New Member/Problems

[Guest82]

Hello everyone,

I started my CPAP (edit: I have an APAP machine) treatment in May last year, it was a roaring success for me. I experienced what a lot of you have and it changed my life, I wasn't falling asleep at work, I had a lot more energy & started to lose weight.

I had the effects of treatment were not working as well in the last few months, gradually I have lost my motivation (energy) to exercise and, as a result, have started to gain weight.

The last few weeks I have started to fall asleep in the afternoons again.

I purchased a new mask, which arrived yesterday, but despite 7.7 hours with the mask on and a 0.2 rating on the machine, today was my worst day for tiredness in a long time.

Any suggestions as to what to do next would be helpful.

Thanks in advance.

[symmit]

Hi there!

Is the tiredness a feeling of lack of sleep or of being worn out - what I've found is that my energy levels started dropping with the weight loss and I had been skipping meals. Also as I'd stepped up my work patterns I was just normally tired. So in the last couple of weeks I've changed my daytime habits to ensure I have breakfast and lunch and reducing the evening meal size, what had happened is I wake bright and breezy, work through the day, forget to eat and then crash in the evening, eat too much, sleep badly then wake and have a bad day.

Have you tried tweaking the APAP settings at all or is it as delivered, wide open?

Is it showing you what pressure it rises to in the night? You may benefit from increasing the minimum pressure towards that number (mine goes to 12 or 13, so I've raised the mimimum from 4 to 10 and the ramp start from 4 to 6)

Hope all this helps- I'm not a doctor or a sleep tech but I'm definitely a fan of CPAP.

[Tigers Fan]

Info, please.

Hi Guest82

The more info you can give us, the more we can help.

What do you mean by, "a 0.2 rating on the machine"? Do you know what AHI is?

Which machine and old/new mask? What min, max and 90/95% pressures?

Do you adjust your machine or do you rely on a sleep tech to do that for you. Has the machine been adjusted since you got it last May - if so, what adjustments were made.

Since your problems started, how have you been managing leaks? has your life-style changed in any significant way? do you have a regular bed time and rising time? do you work shifts/nights/9 - 5?

As for worst night with a new mask, well - you can kinda expect it to take a while to become comfortable OR your new mask may be completely wrong for you.

Are you private or NHS? do you rate your clinic good/bad/indifferent and how easy is access to help?

Don't forget that sleep can be upset by many things other than CPAP. With CPAP we look for trends rather than one off awful nights - and you definately seem to have a trend running!

TF

[Guest82]

Thanks for the replies.

I've got the S9 Autoset machine by the looks of things. I don't know if I can change the settings?

It shows me, what I believe is the AHI rating and the mask fit is indicated by a smiley face. The AHI Rating is normally pretty low, 0.2 or so, very rarely above 1.

The Mask I have is a Mirage FX (purchased this week) before that I was using the free mask I got with my testing kit. Seeing as this was a miracle cure at first I didn't see the need to change it.

Reading these forums I realise how little I know about my condition and how much I have to learn.

I haven't been back to see my doctor as it was private and paid for by a policy at work. If I go back to the same guy I will have to pay....

Again, any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

[Berneta]

Fatigue

Well--going on the info you have given up--I would venture to say it is not the CPAP or Mask causing your fatigue. It could be just a matter of wearing yourself out during the day (Work, etc)-- but if you are waking tired in the morning---then I suggest you see your Dr for a good check up and blood tests, even if you have to pay for it yourself. Many things other than Sleep Apnea can cause extreme fatigue--like overweight, lack of exercise, thyroid problems, diabetes, kidney problems, infections, poor diet, etc. When was the last time you had a full check up? Good Luck, Berneta

[Tigers Fan]

Doing well!

Hi Guest82

With an AHI of 0.2 and rarely above 1, you are getting as to to perfect PAPing as you'll ever get. If smiley faces are to believed as meaning your leakage is acceptable, then so be it.

That's the good news. Put it another way, your tiredness problems are not being caused by poor PAPing. Thus the bad news - you'll have to look elsewhere for a cause. My guess is going to be a combination of too high expectations and life style.

Alcohol and PAPing do not mix well. Cheese, caffeine and large meals too soon before bedtime are a no-no. Irregular bedtimes and late nights will not help at all, at all. Diabetes and tiredness are linked. Sugar highs are not a good idea in the evening.

Time for a GP visit?

TF

[symmit]

Do some google work and you'll find the clinician's manual for your machine, that will help you get into the settings and take a look at the minimum and maximum set pressures. If it has a memory card you could send that in to intus and they'll read your data for a small fee I believe. From that you could see how it's all going!

I would suspect that if you were just handed a machine that it may be set wide open, and the pressure range may need tweaking, but without the numbers from the machine no-one can tell.

Some of us are using an oximeter to see how our sleep is going too - if you have the means it could be worth buying one and having a look!

[Guest82]

Thanks again for all of your replies.

Last night I had 6.1 hours with the mask on and an AHI of 0.1. So it cannot be apnea causing the problem...

I guess I will have to look elsewhere for my answers, I am wondering if the old mask could have been the problem and now I am still building my proper sleep back up.

I used to drink heavily but gave up completely a year or so ago, as I suspected that was causing my tiredness. Then I discovered the Apnea and was told alcohol didn't help so have not touched a drop since.

I've booked an appointment to see the doctor, but it is not until the 30th. I will take him my card and see if he can help with the levels my machine is set to.

Again - thank you all for your help.

[Barely Awake]

A while back I started to feel very poorly and my story is not wholly dissimilar to yours. Turns out I have diabetes but it could have been any number of things when you think about it including thyroid.

Hope you get sorted soon.