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Iorek wrote:...I'm a little astonished at how hard my body is taking this right now. I had no idea I'd have a rough time adjusting to proper sleep again.

Iorek

Well, if you were simply sleeping I doubt you or any of us would be having trouble adjusting. We would just sleep. The adjustment is to all the new stuff, wearing a mask that is pressurizing your airway, the machine, mask leaks, all the new sounds, getting all the adjustments fine tuned, etc. etc.

ron

Iorek wrote:its been 4 nights now. Yesterday was one of the worst on record for me health wise. I feel a little encouraged to see some new comments about the first week being the worst.

I used to grind my teath. That finally went away. I have found that if I wake up in the middle of the night, it is better if I hit the RAMP button before trying to sleep.

Iorek, trust me, I am so far from an expert here, but this is not an instant gratification type of thing for a lot of us, myself included, and I am being told it takes time for some of us who have been sleep-deprived for our bodies to become accustomed to good sleep again. I guess it's kind of like exercising. When we haven't done it in a long time, even though it is a good thing for our muscles, they ache and we feel like we've been run over by a truck for a week or two at first. Then all of a sudden, we look and feel better. Same situation I guess with this sleep thing here. We will feel funny and out of sorts until our bodies readjust to sleeping well again. Hard to believe, though, no? Hang in there, please. I am. We have no choice if we want to be healthy again. One good news I have is, my BP is already down to healthy in just one week. Hard to imagine, but true. So I know something is working already. Best of luck, really. Hang in there!!!! It will work, I truly believe.

Iorek,I felt like that when I first started using the C-PAP machine. For years was running around with all kinds of energy even though I was only sleeping about 2 hours a night. After a few monthe on the machine I started getting 4 hours most nights, but still waking up during those 4 hours and I was feeling more tired all the time with little energy to do anything. Now, after a year I often sleep 5 straight hours without waking up. Some days i get up feeling refreshed and other days I feel tired after being up just a few hours. I think it must be that on the days I feel more rested I might be sleeping sounder-- so more rested. Just starting to have dreams again, so that might be from deeper sleeping. Guess we have different phases that we go thru while sleeping. I read that someplace. Think it said the more relaxed we are,the sounder we sleep and the more rested we feel the next day.
Maybe some other member will explain these phases better. Also think we get better rest when we go to bed with less worry on our mind.
Hang in there, it does improve in time. As they say, Rhome wasn`t built in a day and neither was our bad sleeping problems. So, takes some longer for the body to get accustomes to the new routine.
Best wishes.

Hi iorek..

I wonder if the sensitivity/ irritability we experience in the beginning isn't because we are actually getting LESS sleep while we get accustomed to the machines and masks? Because I know that I was waking up more often than before I got sick and started using this stuff (even though my sleep was not good by any means even back in January). Or maybe I should say that I was waking enough to remember it more often, even though I was having less sleep disturbances... does that make sense?

- JB

Hello tired people,

I really think one of the problems is that our expectations are too high. Sort of like a kid with a new toy. All our problems will be solved kind of thing.

If you check out the thread on what other ailments Apneacs have it's a wonder were alive and breathing at all.

See if any of this applies to you:

- I'm overweight by about 75 pounds. This will cause any normal person to be a little tired.

- I take a lot of medication some of which says may cause drowsiness. Well guess what - drowsiness is linked to feeling tired in my book.

- I work for a living. Doesn't matter what you do you'll get tired.

- Have not been under 30 for many years. The fountain of youth does not exist especially at the end of a hose blowing hot air up your nose.

- Have at least one other major health problem besides Apnea. This also takes the spring out of my step and the vault out of bed in the morning.

- Watching all the damn reruns on TV makes me tired.

- The general pace of life and the continual change brought on by our modern society takes it's toll. Everybody gets tired once in a while.

I kind of view xPAP treatment as being similar to my high blood pressure treatment. Don't really notice it on a day to day basis but they are both silent killers. The fact is though, I do feel more alert after 5 months on xPAP and do have a little more energy in the afternoon and especially in the evening. I really believe if I could lose those 75 pounds my health would be a lot better. No willpower.

Don't expect miracles, any improvement is a bonus. The xPAP is protecting your life and helping to prevent further health deterioration.

Wishing you all well.

Bob F

Thanks Uncle Bob...

Some very nice thoughts to tske to bed with me!

- JB

HI
I feel a little better, some more energy, but no ""REFRESHED and raring to go as some people are. Living in this area, near you, heat and humidity alone add to fatigue. But over time I have found (4 mos. on apap) that I have more stamina, not 100%, but then how many years did I suffer from OSA, probably a decade or more.

so be patient, I too, read many quotes about people slapping on the mask, not needing apap, sleep med's, whatever, and getting up the next day feeling 10000%. I would love to be one of those people, but am not. SO keep plugging along, hang in there, and know that you are not alone in a slower improvement.

I look at the cpap this way, I'm beating them out of ''another day'' as I'm taking better care of myself. I take it day (or night..I should say) at a time.

quote="Sleepless on LI"]O,
You know, I think more than anything, when I started CPAP therapy, I expected that when I slept finally, I would wake with this new found exhilaration and energy that I hadn't felt in years. And I even read about some people who claimed to have experienced just that. So when I actually had four and a half hours straight sleep with the mask, I was a bit disappointed to awaken with such exhaustion, more so than without the mask and machine. Less fatigue? Hmm, I'd have to really think about that. I don't know if I'd agree on that. I was exhausted this morning. All I can say is, I won't give up. I didn't expect to sleep this much the second night of therapy, so I won't expect to have results this fast, either. Hey, anything worth having is worth fighting for, and I've got my gloves on.

