Newbie would like to hear success stories, please.

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

Re: Newbie would like to hear success stories, please.

Post by astrojock » Thu Oct 16, 2014 5:58 am

Fifteen year user of CPAP therapy here. It took a while to find the right mask and for my wife and me to get used to the white noise from the machine. I have missed only two days in 15 yrs due to machine/mask problems. It works very well - 6.5-7 hrs/night Normally, I sleep 5-6 hrs straight. Still an occasional nap in the afternoon (I'm retired). Don't think that I could live without it.

dwk99
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Nov 14, 2014 9:37 am

Re: Newbie would like to hear success stories, please.

Post by dwk99 » Fri Nov 14, 2014 9:51 am

Newbie - 1 week in, I feel so lucky - Am I going to hit a wall...

I ignored my suspected sleep apnea for years - have all the signs - loud snoring, fall asleep instantly anywhere, nap all the time, wake up tired all the time, no energy to do anything around the house. Finally got to a point where I just did not feel good anymore, like there was something seriously wrong medically. Living on energy drinks that did nothing to give me energy. I had a hard time concentrating to even read email at work. Went to the doctor & he convinced me to do a sleep study. AHI - 112.

One week in with CPAP (have the AirSense 10 and AutoFit F10 full mask), I feel like a new lease on life - very little trouble with mask after first 2 nights (need to adjust the straps some to get better seal), sleeping great. waking up feeling great, alert, staying awake all day, can concentrate at work, tasks around the house are no longer dreaded as I have energy.

I found this forum, learned about Sleepyhead and downloaded the software, ran the first 6 days of data - AHI 1.7.

This feels great, hope it's not too good to be true...

Big Q
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Nov 12, 2014 11:33 am
Location: Alabama

Re: Newbie would like to hear success stories, please.

Post by Big Q » Sat Nov 15, 2014 12:43 pm

Hey Yall from Alabama !! ,
I just finished a sleep study , I'm waiting on INS to approve my machine. Not sure if it was that bad , I snore a lot from one end of the house to the other lol. When I slept was having 9 episodes of apnea per hour for about 15 seconds or so ny sat was 80 %. With CPAP sats were staying around 93 %.

Big Q

User avatar
Too tall
Posts: 297
Joined: Sat Dec 14, 2013 10:58 pm

Re: Newbie would like to hear success stories, please.

Post by Too tall » Mon Nov 17, 2014 4:23 pm

I hate it and I sleep worse with it than without it. It's a curse. There.
System One RemStar Pro with C-Flex+ (460P)

sleepydc
Posts: 71
Joined: Sun Aug 04, 2013 9:55 am

Re: Newbie would like to hear success stories, please.

Post by sleepydc » Wed Nov 19, 2014 4:32 pm

For discouraged newbies who might read a negative "I hate cpap and feel worse with it" post in this "success stories please" section (??), I'd encourage you to please pay attention to the vast majority of posts in this section from folks who have managed to adapt to and have success with cpap. There are many who are able to overcome the discouragement and frustrations. You are not alone, and it is possible to have great success with cpap. (I contributed a post myself in February 2014). Hang in there, learn from the web site and the many good folks who share and help, and good luck!

_________________
Mask: Quattro™ Air Full Face Mask with Headgear
Additional Comments: Settings 9.5 to 11; PR SYSTEM ONE REMSTAR 60 series autocpap 560 with aflex

User avatar
Broken Bob
Posts: 42
Joined: Sat Jan 21, 2012 9:25 am
Location: louisville ky

Re: Newbie would like to hear success stories, please.

Post by Broken Bob » Wed Dec 03, 2014 7:20 am

4 years on "the machine"! AHI from 20 to 46, 3 sleep studies, 2 sleep doctors, many mask, wife moved out, neighbors moved out, very loud noises, big leaks, lots of questions, many self adjustments to pressures, lots of leg cramps, downloading to Sleepy Head several times a week.

About a month ago, my AHI went to single digits, still have large leaks but they are getting better, I am using Pad-A-Cheek on full face Quattro Mirage, I found that when leaks happen more frequently, I wash the Pad-A-Cheek and the leaks diminish. Neighbors moved back! Leg cramps gone, sleeping good, I am now at the juncture-If it ain't broke, don't fix it!!!

BB

_________________
Mask

User avatar
Too tall
Posts: 297
Joined: Sat Dec 14, 2013 10:58 pm

Re: Newbie would like to hear success stories, please.

Post by Too tall » Sun Dec 21, 2014 11:10 pm

sleepydc wrote:For discouraged newbies who might read a negative "I hate cpap and feel worse with it" post in this "success stories please" section (??), I'd encourage you to please pay attention to the vast majority of posts in this section from folks who have managed to adapt to and have success with cpap. There are many who are able to overcome the discouragement and frustrations. You are not alone, and it is possible to have great success with cpap. (I contributed a post myself in February 2014). Hang in there, learn from the web site and the many good folks who share and help, and good luck!

