Success Story!

[Rsam]

I want to share with all my experience with my diagnosis of mild to moderate apnea. I went in for my yearly physical and checked the snore button on my questionaire. That lead to my family doctor suggesting I see a sleep doc... I thought to myself wow, they are really trying to milk the insurace on me. I am perfectly healthy. I had no symptoms of apnea... so I thought. I thought apnea folks fell asleep all the time and I'm never really tired.

well my sleep test showed I was mild to moderate range, I am always the sceptic, as I thought I was healthy as a horse other than my snoring. well lets see this insurance milking through to the end to prove once and for all I'm fine. I got fitted for my new S9 Auto and took it home...

I had a couple of problems keeping the mask adjusted, from what I read typical newbie problems with cpap users.

my findings:

after the first night it is simply amazing. I cannot put in words the difference in feeling! I am overwhelmed with engergy... bubling with it infact. My level of clarity is at a whole new level, I always thought of myself as someone who is sharp... but my concentration is at a whole new level, I thought I was a mild case of ADHD but now I think sleep was the problem. I actually need time for my body to adjust because it almost feels like I drank too much caffeene. I wish I would have taken that test in my 20's.

anyway hopes this help someone at least give it a shot. for any that care my settings for mild\modertate apnea rating is set to 4-8

a side note, I used a a program called "sleep as android" funny name I know but really a good app to measure sleepmovement and trend quality sleep, however, I have been tracking for years before cpap, and after, results look a little better but not a ground breaking difference. Simply stating I'm not sure how to measure the effects of the cpap machine, but feel it out for yourself.


Edit; Adding more strange behavior after cpap

since I was a kid in my teens I have always hated sunlight in my eyes... that is why I own close to 30 pairs of sunglasses. The sun REALLY bothered me. I would wear even in the rain in my car. Now... I can walk in full sunlight and not just tolerate the sun, but welcome it. OMG!


Adding link to sleep data captured on "Sleep as Android".

https://sleep-cloud.appspot.com/auth?us ... so5emsv7b9

--Seattle Guy

[Julie]

What machine do you have - make and model (model #'s underneath but don't tip it til you empty humidifier water!). And what type of mask? Do you know what pressures your machine's set to? You may well have a machine that gives you data (on a slip-in card) that you can read on your computer to find out how you're doing.

[tortoisegirl]

Welcome! Glad you've been seeing a benefit, and so early in therapy too. Agreed that reviewing data can be very helpful, as its possible things can be tweaked even more over time. It sounds like you didn't have a titration study (where they determine what pressure you need)? So the APAP setting may just be an initial guess. Sometimes they set it wide open (4-20) and sometimes they narrow it more to start. Hopefully you have a follow up appointment with your doctor to review your data, but a lot of folks here are more hands on with their therapy.

I was also set up with an APAP instead of a titration study (I only had diagnostic studies). Pressure requirements are not based on the severity of the apnea (which is based on the events per hour), but what pressure is required to clear airway obstructions. Pressures can vary from 4 to 20+, and can also vary during the night (such as REM vs. non-REM sleep). ie. someone can have mild apnea and need 20 and someone can be have severe apnea and need 4. You can add your equipment info under User Control Panel, Profile, Edit Equipment. Best wishes.

[Rsam]

What machine do you have - make and model (model #'s underneath but don't tip it til you empty humidifier water!). And what type of mask? Do you know what pressures your machine's set to? You may well have a machine that gives you data (on a slip-in card) that you can read on your computer to find out how you're doing.

most night my AHI is 1-2, last saturday I think it was 4.6 or something like that. The pressure is set to 4-8 at least that is what the sleep tech said.

[icipher]

Congratulations. And most of all, good on you for getting the study done.