After 2.5 year using CPAP I see my cognitive functionality only slightly improved, while all the rest of the symptoms still the same: easy irritation, bad memory, bad decision making, bad multi tasking, bad concentration.
What funny is that: quite sometimes I feel more fresh and much less headache if I fall asleep WITHOUT the CPAP (of course I would wake up after some minutes due to my normal AHI of 40).
About me: Age 40, AHI measured of 40 beginning 2016, started using CPAP (Philips Resmed System One) since March 2016 until now, on CPAP that is AHI 0.5. I can easily fall asleep on the bed within a minute, but waking up using CPAP I always have a headache, and this headache last the whole day.
Other health issues: Hepatitis B (non active), Asthma (mild, not on medicine).
WHAT WORST FOR ME IS: I AM EASILY ANGRY WITH MY KIDS AND WIFE, WHICH DAMAGES MY RELATIONSHIP AND MY FAMILY.
Please help me. I am living in the Netherlands and doctors here know shit about my problem. Since 2 years I am diagnosed by a Psychological Institute for my bad concentration and high irritation, but they have found nothing, except they think I might have an Autism that makes me angry if my kids and wife do something out of my expectation. And the hospital describing the CPAP to me stops wanting to see me after they see my AHI of 0.5.
Thanks.
I am not a medical professional and can't offer you any medical advice. About all I know is that the causes of headaches are often difficult to pinpoint.
With a diagnosed AHI of 40 and it being now controlled with CPAP to the 0.5 level, certainly suggests it must be well optimized from an AHI point of view. That said some find it helpful to track their CPAP treatment with a free software program called SleepyHead. It provides very detailed data tracking and display. It may show some opportunity for comfort improvement, such as lowering pressure or setting limits differently. If you are interested post back and I can help you with it. The software needs a PC or Mac computer with the capability to read a SD card.
It may not apply to you, but I read an interesting article today that found there was an optimum amount of sleep one should try to get and there are negative symptoms not only if we sleep too little, but also if we sleep too much. I suspect that sleeping too little includes getting a poor quality sleep as well as just a short sleep. The recommendation was to get 7-8 hours per night. Here is a graph that indicates what happens when we sleep too much or too little. STM is short term memory, and the others are obvious.
The article at this link:
Thanks for your reply,
I gave up using Sleepy Head after 2-4 months studying it directly after the first months on CPAP, because I have not found anything strange. Probably my machine was not able to record more data to SleepyHead, or I was not able to read it correctly.
I sleep 7-8 hours per day.
Sounds like sleep time is not a problem. I assume your machine is the Phillips Respironics System One. If so it should be compatible with SleepyHead. The amount of data that can be kept on the SD card varies by machine, but I believe it just starts to overwrite old data when it fill up, and should continue to collect new data.
The only thought would be whether or not there is room to back off the pressure and gain some comfort. Your AHI is so low that may be a possibility. I also find that these machines work best when the pressure is confined to a narrow range, or even at a fixed pressure. And there are some comfort options on how it ramps up to pressure which can help if utilized.
You also mentioned you had asthma. I believe in some cases asthma can be helped with some breathing assistance provided by a BiLevel machine. That is one which uses a higher pressure on inhale compared to exhale. The difference is pressure support. I have no experience with that though.
I found the link below that has comments by four doctors on what might be causing morning headaches when being treated with CPAP. A pressure that is unnecessarily high was mentioned, as I suggested earlier. Also some comments about optimizing the air humidity and temperature to minimize any sinus congestion/pressure issues. Are you using the optional heated tube humidifier?
Hi there, Very nice, This is my machine and setting
Mask: Mirage™ FX Nasal CPAP Mask with Headgear
Humidifier: PR System One 50 Series Heated Humidifier
Setting: CPAP pressure 9 H2O, Machine = PR System One REMstar Pro CPAP Machine with C-Flex Plus
I am familiar with that mask, as my wife has used that one. The machine I am not so familiar with. Both my wife and I use a ResMed. Does that machine also have a heated hose as well as a heated humidifier? On the ResMed when you have the heated hose, you can set the air temperature and put the humidity control on automatic to get pretty comfortable results. For what it is worth, my wife has now changed from the Mirage FX to the F&P Brevida and finds it more comfortable with fewer leaks. However, mask preference is very personal. I prefer the ResMed AirFit P10 nasal pillow over the Brevida.
