Anxiety, Depression, and stress

Keep at it on all fronts; with your medical professionals (and they should each know ALL medications that you are taking) and with your CPAP/APAP therapy. Your CPAP therapy is going to make you more alert and your mind will be processing 'juices' that were merely faintly in the background before for one thing. In addition your liver, the toxic mixing and filtration system of the body is going to be performing a while lot differently on the medications and toxins in your bloodstream. Medications that had a half life of 24 hours may now have a half life of 12 hours; medications that were not working well at all before may be overpowering medications that have lost some of their pizazz and so on. Drug interactions are going to change dramatically in some cases and it is critical that your doctors, each and every one of them, are aware of this.... some doctors really have no idea of the aftereffects of effective treatment for OSA, improved liver function, improved kidney function, higher blood oxygen saturation levels and lower blood pressures, and so on. You have loads of variables at play here and it is beyond most on the board to render assistance asides from commiserating and sharing the experience. Many of us have been there and have the T shirt. Absolutely. The encouragement? Well, rest assured that keeping at it, not being embarrassed or shy in sharing ALL of the data with your friends and physicians will eventually bring you into a state of equillibrium of sorts. I can tell you that my drug interactions and effectiveness went all over the chart for a few months until I got things under control and it took a load of trips to the doctors to get to this point. AND I am still in trouble here. I am on medications that were prescribed when I was in the hospital on life support in order to keep me alive and nobody wants to take me off them! It's just plain nuts! I'm sure than I am in need of APAP therapy but have brought it to maximum effectiveness by myself - the MD's did not have the time nor inclination. I am now going to argue for another full sleep study now that I am close to 'perfect'. My issue is not so much apnea events as it is hypopnea events resulting from much reduced lung capacity which heighten when I sleep (see my latest report attached below). So, what I say to you is this: Keep with it. Be your own advocate. Seek the best medical attention you can get and ensure they are all on the same page. Never give up. It does get better. I was at a group seminar yesterday and you should have heard the stories that I heard. UNbelievable.

EDIT TO ADD: Oh, one other thing. The efficacy of my OSA treatment is incredibly dependant on the efficacy of my mask! Thus far I have discovered that I cannot use nasal pillows as they smoosh into the pillows on the bed and become pressure washers albeit with air; my Mirage Activa is my favourite nosemask thus far along with the Softgel... both have forehead braces that keep pressure off my nose and prevent discomfort and blisters BUT as you can see they leak. The one mask that I have been very lucky with is the Mirage Quattro FULL face mask. You will see my leak rate on other posts but it is virtually zero and it is very stable on my fact (also with a forehead brace minutely adjustable). I could swear that using different masks with the resultant changes in efficacy of my OSA treatment changes my mood during the day and changes my drug efficacies and interactions. For waht it is worth. Make sure you play with your masks and perssures until you are happy with the results - and nothing less! Mask s in Canada are a rip off at $350 where I pay $50 for the same mask stateside. So there is no reason to NOT play with masks and mask sizes until you find the one that is just right for you... and it has to be the right fit over several nights and not just in the DME's office. Your face will change shape day to day (i.e. depending on salt intake, etc.). And where a large works in one model a medium will be perfect in another. And take the time that you need to adjust the straps, how the mask sits and the forehead brace so that they are just right... laying DOWN! Roll around, smoosh your face into the pillow, make sure you don't lost that seal. It is all important, especially when your APAP decideds to increase the pressure. I am about to start playing with the PAPCAP and a couple of other 'keep your mouth closed' inventions I have seen on here. My fav's are the one made of men's underwear elastic (although I truthfully prefer putting women's underwear over my head if I have to choose" and the one made from a 3 or 4" torsion bandage that simply goes around your mouth/head. As soon as I figure out the PAPCAP +4 I will be using that as well. Why? All in the quest for the most comfortable and best fitting mask results. Stability in the efficacy of your OSA treatment and resultant numbers will stabilize your drug perfomances and your drug interactions. I sat in on a seminar yesterday in which one fellow was on no less than 14 different medications for a variety of ailments and discovered yesterday, after our little talk, that he also suffers from OSA which explains a whole lot of what is going on in his life. The seminar facilitators were the director of the rehab center and a nurse/dietician. What we learned in two hours was mind boggling. A fellow on 14 drugs can have the whole thing thrown out of whack by OSA or even taking some Ibuprofin. Your liver can be overwhelmed. Keep at it. It does get better. I am more alert and more emotionally stable today that ever before. I am happier, sleep better and don't have a lack of energy for the most part. But give me a couple of poor nights and it is like falling off a cliff. Splat. Back to step one. Change masks, three good nights and I can notice a huge change for the better. Keep at it.