how long until it works??

[rob043055@yahoo.com]

Hello, new member, with a first post here.

I've been on a c-pap machine for 6 months now but it hasnt' worked. I am still tired in daytime, trouble concentrating, forgetful, swollen legs, hypertension, etc. and my blood levels were not good.

We did a new sleep study and my AHI was 97, SP02 was 82%, , they found a 14/9 cm H20 setting worked with a new BiPap.

my question is, how long will it take using the new BiPap for me to regain my focus and memory?

Thanks!

[Cuda]

Register here and enter you equipment in your profile and people here can help you look at your data and see where they can help.

[chunkyfrog]

The time varies for everyone.
The important thing is to stick with it.
It sneaked up on me a little at a time, mostly in barely noticeable stages.

[Goofproof]

It won't work until you get your treatment correct, You need data to see how it's working or if is working. Most people are started out on a non-data crap machine and a mouth leaking nasal mask, set to the wrong guess by a doctor that doesn't have a clue. A few people are lucky and this works, 50% quit in frustration, a lucky few make is here, and if they aren't in total De-Nile, can gleen the advice of others that have made it to success.

The first step is to Join, fill in your profile in TEXT not useless ICONNY Crap, then others can better help you. Even after you get XPAP working good, it takes time to repair the damage that has taken place over time, will it all come back, no we are getting older time isn't our friend, but the progressive damage of going untreated will be stopped, and that's worthwhile. Jim Welcome!

[Emilia]

A lot more information is needed before we can help guide you to better therapy.... Please register, log in properly, and then edit your equipment in your profile via the User Control Panel (top left) and choose your gear from the drop down menus. Post them in text, not pictures.

If you have a fully data capable machine you will be able to learn to view and understand your overnight data to see if adjustments should be made to reach better therapy. It will take a little while to get there, but we can help you along the way if you are willing to do your share and read, learn, ask questions, and participate.

We all have been where you are now.... it will take some time, but you will benefit greatly if you stick around here. You clearly have severe OSA and if you have a good BiPap machine, you will be able to get the software with which to monitor your therapy. We have a log of folks here using BiPap machines so you will have a good support system. If you have been doing this for 6 months and don't discern any improvement yet, something is amiss..... sleep debt and healing takes time, but you should be seeing some results by now...especially your hypertension and swelling should be lessening if not gone by now. I'd suspect you are either having leaks and losing therapy or you need a pressure adjustment.

Get the profile filled in and then we can assist you better....

[ThirdOutOfFive]

It takes as long as it takes. Gotta get everything right -- pressure, humidity, mask. That can take some time. Also, I found that I had to get over listening to my breathing; I just couldn't seem to ignore the sound of the air going in and out. . .

I also have been experiencing increased fatigue, weight gain, and muscle pain. I thought this was due to the stress of PAPpy. Wrong! I just found out that I have a nodule on my thyroid. According to the Cancer Soc., nodules can cause the thyroid to put out less hormone than usual, leading to -- wait for it -- fatigue, weight gain and muscle pain! Having a scan and needle biopsy next Wed. Wish me luck.

[zorrro13]

The secret is... you have to accept it. No not your awake conscious mind ....but your more powerful subconscious mind or in our cases unconsciousness sub conciseness mind.

clear as mud?

Your sub conscious mind or the "im not aware why im doing this but im doing it" part of the brain controls most of our awake hours without us needing to think through every action which would be exhausting.

its the same part of the brain we use to take off our masks in the middle of the night without knowing, get the picture?

this part of the brain takes time, time and more time before it accepts cpap without hesitation, for some its quick for others it can take years and more..

[jilliansue]

Welcome! I am glad that you have gotten a new machine. I second what everyone else has said about registering so we can see what equipment you are using, and hopefully you have a data capable machine.

It is a steep learning curve, but by coming here you have taken a huge step towards success. I have been at this a little bit over a year now and once I found this forum, I stopped flying in the dark.

During my initial sleep study, y AHI was in the 30's, and I think my O2 level was about what you reported yours as being. Last night, my AHI was 3.3 and my AI was 0.0. My leak was 4.8. I use a Bipap machine, and it seems to work well for me. I have tried several different masks, that is key. And apparently one fairly well-kept secret is that when you get a mask, there is a 30-day trial period in which you can return it if you don't like it, and try another one, again with a 30-day trial period. I urge you to take advantage of this if the mask you are using is uncomfortable or leaks a lot.

