How is it to be off the Machine temporarily?

[ardneham]

I would like to hear from anyone with experience of not using his/her Machine for about a week or so,
say when having to travel abroad ; as a second opinion. I intend going abroad without the Machine.

In a daring mood, I skipped using the Machine for 14 days, to test for any signs health-wise. I did not
experience any untoward problems. I am 76 yrs. male, retired and otherwise healthy. My last apnea
count was 6 p.hr. as the Machine revealed. I have been 18 months on this.

[SnoozyQ]

I went about a week without my machine. It was awful. I slept terribly, I felt worse than normal. I dreaded going to bed. My small improvements were that much more noticeable when I got my machine back.

Is there a reason you can't take it with you, or do just prefer not to?

[Big S]

Do you enjoy playing Russian roulette?

[Hawthorne]

I'm not a person yo want to hear from on this but you are going to hear from me! I have been on cpap for 8+ years and have only slept without the machine for part of a night when the power went off and I didn't have battery backup. I got battery backup pdq! Have never slept without the machine since diagnosis except for that 1 short time. That was enough!

When I travel, it goes with me.

I hope I never have to sleep without my machine. If it should happen, it will not be by my choice!

[HoseCrusher]

I can't find it right now, but there was a study that showed that the damage to the body by obstructive sleep apnea is reversed by using xPAP, and the healing continues for a short period of time even when the therapy is stopped.

I don't have a lot of symptoms from OSA, so the few times I have not used my machine, I really didn't notice any difference in my daily performance. I have no problem taking backpacking trips and going several nights without xPAP. I find the cold/hot, dry/wet, rocky/sandy, wild animal noises/natural noises tend to be more of an issue interrupting my sleep than OSA.

With that said, if you are still having problems after using xPAP therapy, stopping it will most likely make things worse. If you have noticed symptoms going away with therapy, they may return after stopping, but there also may be a delay in their return.

[howkim]

A couple of years ago, I forgot my mask when I went to a conference. 5 days of torture. I don't think I absorbed anything after the first day. I suggest that you by yourself a plug converter for your machine and take it with you.

[Janknitz]

With an AHI of 6, you may not be experiencing all of the benefits the machine can give you, which might explained why noticed less of a difference when you did your experiment going without.

If I were you, I'd work on therapy effectiveness to get that AHI well below five (below 3, preferably). Then it will really be doing you more good, and you might notice the difference when you are NOT using it.

Apnea damage to your body is cumulative--a death of a thousand cuts. Every time you don't use it, you are causing damage. It may not seem like a lot but it adds up. An added danger of going without for two weeks is that it makes it all the harder to convince yourself to keep using it on your return.

In the end, you're an adult, and it's your choice. But you must be wanting some reassurance because you're asking--most of us have learned the hard way that going without CPAP for even a short nap is a very bad idea. Hopefully you don't have to learn this lesson the "hard way" too.

[BlackSpinner]

This week in the hospital while hooked up to a monitor I dozed off and saw that my oxygen levels dropped well below 80. Not even sleeping deeply. Never go without oxygen - it doesn't do much good for you.
Plus your AHI on the machine has no relationship to our AHI off the machine.

[bap40]

I once went a week without. I traveled by air and forgot a cord........ besides having an almost panic attack just over the thought of not being able to use it....
It was a very tough week on a trip that was supposed to be for pleasure without having enough sleep.... Now I check and double check as I never would dream of not using it. For me that is not an option ever.

[avi123]

Janknitz, in my area if you got your pressures to low values and the rest of the indices to acceptable levels then a psychiatrist would take over and try to wean you from the da-mn CPAP for 6 months with some safe medications (Xanax is one).

[nomoore]

I took a trip about a year ago and forgot part of my mask at home. I slept 3 or 4 nights without my CPAP until I was able to receive a replacement part. The first night I slept badly and was pretty tired the next day, but it wasn't terrible. But each successive night I was more and more tired. I was sleeping in a lot (like 10 hours) but I felt like I was sleeping 4 hours a night instead of my usual 8. By the time I got on CPAP again I was miserable. And I didn't recover from it right away. It took at least another week to feel back to normal. Basically, I felt pretty miserable for my whole 2 week trip. It was my first time meeting some of my new in-laws and I wonder what they thought of me because I'm sure I was walking around like a zombie most of the time.

[mayondair]

A week???? After 30 mins I feel like garbage, if you like headaches, sweats etc, go without.

[jmelby]

Janknitz, in my area if you got your pressures to low values and the rest of the indices to acceptable levels then a psychiatrist would take over and try to wean you from the da-mn CPAP for 6 months with some safe medications (Xanax is one).

Huh?? This makes no sense at all... cpap doesn't cure anything... it manages the symptoms of apnea, but as soon as you stop using it, your AHI is back where it used to be and all of the horrible effects along with it.

[DocWeezy]

Janknitz, in my area if you got your pressures to low values and the rest of the indices to acceptable levels then a psychiatrist would take over and try to wean you from the da-mn CPAP for 6 months with some safe medications (Xanax is one).

I don't understand what you're saying here....are you saying that if someone uses a low pressure and has low AHIs then they should be weaned off of a cpap? Isn't Xanax used for anxiety? Are you making a connection between anxiety and the need for a cpap?

Just curious.....

[NightMonkey]

Janknitz, in my area if you got your pressures to low values and the rest of the indices to acceptable levels then a psychiatrist would take over and try to wean you from the da-mn CPAP for 6 months with some safe medications (Xanax is one).

This makes no sense whatsoever. Care to elaborate?

If by "my area" you are talking about Raleigh, I have lived in the Triangle area before and still frequently visit there and I know they have excellent doctors who would be appalled at what you wrote.

Now that is not to say there aren't some quacks practicing medicine there. If you look you can find quacks everywhere.