Second Anniversary

Two years and counting!

Lessons learned during the first year: I quickly learned that the only local DME available on my insurance didn’t provide the information needed for successful CPAP therapy. I was fortunate to find this forum during my first month. The psychological support was as helpful as all the good advice.

Thanks to this forum, at three months into CPAP, I learned to check my pressure settings and discovered that the national brick and mortar DME senior respiratory therapist had set my machine to the split night study mode, so I was only getting only half a night’s therapy. The other half was contributing to my apneas and hypopneas, CO2 build-up, sense of mask claustrophobia, and fears of suffocation. If not for this forum, no one (certainly not the DME) would have discovered the wrong setting. I might have given up on CPAP and be dead by now!

The big victory the first year, in addition to many small victories: my blood pressure returned to normal without medication and my enlarged heart went from a direction leading to congestive heart failure, to being normal sized and healthy again!!!

Lessons learned the second year: I was never titrated because the titration study failed. In finding my pressure sweet spot on my own, I concluded that straight CPAP was better for me than APAP. That was very ironic, considering my high regard for APAP. For a year, I was content with an average AHI of 5, since the health results were so good. I finally realized that I felt not that bad, but not that good in terms of quality of life.

I finally switched back to APAP which raised my pressure, and got my AHI down to an average of 2.5 with many nights 1-point-something. I finally started feeling really good. So for me, an AHI of 5 is not sufficient; the “or less” than 5 is the part that really improves quality of life. (Mask and nose may be contributing to not having an even lower AHI. I’m slowly working on that.)

I discovered food sensitivities which create insomnia. If I avoid those foods, I sleep like a rock. My goal is Getting My Life Back. I’m still not there, but regaining more of it all the time. APAP has dramatically changed my life for the better.

My hopes and wishes are that you have an easier time than I did, get better results faster, and pay it forward. To that end, I contributed articles to Our Collective Wisdom. I invite you to contribute an article if you are so inclined. If you want a new category for your article, please state that at the top for the administrator. I also invite you to post forum links to FAQ. Did you know that you can easily create additional FAQ categories? Check out my blog at http://smart-sleep-apnea.blogspot.com , which has my same articles as the light bulb, minus other cpaptalkers.

Thank you, Johnny Goodman, for hosting the forum, and to rested gal, and all the many posters from 2005 to now.

Thank you, Mile High Sleeper for sharing your story and many congratulations on achieving so much!

Very best wishes for your continued success

Mindy

What a wonderful two-year anniversary update, Mile High Sleeper!

Your blog is THE place to go for every newly diagnosed OSA person. Thank you again for making such a wonderful contribution to help so many!

http://smart-sleep-apnea.blogspot.com

Congratulations on this milestone, and thank you so much for the time and effort you put into compiling information to help others. I for one benefitted tremendously. Thank you once again.
Kathy

Congrats! ... and thanks for taking some of us air suckers along for the ride. Your blog has indeed led many of us right along the same path.

congratulations mile high sleeper! thanks so much for your contributions...you're an inspiration

Happy "other kind of birthday" Mile High Sleeper.

O.