Sorry, I shouldn't have posted that on this thread as you said. You are right, There are probably 500 good to my 1 bad story. Most everything you hear on this forum will be "the cpap is the best solution for everyone with OSA". I just wanted some to know that it doesn't work for everyone but I shouldn't have posted that here. All it's done for me is disrupt what used to be good sleep and lower my ahi from 8 to under 1. Maybe I'll start a "would like to hear from CPAP hatters.

My apologies to all.
System One RemStar Pro with C-Flex+ (460P)

MacroAlan
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Oct 09, 2011 2:51 pm
Location: Saint Louis, MO

success stories, please.

Post by MacroAlan » Mon Jan 12, 2015 2:56 pm

Do you really want a success story? I was diagnosed in August 1994. I am now on my third machine.

My first machine was lost in a house fire and the month to get it replaced was the longest month of my life. The second machine finally broke down in the doctor's office when the guts separated from the case.

Before I was diagnosed, I would fall asleep while driving (missed an exit on interstate), while sitting at my desk, and in staff meetings. There were constant headaches from waking up hundreds of times a night. Within days of getting the first CPAP machine, I was a new person. I had energy again and was a fun person. I have traveled with it in the car and on airplanes, domestic and international. Don’t leave home without it!

When they called me about supplies, I told the customer service rep that I had only missed 40 days in the last 20 years; to his question whether I had used it in the last 30 days.
Alan

Woody
Posts: 592
Joined: Sat Mar 10, 2007 7:59 pm

Re: Newbie would like to hear success stories, please.

Post by Woody » Tue Jan 20, 2015 6:37 am

I was diagnosed with sleap apnia a little over 7 years ago and at the time
my memory was shot. I was worried I was developing Altimeters, I could
read a book and 2 weeks later I could reread it as if I had never picked it up.
Well I read a lot of science fiction and a couple of my favorite authors have
a couple of 5 or 6 book series's. I have bought some lots of books from time
to time and knew I had a few duplicates of this one 5 book series. But a couple
of months after starting cpap the mental fog started to lift and my memory
improved. I then went through my book collection and was surprised to find
I had 5 sets of this 5 book series. Well i am about to turn 65 and while my memory
isn't all that good it's a lot better than it was when I was 57 !

_________________
Machine: DreamStation Auto CPAP Machine
Mask: Ultra Mirage™ Full Face CPAP Mask with Headgear
Humidifier: DreamStation Heated Humidifier
Additional Comments: SleapyHead software

jajvirta
Posts: 19
Joined: Tue Nov 11, 2014 12:02 pm

Re: Newbie would like to hear success stories, please.

Post by jajvirta » Wed Jan 21, 2015 4:48 pm

I've been on CPAP for six nights and I think I can count myself as success story so far. Been getting 6-8.5 hours of sleep every night and although the machine doesn't feel like second nature yet, I'm pretty confident in falling and staying asleep as long as I'm tired enough.

And although I'm still a bit tired daytime, this tiredness is nothing compared to pre-treatment. That was deep and painful sleepyness that took at least an hour to shake the worst away and I never felt completely awake during the day. Even our kids have noticed that I don't seem so tired anymore. Reading the bedtime story doesn't feel like torture anymore. Now it feels like fun. Two days and I'll have a phone conversation with the nurse about the statistics so far. I feel like it's been mostly positive. I'm optimistic.

Woody
Posts: 592
Joined: Sat Mar 10, 2007 7:59 pm

Re: Newbie would like to hear success stories, please.

Post by Woody » Wed Jan 21, 2015 6:14 pm

I was lucky that although I had to have a full face mask I got used to it in an
hour or so. After 2 weeks I actually felt almost necked when I took it off
first thing in the morning but that passed in a week or so.

_________________
Machine: DreamStation Auto CPAP Machine
Mask: Ultra Mirage™ Full Face CPAP Mask with Headgear
Humidifier: DreamStation Heated Humidifier
Additional Comments: SleapyHead software

Sleep is much better now!

Re: Newbie would like to hear success stories, please.

