Any tip to help a newbie to start/continue his PAP therapy?

[OxyJo]

OSA is not something I really want, but since it has come to me, I try to minimize the damage that it may cause to my health. I want to have a good start on my PAP therapy so that I can have a better chance to continue my therapy for the rest of my life. I have read all the useful info posted in the "Wisdom" yellow bulb. However, I am still not sure what this life-long PAP therapy journey will be like and what I should do now. So can you provide a newbie like me who is about to start his PAP journey with some tips on how to get a better start, how to survive from quitting, how to adjust yourself to accept the live change, ...etc. Any experience/tip you have that helps you start the PAP therapy and stay with it is highly welcomed. Thank you all very much for your help.

PS. Now all I have is a mask I used when I had my Sleep Study on 08/26/08. I have an appointment with my sleep doctor on the end of Sept. I will know my sleep study result then and I think I will be put to the PAP therapy.

[Goofproof]

Pull us a chair and live here like the rest of us, Fill in your equiptment profile (IN TEXT), so the rest of us can easily follow what you use and how you use it. Make sure you get a machine that stores (Real) data, and the software and hardware to follow your progress, it helps you over the bumps, and there are bumps.... Keep a good frame of mind, that's important in all things. Jim Welcome!

[bap40]

Having such a positive outlook is the most important thing.

Be sure and get a fully data capable machine. Not just compliance data as some DME's will have you believe.

Take charge of your own therapy.

[mellabella]

One day at a time, my friend, and tons of patience and willingness!

Support from here (technical and moral), and a sense of humor are a help as well.

[alnhwrd]

Welcome to the forum, and the world of CPAP! As has been said before, you MUST have a fully data capable machine. That means one that records your nightly average pressure, leak rate, AHI, AI and HI. This is the only way you can track the success or failure of your treatment. If the mask that you have is not comfortable, ask the health equipment provider to let you try others until you find one you like. Before you get your machine, read through the mask and machine descriptions here and on CPAP.com to look for the ones that do what you want. Ask questions here and in the chat room about other people's experiances with masks and machines that you think you might like. Newbie chat is Monday night, so that would be a good time for you to visit and introduce yourself. Buy some soap for your face and your equipment that is not antibacterial and does not have lotion. Buy some distilled water for use in your CPAP humidifier and be ready to keep it on hand. Figure out where you will put your new machine next to your bed, ideally so that it is at least a bit lower than your bed. You should also look at figuring out a way to drape your hose over your headboard so that the hose comes down over the top of your head. Trust me, this is important. If I had it to do over again, I would take the first week I was on CPAP off of work. I was sleeping better, more soundly and deeply, but due to the newness of it all I was waking up a lot as my mind acclimated to all this weird stuff attached to my face, making adjustments to the mask and headgear, etc.

I think the #1 most important thing you can do, is to right now decide that no matter what you WILL be successful, you will make this therapy work for you. Do NOT let yourself become one of the 50% who drop out and go back to sleeping without CPAP. It is vitally important that your OSA gets treated, you open yourself up to a bunch of health problems if you don't. Recognize that there will be struggles, but know that determination and knowledge will enable you to overcome them all.

Keep us posted with your progress. Everyone here hopes you succeed.

[SleepyNoMore]

OxyJo,

Welcome to the forum,

You have definately reached the right forum for excellent advice and encouragement!

The first and formost thing on my list was to keep putting that mask on my face at night EVERY NIGHT, no matter how uncomfortable it was or how bad I disliked doing it!
The thought of it was just the worst part for me and sometimes to this day (13 months later), I find myself saying, gee maybe I won't hose up tonight, well I did that last month and boy did I pay for it, I woke up feeling so bad that I had to go right back to bed with my mask on and sleep for a few more hours just to stop the heart palpations (before cpap treatment I had them almost daily), I also woke up with a horrible headache (before cpap treatment I had them almost daily as well) and I don't know if that relates to you or not but do try to stay with this treatment (no matter how hard it gets) for your own good as without cpap therapy, there could be consequences to pay in the future, such as heart attack or stroke and many other things that could happen to you such as falling asleep at the wheel, etc...

One of our forum members SleepyGuy/Bret has his own website at http://www.pur-sleep.com where he sells a whole line of aroma oils that help you sleep better with the mask on, healso has the Pap~Cap & Chinstrap to help your headgear from slipping off your head so there are alot of options out there in the cpap world that can help you make it through this therapy!
Another forum member "PadACheek" also has her own website where she sells cheek covers for your mask to help eliminate those dreaded mask marks and snuggly hose covers for your 6 ft. hose and I think her web address is http://www.padacheek.com !

You will want to wash your mask daily with some mild soap like dove or baby shampoo and your hose once a week and then maybe a monthly rinse with vinegar and water, same with your heated humidifier chamber.. I wash my headgear once a month as well. The cleaning of the mask gives it an awesome freah smell to go to sleep with!

I agree with everyone else above, what they said ditto!

Goodluck in your new therapy and keep coming back for encourgement and help!

[joizgrl]

Realize that compliance will not happen overnight. A lot of DME's and Doc's, probably for insurance reasons. expect you to be compliant and successful in a very short time. I don't mean to discourage you but to become totally successful and comfortable ( still have some issue with stuffed nose) with CPAP use, to actually look forward to wearing it throughout the night, took close to a year. However, that doesn't mean that you will not have positive and effectives experience which will make you feel more rested and energetic as you go through the process of dealing with OSA. Good luck. Hang in there. IT IS WORTH IT!!

[carbonman]

Any experience/tip you have that helps you start the PAP therapy and stay with it is highly welcomed. Thank you all very much for your help.

PS. Now all I have is a mask I used when I had my Sleep Study on 08/26/08. I have an appointment with my sleep doctor on the end of Sept.

OxyJo, welcome!
My suggestions:
I would get a copy of the sleep study ASAP.
I would get w/the doc, however you have to do that and get a machine 'script, ASAP.
I wouldn't wait a month.
I would check out pur-sleep aromatherapy. This simple thing was a tremendous help to
me. I wish I would have had it from the start. It makes that mask seem so much more
pleasant from the beginning. I use is everynight.

You didn't say how much OSA has effected you present health.
Look forward to feeling better.
Look forward to having more energy.
Look forward to having your life back.

Become your own best therapist.
It's your therapy.
It's your life.

All the best as your journey begins.

[kteague]

Like a farmer, put your hands to the plow, fix your eyes on your goal, and plow forward.

It so easy if the going gets rough to start second guessing everything...do I really HAVE to use it EVERY night? ... and ALL night? ... or at all? A made-up mind will take you where you need to go. Before I found this site I had quit using my cpap. With the help and encouragement of folks here, I got back on track. I have since found a sleep doctor I respect who I believe cares that I succeed.

Some might say about this site that misery loves company, but to the contrary, I say that success loves company and struggle knows the best place to find help.