IM USING MY CPAP, BUT STILL HAVE SYMPTOMS. PLS ADVISE

Hello all,

ive been on my cpap for about 1 month now. The first 3 days i felt great but after that i began feeling symptoms again. I still weak up with a headache and feeling tired, i feel dizzy and blured for the first 30-45 minutes after I wake up. I notice that my mouth is still dry and my teeth hurt in the morning, when i open my mouth i can hear my jaw opening and closing. I went to my doctor but she just explain to me about using the mask so it wont leak and using my chin guard. Well i do all the above, my mask doesnt leak and i do use my chin strap. What am i doing wrong? My preassure is set at 12 and and my doc says thats the right seeting. Does any one have or has had this same problem? pls advise me. im using the zzz-pap machine with the activa face mask.

zalez27 wrote:Hello all,

ive been on my cpap for about 1 month now. The first 3 days i felt great but after that i began feeling symptoms again. I still weak up with a headache and feeling tired, i feel dizzy and blured for the first 30-45 minutes after I wake up. I notice that my mouth is still dry and my teeth hurt in the morning, when i open my mouth i can hear my jaw opening and closing. I went to my doctor but she just explain to me about using the mask so it wont leak and using my chin guard. Well i do all the above, my mask doesnt leak and i do use my chin strap. What am i doing wrong? My preassure is set at 12 and and my doc says thats the right seeting. Does any one have or has had this same problem? pls advise me. im using the zzz-pap machine with the activa face mask.

You may THINK you're not leaking out your mouth, but the information in your post indicates otherwise. Chinstraps, for the most part don't work or are iffy at best.

Den

IF MY CHIN STRAP IS NOT WORKING WHAT ELSE CAN I DO FOR IT. ALSO IS THERE A POSOBILITY THAT MY PREASSURE MIGHT BE BE TO LOW?

How do you know what happens when you sleep, your machine doesn't record anything. Chin straps tend to do more damage than good, a good fitting FF mask is needed, and a machine that records data with software to see what takes place would be nice. Sounds like the pressure is going out your mouth. Jim

i HAD TO PAY OUT OF POCKET FRO MY MACHINE AND THAT WAS THE CHEAPEST I COULD AFFORD. mY DOC TESTED THE MACHINE TO SEE IF IT WAS PUSHING OUT APPROPRIATE PREASSURE AND IT WAS. dOES THIS TAPING OF THE MOUTH REALLY WORK? ALSO I ASKED MY DOC ABOUT A FF MASK AND SHE SAID THEY LEAK TO MUCH IS THERE A FULL FACE MASK THAT YALL WOULD RECOMEND.

ZALEZ27 wrote:IF MY CHIN STRAP IS NOT WORKING WHAT ELSE CAN I DO FOR IT. ALSO IS THERE A POSOBILITY THAT MY PREASSURE MIGHT BE BE TO LOW?

There are a couple of things you could do. Try taping (blue 2" painter's tape), Polident adhesive denture stirps (placed between the lips to seal) or go to a full face mask.

Your machine is not data-capable so there's no way of knowing what's going on during the night.....but it IS possible that your pressure isn't right. HOWEVER......until you eliminate the possibility that you're mouth-leaking, there's no reason to adjust your pressure. If you ARE mouth-leaking and you raise your pressure without eliminating the mouth-leaking......it's just going to mean more air going out your mouth.

You can either do a search on "taping" or wait for some of those who do to come along and give you some pointers.

Den

i WILL GO TOMMOROW TO CPAP.COM HERE IN HOUSTON AND TRY A FULL FACE MASK. IS THERE ONE THAT YOU HAVE HEARD THAT WORKS REALLY WELL?

ZALEZ27 wrote:i HAD TO PAY OUT OF POCKET FRO MY MACHINE AND THAT WAS THE CHEAPEST I COULD AFFORD. mY DOC TESTED THE MACHINE TO SEE IF IT WAS PUSHING OUT APPROPRIATE PREASSURE AND IT WAS. dOES THIS TAPING OF THE MOUTH REALLY WORK? ALSO I ASKED MY DOC ABOUT A FF MASK AND SHE SAID THEY LEAK TO MUCH IS THERE A FULL FACE MASK THAT YALL WOULD RECOMEND.

Yes, the taping works for many of the forum members. I've never had to do it because I started off with a full face mask.

I don't know why your doctor would say that. However, it's like everything else.....everything does not necessarily work for everybody.

Personally, I use the ResMed Ultra Mirage Full Face mask (UMFF) or the ResMed Quattro. I've tried a couple of others that did NOT work for me.

You can still make this work without data, but, as you're finding out, you'll have to go by "how you feel".

Den

ZALEZ27 wrote:i WILL GO TOMMOROW TO CPAP.COM HERE IN HOUSTON AND TRY A FULL FACE MASK. IS THERE ONE THAT YOU HAVE HEARD THAT WORKS REALLY WELL?

Excellent idea!

Den

HEY DEN,

THANK YOU FOR THE INFORMATION I WILL TRY THE TAPING TECNIQUE TONIGHT AND IF I FEEL THAT IT HELPS EVEN A LITTLE I WILL DEFENETLY TRY THE FF MASK . ALSO HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE FOR SOMEONE TO REALLY RECUPERATE FROM MONTH OR YEARS OF OSA. LE ME REPHRASE HOW LONG TILL I FEEL IMPROVEMETS AFTER STARTING CPAP TREATMENT.

some ppl feel better the next day and some time months

no one can answer how long it will take for you

Like Jules said.....it's different for each of us. A very few experience almost immediate results......some of us took somewhat longer. I would expect it to be a few months. I noticed almost right away that I wasn't having the "micro-sleeps" at my computer, but the rest of it was in gradual stages over more months.

