Does the CPAP help?

I am awaiting for my insurance company to ok my cpap machine. My question is, when and if I get this am I going to see a difference when I awaken in the mornings? Right now I wake up feeling exhausted or with a headache...I want so badly to get a good nights sleep and awaken refreshed....can anyone relate there experience to me?

Thanks!

Well, I am not a veteran CPAP user and my apnea is relatively mild. I have only been on the machine for about 2 months and here are some of my observations:

* I am much less tired during the day, even when I don't get a full 8 hours.
* I sleep through the night more often than before.
* The combination b/t the swift nose pillows and the heated humidifier has helped my sinusitis (a nice extra).
* NO MORE SNORING (a blessing for the wife).

I resisted CPAP for years. Don't make my mistake - make a commitment to give the treatment a several-week trial. I think that you will find that most people feel that the benefits far out-weigh the nuisances.

Good luck!

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I have to remember to log in before I post; I guess that is why my "brilliant" post above is assigned as a Guest?! I am learning, I am learning.

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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): humidifier, swift, CPAP

After getting on xpap therapy, it can take a little time to get to the "feeling rested" stage, but it will happen. The wonderful thing with xpap is that there is the immediate relief of the episodes of apneas that have been occuring during your sleep. You will sleep so much better and will no longer wake up gasping for air. Snoring will also dissappear. There is nothing I am more thankful for than getting cpap treatment for my OSA.

Well just a note of caution here as well. Don't expect too much right away. And in a lot of cases the improvements can be subtle and occur over time.

Also, it can be very challenging getting used to the equipment. It's quite possible to feel worse for a while. For me, my first night was totally horrible and I'm glad I started on a Friday night since on Saturday I was a wreck. Saturday night was better, I was at least human on Sunday. Sunday night I slept pretty well. Then over the next few weeks it got easier to handle.

I still have issues with waking up sometimes but can usually go back to sleep. As for benefits, they vary greatly. I didn't have a huge deal with daytime sleepiness so I had a hard time movitating on that front. But I do have high BP, acid reflux, headaches, and snoring. These have all pretty much been greatly reduced or eliminated.

You'll find probably a whole host of issues too: mouthe breathing, mask leaks, mask discomfort, possibly noisy machine, etc. All of these can be dealt with but you may have to spend some time "tweaking" things. I've have had to go the mouth taping route to prevent mouth breathing and rig up a "scrungy support system" for the hose above/behind my head. This seems to work for me but your system might need a different setup.

I cannot emphazise that you read/search this forum too. The people here are a great help, and a special extra thanks to Rested Gal and Sleepless on Li. I don't think I would have kept with it if not for this group here.

And finally, my standard warning to all: OSA is a serious condition. It can lead to complications in all aspects of your life, including sudden death. xPAP is the only route that has been shown to treat it with a high percentage of success (assuming you can be compliant with it of course). But you can look into other options as well: Pillars, surgery, dental device, etc.

Does the thingy work?? Well I have been messing around with this stuff since March 2005. I have tried 4 types of masks and ended up selecting the swift nasal pillows as the most efficient for me. The chin straps and taping of mouth were all part of the messing around. I have tried all the settings for the humidifier and now here it is October and i am not settled down to one way as yet. BUT from day one..I sleep good ! This past night i went to sleep at midnite and was asleep till 7:15 AM. I was before this CPAP going to the bathroom 4-5 times A NIGHT Stay with it and us..we will work it out with you.

Does the thingy work?? Well I have been messing around with this stuff since March 2005. I have tried 4 types of masks and ended up selecting the swift nasal pillows as the most efficient for me. The chin straps and taping of mouth were all part of the messing around. I have tried all the settings for the humidifier and now here it is October and i am not settled down to one way as yet. BUT from day one..I sleep good ! This past night i went to sleep at midnite and was asleep till 7:15 AM. I was before this CPAP going to the bathroom 4-5 times A NIGHT Stay with it and us..we will work it out with you.

DaLadyKazan (I'll call you DLK, if you don't mind),

The answer to your question is, yes! It works, absolutely. A lot of good information has already been imparted to you, but I need to give this thread my own twist.

Everyone is different. Everyone adjusts to therapy in their own way, at their own pace. It's just like choosing a mask. You may post a thread inquiring about what mask you should choose that works the best when the time comes. No one can answer that question and be correct as to what is best because it is always an individual thing. What works for me may not work for you. The same is true of how fast you see relief and how it makes itself evident to you.

You will read posts from people who feel that even at their titration study, once they fell asleep with a mask on and had their first taste of CPAP, they said they felt better than they had in a long time. Others on this site after months are still wondering if it will ever get easier. Sometimes you wake up one morning and, boom, you feel this incredible energy and alertness and know it kicked in. Others find subtle changes that have to be noted, like maybe still feeling tired but the fatigue is gone, or not feeling like they must take a nap at a certain point in the afternoon like they normally did every day before they started their therapy. It is all individual.

