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Qustion about blood pressure
How long does it take if your sleep apnea is the cause of your high blood pressure for it to come down after I start using my cpap machine?
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by TorontoCPAPguy on
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Blood pressure is a very fickle thing and one that MUST MUST MUST MUST be watched intensely at all times. Take it from one who knows. I am now, thanks to diabetic medication, too many doctors, CPAP with infused O2, and Lord knows what else, in line for being 'paddled' in several weeks, but first I have been put on Warfarin to thin my blood so that being 'paddled' does not kill me with a stroke.
Long story short? My BP began to come down after infusing O2 into my CPAP line. Doctors were elated. One reduced medication. Another reduced medication. Another changed medication. My BP started running 95/60 and I was light headed and finding it hard to breathe on exertion. So they started testing me for hiatus hernia, allergies, asthma, you name it. Until I got to my cardiologist, God bless him. He spotted an erratic heartbeat called Atrial Fibrillation and I am now sitting back on all of the original medications that I was just bloody fine on, waiting to see if the heartbeat returns to normal, on Warfarin (rat poison/blood thinner) and on the list for being put under a general and having my heart 'paddled' or shocked the same as if I had a heart attack to see if we can get this thing back to normal rhythm. Not life threatening but not a happy situation as I am weak, tired, have no stamina, etc. My BP is now all over the *(#*(Y^% place and we are waiting for it to settle down as well.
SO, my advice is patience. Get the BP meds that you need to get your BP down into the 120/75 range, give or take, and WAIT. DO NOT LET THE MD's SCREW WITH YOUR MEDS. I keep a running tally chart of meds and changes to them and hand one to any MD that I happen to see with the latest changes highlighted, instructions received from each by date below and a list of all 6 of them with phone/fax/address at the bottom. There is no excuse for any of them saying that they did not know of a change and certainly no excuse for screwing around with me. Yet they do. And I have it figured out. The fastest way to get you out of their office and get on to the next patient is to hand you a wee slip of paper with a prescription on it. The one that really screwed me up to start with was Janumet (and Caduet) and that's a story for another day.
YOU MUST BE YOUR OWN ADVOCATE AND MUST NOT NOT NOT LET THE MD's SCREW AROUND WITH YOUR LIFE OR YOU ARE GOING TO SUFFER.
Get your BP under control with SIMPLE BP meds and let the CPAP/APAP take you where it will, adjusting that single BP med as necessary. When they all start Rxing you different meds? You are going to get screwed in the end. Take it from me... a guy waiting now to see if my heart ever returns to proper rhythm. AND you need a good family primary care physician to be watching over all of this - next to impossible to find. YOU need to be asking questions and insisting on answers. Send the questions by FAX if necessary and ask that they be put in your chart to be answered on your next visit. My biggie right now? Did ANY of my blood tests show signs of lactic acidosis over the past three months. Look it up on google and see the side effects. Then think of me. I have them all.
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Permalink Reply by GUY T on
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YOU MUST BE YOUR OWN ADVOCATE AND MUST NOT NOT NOT LET THE MD's SCREW AROUND WITH YOUR LIFE OR YOU ARE GOING TO SUFFER.
HERE HERE!! AGREE TOTALLY! Doctors are not gods. I have seen too many mistakes in diagnosis and treatments with my own family and friends. My mum died because they did not recognize she had a twisted bowel. They waited too long and could not stabilize her to be able to operate and fix it. She died a horrible painful death. Nearly drove my sister (who was close enough) insane with grief. They can't admit mistakes because it leaves them open to litigation. They left a stainless steel pin in my brothers back after an operation that was supposed to help him regain a life without pain. Now he is in constant pain and always half drugged to be able even to cope with life. So always, always get a second opinion and if you don't have confidence in your current provider, change as soon as you can!
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I have the CPAP machine for a year now and only used it about 8-10 times. IThe times I used it I was waking up every 3.5 hours and pulling it off. I've always had good blood pressure but now lately it has been rising slowly. It used to be 109/72 now it averages at about 125/89. My memory sucks at best. Ihave almost no energy by 10am even after 4 cups of coffee!!
The RT who took my test said I had an oxegyn level of about 90 and woke up about 100 times thru the nite.I'm 37 and feel like im 50 sometimes energy wise. Anybody else here have the same problems?
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JustinGauger said:I have the CPAP machine for a year now and only used it about 8-10 times. IThe times I used it I was waking up every 3.5 hours and pulling it off. I've always had good blood pressure but now lately it has been rising slowly. It used to be 109/72 now it averages at about 125/89. My memory sucks at best. Ihave almost no energy by 10am even after 4 cups of coffee!!
The RT who took my test said I had an oxegyn level of about 90 and woke up about 100 times thru the nite.I'm 37 and feel like im 50 sometimes energy wise. Anybody else here have the same problems?
You need to gut it out and get used to that mask. 8-10 times isnt a fair try. Sleeping aids might help. A different mask might help. This is gonna kill you otherwise. TAlk to your doc.
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YOU have written yourself a prescription for "he died peacefully in his sleep" and it is just a matter of time before it gets filled.
