Numb hands

[silvercarper]

My GP is trying to diagnose why I have been waking up with numb hands .
Blood tests are OK and wrist splints have no effect.

Something he suggested is that I might be over breathing when using the APAP.

This has made me think as I feel that sometimes during the night the APAP is breathing for me .Do Bipaps work like that?

[ElleCee]

I get numb hands too but never thought it had anything to do with cpap.
Lorraine

[Berneta]

Numb Hands

Hi Silvercarper, I too wake now and then with numb hands, In my case it has nothing to do with the way I breathe, Mine is caused by sleeping too long in one position, and always on my side, It happens to the hand on the side I am sleeping on. And never to both ands at once. I guess I just get so far off into dreamland, that I don't want to move. When it happens, I just rub my hand a bit, and then turn to lay on the other side. As long as the feeling returns quickly and it doesn't happen while I am awake--then I just figure its not my breathing, just my position. I hope you figure your problem out and thats its no more serious than mine. Good Luck, Berneta

[Fredxx]

I used to get numb hands because of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome...got that fixed!

Now I get occasionally numb hands at night through trapping a nerve in my neck...it is a "poor pillow" thing. Got a decent pillow in my bed at home and don't have a problem there, but when I am away...

[silvercarper]

It does look that its my overbreathing thats causing the numbness.
I woke up this morning with numb hands and my breathing rate was over 30 times a minute.
It does feel that the APAP is breathing for me and my breathing returns to normal when I remove my mask.

[Tigers Fan]

Hi silvercarper

Could it be that, when you wake with the CPAP at full pressure, you are, in fact, in panic mode, maybe feeling suffocated or unable to breathe?

I remember back when, I'd don my mask with an un-relieved CPAP behind it and find myself breathing very rapidly and shallowly, had to fight down the panic or remove my mask.

Now, if you were doing that in your sleep - hyperventilating, I mean - you'd soon have symptoms such as numbness at your peripheries. Remove mask, panic subsides, breathing slows, oxygen levels return to normal, sensation returns.

Do you have exhalation relief on your machine? If so, set the effect to max. If not, get onto your clinic and/or bank manager.

Could be something entirely different, of course, but starting with the simplest possibility ......

TF

[silvercarper]

After waking up with numb hands early this morning the pressure was low,6, and I was overbreathing.
Removing the mask restored my breathing back to normal but as soon as I put it back on the overbreathing started again. It felt that the APAP was breathing for me and trying to get my breathing rate down was difficult which meant that I have not slept well since .
I have already contacted the hospital but they said to stop using the APAP for a day and come back next week if I was still having problems. This probably means that the only guy who knows about CPAP,s is off this week.!!!!

[Sleep2Snore]

Is it an APAP or a CPAP you have, you have mentioned both?

[silvercarper]

APAP,s
Remstar Auto/A-flex M series

[Sleep2Snore]

This has made me think as I feel that sometimes during the night the APAP is breathing for me .Do Bipaps work like that?

APAPs supply air pressure as you need it and sit at a lower pressure when you don't need it, i.e you are not having an apnoea. These machines detect when you stop breathing and react by increasing the pressure to open the throat to allow you to breath.
BiPAPs supply air at full pressure when you breath in, but they drop in pressure when you breath out.

It may be that you waken during an episode where you are having an apnoea and in a bit of a panic?
Try to stay calm and control your breathing, don't know what else to suggest.

[Sparticus]

Thats me!

Oh I had some problems with this one, panicing, panting, scrambling to rip the mask off because you think you cant breath, I was there in the thick of it for a while. I even told the hospital I couldnt breath, which they was quite concerned about. Once I realised the problem it was gone in 5 days and it has never returned.

I sometime woke in sheer panic but now I can laugh at myself, dont get me wrong its still there but now I can control it. its just another issue of osa, like dry mouth or sore nose they can all be overcome. Your brain is lying to you, you can breath. When woken in this state try and stop for a moment and try and concentrate on your breathing to slow it down its hard at first but it does get easier and then take your mask of in a controlled mannor.

You may find a different route to get to a end result, its like the sore nose syndrome, I used bubble wrap, worked for me.

[silvercarper]

Its early days yet or should I say nights but rebooting the APAP last night got it working normally again and I was able to get back to normal breathing.
I am beginning to think that APAP,s are to clever for there own good.

[Sleep2Snore]

Trouble with APAP is they will increase the pressure if there is a leak which may cause the leak to get worse and then the machine increases the pressure until it is at its maximum setting.
When this happens all you can do is stop the machine, re-adjust the mask to stop the leak and start the machine again.

[symmit]

Not all APAPs are the same, mine measures flow and pressure as I believe most of the newer ones do, if a pressure drop is assosiated with a huge flow increase it's interpreted as leakage and activates the mask off alarm. It compensates to a certain amount.

They can be set to auto off but all that did for me was give me a CPAP free half night...

[silvercarper]

For other reasons I have changed my mask and for the last two nights I have not had any numbness and also I think I have got my bounce back.
The only problem is that the new mask has some faults but no way will I send it back. I might just replace the duff bits at my own cost.