, there is an adjustment period and a recovery period as previously posted by others.

However, I would call the sleep doctor and see if everything is good with your therapy and also if you have any additional sleep issues that can be addressed.

Your sleep apnea needs to be treated no matter what, and as others have said, it may take a while for effective treatment to make a difference in how you feel. So give it some time, though after another few months you should probably revisit the question whether something else is going on. You mention having had a lot of tests, but sometimes there's value in re-testing or reviewing old results with a different doctor.

If you want to check whether the levels of O2 in your blood are staying mostly in the 90s during the night (and day, for that matter), you can get a recording oximeter.

Finally, it would help people here to help you if you could tell us the machine and mask that you use, along with information you can probably get from your machine, especially your AHI and its breakdown (central, obstructive, hypopnea).