You have OSA/etc? You MUST use XPAP.
Otherwise you have placed your request for an early demise in line with all of the other fools.
It takes work. It takes time. In the end it will save your life. Stick with it!!! You CAN do it.
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TorontoCPAPguy said:Blood pressure is a very fickle thing and one that MUST MUST MUST MUST be watched intensely at all times. Take it from one who knows. I am now, thanks to diabetic medication, too many doctors, CPAP with infused O2, and Lord knows what else, in line for being 'paddled' in several weeks, but first I have been put on Warfarin to thin my blood so that being 'paddled' does not kill me with a stroke.
Long story short? My BP began to come down after infusing O2 into my CPAP line. Doctors were elated. One reduced medication. Another reduced medication. Another changed medication. My BP started running 95/60 and I was light headed and finding it hard to breathe on exertion. So they started testing me for hiatus hernia, allergies, asthma, you name it. Until I got to my cardiologist, God bless him. He spotted an erratic heartbeat called Atrial Fibrillation and I am now sitting back on all of the original medications that I was just bloody fine on, waiting to see if the heartbeat returns to normal, on Warfarin (rat poison/blood thinner) and on the list for being put under a general and having my heart 'paddled' or shocked the same as if I had a heart attack to see if we can get this thing back to normal rhythm. Not life threatening but not a happy situation as I am weak, tired, have no stamina, etc. My BP is now all over the *(#*(Y^% place and we are waiting for it to settle down as well.
SO, my advice is patience. Get the BP meds that you need to get your BP down into the 120/75 range, give or take, and WAIT. DO NOT LET THE MD's SCREW WITH YOUR MEDS. I keep a running tally chart of meds and changes to them and hand one to any MD that I happen to see with the latest changes highlighted, instructions received from each by date below and a list of all 6 of them with phone/fax/address at the bottom. There is no excuse for any of them saying that they did not know of a change and certainly no excuse for screwing around with me. Yet they do. And I have it figured out. The fastest way to get you out of their office and get on to the next patient is to hand you a wee slip of paper with a prescription on it. The one that really screwed me up to start with was Janumet (and Caduet) and that's a story for another day.
YOU MUST BE YOUR OWN ADVOCATE AND MUST NOT NOT NOT LET THE MD's SCREW AROUND WITH YOUR LIFE OR YOU ARE GOING TO SUFFER.
Get your BP under control with SIMPLE BP meds and let the CPAP/APAP take you where it will, adjusting that single BP med as necessary. When they all start Rxing you different meds? You are going to get screwed in the end. Take it from me... a guy waiting now to see if my heart ever returns to proper rhythm. AND you need a good family primary care physician to be watching over all of this - next to impossible to find. YOU need to be asking questions and insisting on answers. Send the questions by FAX if necessary and ask that they be put in your chart to be answered on your next visit. My biggie right now? Did ANY of my blood tests show signs of lactic acidosis over the past three months. Look it up on google and see the side effects. Then think of me. I have them all.
Sort of OT Yeah I started seeing a real psychopharmacologist recently and feel better than in a long time...after having a bad reaction to one of them, stopping it (thereby discovering it was causing a lot of problems that went away) going back to an earlier protocol with my prior doctor, stopping a med he added that wasnt working and was making me ill and lowering the dose of another one. (Some of the newer meds were from my prior doc trying to pep me up (OSA + narcolepsy turned out)) These specialists get blinders and dont talk to each other.
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Kay Day said:I agree with j n k “with considerable variation between individuals.” And I agree with Wendy “I would think it would be like any other ’chronic’ health problem or disease process’. My high blood pressure did not decrease any for the first five years I was on CPAP therapy. However, when I started the Arthritis Foundation Exercise Program and attended faithfully 3 times a week, within a year my blood pressure dropped to almost the normal range. I take ¼ the dose of medication I did prior to exercise, and my blood pressure is in the normal range. I now teach the class and tell the participants I’m teaching the class for me and they’re getting the benefit. I don’t exercise unless I have a class that I like to go to – and I don’t like most of them. I have a great time teaching this class, and the people who attend have a good time, too.
I was a real simple BP experiment - no underlying BP or cardiac problems, horribly out of shape & some what overweight and that didnt change between BP readings, always around 110-120/70-75, then jumped to 130-140/80, then back down after CPAP. People who are more complicated arent going to have as clean an experiment with their BP no doubt. Exercise is definitely the best IMHO.
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Whatever the cause and effect; whatever the solution, high BP is bad news and needs to be dealt with immediately.. Diet, exercise, medication, etc. will all have varying effecicacy in bringing you into the normal range but be aware that you need to monitor it carefully. Low BP can lead to very serious issues just as high blood pressure can.
XPAP is likely to have an effect depending on your level of OSA/ETC as if nothing else it is going to get your liver working more efficiently and will prevent your body from cranking up the blood pressure in return for a lowering of the SpO2 during REM sleep especially. All are interactive and complex. Medications will work with different efficacy and with different interactions as well.