The one thing that is not individual is, if you were diagnosed with OSA, you need the therapy. Without it, you are putting yourself and your health in harm's way. It is something that, in my opinion, you must take seriously and know at the outset there is no choice. You have to, though, have a positive attitude and thank God that you were diagnosed with something that when treated can give you the power to take your life back, and sometimes even make it better than before. Therapy has allowed me to gain enough energy now that I exercise, I eat healthy, drink lots of water, and actually never run out of energy which makes me get so much more accomplished every day. Not to mention, I'm a lot more fun to be around because I am upbeat once again and ready for action, something I hadn't been in years. This is a condition that can really change your life for the better and it's best to try to keep that in mind when you're upset that the mask is leaking or there's rainout in your hose. It's not a perfected science whereby if you follows Rules A, B and C, it will work perfectly for you, but it does work.

Finding this site was the best thing that could have happened to you. There are so many wonderful and knowledgeable people here that you won't believe what you can learn. Not only can you get your questions answered, but everyone here is ready to give you the support and encouragement that you need. They are more than just members on a forum; they become real friends in every sense of the word.

If you notice at the top of the screen, you have the ability to enter words in a search for threads on that topic. You also can look through the CPAP FAQ which gives links to posts that have valuable information. The CPAPopedia is there to look up unfamiliar words, just as some key words may be highlighted in blue under the post you just read. If you click on those blue words, it will give you the definition.

So welcome to our little helpful community. It's nice to have you aboard. Please post whenever you have a question or just need a shoulder to lean on. We'll be here for you.

CPAP WORKS! I have been on it for two months now and am a totally new person! With CPAP, I:

- have more energy!
- can stay awake in boring afternoon meetings!
- have not crashed my car into the median since July!
- can stay up past 9pm!
- can concentrate!
- just feel better!

Chuck

Charles,

Can I use your photo for the online "yearbook" update at the end of the week, please? Let me know. Thanks!

Sorry to go off-topic.

Does CPAP work?
Let me tell ya, walk with me, talk with me, work with me here.
CPAP is a wonderful thing. It ranks right up there with sliced bread, the button hole, birth control, lasik surgery and peanut butter.
I do appear to be an exception rather than the rule. But it has given me my life back.
I can wake up and get out of bed in the a.m. Snoring only occurs when I don't have the mask on. Which is seldom. My headaches are a thing of the past. I am walking a few miles a day again. Going dancing and not sitting down until it is time to go home.
I feel good again. The past year and half was tuff. I had a hyper active thyroid which will let you run on high 24/7 and never tire. When that was killed off the OSA, which was probably there all the time I just didn't know it, just drained all energy from me. But thanks to a wonderful endo I have been diagnosed and treated. WooHoo!!!!

Keep a positive attitude. Tell yourself that this will work for me. If you have issues with masks or other problems, more than likely someone on this forum has had the same thing. If not ask and these wonderful people will share their experiences.

Yea, this thing works!!!

peg wrote:Does CPAP work?
Let me tell ya, walk with me, talk with me, work with me here.
CPAP is a wonderful thing. It ranks right up there with sliced bread, the button hole, birth control, lasik surgery and peanut butter.

LOL!!! Peg, you are truly a ray of sunshine. I've said it before but I think it bears repeating. By the way, my daughter was conceived on birth control, so you may want to remove that one item there.

You and I have so much in common regarding how we feel now that we're on therapy and what we now do that we didn't before. But I have to say, you lost me on the dancing all night until they close, though...we were doing real great up to that point.

By the way, how did the doctor appt. go? We were all waiting for the news. Did I miss the thread???

CharlesJ wrote:CPAP WORKS! I have been on it for two months now and am a totally new person!

When I said the same thing to the tech at my sleep doc's office recently she replied "No you're not a new person, you just found your brain." Obviously she understands what this is like.

Does CPAP help? You betcha!

DaLadyKazan wrote:I am awaiting for my insurance company to ok my cpap machine. My question is, when and if I get this am I going to see a difference when I awaken in the mornings? Right now I wake up feeling exhausted or with a headache...I want so badly to get a good nights sleep and awaken refreshed....can anyone relate there experience to me?

Well, I am fairly new to this myself. I can tell you that before I started on CPAP I also had regular morning headaches, the cause of which I misassigned to the weirdest things. Since CPAP they have become a thing of the past. Now, CPAP has not been, at least for me, a panacea. I am still in the throes of finding THE mask that I can live with. But I think the effort will be well worth it and I expect to achieve a good nights sleep in the end. Already there is much improvement. The main thing is to get and fine tune your equipment so that it becomes as small a distraction as possible.

Good luck.

David

See what I mean? My brain works so good and so fast I forget not everyone is keeping pace with my thoughts.
Birth control is still great. Just like CPAP, it doesn't work for everyone.
But weren't you lucky to get a daughter anyway!!

Dancing all night. I go to line dancing in Louisville on Wed. nights. They dance from 7 to 8:30 and have a teach for the last half hour.
When I started 3 or so years ago. I danced every single dance. Didn't sit down the whole evening. The past six months, I couldn't do it. I was forcing my self to keep going and even started missing a night or two a month.
It was so discouraging. But that's all over now!!
Doctor said that I am doing wonderful Increased my pressure from 9 to 11. I have gain some more weight. I can't feel a difference in the air movement but I do seem to be sleeping even better. As hard to believe as that maybe.
I will add to my post from Friday. Thanks, for reminding me. I shouldn't start something and just drop it.

It is nice to feel better!!