Almost 6 months into cpap, still haven't improved

[Insomaniac]

Been using this machine for almost 6 months and I still have yet to feel refreshed and normal after a nights sleep. Honestly, Im thinking of just returning my cpap (waste of money) and maybe seeking another alternative method, or just not giving a F and sleeping without anything. I'm so frustrated with this thing id rather fall asleep and never wake up than keep using this machine. People here always say to keep trying and eventually it will work. "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." -Albert Einstein.

[grayghost4]

Are you using any software to monitor your therapy?
Without doing that you have no idea what is happening.

I looked back at your old posts ....

I would set it to 12 to 18 and use it for a week that way, and see what happens.

And it does take some time to get it right ... it has take me over a year to get it right.

[Wulfman...]

Been using this machine for almost 6 months and I still have yet to feel refreshed and normal after a nights sleep. Honestly, Im thinking of just returning my cpap (waste of money) and maybe seeking another alternative method, or just not giving a F and sleeping without anything. I'm so frustrated with this thing id rather fall asleep and never wake up than keep using this machine. People here always say to keep trying and eventually it will work. "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." -Albert Einstein.

What pressure settings are you using now?
Back in September you posted reports that showed a pressure range of 11-16 and others using 11, 16.2, 12.6, and 14.8.
How long are you using each setting?

Have you heard "a little voice inside of your head" that might be giving you any hints as to what the problem(s) may be?
There are just too many things that don't always blatantly show up in reports to try to make wild guesses.


Den

.

[LSAT]

Been using this machine for almost 6 months and I still have yet to feel refreshed and normal after a nights sleep. Honestly, Im thinking of just returning my cpap (waste of money) and maybe seeking another alternative method, or just not giving a F and sleeping without anything. I'm so frustrated with this thing id rather fall asleep and never wake up than keep using this machine. People here always say to keep trying and eventually it will work. "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." -Albert Einstein.

If you do not stop breathing as much and your O2 levels are not dropping....you are improved. Next step is to see why you are not feeling better. You must have felt bad before CPAP or you would not have gone for a sleep study and purchased a CPAP.

[kteague]

Yes, it can be disheartening when we don't see the results as and when we hoped. When I was at about the same point as you I decided to quit. Was afraid to sleep without it, yet afraid sleeping with it was going to kill me. After staying up two nights I decided to try again with help from here. My pressure needed tweaked a bit but my biggest change was increasing my ramp pressure and shortening my ramp time. I was far overusing the ramp feature and thereby getting little actual therapeutic treatment. Changing this gave me enough results to have some hope. Even though I improved, I was never going to feel rested until my other contributors were addressed. For me that was limb movements - my jumpy legs wouldn't let me rest. Any chance you have a limb movement problem? I do hope you figure out how to make this work for you. Just from personal experience, I think it would premature to quit. Not enough facts yet or proof that the treatment is indeed causing your misery. Maybe it's fixing what it's supposed to fix but other things are going on. Sorry to hear this is so tough for you. Please do take a good hard look at the details of your sleep study and assess your risk before making a decision to quit.

[Heart Jumping]

Been using this machine for almost 6 months and I still have yet to feel refreshed and normal after a nights sleep. Honestly, Im thinking of just returning my cpap (waste of money) and maybe seeking another alternative method, or just not giving a F and sleeping without anything. I'm so frustrated with this thing id rather fall asleep and never wake up than keep using this machine. People here always say to keep trying and eventually it will work. "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." -Albert Einstein.

Your user name is insomniac. Do you still suffer from insomnia? Is your sleep schedule all over the place? On this board cpap usage is for obvious reasons the focus of most discussions but personally I think that for a lot of people it probably needs to be combined with other changes to feel better. And by that, I mean:

1. Above all else, a highly consistent sleep schedule. Just as scientists have discovered apnea/sleep has a huge impact on an amazing number of physical and mental issues, they are finding the same thing about sleep schedule. I'm speaking as someone who is working on this myself.

2. If you've got insomnia that needs treatment too.

And so on. Good luck, frankly I think it's amazing (in a great way) you've stuck with it for 6 months if you've not noticed any improvements. I don't know how severe your apnea is but unless it's was borderline diagnosis I sure would recommend you stick with it, don't endanger your health! Have you had a follow-up of any type?