Some motivation to deal with my severe fatigue?

Hello everyone, I am a 61 year old woman who was recently diagnosed with sleep apnea and is really needing some motivation in getting through this. Ever since early June of this year, I have been getting perpetually more and more fatigued, up to the point of recently being bed-bound and unable to leave bed without feeling horrible. I used to be able to go on walks, which I can no longer do. I can't go grocery shopping, I can't do anything I used to be able to do. I just have such horrible fatigue that it almost makes anything impossible. I was so distraught, until my sleep study results returned and showed that I had moderate Obstructive Sleep Apnea. After researching, it shows that one of the key symptoms of OSA is fatigue. I recently bought a APAP machine and was just looking for some motivation and some questions I had. I had an average of 11-17 events per hour, and I just started using my APAP machine last night, and got it down to 3 events per hour with the machine on my first try. I don't feel any better though, I am still severely fatigued. Is this normal for it to take a while for the fatigue from sleep apnea to go away after you start apap therapy?

As well, has anyone else ever experienced fatigue that gets worse after you eat food? My fatigue is almost always horrible, but I notice that it can get way worse after I eat a meal.

Also, since I've been bedbound in a dark room for nearly 2-3 months from horrible fatigue, is it normal to have like, overstimulation easily? I eat overwhelmed by so much. Even simple TV shows are too much for my brain to handle in my current state. Has anyone else experienced this with sleep apnea? My fatigue is usually the worst DIRECTLY after I wake up as well, if that makes any difference.

Has anyone else experienced horrible fatigue from OSA? Like enough fatigue to keep you bedbound? I could really use some moral support here. I'm so scared that my APAP machine won't cure me and there's something else wrong, but people keep telling me that OSA can cause severe fatigue, so I'm really hoping that that's all this is and that the machine will cure me, but when I woke up today after using it and not feeling any better, it really scared me. Does it normally take a while for the CPAP/APAP machine to make you go back to normal?

Hello HonestRaspberryWildcat--First, welcome to this board. I also had extreme fatigue the first year on cpap. Here is what I have been told and what I can share. People's response time to the machine can vary widely. I had extreme fatigue also and had a complete second opinion on my apnea, despite great faith in the first MD. Both told me that some people respond immediately to treatment, some take a few months, and some may take even longer. I am clearly in the latter camp. Be sure to go back to your prescribing physician and talk with them about excessive daytime sleepiness. Also, I do suggest you get a physical and get some bloodwork done so other causes of fatigue can be explored and ruled out. I don't know where you live but there may be a sleep apnea support group that you could explore. Try to take some small steps each day about getting out of bed and out of the house, even baby steps, and this will help. Best of luck to you.

Have you discussed the fatigue issue with a doctor? There could well be other contributing factors unrelated to the OSA. What were you SPO2 readings when you did your study? As mentioned, everyone resonds to therapy differently and reacts to OSA differently.