There are many reasons for this, some of which are transient and will ease over time.
Others may require an adjustment of treatment to help you feel better.
Fortunately, most of these will resolve as treatment is fine-tuned and your body adapts to therapy.
Brandon Peters, MD
Ifsleep apneais severe prior to treatment, the improvement may be more obvious.
On the other hand, when the symptoms are mild, it may take longer to notice any changes.
Keep in mind that it can take several weeks before you feel the impact of CPAP therapy.
Perseverance, support, and regular contact with your healthcare provider will help you cope with the transition.
Even when using a CPAP correctly, it’s possible to experience residual excessive daytime sleepiness (REDS).
In these cases, healthcare providers may prescribe stimulants or suggest other treatments based on the severity of symptoms.
How long does it take for a CPAP to reduce fatigue?
But that doesn’t mean that they don’t need treatment for sleep apnea.
If left untreated, mild sleep apnea is likely to progress over time and become worse.
You may want to remove your mask, especially as it gets closer to the morning.
The problem with this is that sleep apnea often gets worse as morning approaches.
Rapid eye movement (REM) sleepmostly occurs in the last third of the nightly sleep cycle.
When this happens, your airways will narrow or collapse, cutting your breathing off momentarily.
Your CPAP Mask Doesn’t Fit Properly
Using a CPAP machine is not without its challenges.
To better overcome this, work with your healthcare provider to find the mask best suited for your face.
A heated CPAP humidifier can help provide relief by increasing the moisture coming through the machine.
(Be sure to use only distilled water in the humidifier.)
There are also therapists trained incognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBTI)who can help.
These prefs regulate the pressure of air delivered to your mask.
Finding the right setting can take trial and error.
One way to get there faster is to check the nightlyapnea-hypopnea index (AHI)report on your machine.
The AHI report will tell you how many breathing interruptions you had per night.
Ideally, you would aim for less than five per hour.
If it is more than this, the CPAP setting may need to be increased.
If you find yourself struggling against the air pressure, the setting may need to be decreased.
This allows you to start at low air pressure and gradually increase as you fall asleep.
You’re Gaining Weight
In the past, CPAP was thought to lead to weight loss.
There are some theories as to why this occurs.
When your breathing improves with CPAP, you burn fewer resting calories and can start to gain weight.
In such cases, an improved diet and routine exercise can mitigate the risk.
How much weight do I need to lose to cure sleep apnea?
Losing more weight may reverse sleep apnea altogether.
This comes up whenever the brain “forgets” to tell the respiratory muscles to make you breathe.
The exact cause of CSA is unknown.
In such cases, lowering the CPAP tweaks can help.
Fortunately, CSA resolves in 98% of people with continued treatment, although this can take several months.
Your machine may need an adjustment, or you may have an unrelated condition.
It’s important to find the source of your sleep issues since it can impact your health.
It may take several weeks of proper and continuous usage before you feel the results of CPAP therapy.
If you haven’t noticed any changes, be sure to speak with your healthcare provider.
There is a chance they may diagnose you with another underlying medical condition or complex sleep apnea.
In these cases, other treatment methods may be used.
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