What Can Happen If You Don't Use Your Cpap Machine?

[TmjTerri]

HI again, Ok, I have severe complex sleep apnea. I am having a very very difficult time using my machine so 99% of the time I don't use it. I just cannot get used to it and find that I don't sleep with it on. What can happen if you fail to use the machine over time? I am fairly new at being diagnosed with scsa. Thanks so much!! I thought you all would know the answer to this better then anyone else.

[TooGroggy]

Are you asking whether using the machine 1% of the time has negative health impacts compared to not using it at all?

[Jayjonbeach]

Not to scare you too much but I believe people have died from OSA, I could be wrong.

For sure you are starving your body and brain of oxygen if you have severe OSA and this is NOT good, tons of bad effects from this. When someone has a machine AND the software and you see yourself NOT breathing many many times during the night, sometimes for 20 - 45 seconds long, it is truly scary.

You HAVE to find the right settings that stop your apneas and then wear your mask, EVERY night, you have to do this. Take baby steps, what ever will work but you have to work up to daily use in order to start seeing overall health improvements and stop bad things from happening.

You can do it, not everyone adjusts easily to an annoying mask and hose but they do adjust and you will too. Good luck

[AirBreather]

I agree with Jayjonbeach. Treatment is critical to your health and possibly even your life. XPAP treatment can be miserable to tolerate when everything isn't right, but wonderful when it is. No matter how much you have disliked it up until now you will learn to love it with the right mask, mask adjustments, and machine settings that are optimum for you.

I have used XPAP for many years and I am looking forward to putting my mask on going to sleep in a few minutes, because I sleep so much better and feel so much better with treatment. You will too when you get everything right. Don't think about giving up. Think about finding solutions for whatever is wrong.

[robysue]

From Webmed.com, the following effects of untreated sleep apnea are listed:

What Are the Effects of Sleep Apnea?

If left untreated, sleep apnea can result in a growing number of health problems including:

* High blood pressure
* Stroke
* Heart failure, irregular heart beats, and heart attacks
* Diabetes
* Depression
* Worsening of ADHD

In addition, untreated sleep apnea may be responsible for poor performance in everyday activities, such as at work and school, motor vehicle crashes, as well as academic underachievement in children and adolescents.

And these are really only some of the consequences. Untreated sleep apnea may also lead to weight gain or may make it more difficult to lose excess weight (http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/gu ... ing?page=2). And like obesity, untreated sleep apnea may make it much more difficult to treat or manage other existing health conditions---even if they are not directly related to the apnea itself.

TmjTerri, you owe it to yourself to NOT give up. Like many other things in life, OSA is not fair and it sucks. And learning to sleep with a hose on your head requires both hard work and perseverance. It helps to have a quality health care team in place---but most of us don't. So we have to learn to be proactive about our bodies and our health. It's a long (and intimidating) journey for many of us. But remember---the longest journey begins with a single step: And in learning to use CPAP, that first step is deciding you will put the necessary work into making CPAP work for you.

[Goofproof]

You live longer and better if you use it correctly, if you chose not to, you don't. The choice unlike taxes paying taxes is yours. jim

[Patrick A]

You live longer and better if you use it correctly, if you chose not to, you don't. The choice unlike taxes paying taxes is yours. jim

x2

[jonquiljo]

Webmed.com[/url], the following effects of untreated sleep apnea are listed:

* Worsening of ADHD

Yes, I noticed my ADD is much better now that I use CPAP. I can even lower my med intake a bit at times. I'd say that I get about 2x more done than before CPAP.

You live longer and better if you use it correctly, if you chose not to, you don't. The choice unlike taxes paying taxes is yours. jim

Do you mean that we have to pay taxes? I thought we only had to if we wanted to!

[TmjTerri]

Thank you all so much for responding to my question. I guess I really have no choice but to try and get used to it. Part of the problem is that I had to have a total joint replacement on both sides of my jaw (my tmj area) in 2002 and I have to take strong pain meds for the rest of my life. It hurts my face so bad when I wear my mask. The pain meds do not help with the pain relating to my mask. The other part is that my pressures are so high and I hate the feeling of all that air being forced into my nose/mouth. I hate, hate, hate it. I am so brand new to this and I don't understand all the lingo yet. I need to read up on this and get my but back to using my machine. Thanks for all of the advice. I really appreciate it. I guess it is one baby step at a time. Terri

[Hawthorne]

I see that your pressure is high but becauce of your TMJ situation, I wonder if a nasal pillows mask might work and certainly cause fewer TMJ problems.

I have arthritis in my TMJ area as well. It's not too bad but does flare on occasion. I am on pain meds all the time for RA in many joints. I find that nasal pillows are much easier on my jaw. My pressure is not that high though.

It might be worth it for you to try out nasal pillows. Some people with high pressures are able to use them with success. Just a thought.

