Muscle and bone pain

I have recently been diagnosed with severe osa. I had a stroke 2 years ago, and have had excessive daytime sleepiness and brain fog, high blood pressure, along with a host of other symptoms, so I was very excited to get the diagnosis and treatment. The study showed a 66 AHI and oxygen levels of 80 or below during the night, with no drop below stage 1 sleep without aid of a cpap. I had been told that the apnea was so severe that, without the machine, my muscles were "clamping down" in an effort to preserve any oxygen in them, and that my muscle and bone pain were the result. Also, my body was not willing to allow me to sleep, for fear of lack of oxygen. As soon as I went into stage 1 sleep, my heart rate ramped up, along with all other measurable body functions, preventing any restorative sleep.

I got my cpap yesterday. It came with a humidifier that can have the temperature adjusted, but not the humidity level. The mask is a mouth plus nose pillow that seems to fit well and is more comfortable than I expected. My excitement and expectation of feeling better seems to overcome any comfort issues. I spent some time watching TV and reading with the machine on, and fell asleep within the set 45 minute ramp time. The problem was that during the night, I experienced severe bone pain in my hips, and the bones just above and below my knees. I haven't seen any posts, blogs or web sites that address this issue. I have had bone and muscle pain, that I attributed to the lack of oxygen (below 80, for most of the night, without cpap treatment, according to my sleep study). After 4 hours on a cpap during the sleep study, I felt more alert and had significantly less bone and muscle pain, so I expected the same or better after the first night on the cpap. Instead, during my first night on the cpap, the bone and muscle pain were so severe that it woke me up and kept me awake even more than normal. The bone pain was so severe that it made any mask discomfort seem like very minor annoyance by comparison. I also woke up 3 times with dry mouth. I had the humidifier set at 75 degrees.

I seem to have adapted quickly to the mask and easily fell into a breathing rhythm that worked with the machine (set for 16 to 20, pressure). But the bone and muscle pain continued throughout the day, and I was more tired today that I had been in months. Is the cause because of bone healing and oxygen infusion? Or are my muscles, that had adjusted to clamping down to hold on to any oxygen, in revolt?

Has anyone had these problems, and if so, how long did it take the body to adjust, and for the pain to decrease or stop?

Can you add your machine and mask type so that we can help you better?

The source of pain can be elusive. Hopefully, as some on here have reported, getting your sleep straightened out will help with your sensitivity to pain. While I can't begin to know your specifics, I'll just throw out for your consideration that limb movements during sleep caused me much joint and muscle pain. Was there any mention of limb movements in your studies, or has anyone said your legs move a lot in your sleep?

I noticed immediate improvement after my sleep study titration with great sleep. And then when I got home, I slept pretty well but didn;t feel as good as the first night. It took awhile before I started feeling the improvements. I think that first night instant better feel was such a shock to the system that it was quite noticeable.

Then, once we get home and work on, we have to convince the brain, that has been working so hard to keep us alive all night, to relax and let the machine do it instead. I have always been a tense sleeper. I used to wake up with my arms clenched and asleep from lack of circulation. That rarely happens anymore. But it took time.

Also, the machine, the air, the mask, etc all add new things we are not used to. So, as we get used to it, our sleep can be messed up and that may make it feel less restful for awhile. It does get better once we are used to that new alien on our face.

If you can add your machine model and mask, that will help us help you. I suspect there is a way to adjust the humidity level if you have a temp option. It may require going into clinician mode, which is possible, you just have to know how. There are manuals online to let you do all the stuff they didn't tell you about. And if you are lucky to have a machine with data, you can see that too.

One of the things that happens with CPAP is that you may not move around as much in bed because you're sleeping more soundly, and/or you don't want to disturb the mask and hose. That causes me a LOT of hip pain. Especially at first, you may be more rigid than usual as you are getting used to this alien chunk of plastic strapped to your head.

The CPAP, after a few weeks, did help enormously with chronic shoulder pain I'd had for years after bilateral frozen shoulders. I was amazed. But it didn't happen overnight.

Another thing that helps me a lot is eliminating grains from my diet. But I am having a lot more nighttime pain lately.

My husband and I recently stayed at an inn that had a feather bed between the bottom sheet and mattress and we both slept SO well. So I think the bed surface, when you don't move so much, makes a big difference. We bought a 3" memory foam mattress that is currently spread on our dining table gassing out. I'm hoping that will give me similar comfort in bed--if my lungs can ever get used to it.

The problem was that during the night, I experienced severe bone pain in my hips, and the bones just above and below my knees.

Yes. I could barely walk the first morning, which since I had a loft bed was a problem. I needed to add a foam eggcrate mattress cover and two quilts before I could wake up without pain.
When we sleep with cpap we really sleep and we don't move. Sometimes I woke up in exactly the same position as I fell asleep in 8 hours before.

Thanks so much to everyone who posted a reply to my post. It was very reassuring to learn that I was not the only person with these issues. I did try to add my equipment to my profile, and hope I was successful. However, I am not certain about the mask, since the information on my paperwork from the supplier didn't contain the correct information. After my fitting, I ended up with a different mask that the one that was originally prescribed and the paper work does not reflect that, and I don't have any packaging for the mask. But it is a mouth, plus nasal pillow mask. It is relatively comfortable, compared to the one I wore during the sleep study.

Welcome to the forum.

You machine isn't showing up. Wonder if you chose an older model by mistake as some of those links are broken.
You might just add your machine model in your comments line like I have mine.

Hopefully the machine model you are using is a full data machine so you can use the software available to make sure that your therapy is optimal and not allowing apnea events to be the cause of your pain. Since you mention that your pain levels were greatly reduced during the titration study we want to make sure that you have every chance to maybe get that relief again.

If you can tell us the model name we can tell you if your machine is a full data machine.
If it is you can use Sleepyhead software or ResScan. See the links in my signature line for more information on getting and using the software.

The model name is right by the Start/Stop button.
And you can actually adjust the humidification independent of the temp -- let us know if you want to know how.

Talk to your doctor about your bone pain.

Even if there's no obvious reason for your bone pain, it may be "apnea withdrawal." Your body, hormones, blood, and brain did a lot of adjustment to handle being strangled in your sleep. If CPAP is fixing your apnea, your entire system may be out of whack for a while. It's a bit like stopping smoking, drinking, drugs, etc. It may take a while to get readjusted.