Anxiety during the day after using CPAP

I agree that it is a question for the doc and that staying the course with PAP is important through all else.

But one thing to remember is that if your OSA is/was severe, part of the way your body has been dealing with it has been to jar you awake with the release of chemicals to get you breathing again when you stop. If you are now breathing all night without the body's having to jar you awake that way, your body may be producing more chemicals of that sort than it needs, and it may take it a while to decrease production of those chemicals. (That is an oversimpification, but one that is in the ballpark, I believe.) In the meantime, you can, naturally, have some anxiety/panic issues during the day for a little bit as the body looks for excuses to release the chemicals it has made but isn't using at night any longer. If so, that may actually, possibly, be a good sign showing that CPAP is doing a good job.

IF that is the case for you, the answer would not be to stop PAP therapy, of course--it would be to continue to breathe all night every night and to let the body adjust to its now doing that without using panic-juice all night for the first time in years.

It can be a roller-coaster ride for some of us. I was one of them. I identify with what you are saying. I experienced something very similar. I just strapped myself in for the ride and rode it out. But if it had become debilitating or if I had also been undergoing another therapy, a drug/hormone therapy, one that can also have an effect on mood, I would have been very vocal with my doc about that, just to be sure.

The points made by others that sleeping all night can mean a need to retitrate other meds is an important one, in my opinion. All those hormone chemicals interact in mysterious ways once sleep troubles are corrected, especially in cases in which the sleep problems were very severe.

I have no medical training whatsoever, though. I'm only providing food for thought based on my pesonal experience, which may trigger some thoughts about things you may decide to discuss with your doc.

Well, just went to the pharmacy to see what my blood pressure was and it's way over where I'm normally at. Last time I had it taken was right before Thanksgiving at my physical and it was 130/82. Since then I've been exercising more and really watching what I eat. Haven't had alcohol either in ten days. Today it's at 159/94 and my pulse rate is 109 (at my physical it was 66). I'm pretty freaked out and will be calling my Dr tomorrow morning. I should still do CPAP right?

I cannot think of any scenario where stopping the CPAP would be better than staying with it--judging on what you've said so far.
So stay with it. Pay close attention to how you feel.
Any chest, arm, or jaw pain, especially when accompanied with a nauseous or 'sick' feeling, should get you to an emergency room.
Not saying that's even likely, but just pay attention.
Good luck and God bless.

josh73 wrote:I'm pretty freaked out and will be calling my Dr tomorrow morning. I should still do CPAP right?

Ask the doctor, but yes, do CPAP until told otherwise.

Not doing CPAP is likely to increase your blood pressure.

Get a home blood pressure kit. Sometimes, the readings away from home may be screwy.

I figured doing cpap could only help. A home blood pressure kit is a good idea. Thanks for the support!

Josh, I can remember when I first started cpap. During the day I felt like I had a lot of "nervous energy". I mean I couldn't be still. I am guessing it was my body reacting to the extra life giving oxygen my body was getting during the night.

I know the thought of sleeping with a capap machine for the rest of your life can be unsettling. It's a big change and if you are like most people you don't like change. I know I didn't but with time this change has made a big difference in the way I feel mentally and physically.

I agree with the others who have said that you need to see your Doctor to make sure if you need to make changes with your meds.

Good Luck!

Thanks Kempo. I get what you're saying about nervous energy. The high BP, trouble swallowing, anxiety, and crying for no reason is driving me crazy. Im at the point right now if I'm on my feet for more than a few minutes, I feel like I'm going to faint and/get anxiety. Unreal

Thanks for all the comments everyone. Didnt take my thyroid meds today and went into the doctors and he scaled back my dosage from 75 to a micro dosage of 25. Starting that on Wednesday, hoping that will help. Having some anxiety today but not nearly as bad as this weekend.

Oh and last night seemed to be my best night on the CPAP. And I've lost 18 lbs since Thanksgiving. Hopefully by doing CPAP I am able to lose even more

My Doctor started me out at .25 thyroid medicine for 30 days, did the blood work to see where we were, then put me on .5 for 30 days did the blood and then put me on .75 for 30 days which is where I stayed after the blood work cause it was on the money. Sometimes you need to start small and work your way up to the right dosage.

Squid, that seems to be what they're going to do for me. 75 out the gate was just too much for me to handle.

Don't know if this will help, but here is some info about the med you are on. I've been on it for over 30 years. I noticed that things didn't seen right for me. I switched back to synthroid, which is the original med. and doing much better. I had the same simptoms when I first started up with your meds. it seems that they had me on too high of a dose at that time. In fact, it was so bad that I was at work and picked up the phone and ripped it off my desk and threw it across the room. cried a lot and all. once the dosage went down so did the sypmptoms. I hope it's just the dose. check with your drl

Lostmary,
I'm starting the lower dosage tomorrow morning. I'm really hoping that will do the trick. I'm still feeling flushed and a little anxious and i haven't(under Dr's orders) taken any levothyroxine yesterday and today. What sucks is i can't tell if i feel any better from the CPAP during the day b/c i'm still dealing with side affects from the levo. Last night i did sleep for 5 straight hours which to me was a big accomplishment on my 4th night!

John

you mentioned the hours of sleep you are getting with CPAP but do you know what your AHI score and leak rates are?
there is no doubt that meds mess with the quality of sleep as do many other things. But it might not hurt to start with the basics of CPAP therapy?

Whenever i have a bad night sleep I always feel some level of anxiety, expcially if stressed out due to work etc.
Now i have my theraphy under control i used a very small dose of xanax if needed, often a 0.25mg tablet gets split into halfs or quaters.
If i have any presentations of meetings with conflicts etc i use Propranolol, a 10mg tablet that gets split in the same way.

Also both these products work well without making you feel zoned out.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006U ... hs_product
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0019L ... hs_product

Cheers
UB

Levothyroxine is just the generic version of synthroid and there shouldn't be any difference. I've taken them both and didn't see any difference between the two and one is a lot cheaper. I try to take generic in all my drugs if I can cause it's a lot easier on the pocket book and I've never had a problem with them.

Uncle Bob, my first night my AHI was 11.6 and it's decreased every night since. To 6 to 5 to 3.5 last night. Don't know my leak rates but besides the first night, I don't feel utterly exhausted during the day. Today was my first day of work since I started cpap and besides the anxiety I have from my dosage of Levothyroxine being too high.