Newbie would like to hear success stories, please.

[georgepds]

Hi

I've used mine for ~8 years.

Before CPAP I'd need to take an afternoon nap at work, and on the commute home... no more I'm wide awake. I once parked my car in front of light post at McDonald's for a short commute nap. About every 10 minutes I'd wake at the wheel with a light post in front of me, thinking , Oh No.. this is it. I really don't miss that experience

In the beginning I had a lot of problems getting used to the mask. For me, tracking my progress using software was the key ( I'm a bit of data nut). After a while, I just got used to it. I'd no sooner hit the sack for the night without CPAP than I would without changing from my street clothes.

I'm a bit older now, and if circumstances don't give me a full 8 hours at night, I'll even use the machine for a nap. It guarantees I wake up rested

As to the more serious problems associated with apnea ( stroke, heart attack) I've managed to avoid them, that sounds like success to me

[moreorless]

I had a problem when I first started the machine. I had a mask leak and was able to correct
the problem. I use the machine everyday and never missed a day since I started. I use oxygen
only at night and today I woke up after sleeping 12.5 hours and my ahi is 0.6.
Settings are 20/12 bipap.
I am happy with the machine. And I am never giving up this sleep machine.
At first I was reluctant to use the machine and was going to return it, but did not.

I was going to return it because I was under the impression that I did not need no machine to help me sleep.
Of course I was wrong about that. It helps me sleep.

No way am I giving up this sleep machine, only way I can sleep
and I am thankful for having it.

[Raptorman]

Thought I would share my experience in case anybody is interested. I have had a snoring problem for almost all my life. I am not really overweight, but have been a bodybuilder most of my life. I actually had surgery in 2013 to correct my severe sleep apnea. It worked to an extent, but I still had to sleep in a certain position as to not to snore and disturb my girlfriend. Just recently (last six months) my sleep apnea got worse, even after the surgery, to the point where I was choking and stopping breathing no matter what position I was in when trying to sleep. I went to see my specialist, and he indicated it was due to the thickening of the muscles in my neck due to the weight lifting. I was waking up about a dozen times a night at least. I would have to go out to my car from my office at lunchtime to sleep for half an hour as I couldn't stay awake at my desk. I was exhausted all the time. I finally realized that I would have to try a CPAP machine. Well, this was a life saver. The first night I had it I slept for 12 hours. It took me about a week to catch up on all the lost rest, but, now I feel great! I'm never tired during the day now, and I sleep fairly decently every night. CPAP is my best friend now, and my girlfriend is loving it too, as I was driving her crazy. We can travel now without her getting frustrated at me keeping her awake. I have a RESMED 10 Auto with pillow nostril mask. All I can say is for the longest time I balked at having one of these things, but, I have to say that It's the best decision I made.

[Goldie54914]

Hi, I am new to this forum.
I am 43 years old and I have been using my cpap for three years. After I did a sleep study (which I hated every minute of it),
I found out that I inherited my mother's "worst case of sleep apena in their years of (doctors) practice". So I figured I would get a CPAP.
After three years, my sleep has improved, along with my breathing and the number of times I have woke up in the middle has drastically dropped (In my study, they mentioned that I woke over 100 times in two hours. Now, It's about three times in a 10-12 hour period).
Hated it at first, but once I got the right mask, it ended up being better for me. Now I can't live without my cpap machine.

[tspeerjr]

how do you post a screen shot on this site?

[Krelvin]

how do you post a screen shot on this site?

https://sleep.tnet.com/reference/tips/imgur

Might provide some assistance.

[tspeerjr]

Dope! thanks!

[EdNerd]

Tomorrow will be two weeks since I brought my machine home. SleepyHead shows my AHI has dropped from the 43 that registered during my sleep study to between 2 and 4. And I don't snore any more (more of a benefit to my wife, 'cuz it never bothered *me*!). I still wake up tired - but that's from going to bed at 10:30 or 11:00 and getting up at 4:15!!

Ed

[jsielke]

My problem was I was getting up 8-12 times a night and going to the bathroom. I thought it was a bladder problem, as I had bladder cancer 20 years ago, successfully treated with BCG (a kind of chemo) and had no recurrence. My Urologist even said "Are you getting up to go because you have to go, or are you going because you wake up?" I didn't consider Apnea, as I do not snore (confirmed by wife.) After waiting some time, I went ahead and took an at home sleep test, which showed my AHI at .5, so no apnea, I thought. The sleep specialist noted that my SpO2 dropped below 85% several times, which coincided with my waking. He suggested I might still benefit from CPAP.

