Post Success Stories

lindychris · Post by **lindychris** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 1:08 pm

I was thinking this am: We are all here to help each other and especially those having a hard time. We don't often tell success stories.

Would anyone be willing to share their success story re: OSA, CSA, CPAP etc? I think that if some of those who struggle can see the light that will appear at the end of the tunnel, it would be uplifting.

Anyone?

(I'm too new to be a total success story yet I think).

tuna · Post by **tuna** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 1:14 pm

Can't say I am a total success, but I do feel alot better..

Lee Lee · Post by **Lee Lee** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 4:39 pm

I was REALLY sick before APAP. I had high blood pressure, Lupus, Fibromyalgia, Sjogrens Syndrome, GERD with asthma, and esophagitis. I had strange seizure-like episodes. I was exhausted, even falling asleep at red lights. I was horribly overweight and was depressed and anxious. I was afraid of loosing my job, because I was brain dead and couldn't focus. My memory was awful. I had restless leg syndrome. My marriage was suffering.
I had palpitations. I could go on, but it's boring. I was making alot of doctors rich. I was on a ridiculous amount of meds.No one could figure out what was wrong with me.
Then one day, I was complaining to a Nurse assistant that the back of my throat felt weird, like it was stuck together all the time. She said I needed a sleep study. Turns out, I had OSA.
Fast forward, two years. I lost a lot of weight, started walking 3 miles a day, I'm off of most of my meds, my Lupus is in remission, I have NO RLS, blood pressure is normal, depression and anxiety are gone, marriage and job are good. I no longer fall asleep during staff meetings. My energy is high and my mood is great.
I'm not saying life is perfect, but I sure don't mind hooking up to my machine every night.
I have done a lot of work to make therapy work, and have more to do, but I am a success story.
Regards,
Lee Ann
Two years later

Panhandler · Post by **Panhandler** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 5:01 pm

I can't say I feel like a kid again, or anything even close, but:

I was in chronic atrial fibrillation, failed at two conversion attempts pre- CPAP, then after a month's use (and a lot of medication) the third try worked and I've been in normal sinus rhythm since.

My mental attitude is better most of the time.

We just finished my second daughter's wedding, a big show in a remote location without much of a tech staff. I don't think I've ever worked harder, but I survived. Before CPAP, that might not have been the case. I certainly would have bit off a few heads.

It has been about 6 months on CPAP. It hasn't been a revolutionary change, but I wouldn't give it up for the world.

lindychris · Post by **lindychris** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 8:01 pm

Thanks for the story LeeLee. That is fantastic and amazing.

I am more like Panhandler. Wouldn't give it up for anything. My success so far is that I don't feel like I need another 6 hours of sleep when the alarm wakes me up. In fact. some days I wake up before the alarm!

Small steps.

dsm · Post by **dsm** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 3:00 pm

[quote="Lee Lee"]I was REALLY sick before APAP. I had high blood pressure, Lupus, Fibromyalgia, Sjogrens Syndrome, GERD with asthma, and esophagitis. I had strange seizure-like episodes. I was exhausted, even falling asleep at red lights. I was horribly overweight and was depressed and anxious. I was afraid of loosing my job, because I was brain dead and couldn't focus. My memory was awful. I had restless leg syndrome. My marriage was suffering.
I had palpitations. I could go on, but it's boring. I was making alot of doctors rich. I was on a ridiculous amount of meds.No one could figure out what was wrong with me.
Then one day, I was complaining to a Nurse assistant that the back of my throat felt weird, like it was stuck together all the time. She said I needed a sleep study. Turns out, I had OSA.
Fast forward, two years. I lost a lot of weight, started walking 3 miles a day, I'm off of most of my meds, my Lupus is in remission, I have NO RLS, blood pressure is normal, depression and anxiety are gone, marriage and job are good. I no longer fall asleep during staff meetings. My energy is high and my mood is great.
I'm not saying life is perfect, but I sure don't mind hooking up to my machine every night.
I have done a lot of work to make therapy work, and have more to do, but I am a success story.
Regards,
Lee Ann
Two years later

skjansen · Post by **skjansen** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 4:04 pm

I believe my OSA went undiagnosed for as many as 18 years. I did not fit the "mold" of a OSA patient so no one looked for thats. I was able to cope somewhat during that time because whenever I literally hit bottom I couldn't eat and apparently lost just enough weight to keep the OSA at bay. Several years ago I absolutely hit bottom again. I was so tired that when I even tried to stand up I felt like I would pass out. I stopped going out except to do my job. I would lay on the floor of my home office and just cry because no one could figure out what my problem was.

Finally, I was properly diagnosed three years ago. Feeling better did not come instantly but it did come. Up until last month I did not know how to look at my daily results so I did not realize that sleeping on my back was still keeping my AHI around 7. Thanks to the wealth of knowledge on this forum I now sleep exclusively on my side and my AHI is around 1.5. Have many more good days now than bad. At least I can function now! Now....if I could get through the lovely "change of life" I would be on my way!!

Basically I went from non-functioning to living. You all will too.

Machine	Mask	Humidifier