Did a CPAP changed your life?

I don't have a cpap yet but i go for my sleep study test 6/13 and I'm hoping it will determine that I have sleep apnea. Every day I get off work at 4 pm and by the time I get to the stop sign I'm so sleepy my eyeballs hurt. It's all I can do not to pull my car over somewhere and take a nap. When I get home I could go to bed at 5 pm and sleep until 545 am the next morning and still feel like i haven't had enough sleep. I rarely sleep all the way thru the night as I wake up several times to use the bathroom, I'm hot or for no apparent reason. And sometimes I can't go back to sleep until it's just about time for the alarm clock to go off. I feel like I'm running on fumes most of the time and my energy level is almost non existent. Plus my husband says that I snore so bad sometimes that it's hard for him to go to sleep.

Yes. I was a few months away from having to leave work for disability. I don't know if I would have been able to claim disability in the absence of a diagnosis, as my disability - as far as I knew at the time - was just that I was tired all the time. That was back in 1999. Within two days of starting, I was wide awake in the daytime! I have not experienced this kind of exhaustion since! Also, I was able to remain with that employer until the end of 2014, when I retired.

Of course, two days is probably not the norm. Most report "gradual" improvement over several months. To anyone who experiences that, just pretend that the relief was consolidated into a few days. Then you'll realize how dramatic the relief was!

slowery wrote:I don't have a cpap yet but i go for my sleep study test 6/13 and I'm hoping it will determine that I have sleep apnea.

Hello and welcome. There is a thread at the top of the main page with success stories. Maybe it will encourage you. Your post is at the end of a very old thread. Once you have your sleep study, if you have questions that weren't answered in reading, do start your own thread with any issues you run into. If you have sleep apnea (and your symptoms certainly sound like many have reported here), you have every reason to be optimistic that effective treatment will improve your health and well being.

I will jump in will quick and say a couple of paragraphs on how CPAP definitely improved my life considerably. Over 10 years ago now before CPAP I was always tired falling asleep at work having trouble staying awake driving and much more I actually thought everybody felt that way. After getting on CPAP almost right away it totally change my life and I know longer feel tired at all during the day. I couldn't possibly imagine going back to my old life without CPAP. Even the scare of the power going out and the fact I would not be able to use my CPAP bothers me. Somewhat recently after one full night of no CPAP because of a power outage I bought a back up CPAP battery.

Roger



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XPAP didn't change my life so much as not finding out about needing it years before. I had a heart attack, quad by-pass, 2/3 of my heart was damaged, that's wend they found out my airway was closing off, took 20 minutes to tube me in the OR.

After I got out went to the Sleep Lab, AHI 450 for 3 hours sleep. Got my CPAP "Tank" in 6 days, started using it at 14.5 cm, chest still stapled together, only missed 3 days in 12 years. (Due to power outages) Without my XPAP machine I wouldn't be here, Not that here is great, the other option is worse. Anyway, this is probably why I get so mad at those that won't use their XPAP's, for the Lamest of Reasons, those of us who do know the value of using them, embrace them.

Your own mind can be your own worst enemy in everything you do, if you let it! Take control, without the use of chemicals. Jim

Kind of when Goof here. I am finding some immediate and near immediate benefits, I am more frustrated with the 40 years I spent working at 1/2 efficiently, suffering at work because I did not have the energy to stick with work, because I suffered from depression and anxiety symptoms for years, had border HBP for years, and a myriad of other issues that are like magic going away. Now, after three months BP has normalized to a low normal state, I can and want to exercise, I am off the anti-depressant that has bee a long term companion, I actually fall asleep shortly after going to be, and wake up between 5 and 6 AM without an alarm. I want to get up and get on with the day. SO many changes, so good.

Getting over how difficult the lack of rest made my life is going to take some thine though.

And I struggle with understanding why someone would be angry over a sleep apnea diagnosis; the treatment is relatively painless and the results can be dramatic. And the repair of the brain damage is only starting, as research has shown that the spindle repair seems to occur between three and twelve months. Wheee!

Before cpap, I was getting so little sleep that I felt like a zombie.
Most masks are one-size-fits-all, (EXCEPT ME), but I FINALLY found one I can live with.
I put on my mask, and suddenly, I am in my happy place--where I can SLEEP.
It is a very beautiful thing.
After decades of no treatment, I am grateful to finally get the sleep I need.
No looking back--tbe past is the past.
I understand why it was difficult to do what I did then, and I give myself credit for the extra effort.

Yes, and no. I had an immediate, step change in improved sleep. Almost immediately I stopped getting drowsy while driving. And I stopped getting up to pee 4 or 5 times a night. And I felt more refreshed when waking up.

But I had other sleep issues that I had to deal with. I still wasn't able to get more than 6 hours of sleep, and often I would get less. Worse yet, I couldn't get drowsy and I would toss and turn for a long time before finally dropping off. And I always woke up at about 4 am and then couldn't get back to sleep! So while I was more rested, I still didn't have any energy. Here are other things I had to do or learn:

• Improve my sleep hygeine. After years of unproductive sleep, I had "learned" that since I was always tired, why bother going to bed early. This resulted in me not doing all the things a person should do to wind their day down such as stop watching tv, or stop using the computer.
  
  I gradually realized I was constantly anxious. I think I had a constant kevel of anxiety even in childhood, so I though it was just normal to always be worried. I discovered that low Vitamin D, and low magnesium are contributors to feelings of anxiety. I have now increased these supplements and that has allowed me to relax and be much calmer. It has even allowed me to do daily meditation, which is now a part of my evening routine. The constant chatter of my "monkey mind" has quieted substantially. (I also take GABA, another supplement that helps with anxiety.)
  
  Although I could now get drowsy enough to fall asleep, I still had the problem of waking up around 4 am and then being unable to fall asleep. I am currently experimenting with supplements (5HTP and Tryptophan) to see if they can help. So far, so good. The number of nights I can sleep the entire night is increasing. Sometimes I even get dreams!

It has taken a few years of patient detective work and research to figure out what it will take for me to finally get good sleep. The Cpap was a huge step for me. Menopause didn't help, that's for sure! So for anyone who is wondering why they're not feeling all that better, I can report that you may well have other issues BUT they can also be discovered and resolved.