Aspiring Hosehead saying hello!

[msvaleriah]

Hi, everyone.

I'm an aspiring hose-head. Just had my first sleep study a couple of weeks ago and I'm chomping at the bit to get my machine. Mine was a split study - halfway through the night they hooked me up to a CPAP, and even with the mask not fitting quite right, I felt so much perkier when my tech woke me up in the morning it wasn't even funny. I had great energy all through that day. Went from thinking of CPAP as "the dreaded Darth Vader machine" to SIGN ME UP NOW!!! Got my copy of the report and am waiting to hear back from my cardiologist (who ordered my initial study), to move on the recommended second study (to establish my correct titre?) His nurse told me they'd probably be referring me to a pulmonologist to complete the rest of the process.

For close to a year now I've been working out, doing cardio 5 days a week plus two very demanding sessions of functional fitness training per week, and seeing a lot of improvement. My weight has dropped 35 lbs. I have around 70 more pounds to take off, but it's a good start. I'm much stronger and fitter than I was a year ago, I just need to keep improving my eating habits and keep working out. After reading about this condition, I'm very glad to have initiated this process - I know it's going to help me with these offorts.

I have to say, it's been driving me crazy having to wait while completing the process of getting hooked up. After having that one good day I'm painfully aware of how chronically tired I've been. It's amazing how the mind works. Now that I know how serious my apnea issues are, I'm feeling the fatigue a lot more than before and have been really struggling to keep up my routine and get through my days at work. I know I have to just hang on until the medical folks can get me squared away, but it's a bit of a challenge.

While I'm waiting, I'm doing my best to get educated about apnea and CPAP. I'm glad I found this board for support. Hello to everyone - looking forward to learning and sharing here!

[Pad A Cheek]

Welcome aboard. There is a wealth of information at your fingertips here on this forum.

I will tell you that the first month can be the most challenging. That said, some people take to the whole thing right away and others have some challenges to overcome. In my opinion the mask is key. You may need to try out 4-5 masks in the first month to find your best one for you. It is a personal thing, you cannot rely on what other people use and like. Your Durable Equipment Provider (DME) should allow you to exchange masks for free the first 30 days, so be sure you ask about that. Another thing, get a hard copy of your prescription and the sleep study reports. Keep them for your records, it can make your life easier later if you need to change DMEs.
I wish you well.

Karen

[MacDaddy]

I have a similar story, I went from dreading it to saying "let's go" after the sleep study. The day after my split study was AWESOME! I slept, I mean really slept for the first time in years. The tech actually had to wake me up! The first few breaths after the mask came of were very strange though.

With luck, tonight is my last night as an apneac, and I will join the "Loyal Order of the Hoseheads" tomorrow night! I Meet with the RT tomorrow afternoon. I have been in to the shop a couple times to ask questions and "scout" the territory, and they were very helpful and accommodating.

Good luck to the both of us!

Jim

[cosmo]

Attitude is key. Sounds like you'll be off to a good start. Most people don't feel any burst of energy but we do know its doing its job.

You were probably on a rise with your self improvement ways and cpap will propel you even further. The rest of us were on a downward fall in a sinkhole and are making our way up slowly with the help of cpap and changing our ways

[Sheriff Buford]

Don't hesitate to "grease the wheel" and hurry up the unending medical bureaucracy. I have found that your situation may "sit in a stack", but if you gently move the process along, you expedite the process. Best of Luck! Be sure to work all your issues here.

Sheriff

[jweeks]

For close to a year now I've been working out, doing cardio 5 days a week plus two very demanding sessions of functional fitness training per week, and seeing a lot of improvement. My weight has dropped 35 lbs. I have around 70 more pounds to take off, but it's a good start. I'm much stronger and fitter than I was a year ago, I just need to keep improving my eating habits and keep working out. After reading about this condition, I'm very glad to have initiated this process - I know it's going to help me with these offorts.

Hi,

Getting started on CPAP is going to help you put this into high gear. Sleep disorders stack the weight equation against you, and can make it far easier to gain weight, and close to impossible to lose it. Given the success that you have had so far in taking off weight, you should have no issues dropping the remaining 70 after starting treatment.

In my case, I gained about 3/4 pound a month over the 20 years that I went untreated. Once I started on CPAP, I was able to curb the weight gain, and then eventually start losing. I have lost 154 lbs so far, and am only 1 pound from my goal weight.

Even more important is changing your body composition. I started with zero muscle tone and was pretty much all fat. While I didn't have a body fat percentage test done at that time, I was probably in the 45% or 50% range. Adding muscle mass is just as important as losing the fat. The program that you are doing sounds excellent. You might want to track body fat percentage over time. I ended up getting a DEXA body composition scan. That gave me a digital map of my body showing exactly where all the fat was remaining. I gave that to my personal trainer, and he developed a routine where I could focus on those areas. Other than the loose skin around my waist, I am down to 16% body fat.

-john-

[Sleepy Pilot]

Cosmo is right, attitude is the key. I had the same effect after my sleep study with CPAP tritration, amazing energy. For the first time in 20 years, I was tired without my head in a fog of incapacitation. Wow, I could think while I was tired! My doctor called me one week later and sent a prescription to the DME. I didn't want to wait for the DME to call me, so I called the doctor's office back and asked where they sent my prescription. They were not ready and I pushed them to send it. I used the, “I am a commercial pilot and my job is on line”, reason to light a fire under them. Then, I called the DME and asked them to look at their fax machine. They replied, “Oh, we don’t carry full data machines.” So, I called my doctors office back and told them I need another DME now. They started calling other DMEs and found one 40 miles from my house with the right machine. I waited at a restaurant across the street until they would see me. Sure, they thought I was pushy at first, now they know I’m serious and that I will find another DME in a heartbeat to get what I need. This is a business for them and like any properly run business, maximum profit with minimum cost while trying to not to piss off your customers. Don’t concern yourself with their business; you are the only one that is going to fight for YOU!

Sure, being to hosehead is down right goofy, but life is getting better every day as I climb out the hole the OSA put me in. I used to have head rushes in the night and migraines all day, everday. I have not had any more head rushes and only one headache in the 14 days that I have been on a CPAP! Get that machine and get your life back.

[Tino2You]

Hi,
Welcome to the forum. You'll find a lot of support and answers here. Since you had a split study, your report should contain your Titration. That as the purpose of doing the split study. You will need to talk to your carido guy to get your prescription for your machine, mask et al.

While on that topic, you should use this time to do your homework on machines. The best starting place is the "where a newbie should start" link at the top of the page. Two more links are Janknitz's excellent - "WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE YOU MEET YOUR DME Part I"

http://maskarrayed.wordpress.com/what-y ... me-part-i/

Link to Rested Gal collection of links to many common topics

viewtopic.php?t=17435

Take you time and don't get stuck with a brick!
-tino