Is this really how sleep feels?

A little commentary from some long term users please:

Ok some history 1st, 47 yr old male. Low to moderate excersise. Maybe 10lbs over weight at most.

I've never been a big snoreer really only when I drank. That changed over the last 5 years or to every night. On top of that my poor wife started telling she was sure I would stop breathing at night! Well I started reading and learning. To make a long story short I came upon a remstar pro unit this weekend ( I know I should have seen a doc so please no preaching... More on that in later post).

For the last 3-4 years I have been dead a** tired. Developed dark circles under my eyes and nap like crazy every weekend but even post nap never feel rested. Now I have a very high stress job ( of course I blamed this for the being tired) work in every time zone all across the world ( yep used this to explain things as well) and have a wonderful 19yr old daughter that majors in partying, drama and driving daddy crazy ( yep reason # 3).

Well night one on cpap- was up 3-4 times adjusting the mask stuff like but did sleep. So Sunday morning although tired I was pretty sure I felt...different if not rested.

Night 2- I made sure I has the mask thing worked before sleep. Woke up once maybe twice to itch under mask. But here is the point. There is no doubt I feel rested. No problems getting used to the mask or anything! I can't wait to see how I feel mid day. Now I do understand that I have a sleep debt that must be paid but is it possible that in 2 night a new user can feel a difference?

I can hardly wait to see how I feel in a few weeks! Should have done this years ago.

Ps to all. Reading your forums is so helpful thank you all for caring for each other the way you do.

Yep, it's possible to feel better after just 2 nights. Now you need to get to a doctor and share this info. You'll need a prescription to purchase a new mask and other supplies, and the doctor is going to send you for a sleep study. I'm not preaching here, just telling the truth. You're fortunate to have stumbled on a solution to your problem. Please keep reading on this forum because there's lots to learn--especially since you've already "diagnosed" yourself and written your own "prescription;" doctors hate that!

I may be in the minority but the first night I tried CPAP during my sleep study, I felt a world of difference in how I felt the next day. Normally I would be extremely sluggish and had this lingering fog of a headache that took hours to get rid of in the morning. The sleep technician woke me up at 6:30am which would normally ellicit a violent reaction from me for being roused that early, but I felt a strange calm that morning. I was sleepy but did not have a headache, no morning congestion (from having my mouth/throat dry out) and after taking a shower I felt clear headed. I didn't feel rested as I do now (6 months after start of CPAP treatment) but I did feel a marked difference that gave me a feeling of hope and had me looking forward to becoming a "hose head". I cannot begin to tell you how much of an impact CPAP therapy has been for me for the last 6 months. I am a completely different person now, I used to hate getting up in the morning and "morning people" but now I can feel what all these "morning people" were talking about all those years....

I urge you to speak to a doctor and get a proper sleep study done... You may develop complications with using a machine that is not tailored to your needs. Just because this machine you have now works, it might not be the best configuration for you. In any case, good luck.

Hello


No preaching here just wondering at what number's/ pressure did you set your machine? and yes see a doc as other member's suggest there might be other issues other than Sleep Apnea that need to be check also... no preaching just a suggestion





Good Luck Phil

ZQuest wrote:Hello


No preaching here just wondering at what number's/ pressure did you set your machine? and yes see a doc as other member's suggest there might be other issues other than Sleep Apnea that need to be check also... no preaching just a suggestion







Good Luck Phil

I second this recommendation.....good luck.

Reallyneedsleep wrote:To make a long story short I came upon a remstar pro unit this weekend ( I know I should have seen a doc so please no preaching... More on that in later post).

Hi,

I am not going to preach. I am going to tell you to STOP. Using a CPAP machine at the wrong pressure can induce something called a "central event", and that can damage your health or even kill you. If you had an auto titrating machine, it might be possible to get into the ballpark by yourself, but you don't have the monitors needed to know if you are causing more problems than you solve. You also don't know for sure what the medical issue is, or know if CPAP will solve it, or if the treatment is fully effective. This is like playing with a loaded gun--done wrong, you can cause great harm, shorten your life, or even kill yourself.

-john-

jweeks wrote:I am not going to preach. I am going to tell you to STOP. Using a CPAP machine at the wrong pressure can induce something called a "central event", and that can damage your health or even kill you. If you had an auto titrating machine, it might be possible to get into the ballpark by yourself, but you don't have the monitors needed to know if you are causing more problems than you solve. You also don't know for sure what the medical issue is, or know if CPAP will solve it, or if the treatment is fully effective. This is like playing with a loaded gun--done wrong, you can cause great harm, shorten your life, or even kill yourself.

Seems to me that his bigger risk is in stopping. He may have been oxygen deprived for years. Inducing centrals that become a problem that could kill you is not exactly common.


Common sense says that he might reasonably titrate himself just by selecting the lowest number that relieves his symptoms. The fact that he feels great suggests to me that even if he is inducing central events, the net effect is positive.

Everyone has a few central events. Is it possible you are over-reacting?


