Will it get better?

[Getting mad]

Started cpap in Oct. 2008 for the 2nd time. 1st time I gave up. Turned into a walking zombie & thought I would try again. Determined to get things working this time! My insurance was only covering 1% yes one % then they jumped the rate way high. I have stop the draft they take out of my bank acct. every month so I will be without ins. in about 2 more weeks. Not that it was doing that much for me. So I took my maching back to dme & bought the s8 auto & trying to do things my way. I was told my pressure setting should be 11 but got my own machine to try diff. setting & pressures. I was setup with a straight cpap but have been messing with the auto side of my new machine. (Guess I should say I have had the s8 auto for about 3 weeks) I started out with about 29-26 AHI per night for the 1st week all the time playing with settings.... Last night was my best night as far as AHI goes.. only 6.1 The HI was 5.0 Don't have software so limited on this info. That being said I don't feel one bit better than B4 I spet $1000's of $$$ Also with mask & machine noise I only get about 3-4 hours sleep a night. I have been through 9 diff. masks & none are my dream mask but have the best luck with the Quattro. How long b4 feeling better? Ever? Is this just a scam to get peoples money? Is there anyone out there that can say it makes them feel better? I only know 1 other person on cpap & it's doing nothing for him either!

[EzJones]

Started cpap in Oct. 2008 for the 2nd time. 1st time I gave up. Turned into a walking zombie & thought I would try again. Determined to get things working this time! My insurance was only covering 1% yes one % then they jumped the rate way high. I have stop the draft they take out of my bank acct. every month so I will be without ins. in about 2 more weeks. Not that it was doing that much for me. So I took my maching back to dme & bought the s8 auto & trying to do things my way. I was told my pressure setting should be 11 but got my own machine to try diff. setting & pressures. I was setup with a straight cpap but have been messing with the auto side of my new machine. (Guess I should say I have had the s8 auto for about 3 weeks) I started out with about 29-26 AHI per night for the 1st week all the time playing with settings.... Last night was my best night as far as AHI goes.. only 6.1 The HI was 5.0 Don't have software so limited on this info. That being said I don't feel one bit better than B4 I spet $1000's of $$$ Also with mask & machine noise I only get about 3-4 hours sleep a night. I have been through 9 diff. masks & none are my dream mask but have the best luck with the Quattro. How long b4 feeling better? Ever? Is this just a scam to get peoples money? Is there anyone out there that can say it makes them feel better? I only know 1 other person on cpap & it's doing nothing for him either!

Dang newbies.... (that's me) wasn't logged in... there this should show my equipment I'm using now....I hope

[Georgio]

Good going, you are doing the right thing and you got some excellent equipment to do it with. It's difficult at first but you get used to it and soon you will feel a big difference. It doesn't come overnight because it takes time for your body to heal from the lack of oxygen. I don't have your machine, so I will leave advice on settings and getting you data off the machine to someone else. Stick with it.....and learn all you can here to make it easier. Good luck with your therapy.

Georgio

[packitin]

One of the things that is prevalent with me is that I have dreams, dreams and more dreams. Before I had mostly nightmares for some reason. I've used the Autoset II since Sept. last. I also have the Quarttro as one of my four masks. (I do a lot of switching) I had the same things to happen to me, as far as getting used to the equipment. I'm running an average of 4.28 hrs. per night at present, but it took me three months to average over 4 hours.
Why don't you tell us more about what settings you're using? I have the auto on, and an EPR of 1, and beginning pressure set at about 1 below the 95% pressure average. At present, I'm keeping my average AHI around 2.6, which is good for me, I think.

[EzJones]

Right now it's on min. 8 & max 15 Not sure where to put it but so far I have had the best luck on this setup & has been there for 4 days. Thanks

[bap40]

It does take some time to feel better for most of us. I have had about 3 ahah moments in this first year of therapy. Each time it just sort of dawned on me that I was actually feeling better. Some people I guess can feel better "overnight" but for others it is a slow process and it creeps up on us!

Hang in there!

[Jason S.]