You will want to keep an eye on your SpO2 while sleeping as well as it will directly affect your BP during sleep. Contec makes a resonable recording pulse oximeter, the CMS50E, about $130US. The latest model has bluetooth as well as USB and will record for up to 24 hours on its internal rechargeable battery pack. A good investment.
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Permalink Reply by billy walker on
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Rose Marie Holt said:
JustinGauger said:I have the CPAP machine for a year now and only used it about 8-10 times. IThe times I used it I was waking up every 3.5 hours and pulling it off. I've always had good blood pressure but now lately it has been rising slowly. It used to be 109/72 now it averages at about 125/89. My memory sucks at best. Ihave almost no energy by 10am even after 4 cups of coffee!!
The RT who took my test said I had an oxegyn level of about 90 and woke up about 100 times thru the nite.I'm 37 and feel like im 50 sometimes energy wise. Anybody else here have the same problems?
You need to gut it out and get used to that mask. 8-10 times isnt a fair try. Sleeping aids might help. A different mask might help. This is gonna kill you otherwise. TAlk to your doc.
I too had a problem geting used to my machine. I would put it on and rip it off in my sleep. Then I would wake up and put it back on. Then I would rip it off again. It took me months to be able to wear it all night. But let me tell you, it is worth the effort. You will feal alive again. Don't give up. Puting the health reasons a side, since I have been 100% complient with my sleep therapy my sex life has improved greatly. My wife loves that little black box on the night stand! You will have much more energy for mmmmm' anything.
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Permalink Reply by Jenny Foerst on
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Wow. Even though I have felt great on my "dumb" machine for the past year, my bp, which is about 142/79, has not dropped one iota, even with all the excercise I'm getting. This is certainly another argument I will use with my doctor for prescribing a data-capable machine, which she pooh-poohed the last time I saw her. Appt. Jan 26. I will insist.
billy walker said:Thank you. And to Rooster, I do have a data collecting machine. I was stunned when I found that on average I am only getting 4.5 hours on a 7 day average and 3.5 on the 30 day average. I go to sleep with my mask on and wake up with it on. It also tells me that I have had 600(Not exactly) hours of therapy but the blower has ran for over 1200 hours. Maybe I should look in to another mask.
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Yes, and have aldosterone levels checked. Mine were HIGH. This MAY be because of Cymbalta, which I have to take to prevent very complex daily migraines, which debilitate me, otherwise. CPAP has done nothing, so far, to bring down my bp, even with a bp med onboard.
TorontoCPAPguy said:Blood pressure is a very fickle thing and one that MUST MUST MUST MUST be watched intensely at all times. Take it from one who knows. I am now, thanks to diabetic medication, too many doctors, CPAP with infused O2, and Lord knows what else, in line for being 'paddled' in several weeks, but first I have been put on Warfarin to thin my blood so that being 'paddled' does not kill me with a stroke.
Long story short? My BP began to come down after infusing O2 into my CPAP line. Doctors were elated. One reduced medication. Another reduced medication. Another changed medication. My BP started running 95/60 and I was light headed and finding it hard to breathe on exertion. So they started testing me for hiatus hernia, allergies, asthma, you name it. Until I got to my cardiologist, God bless him. He spotted an erratic heartbeat called Atrial Fibrillation and I am now sitting back on all of the original medications that I was just bloody fine on, waiting to see if the heartbeat returns to normal, on Warfarin (rat poison/blood thinner) and on the list for being put under a general and having my heart 'paddled' or shocked the same as if I had a heart attack to see if we can get this thing back to normal rhythm. Not life threatening but not a happy situation as I am weak, tired, have no stamina, etc. My BP is now all over the *(#*(Y^% place and we are waiting for it to settle down as well.
SO, my advice is patience. Get the BP meds that you need to get your BP down into the 120/75 range, give or take, and WAIT. DO NOT LET THE MD's SCREW WITH YOUR MEDS. I keep a running tally chart of meds and changes to them and hand one to any MD that I happen to see with the latest changes highlighted, instructions received from each by date below and a list of all 6 of them with phone/fax/address at the bottom. There is no excuse for any of them saying that they did not know of a change and certainly no excuse for screwing around with me. Yet they do. And I have it figured out. The fastest way to get you out of their office and get on to the next patient is to hand you a wee slip of paper with a prescription on it. The one that really screwed me up to start with was Janumet (and Caduet) and that's a story for another day.
YOU MUST BE YOUR OWN ADVOCATE AND MUST NOT NOT NOT LET THE MD's SCREW AROUND WITH YOUR LIFE OR YOU ARE GOING TO SUFFER.
Get your BP under control with SIMPLE BP meds and let the CPAP/APAP take you where it will, adjusting that single BP med as necessary. When they all start Rxing you different meds? You are going to get screwed in the end. Take it from me... a guy waiting now to see if my heart ever returns to proper rhythm. AND you need a good family primary care physician to be watching over all of this - next to impossible to find. YOU need to be asking questions and insisting on answers. Send the questions by FAX if necessary and ask that they be put in your chart to be answered on your next visit. My biggie right now? Did ANY of my blood tests show signs of lactic acidosis over the past three months. Look it up on google and see the side effects. Then think of me. I have them all.
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