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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): CPAP[/quote]

You know, you may consider me unrealistic or a fool, but I'm 48. I do not have any other ailments, other than the OSA, but borderline high BP, which after a week on the CPAP is now down to 122/85 without meds. I do have about 15 lbs. to lose to be where I should be weight-wise, and shouldn't use the fact that I've had three kids as an excuse (but I do). I do work full-time and used to teach as an exercise instructor in my earlier days. I have had many illnesses and operations, but have beaten whatever has ailed me, including a lifelong heart condition that was finally rectified in November of 2001, I'm thrilled to be able to report. I have to say, I do not want to use any of this as an excuse and accept tiredness as something that I should be feeling at this point in my life. I, on the other hand, am going to go down swinging. I want to get this OSA beat, lose those 15 or so pounds and get my butt back into shape and feel like I did when I used to teach the women in my exercise classes how to get back into shape all those years ago. I do not want to give up and call it a night just because I may be middle-aged. You know what they say nowadays about if you're 60, it's now like being 40? Well, I want to believe that and give it my best shot. So, Uncle Bob, join me, if you will, in changing your way of thinking and shutting off the TV, getting off the couch, and perhaps starting to walk instead of watching those old reruns and maybe then you'll start to feel a bit more energetic and shed some of those 75 lbs. you say shouldn't be there. And I'm not saying this with a mean spirit. I say it with love in the hopes you can get back into shape and feel great. You sound like a kind and gentle soul and we need more of that type around on this planet for as long as we can keep 'em. Just food for thought.

I guess I didn't have great expectations of feeling 100% the very first morning (I felt lousy after the titration night), and I knew from the month I had to do research on the internet that I wasn't going to get any fast results and I knew what the consequences were if I didn't comply. I also knew I didn't want to feel the way I was anymore, and I didn't want to risk my life and others by driving drowsy.

For years I had complained to my doctor about constant fatigue and we had done bloodtests out the kazoo with no results to cause what I was feeling. I was still having hot flashes 15 years post hysterectomy because they took me off hormones and they kept trying out other meds to get rid of the hotflashes, none of which seemed to work more than a little while. CPAP got rid of those, and it got rid of a majority of the fatigue in 6 months.

But all I really wanted when I started was 1. TO LIVE A LONG TIME 2. TO GET A GOOD NIGHT"S SLEEP without having to stay up until I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore and then only sleeping a few hours until it was time to get up again.

I decided I was going to do this, no matter how stupid I looked in my mask, and I walked around the house and sat at the computer wearing it the first day. I took a nap with it on and had the machine running. And then I slept with it. I don't remember how many hours the first night, I just remember fiddling with the headgear all night long, but I know I did sleep but it still took time to even feel marginally better. But I never missed a single night or naptime without my machine since the first day. Not through colds, allergies, travel or road trips. And now I feel weird laying down without it on.

unclebob
you have a great way of putting things into perspective!
O.

Know what?

Unless I go back and read my daily reporting of what those first two weeks were like, I just don't remember.

What I DO remember is the occasional day when I would wake up filled with energy to actually DO stuff. Oh, sure, I poop out by 10 AM, but between 5 AM and then I would get a lot done. Because of Post-polio, I still need to be careful to pace myself, but today is one of those days and I'm about to get two loads of laundry done (it's been a couple of weeks ), do some book work, and go see one of my Dr.s (well, maybe three of them?)

And I LOVE taking naps with the BiPAP! When I can arrange the time I try to take one in the AM and one in the PM. I have found that even if I can't get in a nap until 7 PM, I still sleep through the night - as much as I ever "sleep through the night" (11 PM to 5 or 6 AM, with a break around 2 or 3 AM that I now use to switch masks if I feel like doing that.)

Yes. It does get better, but gradually, sometimes scarcely noticiably... but better.

- JB

UncleBob, you crack me up. I have this visual of you being just a big ol teddy bear. In my community that makes you a very desirable find.

Today could not be any more different than the preceding ones. (That’s a strange way to put it but that’s the way I talk). I woke up at 6:30am. I don't think I’ve seen this side of day in 20 years. I felt wonderful. I went to the post office and chatted with a friend. Came home and caught up on my email and my own forum I host, but have ignored. By 11am I was pooped, but what a difference. I've not felt like doing anything in so long I'd forgotten that there ever was a time I actually wanted to do something instead of having to be forced. My ears are really ringing now and I'm having a lot of brain storms this afternoon (now 1:30pm) but this morning gave me so much hope. Light at long last.

I'm still extremely irritable. Maybe it’s the weather and being cooped up in this cabin for 9 months with a partner who demands my attention only when I want to read or try to do email. It’s a miracle he hasn't thrown me in the river tied to a rock by now. I would have.

I re-read back over all of your comments and posts, all the supportive things you've said and recognize myself in each and every one of them. I still find myself puzzling over the reluctance to be compliant though. I didn't have a bit of trouble wearing my mask and rarely use the ramp. I can't imagine sleeping without it even though its only day 5 or 6. I love waking up and not being all congested and stopped up. That alone is worth it. Then again, compared to the pill regimen I was on for 3 years this is nothing. I had to take my pills 4 hours apart on an empty stomach. It added up to 22 pills a day and eating on a very strict schedule. This is nothing.

I love this quote. Think I’ll jot it down somewhere.

Have not been under 30 for many years. The fountain of youth does not exist especially at the end of a hose blowing hot air up your nose.

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