Post by Sleep is much better now! » Mon Jan 26, 2015 3:33 am

My experience is that the first month using CPAP / APAP was horrible, as couldn't get used to using a face mask and would wake up most mornings not wearing mask as I'd taken it off during the night.
Still tired the next morning from OSA and even felt worse as I also had a sore stiff neck from using face mask.
I wanted to persist with using CPAP / APAP and not give up, as it is the best treatment for obstructive sleep apnoea which is in reality a life-threatening condition and can decrease both quality of life and life span.
Also, operations [any operation is a risk] to relieve airway for OSA are expensive and if successful tend to last only a couple of years - so not a viable long-term solution.
All very good reasons for using CPAP / APAP in the first place.
What was the change for me, is that I realized that you can buy UNIVERSAL hoses which fit ALL CPAP / APAP machines and ALL masks.
As far as I can tell, the only time the same brand of mask as machine is necessary is when you use an electronic humidity adjusting hose with humidifier.
So I found a better mask which is not the same brand of machine I use.
I now use the Fisher and Paykel Opus 360 mask, a nose pillow with 360 degree range of movement with several unique features which allow freedom of movement while sleeping.
I don't know if any other brand has done this yet, this was the only brand doing this about 15 months ago when I looked into this issue.
The positive change for me was using a nasal pillow with freedom of movement for the head and body while asleep - much more comfortable, stays on all night and and no sore neck.
Also, another important point is that I was using an APAP (Automatic Positive Airway Pressure) CPAP machine from the start, as APAP can detect if need higher or lower pressure than my prescription, which is only an average taken of higher pressure events during the sleep study.
CPAP machines are set to the average pressure of your sleep study prescription.
I have set my APAP to a rate lower than my prescription, so that the pressure the machine detects is for the current necessary pressure, either higher or lower than the average rate of the prescription.
I do want to say, this is no reflection on the quality of any facial masks, it is just what has worked best for me; other CPAP / APAP users can sleep just fine using face masks.
I'm not involved with this company or selling the mask, I am an APAP user and it has been the difference for me, so I gave the brand name of the company and mask.
I've been using my APAP with 360 degree nasal pillow for over 12 months now and it has been brilliant, I was previously exhausted from OSA and these have made the change to a good nights sleep for me.
It takes a long time for damage done to body from OSA to heal, so this needs to be taken into account when looking at how long before feel great and bounce out of bed again from using APAP / CPAP - hence this will differ from user to user.
There are many generally safe supplements, vitamins and minerals which can be taken to assist the brain and body to heal from this low oxygen condition.
These need to be assessed by your health practitioner as suitable for you, as there can be contraindications for using these.

Sleep is much better now!

Re: Newbie would like to hear success stories, please.

Post by Sleep is much better now! » Mon Jan 26, 2015 3:53 am

By the way, it's not 3 am here in my time zone!

journey
Posts: 13
Joined: Fri Apr 30, 2010 6:34 am
Location: Australia

Re: Newbie would like to hear success stories, please.

Post by journey » Mon Jan 26, 2015 4:54 am

Just a follow-up on my progress and to support others on this path. I have now been using my S9 APAP for over 4 years and my life has changed totally. I am now no longer tired from one end of the day to another. I am back to being a morning person, waking up when the sun comes up, as I did when I was much younger. My memory has improved dramatically and I feel great. No doubt it can require a bit of persistence to get a mask that suits you but I typically quickly forget that I have it on and sleep extremely well.

I do have to set my APAP at a lower pressure to get to sleep before the machine ramps the pressure to my requirements.

My advice is persist and persist and you will recover and live a better life on CPAP treatment.

All the best for a great sleep

W

User avatar
TexasTom
Posts: 61
Joined: Sun Jan 11, 2015 6:28 pm
Location: Austin, TX

Re: Newbie would like to hear success stories, please.

Post by TexasTom » Tue Jan 27, 2015 11:23 am

Success after one month! I was ready to pitch the thing in the corner after a week, but a month later I love it!

Little update on the CPAP. After a month I'm finally adjusted to it. I really hated it the first week, but biggest issue was lack of instruction from Apria (avoid them if possible). Apria just handed me the machine and a DVD to watch. It should have been a 30 to 60 minute one on one with a technician to go over the machine. Ha!

First sleep study had Periodic Limb Movements that were around 60 events per hour. Second sleep study that actually went to 120/hour. Talk about doing the Hokey Pokey at night! Restless Leg Syndrome is similar, but my poor wife as all of me just keeps moving at night. Life with Parkinson's we never stop moving, even at night!

During my sleep study I had some pretty interesting times, including central apnea that occurred 30 times in one hour. (Uh, that isn't good. Diaphragm just stops for a while, then starts back up again). So my Apnea Hypopnea Index (AHI) has dropped from around 30 down to around 2. 30 is severe, 2 is fantastic. During that first sleep study, my saturated oxygen was dropping toward 70% sat oxygen which is very dangerous, so the CPAP is part of life now. I do wonder if some of my cognitive issues were from low oxygen at night, below 80% isn't healthy for brain nor heart.

Sleep doc's recommendation for the Periodic Limb Movement was for Mirapex or Clonazepam. (Clonazepam is a benzo like Xanax, but longer lasting). Other option was a 4th dosage of Sinemet (which I take for Parkinsons) prior to bed time. Main issue is if my wife is getting a good nights sleep (Ahem, she usually gets her best sleep between 5 am and noon). Yes, I usually am up and out of bed by 4am.

So while I'm still moving a night, at least I'm getting a better nights sleep. It was three hours, but at six it seems like pure luxury.

A HUGE THANK YOU to other folks posting up details and hints! Despite Apria's lack of instruction, with other success stories and sleepyhead software I was able to work out the issues with air leak and use the $%#! machine. Motto for those of us with Parkinson's is to never stop moving and keep active, which is easier with a good nights sleep!