I really JUST HATE CPAP

Maybe you would like to donate your machine to a good cause.

I felt the same way in the beginning. I couldn't stand the thought of trying to sleep with something wrapped around my face blowing air down my nose. Then I discovered this forum and found some of the absolutely hilarious posts from the great people here. I figured that if one could have a sense of humor about this thing, it couldn't be all bad. So I tried it and have been pleasantly surprised by the results. As many people have said I still have my nights (I woke up the other night with my nasal pillows merrily blowing away from a perch on my forehead!) when things don't go right, but I am having many more nights of better sleep now. Hang in there!

Jilly

thanks for the replies! i do appreciate the support.
it's just a long standing battle that started a long time ago.
aggravation, weirdness, dry throat and mouth from the mask,
i actually have not used machine in a while. all too embarassing to mention as well. It is just something that I cannot get past. I go to bed andjust fight with the whole thing night after night.

after long---very, very, long debate, problem after problem.

i took the cpap machine back.

So the solution is to quit, and suffer the results. Mine was two Stents, a Quad By-pass, and a Defibulator with defective leads installed. I didn't find out I had Apnea untill after this.

Since then I've been 100% compliant, It doesn't help much, you can't do much with 25% heart function, but I'm strong enough to mask up nightly. Jim

Many times ego is the reason that people hate CPAP. I know it was with me for a long time in which I went untreated. It was not until my doctor threatened to fire me as a patient that I finally got my head straight and became compliant. Doctor said that he could not be responsible for my health if I chose not to follow his reccomendations. On an oximeter study my oxy level was dropping into the 70's.

If my husband was not on CPAP, I would be pawning everything I own to buy him a decent casket and have to ship his body up north. He would be leaving two children whom he never would see graduate, proms, college or weddings. I would be having to get three jobs just to pay bills and probably become a bitter mom - haggard and barely making ends meet.

Yesterday, his masked leaked most of the night...he tossed... turned and moaned...(but wasn't snoring or not breathing.. thank God!) I would quietly move over and adjust it... I moved his pillow around a bit... and laid there thanking God that we have CPAP. He elbowed me in the face accidentally because he couldn't get comfortable.. and then.... he rolled over and knocked his machine on the floor so hard it bounced. He woke up upset and I was laughing and hugging him... encouraging him to not be embarrassed.... I told him his mask had been twisted and I would adjust it tonight.... and that we know it's a good quality machine.. lol!

I will never forget the Sleep Doc telling us that he stops breathing for over a minute many many times a night.... his heart rate fluctuates and races...and if he cannot successfully be on CPAP... a tracheotomy was the next step because his tongue is too big and it wouldn't really work with the elective surgery....I encourage him to keep trying.. I know he hates it... he absolutely does.... but he is alive and that is all that matters...and his little daughter giving him a huge hug every morning saying "I'm so proud of you, daddy" is enough encouragement to find the humor and health benefits of being a hose wearer.

I do not wish to die. Death is final. I want to live and my CPAP is a blessing to me. I wake up.. with marks on my face and googly eyes sometimes.. and I just laugh and think how much better my heart feels... my blood pressure is... and my headaches and brain fog are gone.... and I won't sleep at the wheel or fall asleep in the afternoon and not be on time to pick up my children.

CPAP has changed my life - extended it.

I don't think anyone here would RATHER don the hose if they didn't have to. I mean, if I could find some magic solution to apnea, I would take it.

But the results I have experienced with cpap, far outweigh the discomfort. I have lowered my blood pressure, eliminated fatigue and depression, regained mental acuity and lost the debilitating global pain I was experiencing (they thought I had rheumatoid arthritis and/or fibromyalgia).

Maybe you are too tired to be making good decisions for yourself. Marshal your reserves and look for solutions to the problems you have with cpap. This is a great place to brainstorm and find solutions. We help each other here.

If all else fails, there are alternative therapies. I discovered a website called http://www.ihatecpap.com/index.html

It talks about and promotes alternate therapies and surgeries. They aren't as effective as cpap, but may help some foks with mild or moderate apnea.

Jen

Anonymous wrote:thanks for the replies! i do appreciate the support.
it's just a long standing battle that started a long time ago.
aggravation, weirdness, dry throat and mouth from the mask,
i actually have not used machine in a while. all too embarassing to mention as well. It is just something that I cannot get past. I go to bed andjust fight with the whole thing night after night.

after long---very, very, long debate, problem after problem.

i took the cpap machine back.

If you're still lurking and reading........