I did not notice a huge, instant change in how I felt. But I do feel better, and the numbers don't lie, as far as the nightly toll that is no longer being placed on my body. I don't spring out of bed in the morning, but then, I never did. But shortly after getting up, I can feel the difference. I can even feel the difference between days when my AHI has been 5.0 or if it has been 1.0. I would think that with an AHI of 97, you are bound to feel better once you get your mask and pressures tweaked properly. And that is something we can help you with.

Jillian

[pap4life]

I think that you have a unrealistic expectation of CPAP equipment and therapy. XPAP can be a wonderful treatment and solution to curing some health related issues that are caused by poor sleep, but its certainly not a "cureall". You have many issues that may be caused by other troubles.

[xenablue]

As others have said:
Please register and add your equipment so we can better help you.
XPAP won't 'cure' all ills. My OSA was discovered because I had trouble lowering my fasting glucose levels and nothing I did changed this. My endo suggested a sleep study because we had exhausted all else. YES, I have OSA, but it didn't miraculously lower my FBG to where I'd like it, but slowly (over a year) CPAP has helped lower my numbers overall - a little.
I still take BP and cholesterol meds.
Does XPAP therapy work??? UBETCHA!! BUT, you need to be able to see your stats for every night, so no matter how you THINK you feel, the data will tell you how many times you stopped breathing during the night, when and for how long, and what your mask leaks looked like.
So - even if you still feel tired, your health is hopefully improved - but this can't be established until you see those stats.

Hang in there - come here often and pay attention to the advice you're given - whether you use it or not. I would be truly lost, frustrated and totally in the dark without the fabulous people here.

Cheers,
xena

[robysue]

rob043055,

You asked:

my question is, how long will it take using the new BiPap for me to regain my focus and memory?

As others have said: It takes as long as it takes. It takes until your unconsciousness sub conciseness mind accepts that PAP therapy is the new norm and is not going away. It takes until you know you've got an effective pressure level for therapy and no serious comfort issues that interfere with your sleep. It takes until you're sleeping long enough with the mask every night, all night long. And it takes time for your body to heal.

And it takes understanding that "xPAP is working" doesn't always mean "I feel great and fantastic when I wake up now!" For many of us, the first signs that xPAP is starting to work are subtle and easy to overlook. For me? Some six months into therapy I began to notice that I was no longer waking up with hand and foot pain every single morning. By eight months into therapy, I was beginning to wake up "rested" more often than not and occasionally I would wake up "almost refreshed." Now? I'm 13 months into therapy. I've had a (minor) set back with the change of season and the first head cold. So the old insomnia monster is back at work. But I now know that when I'm sleeping well, I will wake up mostly rested and somewhat refreshed almost every single morning. In the morning I can willingly get out of bed by 7:45. (I know that sounds awful, but I don't get to bed until 1:30 - 2:30 most nights.) I still get tired in the day. On many days I still get sleepy and have trouble concentrating and get terribly moody---even more than i had before CPAP. But slowly and surely, the length of time I'm sleepy is decreasing and the frequency of good days for concentration and mood are increasing. And I try to keep in mind that PAP therapy is a process.

You also write:

I've been on a c-pap machine for 6 months now but it hasnt' worked. I am still tired in daytime, trouble concentrating, forgetful, swollen legs, hypertension, etc. and my blood levels were not good.

Have you had a full physical recently? How recently? Since starting on PAP? Was blood work done? Because it's quite possible that something else in addition to the OSA is going on here---particularly with regards to the swollen legs and the hypertension. When you say your blood levels were not good, what do you mean? And are you on any medication to treat any of these other problems?

And are you sleeping with the mask on your face every night, all night long? Because xPAP therapy is not a part-time thing. And are you getting enough sleep with the mask? In other words, are you getting seven to eight hours of sleep with the mask on your nose (and NO hours of sleep without the mask) every single night? If not, then likely you've got at least a partial answer as to whey cpap hasn't yet begun "to work" for you.


And getting back to:

my question is, how long will it take using the new BiPap for me to regain my focus and memory?

