so depressed.. do i really have to wear this??

[Whitneyb404]

I have gained weight since I got married about 10 yrs... going from 125lbs to 170lbs I have had a hard time with insomnia and sleeping in general over the past 3 or 4 years.... Went to a sleep clinic and here I am with moderate sleep apnea. I am so depressed.. last night was my first night wearing it the mask. I feel like I slept ok but the whole thing makes me so depressed thinking most likely my weight led to this... brutal.
I am not anxious going to bed and not looking forward to wearing the mask and the entire thing in general....
I really can not believe I had to wear this every night.
Does anyone else feel like this?

[Scarlet834]

I was horrified at the video I was shown prior to my sleep study--I had never heard of CPAP before. So, you're not alone. I was depressed right up until I had my machine and it was finally set to effectively treat me--then I no longer cared a whit. If you have been badly fatigued during the day, once you are set in your therapy you most likely will not believe the difference in how you feel. I hope that at that point you won't feel badly about wearing the mask.

It may not be weight that is the main contributor to your apnea. In my case weight has nothing to do with us. Neither of us can help getting older.

[DreamStalker]

Well look at it this way ... you cannot get control of your weight until after you control your OSA.

Accept the treatment.

It will change your life for the better in more ways than you can imagine right now.

Now is the time for a positive outlook as now you have a chance to regain a youthful vigor and take on challenges that use to be only dreams.

Make your dreams come true simply by making the treatment work for you.

Join the forum.

Become a member and let the fellow members help you take control of your condition.

[KatieW]

Here is a link to the 7 stages of cpap therapy. I hope you find it helpful:

wiki/index.php/Seven_Stages_of_CPAP

Welcome to the forum, I hope you will stay and take the time to read and learn as much as possible. I am very grateful to the members of this forum for the support, encouragement and knowledge that they have given me.

[Whitneyb404]

Thanks! I hope I get used to the mask. I heard the weight as a lot to do with it. I have joined a weight management clinic and have already lost 3lbs in a week. My main problem with the lack of sleep (apnea) was I woke up a lot during the night, felt so tired and had a head ache every morning, I also woke up several times of the night gasping for air, coughing a lot...
I hope it helps me. . but is it possible for me to cure this with weight loss or surgery?

[BlackSpinner]

I hope it helps me. . but is it possible for me to cure this with weight loss or surgery?

Probably not. It might reduce the pressure required but 170 is not that much excess weight. Surgery is very iffy. Even doctors on cpap are not choosing that.

[Craig P]

You may need to look at this from another perspective: It is very possible your apnea has caused your weight gain, and once you get it under control the weight can come off when you feel better and become more active.

Having to use a cpap is not a sentence, it is a reprieve, from not having enough energy to get on with your life.

[Kiralynx]

I cried coming out of the doctor's with my diagnosis. Just five months before, I'd had major surgery for cancer. I didn't want another "health challenge."

Speaking as someone whose apnea surfaced AFTER I lost 180 pounds, I doubt losing 50 or so pounds would cure the apnea. It's not about weight. We can't help getting older.

And, quite bluntly, whatever else they tell you about weight loss surgery, it's still MAJOR SURGERY. Not fun. Dangerous, in my view.

Yes, I'd like not to have to wear the mask every night and whenever I take a nap. But the difference in my health and in the way I feel is beyond any question of to mask or not to mask.

<g> I dubbed my Comfortlite 2 mask my "blue Klingon forehead." It helped to joke about it. Still haven't settled on a name for the Headrest mask!

[mdboze]

I have gained weight since I got married about 10 yrs... going from 125lbs to 170lbs I have had a hard time with insomnia and sleeping in general over the past 3 or 4 years.... Went to a sleep clinic and here I am with moderate sleep apnea. I am so depressed.. last night was my first night wearing it the mask. I feel like I slept ok but the whole thing makes me so depressed thinking most likely my weight led to this... brutal.
I am not anxious going to bed and not looking forward to wearing the mask and the entire thing in general....
I really can not believe I had to wear this every night.
Does anyone else feel like this?

Whitneyb404,

Stick with it.

Wearing the mask will eventually become a habit; and automatically switch you into a mode of "its time to sleep".
Know that it may take 8 weeks to adapt. STAY WITH IT.
This will save your life.

