How long does people stay on CPAP?

[Snuffle-nose]

Hi

I am a CPAP user and I often wonder if there some people who recovered from Sleep Apeona and did'nt have to use it or their pressure got reduced. Me I am not sure if I will ever get my pressure reduced on my CPAP.

As I still feel rotten if I am not using my machine as my head often aches and I am often sleepy on waking and rest becomes very unrefreshing as I nap on trains without my machine, early in morning on the way to work and I wake up and often want to fall asleep again.

I get cracking headaches if I sleep too long without the CPAP, say in car travelling to work elsewhere. The headaches and sleepiness returns as in the car I can't use the CPAP if the car's been driven by my mate. My mate often said he hears me gurgle, snort also partially choke during my sleep when in the car without CPAP!!

I gotta admit there are time when I partially awake when choking and grugling and I quickly take breath or Snort only to end up fall asleep again to repeat the processing in few minutes later! My mate says sometimes I often wake up to take a breath and fall sleep again.

I sleep with the CPAP everynight....better then waking with a smashing headache!!!!

I know I been choking as

[Rude Ben]

Well Snuffle-nose, CPAP does not cure sleep apnea, it simply prevents it from happening when it is used. People with mild sleep apnea who are overweight can lose weight and get off CPAP. Patients with moderate or severe apnea should do what they can to live a healthy lifestyle but it is most unlikely that they will not need CPAP. Until we get a practical cure, wear the mask.

[wading thru the muck!]

Snuffle-nose,

There are ways you could use a cpap on the train if you don't mind wearing it in public. Probably not any more embarassing than "sawing Logs" the whole trip.

Maybe at some point someone will invent a self contained cpap system for just this purpose. We can wish!

I've fallen asleep without my cpap once for about 20 minutes and I know what you mean about the "cracking headaches"

Good luck with avoiding naps off cpap!

[Guest]

I think sometimes the perception out there is that sleep apnea is caused only by being overweight, etc. In my case & MANY cases out there, the cause of sleep apnea is in the brain. The part of the brain that tells us to keep breathing when we fall asleep fails to work. So we stop breathing as soon as we start to fall asleep because the airway collapses. It has nothing to do with weight, tonsil size, etc. Those things can add to the problem, but they are not the cause in this case. Some day they might have a pill that keeps that part of the brain functioning when we fall asleep, but until then we need to use the CPAP machine to keep our airway open when we sleep. No amount of surgery, etc. will help when the part of your brain that controls your airway shuts down when you fall asleep.

[Guest]

Surgery isn't 100% successful. If you have moderate to severe OSA, you will be using CPAP til you draw your last breath.

[Guest]

When your brain fails to signal for you to breathe while your sleeping that's called central sleep apnea. I heard that Remeron is recommended for those patients.

[sharonokc]

I know of people who have lost weight and lessened their pressure, but know of no one who was totally cured of obstructive sleep apnea.

[wannabesleep]

Well I'm new to all this and have just today ordered my first Cpap, but having been a sufferer for years, i can say that when my body weight has went up, my sleep apnea gets worse. When I loose lots of weight, down to recommended levels, it helps but does not go away completely.

Also, my problem is based from my sinuses. They close off during sleep time and i have to breath through my mouth and the airway in my throat gets closed off too. Result, well, i end up choking my way through a horrible nights sleep. Damn, I'm sure hoping i can tollerate the CPap well.

I did get the newest and latest bad boy, the new Remstar auto with Cflex, so i'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Dale

[LDuyer]

Dale,

Good luck. Be sure to check in here with all your questions. People on this forum give such good and friendly advice. I've had my machine, a BiPAP, for about three weeks, about. I felt some improvement right away. But I still have nights when I struggle. Just don't give up. Hope you get the heated humidifier with it. When I got my BiPAP, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry (I did both) because it's kind of a shock. But I've been surprised to learn so many people have this.

Let us know how it goes.

Linda

[TCMELO]

I have been on my CPAP machine for 10 years and want to get off of it. Told all I have to do is lose 20lbs working on that. Would like to know if having an operation,does it have any affect with the Anesthesia? Going under and coming out of the operation. I have not seen a Doctor since I've had the machine, which is over 10 years. Just wondering if anybody else has the similar problems.

[VikingGnome]

This is my 13th year on CPAP. I think I'll be on it the rest of my life.

[JohnBFisher]

It's been over 20 years for me .. and still going strong. Otherwise, it would have been a LOT shorter!!! So, xPAP therapy is good. No xPAP would be bad, very bad.

[archangle]

I have been on my CPAP machine for 10 years and want to get off of it. Told all I have to do is lose 20lbs working on that. Would like to know if having an operation,does it have any affect with the Anesthesia? Going under and coming out of the operation. I have not seen a Doctor since I've had the machine, which is over 10 years. Just wondering if anybody else has the similar problems.

Maybe losing weight would help, but it's not a sure thing. There are plenty of thin apneacs.

Count on doing CPAP until you die. Count on dying if you stop CPAP. It may be something between slow and miserable death or sudden and painless. Or just ruining your health like accelerated aging.

Maybe they'll find a good surgical or other treatment in the future, but right now, everything else is enormously less effective than CPAP.

Be sure your doctor, especially the anesthesiologist, surgeon, and the primary physician in charge know about your apnea and CPAP. When you're in the hospital, there is one and only one "Primary physician," who is GOD and the only one whose opinion and orders count.

While you're under anesthesia, you probably won't have a problem, but let them know. The problem comes after they take the tube out of your throat and you're sleeping or unconscious in recovery.

Unfortunately, a lot of hospital personnel, including doctors an nurses are *#$&#@( STOOPID and think that you don't need CPAP because you are being given oxygen. Oxygen doesn't help if you aren't breathing. You need CPAP while you're sleeping in the hospital. Be sure the "primary" physican orders CPAP.

[Grumpygus]

Be sure your doctor, especially the anesthesiologist, surgeon, and the primary physician in charge know about your apnea and CPAP. When you're in the hospital, there is one and only one "Primary physician," who is GOD and the only one whose opinion and orders count.

Several years ago, long before I even thought about a sleep study, I had a major surgury done. The Doctor said it went great, but that I gave them a pretty good scare when my SPO2 dropped to below 80. Never even made the connection until I read this. Ive snored like a freight train my whole life and now at 42 Im on a machine...does that mean that Ive spent half my life feeling like crap when I could have been on the machine the whole time?? Darn-it!