New to the Forum, Want to Say Hello and Thank you

[suznjean]

Hello CPAP talkers -
I posted my first today without properly introducing myself. What a great place this looks to be, especially for those of us who have no direct friends or family on CPAP.

I started on my journey in April and have had my equipment one week. Not as easy as I had hoped, but I have learned so much already by reading a handful of posts. I only had one true apnea during my sleep study but 29 hypopneas and two premature ventricular contractions in the last two hours of my study. Heart muscle involvement is what scares me the most and makes me really want to get the hang of this!

My DH is an avid snorer and I have been after him for years to get treatment. I hope that my eventual success will spur him on to at least talk with his Dr about his snoring. I figure between my disorder and his snoring the number of hours I actually slept well were few and far between.

Thanks in advance for all your sharing and advice and good humor.

suznjean kcmo

[harry33]

welcome, patience and a positive attitude helps new CPAP users a lot

heavy snoring often suggests sleep apnea especially if there is cronic fatigue and gaps with no breathing, it may help for you to tape record the snoring to play back to doc, etc

another sign of apnea is to toss and turn, pulling the blankets and bed coverings off

[junie]

Welcome to our forum, There's so much help here.

[vipertec]

Welcome the wonderful world of cpap! and to these wonderful forums!

[cflame1]

Suz? If you can... try to swap out your Plus for at least a Pro... in case you have any problems at all. Reason? A Plus won't give you any data other than hours used. A Pro, will.

[rosiefrosie]

Welcome! Yeah! Another Schnauzer person.

[Birddog]

Welcome suznjean ! this is a great destination with awesome people who will make you feel right at home with your therapy. When i found out i was going on the cpap,i went around and told everyone i had contact with during the day,and you would be suprised how many said ME TOO !! you would never know and many i know have told me they been on the cpap 8 or 9 years. good luck on your new journey,Great help at this site.

[SleepyT]

hey suznjean! KCMO is a great town! visited in spring 2008. well....welcome to the board. lot's of great info here! best of luck on your journey.

sleepyt

[jdm2857]

Welcome! Yeah! Another Schnauzer person.

What kind of cat is a Schnauzer?

Welcome.

And do try to get your Plus upgraded to a Pro. The data the Pro provides can make all the difference.

[DoriC]

Welcome, and be sure to read the sections for New Users and Our Wisdom at the top of the page, very useful info.

[suznjean]

Thanks everyone! Sorry to be so slow to respond. My cache apparently needed to be emptied as I have been trying to post for 3 days and keep logging in only to logged right back out!
The good news is I have had a couple of nights of halfway decent sleep and hope I might be on my way to good sleep with cpap.

Hopefully soon will be able to participate more. Great posts all.

Take care, Suz

[Ganesha]

Suz,

Welcome! It was my wife's concern about my snoring that got me to my sleep study.

And I am also a Schnauzer person. Our first Miniature Schnauzer, Katarina, was a black one like yours. Our current Schnauzer is a salt and pepper named Heidi. Great dogs, smart, and no hair on the funiture.

Come back often.

Mark

[suznjean]

Hey Mark, our first two schnauzers were S&P and have had three named Heidi! I know that is lame, but it is a great name -- unfortunately the first two died rather young, but Heidi 3 lived till she was 13 - and earned retirement of the name. So Sophie is the new brat in town in the photo and is 3. I really hope my DH will someday at least talk to his Dr about his snoring. Thanks!

[Ganesha]

Katarina made it to age 15. Our Heidi is now 8. She snores but is a bad CPAP candidate due to mouth leaks.

[mars]

Hi Suznjean

Your are off to a good start, and it can only get better from here on.

I second the above posts about a data capable machine. Its the best way to take charge of your treatment.

A useful adjunct to the cpap machine is a pulse oximeter. This measures your blood oxygen level, which goes down when we experience impaired breathing, and causes us many health problems. This will also be useful if your DH (I don't know what DH means) used it one night, recorded the measurements, and looked at them on your computer the next day. You need an oximeter with software for this.

They are not too expensive, I got one for AUD$270 ( a CMS-60D) from E-Bay retail. That would be much cheaper in US$.

Welcome.

cheers

Mars