Now 4 months on - what a difference CPAP has made to my life

[Sydney Tony]

Howdy,

I was diagnosed at the beginning of the year with severe OSA (36 events normal, 63 REM and the lowest of 83% oxygen) and had undertaken the tests because I felt about 20 years older than I was and because my (trained Naturopath) wife was telling me that I was being a fool to live with a situation that had such an impact on my life.

So after the tests I ended up with a recommendation of CPAP 10cm and my specialist recommended that I hire a machine and come back in 5 weeks.

I had heard something about potential price rises on the Resmed product and so looked at the S9 and S8 and decided in the end to purchase the Resmed AutoSet II - Elite II which happened to come with a full face mask, all hoses and the battery converter as well for less that the price of the base S9.

Just to cover where I had been up to that point; for the last 15 years I was sleep deprived, easily angered, frustrated with life/people/everything, unhappy with work and at times home, putting on weight and suffering headaches every morning which often lasted until evening, drinking a bit too much (light beer - three beers a night or two and a half glasses of wine a night) and slowly but surely losing my way forward.

So I started using my CPAP and while my first CPAP test had been perfect (at the sleep center) my first week was only ok..... but anything was an improvement.

Session Usage (minutes) Mask Pressure Mean (cmH20) Apnea Index (events/hour) Apnea Hypopnea Index (events/hour) Leak (L/sec)

09/03/2010 500 7.8 3.6 12.2 0.08
10/03/2010 443 7.8 7.4 15 0.08
11/03/2010 329 7.8 4 15.3 0.18
12/03/2010 446 7.8 1.8 11.8 0.2
13/03/2010 476 7.8 3.5 11.2 0.08
14/03/2010 390 7.8 1.2 9.3 0.1

Then I have a bit of a problem with my machine and it went back for 'fixing' and a loaner was used for about three weeks.

During this time I started seriously changing my lifestyle, I went to bed earlier and I didn't do any work when I came home and instead read a book before going to sleep.

I also tried something that I read here, I started having a final drink of water and then a banana before bed (and surprisingly a slightly greener one was better) with the result that I could see my values slowly coming down.

Session Usage (minutes) Mask Pressure Mean (cmH20) Apnea Index (events/hour) Apnea Hypopnea Index (events/hour) Leak (L/sec)
12/04/2010 489 10 0.4 5 0.06
13/04/2010 462 10 0.9 4 0.06
14/04/2010 424 10 0.4 4.2 0.06
15/04/2010 518 10 0.9 4.7 0.1
16/04/2010 403 10 0.1 3.4 0.06

So during this time my specialist told me to keep going the way I was because he was happy with the results, I could move to auto if I wanted but I wasn't so sure.

Then I started really getting a handle on my values, and while I fought my leaks the thing that got me was my Hypopnea.... something to be looked at.

Session Usage (minutes) Mask Pressure Mean (cmH20) Apnea Index (events/hour) Apnea Hypopnea Index (events/hour) Leak (L/sec)
08/05/2010 388 9.2 0.6 3.4 0.08
09/05/2010 284 9.2 0.4 1.2 0.12
10/05/2010 482 9.2 0.9 6.2 0.1
11/05/2010 502 9.2 0.9 3.5 0.04
12/05/2010 477 9.2 0.6 4.6 0.06

So my three months figures are;

Mask Pressure Mean (cmH20) Apnea Index (events/hour) Apnea Hypopnea Index (events/hour)
8.4 0.9 4.7

And my last months figure are;

Mask Pressure Mean (cmH20) Apnea Index (events/hour) Apnea Hypopnea Index (events/hour)
9.2 0.9 4.7

I tried lots of changes, and went to auto but that was a mistake for me, but in the end I found that CPAP 10cm with EPR of 1 is perfect for me and on most nights I can get down to two events a night.

As for me, I am slowly losing weight and while I continue to drink occasionally (it is less than before) but it doesn't seem to be affecting my figures because there are periods where I don't drink anything and the figures are no different.

The good things are what I am really posting about..... I am happier, more content in my life and overall a completely different person than I have been for the last 15 years. My anger issues have become almost non-existent (and even when I get cranky I quickly and easily work my way through the issue and deal with it in what would be considered a 'normal' way). I have started studying again, and work has become a place that is a challenge for a very different reason. My overall well-being has improved out of sight to the extent that I live a different life now than I did 3 months ago.

