Posted by Novelagent on September 13, 2012, at 15:01:44
In reply to Re: Anyone using/benefiting from CPAP? » jane d, posted by Chris O on September 6, 2012, at 16:02:43
You can try switching to biPAP if you haven't already, but usually, when you don't notice a night-and-day difference with CPAP, it's because your sleep apnea index wasn't high enough to be anything to notice a betterment from.
I had an apnea index of 4, and saw a hospital research doc that saw everything as a vague manifestation of sleep apnea. He didn't tell me 4 meant borderline apnea, and that most people have a 4 or so, certainly some apnea is natural.
Instead, I tried all his stupid adjustments and machine switches and did a overnight sleep study. He was convinced borderline apnea caused ADHD. He's wrong. It turns out, I was sleepy because I had atypical depression, and after taking selegiline (now sold as emsam) along with DLPA, I no longer felt tired at all.
Over prolonged use of CPAP, you will wake up when you don't breathe for the first few nights of not using it. That's because your brain needs to adjust to not using it anymore, but it goes away. I'm not so sure waking up alone is an indication of apnea. What's your apnea index? If it's in the lower digits, I wouldn't bother with CPAP, you're not going to notice anything.
Most people have sleep apnea, one doctor said, because they don't sleep enough. I snore when I haven't slept enough, an indicator of sleep deprivation-induced apnea.
The second biggest reason: they're fat, and CPAP just becomes a crutch for being fat, along with insulin once fat people eventually get type II diabeties. I'm sympathetic to fat people, and my heart goes out to them, but if they only placed a similar level of interest and mental energy into exercising and eating healthier as much as they spent time researching sleep medicine, they wouldn't need sleep medicine.
I wish you all the best, and hope CPAP works for you. But it's not a replacement for a healthy diet and vigorous exercise (and no, walking is cute, but it doesn't shed pounds-- note thin people run, and fat people tend to walk, and notice the pattern).
I'm not saying your fat, you might not be fat. Some people might be upset I'm not using a sugar-coated term for fatness, but I think part of the reason why we have a fat epidemic is because we comfort fat people too much, and do them a disservice.
> Jane:
>
> Great to hear CPAP helps you sleep through the night. There is hope! For me, it's just not happening. I'll answer your individual questions below.
>
> "Just how much are you sleeping each night?"
>
> I don't sleep for more than 1 to 2 hour blocks at one time. So, I'll fall asleep (fitfully) for 1 to 2 hours and wakeup. Then, I'll repeat the same thing three or four more times. This pattern has been going on for a really long time, 10 to 15 years at least.
>
> "Is it different from before you started treatment?"
>
> Yeah, that's tough to answer. In some ways, I think the CPAP is working. For instance, I sometimes feel less headachy or less out of it even if I sleep fitfully all night on CPAP. But I'm just not sure how different this is than sleeping without the CPAP. The CPAP hasn't allowed me to sleep steadily for many hours in a row, so I don't know if it's really helping. And when I sleep without it, I might feel like I am asleep more, but then when I get up, I feel completely crappy, like I have barely slept at all.
>
> "Why did I raise my pressure, etc.?"
>
> Well, they put me at a pressure of 10 (with a plus or minus 2 prescription if necessary) after the test. The doctor said that was just an average pressure number for most people. I tried it for about three weeks and felt like I kept waking up all the time, so went up to 11. Another 3 weeks the same, so I went up to 12. Also, I did the titration study in between. It showed my ideal pressure as 11 (with 95% clearance, or something like that), and 12 as 100% clearance. Yes, a professional did the adjustments for me.
>
> "...waking for another reason such as anxiety."
>
> Perhaps this is the case. I have a very severe anxiety disorder. It's a kind of chronic worry, PTSD, GAD, and depression combined. It's mostly from my mother, my family. It's a lifelong condition as I was raised by someone who was mentally ill. I'm off medication now, after many SSRI failures. I will probably try a TCA or Nardil in the coming weeks.
>
> I'd like the CPAP to work. I was thinking of asking for an in hospital study (if it's possible, probably not with my insurance) so that they could watch me and see what's going on. It just seems like such an effort asking for these things. Even when I have insurance and get treatment, little changes.
>
> Thanks for responding.
>
> Chris
>
>
>
>
poster:Novelagent
thread:1024801
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20120912/msgs/1025564.html