How long did it take for CPAP results to show?

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.

How long did it take for you to feel better once beginning CPAP treatment.

Instantly
27
22%
1-3 days
26
21%
3-7days
8
6%
2 weeks
11
9%
1 month
9
7%
3 months
10
8%
6 months
7
6%
1 year
5
4%
Never made me feel better.
22
18%
 
Total votes: 125

ressy81
Posts: 1
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Location: dartmouth, mass.

Re: How long did it take for CPAP results to show?

Post by ressy81 » Sat Jun 22, 2013 6:40 pm

It took me about 1 month to get used to the CPAP therapy but I still get sleepy during the day. However, having said that, I feel much better now that I am into my 2nd year.

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cherylann
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Re: How long did it take for CPAP results to show?

Post by cherylann » Sat Jun 22, 2013 8:32 pm

I am right at two years into mine and continue to get worse. Had two sleep studies and been to several doctors none of whom have helped me whatsoever. Latest doctor is thrilled because she says the results show it is working. Yeah, it's working during the 2-3 hours a night that I can tolerate the mask. I get up every morning severely unable to breathe and tightness in my chest. I live my life in a fog with episodes several time a day of not being able to breathe and chest pains. I constantly am taking aspirin for the headaches that just don't go away. All of this from not getting any sleep!!!! Every night i go to bed wondering if this is the night that have a heart attack or simply don't wake up.

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Tipiford
Posts: 37
Joined: Mon Jun 10, 2013 2:22 pm

Re: How long did it take for CPAP results to show?

Post by Tipiford » Sun Jun 23, 2013 6:19 am

TmjTerri wrote:For me it is very very difficult. I just cannot, cannot, cannot get used to my machine. I don't know what to do. Mine is in my closet as we speak. I tried and tried to get used to it but just cannot. I would love any advice. I have severe complex sleep apnea and I know I need to use it but I am literally miserable using it. Any advice would be so appreciated!! Thanks! I know this is a poll but I thought I would also ask for advice while posting how I personally feel. Hopefully this is ok on this post!
Perhaps you mean getting used to a mask rather than a machine. I'm on my seventh mask and sleeping with therapy has become tolerable─not comfortable, but I feel like I'm making progress, even though I'm tired most mornings. I will probably go through, yet, more masks before I find that one that really will make a difference.

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Mr19
Posts: 24
Joined: Fri May 24, 2013 5:19 am

Re: How long did it take for CPAP results to show?

Post by Mr19 » Sun Jun 23, 2013 6:48 am

I was diagnosed 12 years ago. After a lengthy struggle getting used to the mask, I was on CPAP for a while. I definitely felt more energy in the afternoon. After about two months, I went on vacation (without my machine) and was never able to get back on it. It's not like my symptoms were debilitating. Fast forward to present. I had been feeling horrible--fatigue, muscle pain, lack of initiative. Docs told me it was probably the sleep apnea, so at the suggestion of my sister I got a Swift FX and got back on the machine. I noticed a difference right away: I didn't get tired immediately after doing any activity. It's like my energy tank went from small to extra large. I started retaining water better (no night peeing) and I noticed being sharper mentally, too. After about a week, I noticed my muscle pain was gone.

My gradual improvements went on for a few weeks. Then at about the 4 week mark, I didn't feel as good. I'm not sure whether I just stopped improving or whether I actually felt worse. I still feel better overall, I just have some days where I don't have as much energy. I think this is probably normal for a 60-year-old. My energy tank is still pretty big: I can play 5 hrs of tennis in a day, or run 3-1/2 miles then walk 18 holes of golf, but I will generally be a little tired the next day. I'm finding I am a sated on 6-7 hours sleep, where I used to need 8.

I gained a quick 6 lbs the first week, and that has stayed on, but my bodyfat % has dropped 3-4%. I think this is due to water retention.

Right now, I am 7 weeks into CPAP, and I generally sleep soundly through most of the night. The mask isn't an issue at all; I fall asleep with a minute or two, just like before. I occasionally wake up in the middle of the night--sometimes due to CPAP, sometimes not. I sleep on my back all night, and I never wake up when my wife gets up or turns on her iPad in the middle of the night--and I used to all the time. So far, so good.

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Tipiford
Posts: 37
Joined: Mon Jun 10, 2013 2:22 pm

Re: How long did it take for CPAP results to show?

Post by Tipiford » Sun Jun 23, 2013 7:06 am

This was a difficult poll for me, as I am still very tired most mornings. The best I have felt since therapy has been when my stats for the first time went way over 5 (went to 14 and had been averaging 1½-3½); seems neither rhyme, reason nor correlation. I had to honestly check "Instantly" on the poll, but that no where nears approach a well-rested, healing sleep for me. But results I did have, and on that first night.

Tipiford

djhall
Posts: 323
Joined: Fri Jun 21, 2013 10:47 am
Location: Vacaville, CA

Re: How long did it take for CPAP results to show?

Post by djhall » Sun Jun 23, 2013 6:58 pm

I have only had 3 consecutive nights of successful "therapy" (4+ hours of sleep with an AHI <=5), but the difference to me is significant and my fiancee keeps saying I'm like a whole new person. She used to wake up before me and I'd have to be in the shower or past my third cup of coffee before I'd be past falling asleep again if I sat or laid down for more than a few seconds. If she didn't wake me I would usually sleep through my super loud alarm clock for ten to twenty minutes before waking. However, the last two days I have woken up on my own before the alarm clock sounded, laid there for several minutes without falling back asleep, and easily gotten out of bed to brew coffee and start getting ready for the day.

