I’ve been on cpap for just over a year and I’m still recovering from years of untreated apnea/uars. I’m very sensitive to sleep disruptions and if I don’t get a great night of sleep, my brain fog is terrible the next day.
I might be moving to 7000ft elevation (2100 meters) soon and I’m worried about the effect it’ll have on my health and sleep. I obviously desat more when I’m there, and my ahi goes up a bit (mostly CA events). But I’ve only ever visited for a week or so, so my body really never had time to fully adjust. I generally feel tired, weak, depleted, and brain fogged when I’m up there.
I guess my question is for those who live at such high elevations: Do you feel like you adequately recovered from the brain fog and fatigue aspects of sleep apnea? Do you feel better when you’re at sea level? Can the body fully adjust to living in such an environment or am I better off staying at sea level?
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Most PAP machines adapt for higher elevation without you having to do anything.
If you're moving to the inter mountain west, remember it is high desert. You will acclimate much faster if you increase your hydration.
But it can take months to fully adapt. I move between 750ft and 9,300ft every 3 months or so. I never fully adapt to the higher elevation.
What symptoms make you say you never fully adapt? This is my fear. I’m sure I’ll somewhat adapt but the fact is that there’s alot less oxygen available so it must be harder for the body regardless of adaptation.
What is your CPAP machine?
Aircurve 11. I know the machine adjusts, I’m more worried about my body adjusting to the lower oxygen.
Got you, but if you don't have problems in your lungs like COPD you will be fine... The body adjusts, and when you sleep is when you need less oxygen.. The real problem is make cardio efforts.
I live at 9000 feet. I think there is a high altitude setting? I was diagnosed after moving up here. You’re going to need to acclimate which can take a long time (took me 6 months to really feel not out of breath but I moved from 0 feet to 9k feet) and that can give you some headaches and brain fog. I feel the cpap works well and I feel great! If you feel like it’s not effective, you can get oxygen added in.
I've lived at about 5600' for over 50 years. My O2 is lower than what people get at lower elevations. It's generally in the 90-95% range overnight (my Wellue O2 ring generally comes up with a higher number than my Fitbit). With proper settings, I don't get an excessive number of CA events.
It will take time but you'll eventually adjust. Yes, the body can generally fully adjust, within limits. Lots of us live at altitude long term without being noticeably unhealthier than people who live at sea level. Your average O2 will never be as high as at sea level, but once your body has a chance to make enough red blood cells to compensate, you should be fine. I'm not sure how long that takes, but it's at least several months.
I haven't been down to sea level since I started on PAP therapy. And, I'd probably have to stay at sea level for long enough to adapt to it to know whether I feel better there over the long term. I don't expect that I'll ever move to a significantly lower altitude (even if I might visit), so I doubt I'll ever know.
I live at 5000 ft. I do fine at 7000 ft and I only have trouble at 8500 ft- I feel notably more fatigued, have far less stamina, and recovery takes ages. I'm never there for more than a week at a time, though.
Oh, and I once tried using my travel CPAP at 8500 ft, and I haven't had a worse week since starting CPAP
When you say “obviously desat more”, how much are you talking about?
Lowest I usually see at sea level is 90. Saw 83 at 7k feet. And just a lot more time in the low 90’s /high 80s than I do at home.
If you’re concerned, talk to your prescriber (and ideally share the data with them).
Your spO2 is going to be ~5% lower at that altitude than at sea level, which seems aligned with your experience.