In any case my thoughts would be to try SleepyHead again. If you can post some daily reports here, I would be happy to give my thoughts on what may be any opportunities for improvement. With an AHI of 0.5, it may be possible to reduce pressures some to improve sleeping comfort, and reduce the potential for sinus issues. On a PC all you have to do is maximize the Daily report screen, press the F12 key, and it saves an image file in the SleepyHead Screenshots directory. With File explorer, just left click and drag that image file to the body of your post.
Hi there, I am using that Heated Humidifier https://www.sleepwatchers.com/product-p/in6t.htm
Elevated CO2 levels can cause headaches. I'm not sure how you would go about having that assessed where you are.
CO2 level where I live is normal, air quality index of 36, which is good.
I believe sleeptech is talking about CO2 levels in your blood. That is one of the things measured when you do a sleep test. Oxygen is also measured which tends to be the inverse of CO2. If O2 goes down, then CO2 then typically goes up. There are fairly inexpensive O2 meters that clip on your finger and monitor your O2 levels overnight. If you get one that is compatible with SleepyHead, I believe it integrates the results with your other sleep data. When you click on the Oximetery tab in SleepyHead it will give you a list of compatible machines.
Sierra is correct, I was talking about the CO2 levels in your blood, not in the air. They are not usually measured in a standard sleep study because to do so requires some specialised and very expensive equipment. Some labs don't have this equipment and so having your CO2 levels checked can be tricky.
I find that my neck position changes when I'm using my CPAP and I get neck pain/headaches from that. Chiropractic adjustments have helped me tremendously. I am trying to find the right pillow but in the meantime if I make sure I have more neck support as I'm falling asleep it's helpful.
I also had the pressure set too high at one point and that caused some headaches/facial pain.
There seems to be a link now between my physical symptomps (headache, chest pain) and my cognitive functions, together with sleep deprivation. It is about the blood O2/CO2 level
1) Doctor's diagnosis & treatment Asthma was found, and "Budesonide + formoterol fumarate dihydrate" (e.g. Symbicort) was prescribed Not sure about COPD: I have quickly a shortness of breath while running, but in daily physical work I look like normal.
2) My CO2/O2 measurement
3) My sleep symptomps
4) My cognitive symptomps
5) What I do to improve my health
6) Links
https://www.thecpapshop.com/blog/connecting-cpap-to-an-oxygen-concentrator/
"Many older adults who are on CPAP also may need supplemental oxygen. Supplemental oxygen is typically required for people who are diagnosed with some form of pulmonary disease such as COPD, Emphysema or lung cancer. It also may be the case that a CPAP user might need oxygen at night while asleep becomes of low blood oxygen levels. Whatever the case, if supplemental oxygen is needed, a new or veteran user might run into challenges when purchasing an oxygen concentrator and connecting CPAP to an oxygen concentrator"
I might need this oxygen concentrator, don't know why it's not prescribed.
Certainly something to check into. If you travel by air, you may want to look into the issues associated with that. I have seen some passengers get into difficulty getting on a flight. It may only apply when you are using oxygen from a bottle, but in that case there seems to be some obligation on the passenger to show they have enough oxygen to last for the length of the planned trip plus some margin that the airline determines. If they decide you don't have enough, you are not allowed on board. And, that may also only apply when you need oxygen all the time, not just when sleeping...
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It is good to hear that more humidity helped with the headaches. I use a ResMed AutoSet machine and have never used the DreamStation. With my ResMed set to Auto humidity with a heated hose, and the temperature set to 27 C, it pretty much uses the whole reservoir of water with an 8 hour sleep. That would make me suspicious that the DreamStation auto function may not be working properly in your machine. Water consumption stays pretty much the same from summer to winter, and also when traveling. My only concern is that it may run totally dry some night...
I've had a headache behind the right eye for some weeks now and it makes it hard to think and messes with my vision making it difficult for me to come up with a really good conspiracy theory or alien abduction story which would always be my first choice.
Therefore I'm left with the very boring theory that, in my case, it was probably caused by melatonin that I began using at around the same time.
I blame the melatonin because many medications have given me a headache through the years, especially when I first started using them.
At the moment I'm wondering which will be the first to go, the headache or the melatonin.