I feel alert, my eyelids are less droopy, and I'm not fighting the desire to lay down on the floor an nap after being awake for more than four to eight hours. Luckily, falling and staying asleep with the mask on hasn't been much of a problem so far, but since I had an AHI of 82 at 12/10 on my first night (my 90% is 22/20) I can only imagine how bad my AHI must have been with no treatment at all! Now I'm just praying this lasts as I get used to the machine and the excess sleep-debt gets repaid.

midnight_skulker
Posts: 21
Joined: Sun Jan 01, 2012 4:21 pm
Location: Southeast USA

Re: How long did it take for CPAP results to show?

Post by midnight_skulker » Mon Jun 24, 2013 3:59 pm

Never made me feel better. I've been on Bipap religiously for 18 months. In my opinion i've never had a problem sleeping.

I had a bout with atrial fibrilation. My cardiologist sent me to a sleep clinic. The results of the sleep study said that I had severe sleep apnea and I have now been on Bipap for 18 months. I have only missed 4 hours per night twice in the 18 months. When I wake up in the wee hours of the morning, I look at the clock. If i have made my four hours for the night I take the mask off and I go back to sleep almost immediately.

My A-fib was "cured" for now with a catheter ablation. My blood pressure is about the same. I take 3 meds to control my blood pressure. I was first diagnosed with high blood pressure when I was 21. I am now 67 and it hasn't killed me yet.

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IsaacTN
Posts: 13
Joined: Fri Jun 21, 2013 10:42 am
Location: Nashville, TN

Re: How long did it take for CPAP results to show?

Post by IsaacTN » Mon Jun 24, 2013 4:08 pm

I've only been using my CPAP for a few days, but for me the difference was immediately obvious. I'm not springing out of bed singing and dancing or anything like that, and I still want to beat cheerful morning people half to death for the first hour or so, but it's not taking as much effort for me to drag my dead rear out of bed. Also I'm feeling less foggy mentally (I was previously pretty useless before noon), generally more energetic all day, and I'm actually remembering dreams for the first time in, well, memory. Physiologically there are already confirmable improvements. My normal Dr. has me tracking my blood pressure because I was borderline. I was consistently around 145/90 BP and 90+ HR every morning upon waking. Every day since starting therapy I've been around 100/74 BP and 72 HR. Of course, during my study my SpO2 was around 76% for the entire time I was sleeping without the CPAP (AHI 73), so it would make a lot of sense as my body is no longer clawing its way out of O2 starvation every time I wake up. I would always wake up and feel my heart thundering, haven't felt that since starting therapy.

I hate hearing that others haven't reaped the same benefit even after long term therapy, because for me it already feels life-changing.

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JohnO
Posts: 573
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Location: Twin Cities, Minnesota, USA

Re: How long did it take for CPAP results to show?

Post by JohnO » Tue Jun 25, 2013 7:42 am

I've been on the Auto-CPAP for about 11 months now. One thing I've realized is that I think that since I (well, my wife) discovered my sleep apnea within a few months of it starting, I didn't have the years of problems that others may have suffered.

In terms of time to see results? As others have reported, the mask adjustment took a couple of weeks. Outside of that, I stopped snoring immediately, and was clearly moving less at night. I also went from getting up 3-4 times a night to pee to just once. I never had many of the main sleep apnea symptoms, but there were a few afternoons that I nearly feel asleep at my desk. That problem stopped immediately after starting therapy. I would also wake up with bad headaches once every couple of months. That has stopped too.

Overall, the few symptoms that I had stopped, and I feel good knowing that my blood oxygenation is no longer dropping below 90% multiple times a night.

John

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ironhands
Posts: 249
Joined: Thu Jun 20, 2013 12:48 pm

Re: How long did it take for CPAP results to show?

Post by ironhands » Tue Jun 25, 2013 7:55 am

I'm not on mine yet, but I can tell you I certainly hope it'll be instant. I'm yawning at my desk right now. went to bed by midnight, up at 8, 2 hours later and after a 30 minute bike ride to work, I'm ready for a nap; and I'm pretty sure I'll need one when I get home. I'm at the point in sleepiness when I can't keep my head up, yawned 5 times writing this lol.

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m4ick
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Jun 09, 2014 9:40 am

Re: How long did it take for CPAP results to show?

Post by m4ick » Mon Jun 09, 2014 9:45 am

Instantly for me. I was to the point where I was on the verge of sleep, or even fell asleep, every afternoon at work. 5 days in and have not even felt like dozing off. I see some people posting that they feel like crap when they wake up. I am the same way but I think it's because I'm sleeping so much deeper. On the way to work I am less awake than before but once I'm finally fully awake I stay that way. Very happy with my CPAP at this point.

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bwexler
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Re: How long did it take for CPAP results to show?

Post by bwexler » Mon Nov 13, 2017 3:06 pm

By the way this is an ancient poll.

The poll is titled "How long did it take for you to feel better once beginning CPAP treatment?" I don't - 7 years later. I'm still tired.

I no longer fall asleep at stop lights or while watching TV. So bringing my AHI from 84 to less than 2 has made a difference. I never snored before or after, I know since I have stayed up all night on a number of occasions to be sure.

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AMESS
Posts: 379
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Re: How long did it take for CPAP results to show?

Post by AMESS » Wed Nov 15, 2017 6:28 pm

2 and a half months in and dont think it will ever happen. Everytime I turn around--another problem. First goal--good sleep--even just decent sleep will do. Husband now has his cpap as of last night. We can now listen to each other moan and groan.

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Goofproof
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Re: How long did it take for CPAP results to show?

Post by Goofproof » Wed Nov 15, 2017 6:42 pm

Happy Wife Happy Life... Jim
Use data to optimize your xPAP treatment!

"The art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while nature cures the disease." Voltaire