How long before you felt better?

Wistful · Post by **Wistful** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 8:09 am

My Doctor says it takes about 3 months to see the full effects of CPAP therapy. I have noticed that the two nights I was able to seep the mask on that I had more energy in the morning. I can't wait to feel better all the time - what will I do with all that energy

How long was it before you started feeling consistently better?

How long was it before your therapy started having effects on the things your apnea was causing - ie depression, heart problems etc..?

Thanks,
W

brackstone · Post by **brackstone** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 8:25 am

Hi Wistful,

I'm in the same boat as you.

I didn't have to hit the snooze button on my alarm clock yesterday, but I did today! It's BLACK outside, the rain is absolutely horrid and this certainly played to my weaknesses!

I can't wait to feel 100% better, even 50% better! It's all very exciting now that I have my settings correct and know what kind of masks I want.

Some other exciting things are the fact that now I can truly start to customize my sleeping experience. I can get padacheeks if I want, check out some other accessories, different masks since I know which kinds work for me, etc. So now not only am I sleeping better I can focus on improving upon that sleep even more so.

Wistful · Post by **Wistful** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 8:29 am

It sure does feel good to be making progress, doesn't it? I am happy that things are coning together for you!
W

jimbassett · Post by **jimbassett** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 8:38 am

I am going on four months now and the therapy has been getting better each week. It has started to feel like the nights are getting shorter all the time. Some evenings I can hardly wait till bed time so I can get on the hose and sleep. My days are much improved as I find I have lots more energy and ambition. Hang in there and you also will experience the good feelings. jim

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 9:52 am

Between 4 and 6 months for me (on it since 05/06) and it was gradual. I never had the feeling of waking up one day with gobs of energy. But, as with anything, there are good days and bad days. Most of the time now I feel good and rested, but every once in a while I will have a bad day or string of them.

TM

Sleepy-eyes · Post by **Sleepy-eyes** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 10:35 am

Wistful,

I really think it's something that is strictly individual. I started my therapy last September and even though I'm finally starting to sleep 6-9 hours a night, fairly comfortably, I'm still not waking up in the morning feeling like a million bucks. Things are better now than a month ago. They are much better now than 3 months ago, etc., etc., etc. I have just resolved myself to realizing it is a slow process and one I'll have to stick with if it's ever going to work for me.

lvwildcat · Post by **lvwildcat** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 10:53 am

Sleepy eyes is right-it is totally individualized. I felt better the night of my titration study and never looked back!!! I feel so lucky

Sleepy-eyes · Post by **Sleepy-eyes** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 11:00 am

WOW!!!!!! Are you ever lucky. I wish that would happen to everyone.............maybe more would get on the therapy. As it is, too many people start it and give up. I know of several who have. It's a shame too. Stick with it and it'll work, sooner or later.

Nitro Dan · Post by **Nitro Dan** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 11:40 am

I would guess it depends on how severe the apnea is. I felt like a new person the morning after my first night of treatment. But then again, I was almost dead, so anything would have been an improvement...

DalmatianLover · Post by **DalmatianLover** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 11:42 am

You all make this therapy sound GREAT. I am looking at it with optimism. I was diagnosed with apnea in 1998 and they did surgery (taking tonsils and uvula out) and I now I am being told that I still have apnea. I have used my CPAP for only three nights now and then not all night long. Thanks to this forum I found out that my runny nose and sneezing is to be expected and I stopped using the nasal pillows and started using the humidifier. It made a big difference.

brackstone · Post by **brackstone** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 12:57 pm

I guess the word that me personally, and maybe a lot of us overlook here is "Therapy".

It's not "Cure" or "Remedy" it's therapy. It's something you have to do all the time to make yourself feel better. Probably too many people expect it to be like a cure and that's why they give up on the therapy.

I'm also in the same boat as nitro dan. I felt so dead in the mornings, and lots of pain, all over my head, that when I woke up without pain that ALONE was like "WOW"

DreamStalker · Post by **DreamStalker** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 1:08 pm

Nitro Dan wrote:I would guess it depends on how severe the apnea is. I felt like a new person the morning after my first night of treatment. But then again, I was almost dead, so anything would have been an improvement...

Ditto!

sharon1965 · Post by **sharon1965** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 1:15 pm

I felt better the night of my titration study

i felt this way, too; everyone i talked to the next day said i sounded different, like i had a different quality in my voice; my son was home sick from school and i was looking forward to a lazy winter day of snuggling and snoozing, and i couldn't nap to save my life!

but...that was just that day, and i've only had one day like that since (in three months), although i have to say on that other good day i felt like the energizer bunny! so now i'm wading through other issues that have been exposed because of cpap, ie. rls, plmd, low low low iron, deviated septum (i'm now one week post-op) and i can't wait to get back on the hose and feel like i did that day! so far, though, the only appreciable difference for me has been no more napping after work, unless i decide to, whereas before i would fall asleep in the foyer of my house! lol

my one caution would be not to assume that if things aren't going well within a few months the therapy isn't for you...there are many underlying sleep disorders discussed on these boards which often don't come to light until cpap therapy...having said that, though, my sleep doc did tell me at my first follow-up that for some people it can take six months to a year! hopefully, that is just the extreme end

best of luck to you...hang in there! look at me, 3 months in and counting the days till i can get back on cpap--who would've expected that? not me!

sharon

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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): hose, Titration, CPAP

Wistful · Post by **Wistful** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 1:19 pm

I figured it wasn't so simple as waking up after about three months and say ing "wow, I feel like a normal person now!" That's why I was looking forward to your stories.

I am very curious about how long it takes for secondary symptoms to go away as well.

Keep'em coming
W

sharon1965 · Post by **sharon1965** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 1:27 pm

I figured it wasn't so simple as waking up after about three months and say ing "wow, I feel like a normal person now!"

yeah, but wistful, that did happen for a lot of people on this forum, so i don't think it's unrealistic to hope for that...and that's why i was so bummed at my check up when my sleep doc seemed disappointed that i wasn't running the 4 minute mile...that's when we started delving into all this other crap

judging by the list in your comments you're really committed to doing what you can to enhance your therapy and you're structuring for success...before you know it you'll be more tigger than eyore...

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