Second night but still tired.

I have been using my resmed air 10 machine for 2 nights now. I was exhausted all day yesterday and yawning all the way home from work. I had to go right to bed as soon as I got home and I took a 1 hour nap. I logged into the resmed app this morning and it says ive scored 95 and 96 so Im concerned that Im not feeling refreshed and wide awake. This morning I woke up after 7 hours of sleep and felt immediately tired like I haven't slept all night. I feel like I am handling the nasal mask well. My wife says I need to give it some time but if the app is saying I basically slept great I feel like I should be seeing the results. It would make me feel better if someone that actually uses a machine could tell me if this is normal and to give it some more time.

Thanks

I have been using the same machine for about a year and am still getting the hang of it. The number you get from the ResMed program may not be a total answer. A lot of people say that therapy is doing great as far as numbers but feel tired anyway. Other folks will likely pop in on this thread and explain some of the issues that can cause that condition and hopefully it will give you direction but one thing they will tell you is that after a week or two if the tired condition persists, see your primary care physician and talk it over. There can be contributing factors leading to these symptoms that they can uncover. Last, I use a gizmo called a PULSE OXIMETER. It is a recording device that records my blood oxygen levels as I sleep and then charts them with provided software. Low O2 for extended periods was the reason I would fall asleep while driving and operating power tools. Therapy quickly cured that issue for me but you may have other issues so again, talk to your doc! Good luck.

Thanks for the reply. Im going to give it a week before I get too worried. If I still feel this tired after a week I will contact my sleep doc and maybe get in to see him sooner than the 2 month followup. I will say that I notice that I am not flipping from one side to the other as much without the machine so I'm holding out hope that I will still get that refreshed feeling soon.

Count yourself as fortunate to see or even get a follow up with the sleep doc. I never saw mine nor did I ever speak with that doctor. They sent a prescription over to my primary care doctor and the sleep clinic told me to get my info from her. She was pretty clueless and admitted not knowing much on the subject. She just wrote up the order for the CPAP supplies. Sadly, she never even remarked on my very low blood oxygen levels (in lower 70s) and I found info on this myself by doing a little bit of research. While sleep science may not be a big topic at medical school, I suspect they do cover the effect of low blood O2.

I agree with wiredgeorge's advice to give it a week or two to see if you continue to adjust to treatment. If you are still feeling tired, a follow up with your doctor to discuss other possible causes might be needed. Please let us know how you're doing!

ILF6260... btw: it isn't hard to change your forum name from IndependentLemonFinch6260 to one you select and is easier to remember by others. Go to the drop down at the top of the page next to and to the left of the search tab under settings and you can change your screen name. I personally am not fond of the screen names being assigned by a robot when a person registers and feel a registration should prompt for the screen name you want from the get-go. Maybe this is software limited. Dunno. Good luck and hang in there!

LOL! I don't know if I should answer... I slept on a cpap 1 time at the hospital, a real cpap not automatic like the ResMed Airsense 10, so the pressure was constant and the nurse turned the pressure up while I slept. I awoke after sleeping 7:20 hrs straight. Something I usually never do. I felt well rested, and my high blood pressure dropped to be exceedingly low that night.

My sleep doctor (3months later) later put me on 5-15 EPR 3 on my Airsense 10, in spite of my asking her to keep the pressure high like I'd had at the hospital. Now, it's possible "she" is comfortable on a low pressure of 5. But, because I'm about 3 times her weight the low pressure of 5 was like trying to breathe thru a single straw. The first night I slept 11 hours on the machine, and then I had to sleep another 6 hours off the machine to recover. It was the same until the 4th day, and it was simply too frustrating to not be able to breathe. I was ready to toss the Airsense and my doctor out the window and give up. But, I had uncontrollable high blood pressure and in March I ended up in the hospital where I was diagnosed with Afib (high). So, I couldn't quit. Also, I'd hurt my back picking up the machine, and being unable to take it in to the DME and having a doctor who would be unwilling to change my prescription without looking at data. The necessary data is probably the O2 readings which require extra hardware. Anyway, from my point of view, I HAD TO CHANGE IT. So, I found out how to change it myself. I found recommendations for starting pressures of 9-17 & 9-20. I tried lower than 9, but 9 is where breathing becomes easy, and I had negative experience when I tried to go below 8.8. my pressures are now 9-16 with EPR 2. The EPR allows my exhale pressure to drop down to 7. If I let it drop down to 6 I cause myself to have Afib. However, these new pressures have caused my blood pressure to drop as it did in the hospital, and my primary Doctor was thrilled with the Sleepyhead charts that showed my progress. My AHI's have been less that 1.0 for 7 of the last 9 days, and 1.05 for 2 of the days. And, my pulse rate is dropping to pre-Afib days. And, I wake well rested. Since the original cpaps start with 1 pressure I don't understand why these doctors start people with a pressure that's too low. My feeling is that they don't really have a good reason.

I have been a technician and analyst most of my life, so I was comfortable making my changes. However, you may not feel up to trying anything yourself. In which case you should contact your sleep doctor asap, so you can sleep decently.

