I’ve previously posted another thread about my lack of energy over the past few years. The information can be found in this thread.
After several trips to doctors, and some lab work, I’ve been diagnosed with: low testosterone, low B12, and sleep apnea.
Last night was the treatment night of my sleep study. They hooked me up to a CPAP and I slept HARD throughout the night. I woke up feeling a little better, but the lethargic feeling crept back by 1PM. Looks like it’ll be a good while before I feel decent again. Hopefully I’ll feel ‘normal’ some time . . . .
Anyway, my question:
Do we have any STers here that have gone through treatment for sleep apnea? Once you started treatment, did you find that your better sleep improved recovery time from training? (I feel like I have not been able to properly recover from workouts for a while. It’s really frustrating.) Were there any other side-effects related to training that you’ve found that you did not anticipate?
I’ve been scouring the internet forums for sleep apnea/cpap treatment forums, but I wanted to see if there were any athletes undergoing CPAP treatment that could speak from an athlete’s perspective.
Thanks.
I have sleep apnea treated by cpap. Youll notice a difference instantly, especially once youre using it your own bed. There are some keys to get best use out of it.
Use it every night regardless of how you feeltake advantage of your insurance and get a new mask/nasal pillow every quarter even if you dont need one. You never know when the hose will tear or the dog will get ahold of the mask and trust me when you get one you dont want to do with out it. becomes like a pacifier hard to sleep with out and youll notice big time when you do. duct tape is ok for the hose, but theres nothing that will properly fix the material the soft part of the mask is made of.Do not leave it at home the night before the race. Ive done this once accidentally. a disaster (DNF). clean the mask and hose every couple weeks. take care of sinus infections asap. if your nose is really stuffed the mask doesn do much
While youll notice that instant difference, just as it took your body a while to degrade to your current level of sleep, it will take you a while to get back fully to a normal quality of sleep. Once yove gotten used to the mask, you might want to invest in a zeo to track sleep quality. it takes a little effort to get your mask on top of the zeo but i found it to be worth it.
You didn’t comment on the rate of recovery. Did it help?
I was on cpap before I got into triathlon, so I cant make that comparison.
However, I will say, when im really stuffed up and the mask is less effective i notice that I am not recovering as well (or doing anything as well). My current doctor said some people have tried it it to enhance sleep for recovery purposes, but it doesnt work like that. if you dont need it and sleep normally, it doesnt help.
I never really had issues with lethargy because I was diagnosed with a mild case of apnea but I would wake up many nights with a pounding high HR that sometimes would produce a slight arrhythmia that scared me and made it difficult to get back to sleep.
Most people with apnea are big but I weigh under 140 pounds. I have a small mouth and the apnea became an issue during my 40s. One of my best friends, who is more fit triathlete than me and weighs a bit less than me, also has apnea.
I’m very happy that I was diagnosed and have worn the CPAP unit all but a handful of nights the past three years. It’s definitely not sexy and I don’t like being tethered to a machine, but I’m sure it will help your training recovery over time. Good luck!
Thanks, Mark.
I am not largely overweight, I am 6’ and 175 lbs. I could lose a few pounds, but I am not the typical sleep apnea suspect (overweight with large neck).
I’m looking forward to starting the cpap treatment and seeing how this progresses.
In my experience, not everyone gets a night and day response. I feel this happens to a smaller population of people treated with cpap. Tends to occur more in those with severe law (ahi>30) than those with mild or moderate osa. A small amount get no relief whether it is due to noncompliance or other factors. The vast majority achieve some benefit but it is not as obvious ie less napping, better memory, less irritability, less nocturnal urination, no erectile dysfunction (an obvious benefit). If you remain fatigued despite appropriate use.of cpap (ideally >6 hrs per night) after 4-6 weeks then ask your doctor for a wake promoting agent such as provigil.
The longterm benefits to treatment is fantastic. Less hypertension, strokes, likely diabetes, depression.
Good luck.