At Last - I Woke Up Feeling Good!!!!!!

[mars]

This morning was different. I woke up and felt alive and alert - for the first time in my living memory.

7 weeks ago I started CPAP therapy, with a Sandman Info on 11. Then 2 weeks ago got my own machine - a Sandman Auto, and quickly settled for settings of
Minimum Pressure 8
Max Pressure 12.5
Pressure Decrease Fast
Flow Limitation Disabled
Max Pressure for Command on Apnea 11

But until this morning I always woke up still feeling muggy. People who woke up feeling refreshed, and immediately jumped out of bed have always amazed me, in fact, I secretly doubted that they were telling the truth. But this morning I did the same, and this is with 4 weeks of a very painful lower back.

Last nights data showed -

apneas 0
central apneas 0
hypopneas 0
central hypopneas 7
snorings 1

I know that this was just one night, but now I know for myself what is possible, rather than being content with an AHi of between 5 and 10.

Without this forum I would probably have been content with what was good, rather than what is the best. A special thank you to all who have personally helped me, and a thank you to all who post. I not only learn about recovery from sleep apnea, but also learn more about our human condition.

cheers

Mars

[MurphysLaw]

Good for you, Mars! It does take time but you'll begin to notice more and more how terrific you can feel compared to the way we all felt before cpap. You'll have good days and bad, but soon the good will outnumber the bad.

I felt terrific the morning after my titration. Knowing how I could feel made me stick with the therapy even though it took several weeks to achieve that same feeling again.

Now you can see that it's all worthwhile. Keep up the good work.

Lynne

[DaveL]

Well done Mars!

And murphyslaw, "right-on"!

Great response.

My head gear stretches quickly. When I start feeling worse, I adjust the headgear and remember to wash my mask. Some days I know I have mouth-breathed and regret postponing buying a chin strap. It's only been 9 years since I started!

keep up the good work!

[wlbecker]

how cool is that? After 2 mos, still waiting for it.

[hawkwind]

Welcome to the land of the living. Good luck!!

[bdp522]

Glad to hear about your great night! Don't get discouraged if you still have some bad nights. Every good night you have will make this a bit easier for you!

Brenda

[Mtnviewer]

Good News Mars. Like you I've had that feeling a few times and owe it to learning from this forum. I may have had low #'s like you, and on average they are low now anyway, but as I sleep deeper and longer, I think that my body is doing things more unconciously than it used to, such as trying to get on my back, or changing my head positions or other things that I can't see or know of to cause apneas of various kinds. So some night's results are good, some great, some poor (like 2 nights ago but then I think the wine with dinner was the problem as last night was very good). My point is, make note of what you've done to get the good results, but don't be surprised or disappointed if your #s change as now you're sleeping differently and with that, for me at least, my body does things differently. I still want to get an IR camera to help learn of and try to deal with new apnea promoters as I can. Going by how you feel is great and having the #'s to figure out the problems is even better.

Now wait till your lower back pain subsides. Have you gone to get therapy and to learn from that physio yet? Best wishes for continued success.

[Catnap]

Isn't it great? The first day I had that feeling, I found myself marveling at it all day long. I felt like Julie Andrews in the opening sequence of "The Sound of Music" where she's swirling around and singing at the sky At the time when I'd been accustomed to lying down for my first (of many) nap in the morning, instead I found myself cleaning the dining room and marveling. Later, when I usually turned on the TV and waited to nod out under the afghan, I found myself out walking my dogs. That afternoon, when I was usually desperately fighting the urge to stop work and take a 3 p.m. nap, I worked right past 3 and marveled when I looked at the clock and realized it. The biggest marvel of all, though, was that from the first night, I have not had to get up during the night to use the bathroom, which used to be a guaranteed 2-3 times a night, and sometimes 5-6. That alone is enough to get me to mask up every night!

[tattooyu]

That's fantastic. I had a night like that last night. 7:46 hours straight through! I usually wake up at least 1-2 times.

Leakage - 0.00 L/s
AHI - 3.0
AI - 0.2
HI - 2.8

I just came off a bad stretch of a few nights--I had some type of stomach flu which really affected my sleep, even though I didn't have to get up to go to the bathroom.