Also, I've never gone above the high pressure of 17. I've lowered it to 15 and 16 a few times and I think 16 may be the magic number. My guess is the AI in the machine needs the high a bit higher than your highest pressure. Like 14.96 has been a frequent high pressure for me. I'm not sure, but 15 appeared to be to close and so I've gone back to 16 and the chart looks a bit better today. Now to see if I can keep this pressure until I get an appointment with my sleep doctor.

Thanks WiredGeorge I didn't even notice that it created that nickname. Well last night was my 3rd night and I'm still exhausted and feel like I haven't slept at all. My wife said she was up 3 times last night and I wasn't snoring which I normally do very loudly. I woke up about 30 minutes before my alarm this morning so I thought that was a good sign but as soon as I started to drive to work I began yawning and its been a rough day. My resmed app says I scored 100 last night. I got 7 hours and 40 minutes of sleep. Perfect seal, and only .6 events per hour. The previous nights I scored a 96 and a 95. Everything adds up that Im sleeping great between my wife's comments and the app so it doesn't make sense to me. I'll still give it till Monday and if I come to work tired Monday I will be calling. Some additional notes... My machine is set at a 5 and ramps to 10 when it knows I'm sleeping. I remember the Doctor saying that 10 was the setting during my sleep lab test where my oxygen levels and events were the best. I also have a humidifier on my machine. The technician started it at 4 but it felt like a cool mist blowing on my nose and that irritated me. Also I felt water in my mask so I put it to a setting of 1 last night. Fingers crossed that I can wake up refreshed soon!

The total they give you on the ResMed scoring can be a bit misleading. It is too weighted to hours slept. Others can argue with me but I feel about 5 1/2 hours sleep for me is great. I think the amount of sleep required for any one individual varies somewhat and there is probably some average or mean number that is considered ideal but any average or mean number has high and low ends that contribute. The mask pads I use cause the machine to think the mask is leaking. MAIN thing to look at is AHI, in my case at least. If it is less than 1 per hour, then I feel GREAT. If it is higher, not so great. I imagine that even with the AHI number, there are differing effects and differing levels blood oxygen saturation. Low O2 couild be a reason for being tired after sleeping but it could also be some other factor(s) and an amateur like me only knows about what caused ME to nod off at all hours of the DAY... my issue was low O2 for extended periods caused by my breathing stopping.

Verne, Your machine is an Airsense 10. That machine has several modes: CPAP (contant air pressure), BIPAP (h8gh and low pressure to facilitate easier exhale) and APAP (pressure varies on need)... I am not a pro so these definitions may be a bit messed up but they are likely close. In any case, your sleep doc felt that APAP was most appropriate for you for some reason based on their professional experience. I know that the BIPAP mode was prescribed for me due the very highest pressure needed of 25 to mitigate OSI in my case. The CPAP mode doesn't offer that high a pressure (I think it is capped at 20). If you don't agree with the doc's assessment, that should surely be something to talk about with her. They tinker with the setting when you have your sleep study so suspect they may have had you on APAP where you showed best results but since I know nothing about their methodology, that is only a guess. You said you were an analyst so I would also guess you could see that as I doubt she is prescribing on a whim. Good luck and let us know how your session with the sleep doc goes.

I also have the Resmed Air 10 . I have been on cpap for 7 months now. I had severe osa with oxygen levels dipping into the mid 70's at night. It has been baby steps for me. I did see my sleep doctor twice, who raised my setting both times in the first month. It took me 5 months to really feel an improvement. The doctor did say I was one of his worst cases. I went undiagnosed for about 15 years, although I had gone to 12 different doctors seeking a diagnosis. I am still feeling improvements everyday. Good luck.

AnnR, I am glad to see you are moving forward. I really didn't think there was anything wrong with me and I was procrastinating about seeing my PCP because I was falling asleep during the day; problematic when driving a motorcycle or operating power tools... My wife had the nerve to take a short video of me when I was asleep... it showed me not breathing and then starting breath with a GASP. She said she wanted me to look at it as she had noticed me quit breathing previously and I got irritated because that just couldn't be... well it was. I was the guy in the video. OUCH. Made an appointment with my PCP who sent me on a sleep study. Therapy resulted and I am far better today.

If you had low O2 issues as I did, I was concerned that my therapy wasn't curing the low O2 issue. I felt good but who knows? I had read that low O2 damages organs; especially the heart and brain. I don't have many spare brain cells so I bought a PULSE OXIMETER (that is the name of the gizmo) for under $200. It fits like a wristwatch and has a probe that fits over a finger. You install software on your computer (Windows) and record your pulse and O2 levels over night then check them the next day using the supplied software after downloading to your computer. The gizmo seems pretty accurate. I was in the LOW 70s and have now improved due to therapy to where I am about 96 or greater all night. The gizmo doesn't like it when you move around a lot so it isn't very good for monitoring O2 levels when exercising or anything where you are not still.