Anyway, long story short, I got a Phillips Dreamstation Auto, and a Wisp mask. First night was rough, as I had it on fixed pressure (13). The software showed and AHI of 14!

Moving ahead 3 weeks, I got it set up on auto, 6-15 pressure, and got a Nuance pro nasal pillow mask. What a difference. Last night, for the first time in years, I only woke once. Dream mapper shows AHI 1.2. This is about typical for last 2 weeks. Been using CPAP 100% of the night, and sleeping better than I ever had.

Just for curiosity, I ordered the CMS50F SpO2 monitor, which should come today. I want to see how the SpO2 levels are doing.

I do have COPD, but learned diaphragmatic breathing in Pulmonary rehab, and still in my Tai Chi and Aikido classes. Back about 15 years ago I went from 233 pounds to 170, and hold there. Where I could not walk to the mailbox without stopping to catch my breath, now I hike regularly 3-5 miles, and do Tai Chi and Aikido, work out at gym, etc. Even at that, until CPAP my sleep was interrupted. During day, even with exercise, my SpO2 is between 94-97%. It was only at night, when I would go to sleep and start breathing shallowly, that it dropped.

Anyway, good thing I started. A bit late (I will be 73 in April), but better late than never!

[TASmart]

I have been on CPAP for two weeks now, and thus far it's been a total success. I was 99% sure I had sleep apnea for many years, basically since I first heard about sleep apnea. Of course I did not realize either the severity of the disorder, nor what treatments were available. First noticed snoring, multiple night awakenings, and extreme restless sleep since I was in high school in the early 1970s. I first noticed that I was tired most of the time a few years later, wrote it off to college pressures. Years passed. I refused treatment for HBP saying I was always that way gained lots of weight, entered recurrent depressions, went on and off and on anti depressants. Since I was first treated for depression in the 1990s, I complained about being tired all the time. The standard answer was give it time for the antidepressant to work. I gave it time, and felt better, but still fought to get out of bed, and never felt like doing much of anything outside of work.

And so it went. Finally in 2003 psychiatrist told me he thought I had ADD and possibly Sleep apnea. By then I was self insured, and could not afford sleep studies. Treatment for ADD ( now I know it was not ADD but was being so tired I needed the stimulation of work) was a low dose of amphetamine, plus the long cycles of antidepressants. It all helped, but I still was tired and worn out all the time. I had no reserve to do much other than work, ski and a bit of bicycling.

Pretty much from that point on, I forgot about apnea, and whenever I saw a Dr complained about tiredness. Tried some thyroid meds only slight help.

Finally in 2016, fully too tier to be any more tired, I got a referral to a sleep center for an initial consultation. The referral was in July. Sleep Centers here are so backed up I had the initial consult in October, the first sleep test in December and the titration in March. Dx was moderate sleep apnea, desaturation down to 82% for 1/4 of my sleep time. I received a Resmed Airsense 10 Auto on March 22. First couple of nights were difficult. Had my sinuses swell shut the first night, lots of leasks and mouth breathing the next couple of nights. but my AHI was down from and untreated 27 to 3ish. Over the last couple of weeks a few tweeks and its running from .7 to 2 nightly. And I Feel fantastic.

From the first morning I felt awake. I can't remember when I did not feel tired nor want a nap. I have quit napping, i wake spontaneously w/o an alarm at between 5 and 6 daily. My mood is better than its been in a very long time. Although I have not felt a big energy surge, what has happened may be better. I am not sleepy. I am awake all day every day, and I feel a sense of calm. Previously I needed to drink a lot of coffee to feel alert and needed that wound up nervous tension to be productive. Now, I am calmly and happily awake and alert. What a great feeling.

That's my story, hope it helps someone seek and get treatment. Apnea is worse than death - its a half death that does not need to be.

[OboeVet]

Thank you all for sharing your successful journeys! When I started in 2013 this virtual community definitely helped me through the hurdles.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

[wajg55]

I started on CPAP 20 years ago. Getting used to the mask, the noise, and the pressure took a bit of stubbornness over a few weeks. I don't really remember how long that adjustment period lasted, but I do remember what happened a few weeks later...

