.

[secret agent girl]

.

[Autopapdude]

Not long. I was so sleep starved, my compliance was high from the beginning. Comfortable masks come and go---one gets used to things, and then new ones come out that are improvements. I'd say a few weeks to feeling good about things.

[raggedykat]

The first, and only, mask that I have works for me. I was lucky and did not have any problems either. I am going to try a nasal pillow mask but if it doesn't work I will stick with the ffm that I have.

[DS]

A "decent" mask ... couple of days.
An "optimal" (one that required no further search for a better one) mask ... a couple of years.

Things were mostly under control and working pretty well for me ... a couple of weeks.
Treatment was "optimal" (attaining minimum AHI) ... a couple of months.

Indications that my treatment had begun to reverse my degenerative state of health ... a few days, a few months, a few years, it is ongoing and better everyday!

[pmcall57]

I'm grateful that I can say it took only a few days. Equal parts good luck, determination ("I'm done with being unhealthy, so this is going to work. Period."), and great advice from folks here. Pam

[Scarlet834]

To get the right mask and settings and feel significantly better, about two and a half weeks. To feel like everything was under good control, if not perfect, about a month longer.

[Muse-Inc]

Night 1: quit peeing 8-10 times, never returned. Nights 1-4 were from hell!!! I only slept during my 45-minute ramp periods, within seconds of the machine's going to full pressure I woke up...miserable experience, wish I'd had a longer ramp setting! No mask issues as it was the Respironics OptiLife that I used during titration and it was very comfortable. Night 5: slept 8 hrs without waking up!!! Hurrah! Felt like dancing the next morning. I lived with a sore lower ribcage that radiated to my back (how's that grab ya when you know you're at high risk of a heart attack!), a really runny nose for about 20 mins in the morning (I was in the shower no problem), mask strapmarks (rubbing them briskly helped), playing with humidifier settings to find 1 that provided enough moisture along with the hurricane to not dryout my nose and throat...amongst other annoying side effects for several weeks. But, I was sleeping, glorious, wonderful sleep, and a lot of it.

[kteague]

Time #1: First few months were just awful. No humidifier - was told since I did fine without it in the few hours of the split night study I probably wouldn't need it, but to let them know if I did. How was I to know what the signs of needing it would be? It was not discussed. No data. Later found I needed more pressure. Ramp set a 4 was nearly the death of me. Because I woke up every few minutes and hit ramp again, I never got therapeutic treatment. Began having dreamlike episodes of being out-of-body looking down on myself on the bed not breathing. Scared the dickens out of me so I quit using the machine. Doctor was clueless.

Time #2: Found my way here. Within weeks I was using the treatment successfully except for taking the mask off in my sleep. After 1st failed mask, next two were quite tolerable if not perfect. Tweaks and Padacheek covers made the difference. Finally tried the oft discussed Aura aka Twilight aka Headrest nasal pillows mask with homemade straps and cpap treatment became a non event. Still have major sleep issues due to limb movements, but the cpap aspect is just fine.

If I'd found my way here first, and if I didn't have limb movement issues, I would have been sleeping well in a very few short weeks.

[rise&shiner]

It took a full 30 days to work the kinks out of using the equipment/mask. Now I am working on seeing if I need to tweak the settings.

[MoneyGal]

I had an incredible doctor, a good DME, and incredible, random good luck. It worked out of the box for me, first time I tried it; and has consistently worked since then. (Incredible doc because, although I had no clue about anything, he prescribed a top-of-the-line machine for me, *and* instructed my DME to sell it to me for an extremely low price.)

[Cygnusia]

I'm still working at it. I feel exhausted these days, but I can contribute that to 10 hour shifts at my new job. Plus, I'm still dealing with the never-ending leaks, and have yet to find a solution that works for me. I tolerate the mask itself just fine, but I'm a light sleeper and after wearing it a while I can feel those sides roll right out and start blasting air down my cheeks.

I'm well over a month in now... I just don't really feel any better.

[GaryG]

I'm still working at it. I feel exhausted these days, but I can contribute that to 10 hour shifts at my new job. Plus, I'm still dealing with the never-ending leaks, and have yet to find a solution that works for me. I tolerate the mask itself just fine, but I'm a light sleeper and after wearing it a while I can feel those sides roll right out and start blasting air down my cheeks.

I'm well over a month in now... I just don't really feel any better.

You know, I kinda thought I felt the same way. And then I had a really bad night, and realized how worse I felt when the therapy wasn't working the same. So everything is relative.