Still having sleep issues...

do you have a big neck? I heard that is a contributor to apnea.

 

I dropped 15 pounds this year and am sleeping like a kid. Prior I was snoring all night long and waking up 2 or 3 times a night. Bought an electric bike and doing more during the day to wear myself out by nightfall. Also eat oatmeal with raspberries and blueberries every morning to keep the cholesterol in check. That's all I got. Good luck.

 

I bought a pillow wedge for under $40 and it made a world of difference. Less snoring, and my back feels better.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07M9LQ6T1/?tag=tdpri-20

 

+1 I know three people with sleep apnea and using CRAP. They are all about your age, overweight and not adhering to healthy diets nor regular excercise. Take control of your health. Good luck, because my friends struggle with a healthy lifestyle too.

 

Sorry to hear that. I was diagnosed with sleep apnea last year and I also wear a CPAP mask.

I usually try to keep my mask as snug as possible without it being too "distracting". I have also been taking trazodone (25 years) 35-40 minutes before I go to bed. Maybe you should try a different manufacturer/brand and/or model? I use this one:



ResMed Airsense 10 Auto

 

That sucks. I don't have sleep apnea, but I was in a motorcycle accident 13 years ago and the pain wakes me up multiple times every night. I can literally count one one hand the number of times I've slept through in 13 years. My sympathies.

 

Caffeine causes a lot of sleep issues too. It affects some people longer than others. If I drink any caffeine after breakfast, I'll be up all night.

 

What mask or pillows are you using ? Do you have facial hair ? Are you openly breathing through your mouth when sleeping ? Do you have mixed sleep apnea ? Have you gotten a second opinion ? Less than 5 events in a hour is below the level for CPAP treatment unless the threshold has changed . Is your CPAP functioning properly ? Just in case you are wondering , I had 104 episodes in 90 minutes and spent 45 seconds of every minute in apnea . Who is setting up your machine and do they know what they are doing ? I am currently using the SleepWeaver fabric mask with a DeVillbis Intellipap Auto setting CPAP . Once my finances can support it , I will be going for the Inspire System .

 

Prolly tha internet

 

Was having sleep issues and heading towards apnea for a number of reasons: Overweight, not enough exercise, poor diet, drinking coffee and working night shift. Took off about 15lbs (would like and ideally to do another 15 was at 180-190, currently at 170 and 64yrs) via intermittent fasting and eating better,...less/limited carbs, got a dog so walking alot more, riding my bike to work and stopped all caffeine. Sleep (in bed), mood and energy level has much improved.

 

Sincere thanks for the reminder. I have a few days of beard growth and to me, that affects the CPAP mask "grip". Time to shave before bedtime.

 

Weight loss, if your overweight or obese would probably be the intervention that helps the most as mentioned above. Numerous health benefits from that as well... I deal with patients everyday with sleep apnea and they all usually have the overweight characteristic in common, not always but 90+% of the time. Good luck! Hope you can figure it out soon.

 

I got my CPAP at the end of July. Though I recognize I need it, I'm currently the most tired I've ever been. The first two mask styles didn't work for me and even though I think I have the right one now it's already become a habit to take the mask off in my sleep.

In addition to the apnea, I have damage to both shoulders from 22 years of factory work & can't lay in one position for very long before the pain from that wakes me up. I may have to start sleeping in a chair just for that reason.

 

Long shot: but the fact that you do not have apneic episode sitting up in a chair, might suggest you have a GERD issue. Laying down can cause acids to stimulate your vasovaogal nerve, if acid refluxes around it.

In some people, GERD can stimulate vesovagal response to slow your heartrate down so much, you can have an issue which manifests as not enough oxygen getting to your brain. In my case: Sleep paralysis. Gasping for air. Night Terrors (The punch through walls type). That was my immunologist's theory after reviewing my extreme results on a tilt table test.

Others are skeptical, to this day. That was 10 years ago.

Nexium every day has changed my life.

Not saying this is your issue, but Drs. can be very beholden to precedent. You might need one that considers your a case a challenge, and is willing to take a different look.

 

My pleasure .
All of this stuff is different for individuals and their equipment .

 

If you haven't done an overnight titration study and they have to keep adjusting it, there's a good possibility that it's being bumped up in small increments and isn't up to the right pressure yet. I specifically asked to be put on automatic CPAP (APAP), which reacts to my airway closing with extra pressure and will keep adjusting until it opens and I start breathing again. It's basically like having a study of your breathing and someone there to adjust the pressure all night, every night.

If your machine has a removable memory card, there's a program called SleepyHead (now replaced by a new program called OSCAR that I haven't tried yet) that will read the information from it and produce a stack of charts that show what's going on with your sleep. The information is very helpful in tuning the minimum pressure within my prescribed range (6-20 cm H2O, which is pretty wide) to keep the obstructions from happening. Obstructive apneas are now a rarity for me, but I still have hypopneas to deal with.

If you're having events severe enough to wake you up, you're not getting sufficient therapy. There's a long list of causes, which include pressure too low (see above), mask leakage or using a nasal mask when you really need something full-face because the pressure leaks out through your mouth. Again, the data your machine collects can help figure out what's going on.

If you're not having problems with compliance or an additional respiratory condition that would call for it, probably not. The only difference between the two is that a BiPAP detects when you're exhaling and reduces the pressure. Most of the better machines have a feature that does something close to that, but I leave it turned off on mine.

 

Mine is set at a range from 10-20. I noticed that I get better results, when the mask is set/adjusted with a much snugger/tighter grip. I wish that there was a better way than feeling like it is bolted to my head.