Well, I can only give you my newbie perspective. When I saw the mask I said "no way am I ever going to be able to sleep in that". I have a full-face mask. But I was determined to out of fear of not wearing it. I was afraid if I didn't use the CPAP I would, to take a quote from Scary Movie 3, "wake up dead one morning". I am also afraid of developing other health issues that could result from chronic sleep deprivation.

I am a side sleeper with moderate OSA, which turns to severe when I sleep on my back. Early on I had issues with nose bridge ulcers and had to stop a few days to recover. And then of course there is the tweaking of the mask fit to stop leaks. I started sleeping on my back because I was knew side sleeping would result in more jarring of the mask. When the side of my head hits the pillow, so does the mask. I think this was a mistake because my machine was probably calibrated for my moderate sleep apnea. If I was a back sleeper it would be severe, and probably would be at a pressure of higher than 8. Anyway the last two nights I returned to my side and have had a restful sleep.

Since beginning my therapy (about 6 weeks ago with two breaks) I've noticed a significant reduction in afternoon sleepiness, refreshment upon rising (some days yes, some no), more dreaming, and an ocassional return of, pardon the expression, "morning wood". I can't say I've had an energy boost, that I was told to expect, nor any increase in memory or mental alertness, something I feel I have been suffering from for a long time but wrote of as aging.

Anyway, I hope to have more gains in the future. Hang in there and don't get discouraged.

[Bluebonnet_Gal]

Right now it's on min. 8 & max 15 Not sure where to put it but so far I have had the best luck on this setup & has been there for 4 days. Thanks

I'm fairly new to this as well (just over a month), but I've done a LOT of reading here and a LOT of tweaking my own therapy based on advice received here. I'm certainly no expert, but here are my thoughts.

If your titration pressure is 11, I would suggest you slowly bring up the min pressure from 8 to at least 10 (or even 11). The upper pressure of 15 is probably fine.

If you can, I recommend you get the software and a card reader. That way you can run a report showing your average 95% pressure over a number of days or weeks. I've found the right pressure for me is actually about 2 points higher than my titration pressure.

I've also found that I feel better when I use my machine in straight C-PAP mode rather than auto mode. I'm of the opinion that the auto mode is great for getting a better idea of the straight pressure you may need and it may even be better for some people to be on auto mode all the time, but if you can stand the straight pressure, you might wake up feeling more rested. I don't know why I feel more rested after a night on straight C-PAP, but I'm guessing that perhaps the constand changing of the pressure was disturbing my sleep (even though I didn't notice it). If you have the S8 Autoset II, you have EPR. I recommend USING it! It's GREAT!

I'm still waiting for the day that I don't fight off sleepiness during the day, but I am feeling more energetic and most days in less of a "fog" than I was pre-CPAP. I also feel better days after using the straight C-PAP mode than when I've used auto mode.

Hang in there. There's tons of good advice and support here. By trial and error, you will get things "right" for you and you will feel better!

[EzJones]

Thanks to all for the input!
I did what Bluebonnet_Gal said & tried to raise the min. press. I just bumped it up to 9 instead of 8. I slept for 2 hours & woke up. I thought I would check the results for kicks. My HI's were wat higher than B4 They were 19.8 so I was wondering if turning up the pressure had anything to do with that. I did turn it back to 8 & tried to get some more sleep. I got about 2 more hours & the HI went down to 8 though the machine ran more than 2 hours I was awake laying there with the mask on. So I'm not sure if the HI goes down during this time or not? Thanks again!

[Debjax]

Is there anyone out there that can say it makes them feel better? I only know 1 other person on cpap & it's doing nothing for him either!

It has changed my life. I started in December, about a week before my birthday, and fortunately, I did not have any problems adjusting to it. I went in with the mindset that it could only improve my life....chronic exhaustion, angina, constant exhaustion, pre-diabetic, always exhausted.....

I just finished looking at my numbers for the last 12 days, and the last week (ok, excluding the night I couldn't use it at all due to bad cold) are the best numbers I've had, and I knew they would be that way before I checked....based on how I feel. My AHI is running about an average of .4 right now, have not had an obstructive apnea in over a week, and the hypopneas are stopping completely after about the first 2 hours of sleep......

Yes, it gets better. It gets ALOT better.