To stand any chance of having the BiPAP make a difference in your life, you need to commit yourself to making it work. And that means you have to:

• Sleep with the mask on EVERY night, ALL night long. You can't allow yourself to consciously take the mask off and return to sleep without it on. And when you wake up without the mask on, you have to force yourself to put the mask back on before returning to sleep. Until you are sleeping 100% with the mask all night long every single night AND sleeping long enough during the night (i.e. somewhere between 6 and 9 hours), there's a limit to what the BiPAP can do for you.
• Treat other on-going medical problems appropriately. PAP only takes care of the sleep disordered breathing. It won't fix pain that's unrelated to the OSA. It won't magically fix insomnia. It won't make the high blood pressure or swollen legs go away if they are caused by something other than the OSA related desats and adrenaline/cortisone rushes your body deals with during the apneas and hypopneas.
• Have realistic expectations on what PAP can and cannot do. If you have other medical problems that have daytime sleepiness, exhaustion, and brain fog as symptoms, xPAP likely won't eliminate these problems, although it should help minimize them once your xPAP therapy is optimized. And keep in mind: If you've had OSA for decades, there's real damage that's been done to your body. Some of it will heal---in time. But some of it may never fully heal. But even if you never start to feel substantially better, the BiPAP will keep the OSA damage from continuing. And that, in turn, should at least allow you to stop the downward spiral of feeling more and more lousy and more and more dysfunctional because of the OSA. In other words, before you can start feeling better, you first of all have to reach a point where you are no longer continuing to feel worse and worse over time.
• Spend time figuring out what exactly is still not working. You can't fix a problem that you can't identify. Do you go to bed and get to sleep at an appropriate time? If not, is mask discomfort part of the issue? Does the pressurized air tickle the back of your throat? Are you keyed up because you feel tethered or worried you'll pull the machine off? Are you uncomfortable because your favorite sleeping position now feels impossible? Are you waking up at night? If so, what's waking you up? Leaks? Air in the tummy? Dry mouth? Dry eyes? Tangled in the hose? Are you taking your mask off in your sleep? Are you consciously taking your mask off towards the end of the night as a way to reward yourself for getting at least 4 hours on the machine? (Super bad idea by the way.) Is rainout a problem? Or are you going to sleep at a reasonable time, sleeping all night, and still waking up tired, exhausted, and not functioning well during the day? Because in that case, it would be nice to find out what your treated AHI is on a nightly basis, because that might shed some light into why you're still feeling bad.
• Work on solving your issues once you've identified them. Problems with therapy won't fix themselves: If mouth breathing is an issue, it's got to be dealt with either by a chinstrap or a FFM or both. Or taping if you're comfortable with that idea. Leaks around the eyes? Read and re-read that fitting guide that came with the mask. Try a mask liner. Post questions here---specifying what mask you are using. Can't seem to eliminate the leaks without tightening the headgear to the point where it hurts? Time for some mask shopping most likely. Air in the tummy? Look at tips for dealing with aerophagia and consider whether GERD or silent GERD might be a problem that you need to treat. Having trouble with the hose? Hose cozies and hose hangers address different issues, but both are things to consider. Trouble exhaling? Double check the exhale relief setting. If you can't change it, go back to the DME and demand they unlock the patient comfort settings. Or get the clinical manual and learn to do it yourself. Insomnia? Well, there's lots that can be done for insomnia. Check the link for Taming the CPAP Induced Insomnia Monster that is my signature for my ideas. If you have efficacy data and the AHI seems to be high night after night, then it's time to call the sleep doc and ask whether a pressure change is a good idea.
• Be stubborn enough to keep at making it work. One of the key elements in becoming a successful PAPer is just being stubborn enough to not give up.

[Goofproof]

Not coming back to a thread you started, and trying to respond to what others have wasted their time trying to help you, isn't really showing anyone you want help. Jim

[707redman]

LONG STORY SHORT,IM 55 AND WAS TO THE POINT OF DEATH NO ENERGY BEEN HOME 3 YEARS LAST NIGHT WAS MY FIRST NIGHT OF FULL SLEEP WITH MY CPAP MACHINE AND ITS AMAZING I GOT UP FELT LIKE A NEW PERSON GOT DRESSED AND LEFT THE HOUSE DU TO THE OXYGEN IN MY BLOOD,NOW I CANT STOP I BOUGHT SOIL AM GARDENING AND SO THANKFUL IM SERIOUS ,NO MY BLOOD PRESSURE WILL COME DOWN,MY WEIGHT WILL COME DOWN MY CHOLESTEROL ,ON AN ON DUE TO ME ALMOST DEAD 75 PERCENT OXYGEN IN MY BLOOD MY HEART WAS DIEING ,IM SO HAPPY IM POSTING THIS ADD ,DANCING GEEZ WISH YOU COULD BELIEVE ME,I WANT TO SLEEP TONIGHT SO EXCITED CALLED MY THREE DOCTORS IM THAT HAPPY AND TOLD THEM,SORRY MY STORY WAS LONG