Will the body remember how to breathe??????

[Tigger]

I have been on CPAP religiously since December 6, 2012 with only 2 nights missed since beginning my therapy. Something that I have wondered lately, will my body remember how to respond, if for some reason, I do not use CPAP? My concern is that my respiratory system may not respond or remember how to awaken me if I fail to breathe. My body may be conditioned to rely on CPAP. I may be overreacting to something that may not happen, but wondered if anyone else has these thoughts?

[Pugsy]

You have been doing the breathing all along. The cpap machine doesn't breathe for you...all it does is supply added pressure to help hold the airway open. Now ventilators will breath for you but not these cpap machines.

Your body will respond if you happen to go without the machine for some reason and you will wake up and be just as miserable as you were before cpap.

Not long ago I took a little trip and forgot to include my long hose..so had to go one night without machine till I bought a new hose. I have been on the machine for over 3 years and yep...I immediately had frequent wake ups, woke up with morning headache and general felt pretty doggy the next day.

[pats]

I have been on CPAP religiously since December 6, 2012 with only 2 nights missed since beginning my therapy. Something that I have wondered lately, will my body remember how to respond, if for some reason, I do not use CPAP? My concern is that my respiratory system may not respond or remember how to awaken me if I fail to breathe. My body may be conditioned to rely on CPAP. I may be overreacting to something that may not happen, but wondered if anyone else has these thoughts?

I take time off from APAP to acclimate to Provent and to use Provent for travel. Provent requires extra breathing effort, because the pressure comes from the user's chest muscles, not a blower on the bedside table. I had no problems with remembering to breath. At first, my body did not like doing the work to exhale against the extra pressure. I woke up, feeling I needed to get rid of the Provent.

If anything, I would think untreated sleep apnea might reduce sensitivity to non-breathing and low blood oxygen while asleep.

[chunkyfrog]

Since December 2012; Are you a time traveler? We promise we won't tell.

[archangle]

If anything, you'll probably find that your body will react more quickly to apneas after you've been doing CPAP for a while.

Unfortunately, this probably means waking you up when you stop breathing, so you will get a lot less sleep without CPAP.

That's one of the reasons its a really good idea to acquire spare hoses, filters, masks, and CPAP machines. And possibly an emergency power source.

Also learn to be really careful to pack everything you need if you travel with CPAP.