So I consider my life completely changed by a small machine that sits on the table beside my bed (or fits really well when I put it in the panniers of my dirt bike for trips away - I haven't run it on batteries yet but that will be next), its something that lets me be the person that I want to be and while it does look strange with me wearing the mask it has the added benefit that it stops my snoring (which was very bad) which adds to the joy that I feel.

Tony

EDIT: That should have been 2 months on Changed the subject

[popotti]

happy for you

[ZQuest]

Hello: CONGRATS !!!! It is a great feeling, for me it has been almost a month on apap and the first thing that i noticed was NO MORE falling a sleep at the wheel .... Again congratulations on your progress Regards: Phil M PS. This forum and the people in it are fantastic !

[pdean44]

Reaping the rewards from your therapy! Awesome and grats!

[KatieW]

Welcome to the forum. Thanks for sharing your success story. I love to hear success stories.

[DreamOn]

Welcome, Tony! Thanks so much for sharing your success story. Your positive experience will encourage others who may be having difficulty and give them hope that life can get better.

This therapy can be life-changing! I've had excellent results as well. I hope that you continue to thrive!

[DoriC]

Welcome Tony! I hope you know how many people you are helping with your success story! Keep us updated.

[elena88]

That is a wonderful story Tony, Im so, so happy the therapy is working so well for you and
that it is changing your life for the better.

This is just what we newbies need to hear, thanks!

elena

[Sydney Tony]

Howdy,

Just an update on my previous posting..... as time goes on I think about what life was like before and wonder if I should have done this earlier ( 10 or 15 years earlier would have changed my life enormously but you have to work with what you have in life ).

Now, with over 4 months of CPAP I am really starting to see the effects; but am also realising that it's easy to slip a little ( with the things you need to do to keep on top of your OSA ) when you feel so good that you feel 'normal'.

At this point I am sleeping a good 8+ hours most nights and waking up feeling great. The headaches that I previously experienced most mornings are now very uncommon and overall my sleep is continuous rather than being patchy.

My AHI is now down to around 3.9 average but that has to be viewed with the small count of 2 or 3 events I get on a good night and the 5 or 6 events I get on a bad night..... so my Hypopnea is now more of a problem than the Events ( and remembering that I tested at 36 normal / 63 REM this is a dramatic improvement ).

I have increased my pressure to 10.6 and this made a difference as well, it seems that 10 wasn't enough and 11 was too much - so it does make a difference if you can modify and monitor your results.

I still, based on what I read here in the forum, eat a banana every night where possible before I go to bed and this does seem to make a difference..... if I don't have one I get more events that night - the graphs show it and while I will be forever unsure about the validity of this action the consistency of the results do show me that it is worthwhile doing for me.

I have put some weight back on over the last 45 days, going back up from 97kg to 104kg, and this should be impacting my results but I don't see it yet; that being said I am now back to watching my calorie intake and will start to ride my mountain bike and walk more over the next month.

So, my next battle is to get back to losing weight, regain some fitness and continue to remember that just because I feel great it doesn't mean that I can put off the important aspects of managing my OSA - but the sheer joy of being a normal person ( without a lot of the issues and impacts that OSA imposes on you ) makes me just want to run around like a 3 year old.... and we know how forgetful 3 year olds are

Tony

[Prevail]

I am inspired by your post!

How long did it take you before you started to feel the improvement? It seems like you were always getting AHI scores below 5 which is a big improvement.

Prevail

[streetrodder]

Congratulations Tony this gives me hope and I need some bad.

[rubymom]

Congratulations Tony! That's a wonderful story and I appreciate your sharing it. Keep up the great work.

I'm curious about the banana. I've been reading this forum for more than a year now and don't ever recall reading about the benefits of eating a banana just before bedtime. What affect does it have?

Thanks again!

[DreamOn]

Tony, I'm glad that you've been doing so well! Thanks for sharing your story.

I'm curious about the banana. I've been reading this forum for more than a year now and don't ever recall reading about the benefits of eating a banana just before bedtime. What affect does it have?

There were several threads here in late December about bananas and OSA. Here's one: viewtopic/t47758/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=47690.

Bananas contain a substance called phospholipid, which can help to keep the throat open.

[jabman]

Sydney Tony,

Thank you for this post it is very inspiring to me as a beginner. Last night was the first night since I have been on the CPAP that wanted to take it off and forget it, I didn't but it was hard. your post (and others like it) truly want me to make sure that I am sticking to my treatment.
Thank you!