[robysue]

Part of the problem is that I had to have a total joint replacement on both sides of my jaw (my tmj area) in 2002 and I have to take strong pain meds for the rest of my life. It hurts my face so bad when I wear my mask. The pain meds do not help with the pain relating to my mask.

Ouch! Make this part of your medical history absolutely crystal clear to both the DME and the sleep doctor's office. Given this history, you will likely need much more help than most CPAP newbies in finding a mask you can wear that does NOT aggravate the existing problems.

If your current mask is already hurting so much that the pain meds don't help, then you need to try a NEW mask---right away! And be extra careful about overtightening any mask you use. Some DMEs are sloppy and act like overtightening is the only way to fix leaks. It is not. Be sure you know exactly what the rules are for mask exchanges. You may need the sleep doctor's office help in getting the DME to understand that it could be a long, frustrating struggle to find a mask that works for you.

And report the unacceptable levels of pain in the TMJ area caused by the mask to your sleep doctor's office as well. It could be that if your sleep doctor and the surgeon/doctor/dentist who has prescribed the current pain meds are on the same page, that a more effective pain medication could be found for you to use.

And have you tried a nasal pillows mask? That style may put less pressure on the TMJ area since the headgear for nasal pillows masks typically do not have a strap that goes around your neck below your ears. So if it's the bottom back strap of your current mask that's really adding to the TMJ pain, that may be a solution to finding a mask that works.

The other part is that my pressures are so high and I hate the feeling of all that air being forced into my nose/mouth. I hate, hate, hate it. I am so brand new to this and I don't understand all the lingo yet. I need to read up on this and get my but back to using my machine. Thanks for all of the advice. I really appreciate it. I guess it is one baby step at a time. Terri

My own pressure settings are quite low. And it's taken me months to get used to them. But eventually you will get used to it. Here again, though, if the problem is all that air blowing onto the top of your nose, a nasal pillows mask may help since the air blows into your nostrils. I know it sounds awful; but it's actually much more natural feeling in my humble opinion to have the air go directly into the nostrils.

And yes, baby steps is the way to go. Keep track of them and learn to celebrate your small successes towards using your CPAP every night, all night long.

[KAZ]

I've often thought that the fact that I discovered that I had SA the hard way was a blessing because it demonstrated to me that treatment was not optional. In early 2007 I was on a automobile trip with my wife. I had gone from being a dependable long range driver to one who for the first time struggled to not fall asleep during the day. I felt like I was dizzy and thought that perhaps I had some inner ear problem. My wife got me to a Doc In the Box where I collapsed on the lobby floor. They quickly discovered that I had a very low O2 level. A $880 ambulance ride to a major hospital where I spent 22 days in ICU which I have zero memory of followed by another 4 weeks in level two. I came home on a walker with trachea in place, and on O2. I had to learn how to walk,talk,think all over again. Severe SA (pressure required 20). I have been 100% compliant, and now can't sleep without my machine going with mask in place. I was lucky to find the forum and folks like Rested Gal and many others helped me through, and we will assist you to find a way for treatment to work for you. I believe that you have to come to the knowledge that treatment is not optional. My quality of life was back( I walk 3 miles every day) in less than 6 months, and I was fortunate that my low O2 did not do long term damage. This is a serious health issue. Make treatment work for you. Regards

[DocWeezy]

I can't add much to the info already given you.

For me, the choice was feeling like the walking dead from a zombie movie every day, or actually having a life again with energy and a clear head.

It isn't an easy road for many people, and it can take a while (sometimes many months) before you even begin to notice any improvements, but it IS worth it. I'd rather be on the hose than go back to the way I was feeling before....the hassles are well worth it.

Weezy

[HoseCrusher]

Terri, I am usually thinking a little "outside the box," so just keep that in mind.

When I look at your situation, I think that the pressures you ended up with will give you excellent therapy, but since you can't stand them you don't use your machine. Perhaps lower pressures (that give you some help but are not optimal) may be more tolerable and help you get into the habit of using the machine. When you get into the habit of using your machine every night, you can then "inch" up on your pressure with the goal of eventually ending up at the optimum pressures you need.

I don't know enough about "sub optimal" therapy to know if this will work, but I am lead to believe that every obstructive event you have does not require maximum pressure to resolve. I guess the main question would be that if you got rid of all your little obstructions, but not the big obstructions, would your quality of sleep improve...

[BlackSpinner]

Thank you all so much for responding to my question. I guess I really have no choice but to try and get used to it. Part of the problem is that I had to have a total joint replacement on both sides of my jaw (my tmj area) in 2002 and I have to take strong pain meds for the rest of my life. It hurts my face so bad when I wear my mask. The pain meds do not help with the pain relating to my mask.

Go back to the DME and tell them that. Bring your machine and the pillow you sleep with along. When you try the masks, lay down and put your machine on at full pressure and move into the position in which you prefer to sleep. Masks should fit like a hover craft on your face. If they won't let you do that then find another DME. Getting a fitting masks is like getting shoes for running a marathon, you don't buy those with out trying them out and expect to finish it.