Den

I felt better the morning after the first night I managed to keep the mask on for four hours - but it took a few days to get to that point. I recently slept a full eight hours with the mask on, which was great, but still consider the most dramatic improvement to have been that first four-hour night. It was probably the most "proper" sleep I'd gotten in months.

I'm something like five weeks into this now, and feel I am still recovering from exhaustion. It's rather hard to really measure, I suppose. But I've mostly quit yawning, my physical stamina and strength are improving, and my ability to focus mentally is quite a bit better.

Cpaptalk.com has been supremely helpful, to say the least. There's a lot of knowledge here, and all seem willing to share their experience.

jda1000 wrote: I felt better the morning after the first night I managed to keep the mask on for four hours - but it took a few days to get to that point. I recently slept a full eight hours with the mask on, which was great, but still consider the most dramatic improvement to have been that first four-hour night. It was probably the most "proper" sleep I'd gotten in months.

I concur with this. The first few nights I only manged 4-5 hours, but felt more rested waking up at 4:00 am, than I did at 7:00 am without CPAP. I experienced the most benefit early on and its been diminishing returns since then. However, when I couldn't use the CPAP last night because of a cold, I woke up feeling like I had the crap bet out of me.

jda1000 wrote: I'm something like five weeks into this now, and feel I am still recovering from exhaustion. It's rather hard to really measure, I suppose. But I've mostly quit yawning, my physical stamina and strength are improving, and my ability to focus mentally is quite a bit better.

Although I have moderate to severe OSA, my symptons were mainly afternoon sleepiness and from what I now know, waking up feeling "beaten". I would not have ever suspected I had OSA if I hadn't woken up gasping for air a few times. I haven't suferred the extensive fatigue and lack of energy that others have expressed. I am not overweight, so perhaps that is why. I suspect that being overweight and having OSA would have an amplified negative effect on the symptoms.

A long time ago, a very experienced CPAP user nicknamed Perry posted this. I think of it as Perry's "Mental Zest" message:

Which brings up the question of "What is feeling good?" Here are how I define the recovery and treatment process as I experienced it.

"Walking Dead" is where most of us start at. That is how a person with severe OSA problems feels before PAP. You seem to sleep very well - but am always tired, cannot think hardly at all, and can barely function well enough to eat, bathe, do a basic job (with not a good performance), and usually come home to die in front of the TV and sleep (you can sleep at the drop of a hat). Life is no fun at all, and you can be extremely frustrated because you know that something is wrong and you used to be able to do better. Your personal relationships sink to all time lows. You are probably so far out of it that your "other" in life may seek others for intellectual level or intimate companionship so that they can have a life at all (The best time to tell your “other” that you love them or care for them is before someone else tells them – I suggest that you do so daily – starting right now: even if you are not in the “walking dead” zone).

"Basic Treatment" is the next step. In my case this happened first on CPAP, then on AutoCPAP that was set-up totally wrong for me. All the sudden you feel much better. You start to notice that there is more to life than you have been experiencing lately. You now find the energy to do things in the morning you really should have been doing all along like flossing teeth, or some house cleaning. But you still cannot think clearly like you used to, while your job and personal relationships improve a little, you still come home from work exhausted, and retire to the TV or recreational reading because you don't have the mental energy to do anything else.

It is amazing how well you feel compared to before - but you still don't have the energy that you remember (or that you see other people with). Naps are still needed if you are to function at all throughout the day. Often it takes a couple of months – but there comes a point where you know that you are not where you should be.

I will note that most sleep Dr’s are satisfied once a person progresses from Walking Dead to Basic Treatment. They consider you a success, and are not likely to provide much support past this point. My personal experience is that I was better off dealing with a family Dr to move beyond this point as I was dealing with other health issues.

"Advanced Treatment" may follow. Here your feel so tremendously great compared to before. Life starts to be good again; you can see that there is a future (especially in the morning when you get up). Your sleep seems to be under control, you have the opportunity to do things in your job and personal life that you could not even imagine before. Mentally you can start to think of several different things early in a day. But you still feel run down in the afternoon (this must be normal you figure) and look forward to bed each night.

"Mental Zest" is where you want to be, what happens when treatment is really working well for you. All the sudden your mind and life is free again. You typically wake up feeling great, can do multi-tasking of different mental task (which really helps your job and personal life), and have energy all day. Can stay up much of a night if needed - with energy and mental involvement - without major effects on the next day. You can see how to make life great once you solve those problems that accumulated when you weren’t feeling so well (and some of those problems can be major issues to solve). You finally realize that this is what normal life should be. You may recognize at this stage that this is how you felt when you were a teenager. As long as you have a positive attitude about yourself and life - you are ready again to take on the word…

It took me years to get to the Mental Zest stage. I would like to claim that I can stay there. Pollen season knocks me back to the Advanced Treatment, and excessive work hours can easily knock me back to the Basic Treatment Stage (simple exhaustion). Proper diet, nutrition, and exercise are also required to keep you at the Mental Zest stage.

May each of you have a safe and quick journey to “Mental Zest.”

Perry