Reallyneedsleep, I applaud your self-sufficiency. I will say that dealing with OSA is easier if you have a helpful doctor, but I think you've done yourself a world of good, even without a doctor. Think about seeing a doctor. Ask for an in-home titration study. Lab studies are really expensive and, unless you have some bizarre sleep disorder, not really better than in-home studies. In some ways, studies in the lab are worse because most people won't sleep as well in the lab as they do at home.

Why don't you register and stick around?

Thanks for the input LoQ, i took your advice and registered.
To all those that "did not preach" thanks for the preaching, i understand that all you say has value and based on all i have seen on this site all you do...is really care, how refreshing!

So speaking of refreshing...night 3. I really must say I am completely shocked at the last 3 days. Went to bed late (for me anyway) at 10pm, watched a great Baseball game Rays vs. Rangers...man what a game. So in my old world i would have fallen asleep on the couch at say 9, wake up at 10 then in to bed. But last night I was able to watch the whole game which never happens...hum, sounds like a Q o L (quality of Life) improvement to me. Yesterday afternoon no mid day coffee to get me through the day, most often 1-3 cups between 1-3pm just to keep my eyes open. I am rambling a bit, sorry rest is new to me.

So last night was night 3, got a pretty full night sleep, woke up at 3:30 because of some light getting into the room, dozed until 4 then up and at it. Now I was really hoping to sleep until 5:30 or 6 because any earlier means a very painful day. But to my surprise, again I feel rested, really rested and to my complete astonishment I look in the mirror and the black circles that have been under my eyes for over 2 years now are many shades lighter! I really can't describe the difference in only 3 days I can only imagine what a month or 2 will feel like. So far this has been really easy, i pretty much worked out the bugs after night 1 and have no problem with the mask or the feeling of breathing with the machine. The 1st 2 nights I used cpap my AHI was 4.5(pressure at 8.5 20 min ramp staring at 4), last night it was .9. So it seems that even if I get 5 hrs of sleep on the cpap it far far exceeds the rest of say 8-10 without, sound about right? And man does it feel great not to wake up with a pounding headache! Here is my setup:

Thanks to all who answered me (and preached )

RemStar Pro w humidifier
Pressure=9.5 (now) used 8.5 the 1st 2 nights
Full Res Med Mask

Good progress! My 2 cents: make ONE change and stick to it for ONE week before making another change. That gives your body time to get used to the change, and as the saying goes, one night does not a trend make. You need to see a few night's worth of data to make a conclusion about a particular change, especially pressure.

Don't worry, you are not the first here to self diagnose and titrate, just watch out for centrals (which usually appear at pressures above 10cm), and mouth breathing/leaks, and of course mask leaks. The software will be invaluable for tracking all of these.

Practice with your setup during the day to get used to it. Ideally you want to wear it the whole night, but for starters half the night ain't too bad!

best of luck, and i hope you stick around here!

ps A sleep study is still a good idea

reallyneedsleep wrote:Thanks for the input LoQ, i took your advice and registered.
So last night was night 3, ...I really can't describe the difference in only 3 days I can only imagine what a month or 2 will feel like. So far this has been really easy,

Just remember that there will come a point where you will actually start feeling worse than when you first started, good thing it only lasts a few weeks. Its your body adjusting to the new routine and nothing to worry about, but it can get discouraging for those who are unaware. The fix is just to keep doing what your doing and use the cpap.

I found this quite often occurs in around the 4-6 week mark although it does differ from person to person.

cobra4x4 wrote:Just remember that there will come a point where you will actually start feeling worse than when you first started

What a ray of sunshine you are!

cobra4x4 wrote:
Just remember that there will come a point where you will actually start feeling worse than when you first started, good thing it only lasts a few weeks. Its your body adjusting to the new routine and nothing to worry about, but it can get discouraging for those who are unaware.

Nope - not everyone - never felt worse, plateaued a bit but never felt worse then before I started (except the night I stayed up reading until 3am and had to get up at 6:30am)

I also have never felt worse, for reasons having to do with the cpap, anyway. The only times I haven't felt better upon awakening are when the bones and joints are bothering me. This is better than pre-cpap, but still crops up occasionally.

Still recommend getting a sleep study, reallyneedsleep. Eventually you'll need a new mask, which requires a prescription, which requires...yep, a sleep study. Probably.

Reallyneedsleep: I'm impressed you read up and found treatment on your own, and pleased it has worked out so well.
Hardly anybody cares that you didn't see a doctor first. It is not rocket science. (Well, not usually. You can make it complicated if you like.)
In a couple of months your life will be easier if you have a prescription for your equipment, so you can get replacements as masks wear out and filters clog. For this a doctor is valuable.

So far so good, and since you're really just guessing, you're at a pressure that is fairly common around here. If you feel it's uncomfortable to breathe with ramp at 4 you could raise it a bit with no problem. It's good you found a comfortable mask right off the bat, (not common). I believe Slinky uses your mask? Do you have any leak data? It's important to know that as leaks can affect your AHI and how well you sleep..... I hope you'll be thinking about a sleep study which gives details about your oxygen levels(desaturations), sleep stages, arousals, cardiac function, brain activity, limb movements,etc. It's a good thing! Good luck and keep us posted.