As I walked down the hallway at work, I suddenly realized that I was awake. I remember looking around and thinking that everything looked different (clearer? brighter? crisper?). It became obvious to me in that moment that I had been a walking zombie for many, many years. My commitment to CPAP crystallized in that moment.

I have occasionally gone without CPAP for a night or two. After the first non-CPAP night, I am noticeably dragging and irritable. I feel very tired. After a second consecutive night without CPAP, I become totally useless. I cannot think, I cannot stand being around people, my overriding desire is to curl up and go to sleep. Fortunately, I have only experienced this a few times (maybe 10-20 times over the 20 years), just often enough to know what CPAP means to me.

I had another sleep study done recently. For those who like numbers, my oxygen saturation (O2sat) is under 90 half the time when I do not use CPAP; it occasionally drops to the 70's. With CPAP, it hovers around 97 and never drops below 95. Unlike most people, I consider O2sat to be the most important number to look at. If your blood doesn't have enough oxygen, that means your brain, heart, and other organs do not have enough oxygen. If this is chronic, it can lead to all kinds of medical issues. In my case, it led to atrial fibrillation and metabolic syndrome. Normal O2sat is somewhere in the upper 90's.

[Arlene1963]

I've already posted to this thread and now, almost a year later, want to update.

My AHI is pretty consistently less than 1 most nights, most of those being central SWJ events, and finally, my flow limitation chart has been tamed, this is due to increasing my CPAP pressure to 9cm. Also, EPR 3 works wonders for me and transformed my CPAP use.

Thanks to advice I read here I learned to use a soft cervical collar to reduce mouth leaks and to help tame flow limitations.

I think it was Chunkyfrog who recommended to a poster that keeping a supply of wipes next to the bed to wipe off a nasal pillow (and face and nose too) during the night can be useful, and this has proved to be very helpful advice, as I would often wake up at night with what felt like a hot and sweaty nose. Snippets of advice like this has made adjusting to CPAP so much easier.

Honestly, any success I have in my treatment is largely due to finding several online Sleep Apnea forums that I've read and followed closely.

I am sleeping much better, feeling healthy and happy. My grateful thanks to those who provide advice and encouragement day in and out.

[Maxtrixbass]

I am one of the lucky ones who noticed substancial changes after the first night. I felt like I had actuallyslept for the first time in many many years (at least 15). My biggest change is that it feels the mental fog has lifted.

Long story, but did it without any help from the medical profession. This board was tremendously helpful.

If you are new to it and don't see results right away, stick with it. If you delayed outcome is even close it will be very much worth it.

[JimmyJ]

Not sure that I have a dramatic success story. But I use my mask religiously, even for short naps during the day. It only took me about a week to get used to the Mask. When I dont use my mask (get drunk and fall asleep without it) i do feel terrible the next day. I didnt have health insurance for a while so I didnt get started as soon as I wanted. But a couple of years before medicare kicked in I had an osteopathic surgeon just look at me as say I couldnt do day surgery because i had sleep apnea (no testintg, he just knew). So I generally feel better when i use the mask, but its wasnt life changing.
But I do have a story. A good friend at work described symptoms that were exactly sleep apnea but he didnt have medical insurance either, and he couldnt afford the sleep test (mine was $5k) I had been on the machine for about 8 months, and during that time I changed secondary insurance providers (went from AARP to Humana) and ended up with two machines. So I gave the first machine to my friend. It was night and day for him, he was ecstatic about how good it was for him. Then a couple of months later the insurance companies figured it out and demanded we give back the extra machine. We did so and he said it was horrible, couldnt sleep, felt miserable, etc, horrible, etc. I had an appt with my pulmonary specialist, told him the situation with my friend and he wrote me a prescription for a machine (the pressure setting I had worked very well for my friend). Then I ordered a Respironics system one on line for $330 for my friend. He was a very happy camper, he didnt turn into a nice person (he was something of a curmudgeon) but the machine made a very real difference in his life.

So even though you might have trouble adapting, just keep trying various things to make you comfortable with your machine (you have a humidifier right?)
And as a test just stop using it for a couple of days and you will realize how much better is is with the mask.