Your posts remind me of these whiners:

http://www.apneasupport.org/about13720.html

http://www.apneasupport.org/about12788.html

What's really STUPID is this.......

According to studies and statistics, about half of PAP users give up.
Unlike many of those "former" PAP users who fell through the cracks, YOU found a forum on the Internet which tries to help people who have problems with this therapy.

The problem with narcissistic people like you is that you don't think of the potential consequences to others. People with this condition fall asleep at the wheels of their vehicles and kill other INNOCENT people.

The people who prescribe and hand out the equipment for this therapy frequently do so with PROFITS in mind and to Hell with how the user may cope with it from there on. Fortunately, there are a FEW good ones, but they're few and far between.
If you REALLY care about your health......and it is YOUR health......you have to leave your ego at the door and get the "right" equipment (data recording PAP machine) to provide the proper therapy and buy the software to monitor it with.

Your "dry throat and mouth" was probably caused by mouth-leaking because you more than likely had a nasal mask and your mouth was falling open at night, letting all of your therapy air escape.

"Long standing battle"? Bull shit! You don't know what battles you'll have to come, down the road. High blood pressure, diabetes and a whole host of other health issues, if you don't already have them...... Loss of a job because you couldn't stay awake or because you screwed up something? It can happen, and HAS.

You may "hate" something that could save your life......but I hate "quitters".


Den

Den:

BIG BIG HUG to you for your post!!!

I thought I was logged in.. sorry.

Den:

BIG BIG HUG for your post!!!

Sundown wrote:I thought I was logged in.. sorry.

Den:

BIG BIG HUG for your post!!!

Thanks!

I just don't understand why some of these people post stuff like that. If they want help.....ASK for it! If they want to QUIT.....why act like a bunch of spoiled brats who didn't get their way. Why throw a temper tantrum on a forum that tries to help people with this therapy??? Talk about shooting yourself in the foot......posting a "I HATE CPAP" message on a support forum? Yeah, that's gonna win you a lot of "support"......NOT!

STUPID IS AS STUPID DOES.

There aren't many nights when my head hits the pillow....and before I put my mask on.....that I don't take a deep sigh (of un-pressured air) and wish that I didn't HAVE to do that. WHO DOESN'T???
But, I don't want to go back to the way I felt before I started......and THAT'S the truth!

Den

I never gave myself the option of not using cpap. I struggled and had a pretty terrible time, just like so many here. When I had completed a year of using cpap, I wrote about it and realized that I had finally and simply gotten over it. I still don't like the night, the mask, the whole bit, but I got over my misery about it, accepted the fact that I need it, and went on with my life. Just one more thing. I asked for encouragement and help here and received it.

Nobody has a guarantee that things always will be good or remain the same. You just have to deal with what happens and make the best of it.

Quitting was not a possibility for me. It doesn't help much to feel sorry for yourself or to have a temper tantrum or a pity party. Grow up, and go on. Up to you.

Sometimes straight talk is the best encouragement. Realizing the alternative is the motivator.

Catnapper - Joanie

You probably just need a better cpap and a better fitting mask. As simple as that!

I can imagine that if you were sleep deprived and didn't know a forum like this existed and the only people you had to help you was some evil DME, it would be EASY to give up. Except now you know we are here.

There are TONS of different masks out there--I know because I have tried most of them. There are also different cpaps for different needs.

Both my husband and I agreed when I was diagnosed with this disorder. We would rather go into debt (i.e. use a credit card) to buy whatever equiptment that insurance wouldn't cover rather than continue the way I was. Once the DME stopped being cooperative about letting me try new masks, I bought some out of pocket at cpap.com. I traded some with other users here etc etc. All in all I have tried 12-15 masks in the last 6 months!

I'm only 35. Apnea was already robbing me of my life and my health. CPAP gave it back. I would be foolish to turn my back on it and go back to the shadow life I was living before. I would be robbing myself, family and friends of too much. What are you robbing yourself and your loved ones of with this stubborn attitude?

Is is easy? Uh, no. Just like Den, I sigh when I strap on the gear every night and wish I didn't have to. But when I wake up in the morning ready to face the day, I don't regret the hassle I have gone thru to find the right machine, mask and hose.

Jen

Just need to stay away form those Guest DME's who claim to know what is best for you and start learning for yourself how to take responsibility for your own life.

BTW Jen - My magic solution is a cool magic air box

Guest.....

I'm puzzled. Why have you taken the time to post messages telling us how much you hate CPAP?

What's the point? What do you want? What do you want us to say?

Gerald