Take time to read the following ENTIRE thread about what UNTREATED sleep apnea will do to you:
LOOK HERE ->>> viewtopic.php?f=1&t=49686&p=455813#p455813

Know that we are with you. You are not alone. Everyone reading this who is willing to help support Whitneyb404, click REPLY to let him know.
Many people here have gone through what you are feeling now. Initially, the idea of straping a mask on and being connected to a machine was frightening for me. I'm a 40 year-old man; and I was scared. But more scary was the chest pain I was beginning to have before I started this therapy.

ALL gone now. No more chest pains. Also, I no longer snap and loose my temper at people at work (from being over tired); or say stupid things in meetings at work: I would commonly repeat something that was said minutes ago, or ask a question to bring up an important point... that had already been covered; getting strange looks and from my work colleagues.

If you have a problem with this therapy, talk to your doctor, AND come here and ask others. There are many knowledgeable people here that are willing to help.

[Huffer]

My wife calls me the elephant man but she would rather I do CPAP then die of respiratory complications. I am inclined to agree with her. Put a cute fuzzy cover on your hose and it will be just another thing to cuddle at night!

[Julie]

What is your prescribed pressure setting (sorry if I missed it in there)? Sometimes the docs are very conservative and start you off low, so a little reset might be in order, though I'd check first with your MD to be sure. Also, if you unknowingly breathe with your mouth open at night, all the good air's being lost and you might need to switch to a full face mask that'll just cover your mouth as well.

[Ms.Snuffleupagus]

Yes I remember that feeling of feeling somewhat depressed the first time I strapped on my mask. Had trouble sleeping those first few nights. I had the pressure set very low and found I had trouble breathing out even against that low pressure. I had very little information before I joined this forum. But after a few days I found this forum. I quickly leaned how to get info from my machine each morning, which masks to try, how to adjust the settings etc. And suddenly I starting feeling the effects of sleeping better. What a difference! I would not want to go back to living without my CPAP. I am not sure how I survived all those years, struggling to get out of bed and feeling like I could never sleep enough. I used to spend my weekends just trying to recover from the work week. Now I wake up early on a Saturday morning..no alarm clock...amazing.

I hope you stick with it Whitney. That link that Katie gave you re: the 7 stages of CPAP therapy is really quite good.

[Paul56]

I have gained weight since I got married about 10 yrs... going from 125lbs to 170lbs I have had a hard time with insomnia and sleeping in general over the past 3 or 4 years.... Went to a sleep clinic and here I am with moderate sleep apnea. I am so depressed.. last night was my first night wearing it the mask. I feel like I slept ok but the whole thing makes me so depressed thinking most likely my weight led to this... brutal.
I am not anxious going to bed and not looking forward to wearing the mask and the entire thing in general....
I really can not believe I had to wear this every night.
Does anyone else feel like this?

I felt the complete opposite. At the sleep clinic the first time I started feeling the air through the mask... my thought was "WOW... I LIKE THIS".

I still like having all that air.

Stick with it and hang out here asking questions. When that therapy gets dialed-in your will start feeling better.

[Husky Lover]

I suppose the difference is being told you have the apnea issue rather than seeking a solution to a problem yourself. I had problems. Nodding off when driving, sore throat, sleepy. Spouse had long before moved to another bedroom. I sought out help and welcomed the CPAP which has solved those symptoms. It's an attitude thing I would say.

[kteague]

Welcome. What you're feeling has been expressed by many on here. By the time I was diagnosed and began treatment, I would have gladly worn a medieval torture device if I thought it would give me some REAL sleep. (For a while I thought that's what it was!) Funny thing though, it wasn't till I first got a taste of real sleep that I realized how totally unfamiliar it seemed. I just couldn't remember having felt that before. I tell you what, it was like a drug. Felt so good that if it meant masking up and wearing a machine to get that feeling again, I knew I'd be willing to do it for the rest of my life. Still don't want to be bothered with the nightly routine of masking up and the periodic cleaning. Still would rather not have to do this. But I'm addicted to that feeling.

My first remembrance of symptoms of poor sleep were when I was yet young and fit. Weight gain came later. Some who never had apnea before gaining weight have a chance at resolving it with weight loss. I doubt that's how it would go with me. But don't get me wrong. I'm down 55 lbs, and if after losing all the excess weight I was formally tested and told I no longer has OSA, my machine would be posted for sale on Craigslist in a hot minute. I think.

Hang in there till you begin to reap some benefits. Hopefully things will look brighter then.

Kathy