I still hate my cpap machine but....

[Ldrakekat]

Last night was the first night since starting this therapy that I had a decent night's sleep. A whole 4 1/2 hrs. But I'm not complaining. Who would have thought that an scrap of T-shirt and the knowledge of what the ramp button was for would make such a huge difference? But it did and I am grateful. I would like to thank all the people who understood where I was coming from with my first post and responded with kindness and help. Help that I didn't even realize I needed. I just thought I had to put up with the problems and accept my lack of sleep as a new fact of life. Thank you Pugsy, Xenablue, Madalot (I might change my id to Madalot2), Ineedanap, lonestar, archangle, alshain, ameriken & Idamtnboy who actually made me laugh when I didn't think any of this was funny. And many others. You are all too kind.
And now I go to work with the feeling that I might actually have a productive day for the first time in nearly a month. Thank you all again.

Kat

[RomeinDNVR]

Glad to hear you had a better night, hopefully you will continue to get more and more sleep each night.

Rome

[ameriken]

That's great news Kat, I hope you have many more nights like this and better. There is one thing for sure: CPAP therapy is not easy and it takes work. Stick around the forum, post your issues and concerns and we'll do whatever we can to help make it better.

Good luck!

[Madalot]

Last night was the first night since starting this therapy that I had a decent night's sleep. A whole 4 1/2 hrs. But I'm not complaining. Who would have thought that an scrap of T-shirt and the knowledge of what the ramp button was for would make such a huge difference?

And now I go to work with the feeling that I might actually have a productive day for the first time in nearly a month. Thank you all again.

This is good to hear. Scrap of a t-shirt and Ramp are the first of many tips that will make this easier.

Congratulations on a better night. I hope this is just the beginning of many, many more.

[carbonman]

ahhh....BUT....the great disqualifier.
Cancels all that was said before it.

And now I go to work with the feeling that I might actually have a productive day for the first time in nearly a month. Thank you all again.
Kat

Now your journey begins in earnest.

Congrats! Welcome to your new life.

I'll see you on the road.

[Meowser]

Glad to hear!! Its a start and I hope that it gets better for you!

Cheers!

[msradar65]

Kat,

Good to hear things are improving! This group has more knowledge that a ton of doctors put together! I am glad you were able to finally get some rest. Lets hope and pray it continues to improve for you has you continue on your CPAP journey.


To make you laugh. I woke up this morning with the hose and the sheet wrapped around my neck! I knew I was tired...but didn't know I was THAT tired! lol

[nichola]

Hey i started at about 4 hours sleep with the damn thing too... but it does get better as your body learns that this is the new way of sleeping. Im up to 7 hours now YAY

Are you feeling more awake than before you started CPAP with the 4 hours sleep? Or at least on par?

[Emilia]

Congrats! A few more nights like that and better ones, too, and you'll be thinking better, have begun to heal some of the damage that your lack of O2 was causing (unbeknownst to you), and you may find you have a bit more energy, to boot. All of this will help you for the rest of your life, but as your doctor is trying to do, it is also preparing you to weather the surgery and after-care you are facing.

With 30 events per hour and a low O2, you need to realize this is a commitment for the foreseeable future. You can get this to work for you. Personally, I'd much rather see you with an auto adjusting machine with such a high pressure, but maybe that can be changed out soon once you navigate all this information and begin to understand and learn how to handle it. A knowledgable patient is an empowered patient. Learn all you can about this; take charge of your own therapy; get the software and learn to read it.

Here's to many more good nights of deep, restful sleep.

[ameriken]

We can also send you software so you can download your reports and watch your progress on a daily basis, such as your AHI (Apnea/Hypopnea Index), leaks, etc.

As Emilia said, 30/hour and 80% O2's are serious concerns, even if you are feeling great. Your doc did a great thing by discovering your sleep apnea. However, once they've diagnosed you, titrated you, and put a machine in your bedroom, they're about done and other than occasional followup visits, I highly doubt you'll get any more specific help to get you through the nights and improve your breathing. During my followup visit with the VA, I brought my datacard and the doctor didn't even want to see it or discuss it.

So now you're pretty much on your own...but you have us, and hopefully everyone here is finished wrongly referring to you as a whiner and a troll. There's a lot of great folks here with a lot of experience and knowledge, and after spending a month or two here, you'll know far more about sleep apnea and CPAP therapy than your doctor or DME (Durable Medical Equipment supplier) will ever know. Good luck and I hope your good nights continue.

[archangle]

I'm glad things are better for you.

Isn't it a sad comment on the state of the medical mafia in this country that you have to go to a free website to get help instead of getting useful help from the people who are raking in obscene amounts of money for providing the equipment to you?

[Pugsy]

Congrats on a huge milestone. There will be many more. When you are up to it we will get you the software and help you understand it.
It really isn't that difficult. Looks worse than it is.

[Janknitz]

Wow, Kat,

I stayed out of the other thread, because you were simply too stressed to listen. Now that you are calming down, you can take advantage of all the wonderful help here and I hope you will appreciate the people that stuck in there with you when it was really HARD to do so!

You may want to consider how awful you feel when you don't have control of the situation as you go forward with your surgical procedure and plan ahead how you will cope. You can't tie your surgery to drag along behind the back of your car if it's hard to adjust to afterward. The only one you'll be able to take it out on is yourself--not good!

I have some tips on my blog that may help with the CPAP--see the links in my signature below. Take a look especially at "Taming the Mirage Quattro" as it will help with your mask fitting and comfort. Ramping is good, but the disadvantage is that when you put your mask on to go to bed you are at a fairly low pressure. If you adjust your mask at that point, it will "blow" once the higher pressure is reached. Using the clinician's menu, you can set your machine at the higher pressure, fit the mask, and then turn the ramp back on before you go to sleep so that you can take advantage of the lower pressure to start with.

The PR S1 machine humidifiers don't heat the water very much, especially if you have enough relative humidity that they don't have to put out much heat to avoid rainout. A hose cozy (something wrapped around the hose) helps--you can buy one (look at them on our host's website, CPAP.com) or make your own. Padacheek makes them, too, I think. You can look into buying an Aussie heated hose, which wraps around the hose to warm the air.

One by one we can help you deal with the annoyances. You should see your sleep intervals gradually lengthen, though there may still be some bad nights here and there. They will gradually disappear. Now that you're working it, instead of fighting it, things should continue to improve overall.

[kteague]

Hi. If 4 hours makes this much of a difference in how functional you feel, you're in for a real treat as your sleep time increases. Just want to mention that there have been discussions on here in the past of how there is an increasing awareness of the value of OSA treatment in post surgical healing and recovery. Hopefully the benefits of mastering this therapy will be evident as you go through your surgery and recouperation.

[ozze_dollar]

Sometimes in the morning I just dont want to get out of bed. Its just so nice with the treated air being pumped into you and I cant even feel the mask on my face.Very relaxing.