SleepWellCPAP wrote:The words in the title of the post are a little difficult to get past. Hopefully they are chosen for emphasis only.
I know the feeling that BoxedIn has expressed that he is experiencing. It is quite real. Yup, that is the feeling.
SleepWellCPAP wrote:Regarding not feeling benefit from the CPAP, even after perfect compliance, is unfortunately quite common. Pressure therapy devices will keep your airway open however, they don't by themselves guarantee a good or recuperative night's rest.
I do believe it would very much help if the medical community would wake up to the need to constantly monitor therapy and deal with unstable breathing as well as AHI!!
SleepWellCPAP wrote:The stress you say you're under, is quite likely the cause of feeling unrested. Defined very simply, my guess is that your cortisol levels are disrupting or shortening your stage 3 or REM periods of sleep. There's an old saying, "check your troubles at the door", and it's a great one for a bar, but an even better one for the bedroom. Though it sounds difficult, I would stick with your CPAP and try to reduce stress as much as possible.
Good luck!
My experience is that stress in my own life can reduce the point at which my CPAP pressure causes unstable breathing to less than would keep my airway open. Unstable breathing fractures sleep and so you are unrested. The answer for me is to use EERS[1] during those times. The answer for people in the future may well be a much better CPAP machine[2].
I think that anyone who has low AHI but is still unrested should talk with their doctor about both.
[1]: Gilmartin G, McGeehan B, Vigneault K, Daly RW, Manento M, Weiss JW, Thomas RJ.
Treatment of positive airway pressure treatment-associated respiratory instability with enhanced expiratory rebreathing space (EERS).
Source: J Clin Sleep Med. 2010 Dec 15;6(6):529-38. Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA.
Link:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21206741
[2]: Dynamic CO2 therapy in periodic breathing: a modeling study to determine optimal timing and dosage regimes
Yoseph Mebrate, Keith Willson, Charlotte H. Manisty, Resham Baruah, Jamil Mayet, Alun D. Hughes, Kim H. Parker and Darrel P. Francis
J Appl Physiol 107:696-706, 2009. First published 23 July 2009; doi: 10.1152/japplphysiol.90308.2008
Link:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19628721