CPAP is AWESOME! (CPAP Therapy Success Story)

[nudave]

A little background quickly before I go into my experience:

30 years old, feeling fatigued for about 5 years. I would wake up in the morning with a headache, but would go away with Advil in an hour. I would consistently nap from 3:30pm - 5pm on my days off. This would allow me to stay up later 11pm - 12am. I mentioned this to my PCP, and he said its more than likely OSA and referred me to a sleep center. Did both of the sleep studies, and my AHI was 29 during the first sleep study. Did the titration and was prescribed a CPAP w/ humidifier and pressure of 11. I came here and read the DME horror stories and went to the DME prepared. Luckily, they gave me the S1 CPAP Pro with full data, so no complaints yet for the DME. I also have OCD, and I was on 60mg Cymbalta and 60mg fluoxetine (Prozac). In between the titration and receiving my equipment, I decided this was as good a time to make a total life change. My son is growing up and really active (3 yr old), and I have another on the way due in October.

Some of you have read my post on getting adjusted to be the most comfortable, which I truly am right now. I started therapy on July 11. I was speculative on whether or not this actually works. The first week was rough. I slept maybe 4-5 hours with the mask and would wake up and throw it off. I went through different ways of being more comfortable with the hose/mask. During this time, I stopped taking the Cymbalta and cut down on the fluoxetine to 40mg. I felt as though it wasn't giving me any benefits. Another week went by, and I was feeling better and better. I was outside playing with my son, walking around the block, putting on my roller hockey skates and skating a couple times around the block for exercise. I've read online that the half life of fluoxetine is two weeks, so I decreased to 20mg without a problem. My OCD seems to be okay with the change. I still have the same issues I had when I was on the meds.

Fast forward to this week. I don't have a the need for a nap in the afternoon. My energy seems to have increased a little. I wake up at 5:30am, go to bed at 10:30 - 11pm. I'm still outside with my son/exercising/doing things I didn't feel like or was too tired to do a month ago. The HUGE bonus is my mood. My daily job is a Contact Center Supervisor, and one could consider it glorified babysitting, while taking care of customer complaints. In June, I would be sort of floating around not really smiling, laughing, and avoiding human contact. Yesterday and Today, I've been enjoying my job..and this is the most stressful time of year. I'm smiling when talking to customers on the phone, holding conversations with my staff, and just a general feeling of wellness.

Whats caused these changes? I tend to think its 75% CPAP and 25% decrease in meds. Without the CPAP, I would still be fatigued and not feeling up to doing anything. Without the meds, I'm not sure. I do know one thing though, I am feeling awesome!

[Alshain]

Ah, one of the overnighters. /jealous

Congrats

[Sheriff Buford]

There have seen many threads on this... and I must admit that I am like you. On the way to work today, I thought of the term "born again" and I think that describes my health. All I can say to you is to keep it up. If you have little-bad cpap habits, you'll eventually be able to do away with them. I noticed in the last few weeks that I am not waking up at night because of leaks. They use to wake me up, and I would make adjustments. No more. This is good because I'm sleeping so much better, that the little things are not waking me up. Bad, because if you don't control your leaks, it will affect your therapy. Hopefully the autoset will compensate for leaks. If you are really in-tune with your body and your health, you'll see amazing changes for the good! Keep looking for them! Best wishes to you!

Sheriff

[sister]

Congratulations!!!!
The best of luck to you!

[nudave]

Also as a follow up - I have low (really low) testosterone levels. How low is low? 170 is the number given to me. Which according to my research is below what an 85 yr. old male should have. I'm 30...

I'm going to see an endrocrinologist tomorrow for this and to see what's up (or in my case..down)

Interesting article about testosterone and sleep apnea: http://sleepapnealife.com/sleep-apnea-a ... s-278.html

[rholmack]

Congratulations!!

I'm jealous! I'm on month number two and still waiting for the treatment to kick in. I"ll have to admit that my blood pressure average has dropped a few points and I do feel a little better and little more energy. I'm tired in the late afternoon, but not as bad as before. I've gotten use to my mask leaking a little, my nose hurting isn't so much and my AHI numbers are starting to look a better this week.

Again, congratulations and keep it up!

[JohnBFisher]

Well, I'm so sorry you are having so many problems getting adjusted ...

It sometimes is just like you experienced. When first diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea, I had gotten so tired I would dream when I blinked. Talk about dangerous!! Especially behind the wheel of a car. Yikes!! In my case, I was so desperate for sleep that it was easy to adjust to it. I've gotten like that recently with the central sleep apneas (fortunately something most people do not need to fight). Once again, my current unit (an ASV unit) made a night and day difference. The sleep center warned me, it can take a while to adjust to an ASV (because it changes pressures rapidly to help support my breathing). It tends to alarm most people. But nope. Those changes in pressure reassure me. I don't need to worry that I will stop breathing. The machine kicks in for me. Again, it was an easy transition.

But I don't recommend most people wait until they are as desperate as I was.

And it sure sounds as if you took care of it early enough that the obstructive sleep apnea did not do serious harm to you. Good for you. May you have many, many happy nights of sleep ahead!

[dsm]

nudave,

Yours is an assuring story - not overly dramatic (no miracle improvement that some of us temporarily went thru ) - am sure it will inspire the many folk who struggle with the acceptance of a weird bit of plastic strapped to their face with an elephantine protrusion dangling from it. Thanks for sharing this.

DSM

[rested gal]

Some of you have read my post on getting adjusted to be the most comfortable, which I truly am right now.

Dave's posts about his early adjustments were here:

"I almost got it!"
topic started by nudave - July 16, 2011
viewtopic.php?p=616297#p616297

Thanks for the update, Dave. So glad to hear that you've got it going well. You're a smart cookie!

[Sheriff Buford]

Congratulations!!

I'm jealous! I'm on month number two and still waiting for the treatment to kick in. I"ll have to admit that my blood pressure average has dropped a few points and I do feel a little better and little more energy. I'm tired in the late afternoon, but not as bad as before. I've gotten use to my mask leaking a little, my nose hurting isn't so much and my AHI numbers are starting to look a better this week.

Again, congratulations and keep it up!

Rhol: I know you would do much better in cpap therapy if you would ditch the Cowboy apparel and the team altogether... the Texans will rescue you!!

Sheriff