One Year Down, Rest of My Life to Go

TXKajun · Post by **TXKajun** » Wed Feb 15, 2006 2:12 pm

Howdie do from another old-time member, but one who has not posted in quite a while.

Yep, today is my 1 year anniversary on CPAP! WOOHOO! And what a difference a year makes!

One year and a day ago, I was complaining to Sweetie "Darling, I just don't understand. I sleep for 10-14 hours a night and I'm more exhausted when I wake up than when I went to sleep. All I want is to feel rested and energetic enough to play with Bunny (our son), have a bit of time for us in the afternoons after work without falling asleep at 6PM and to have enough energy to do stuff on the weekends instead of sleep." (Sound familiar, anyone??? LOL)

I had gotten my PSG, gotten study read and was waiting for Dr. to get prescription to DME. Well, it happened.....and after a month, I returned the CPAP to DME cuz I had bought a PB 420E APAP from cpap.com! And saved almost $500 in the deal.

Let me start by saying it hasn't all been a bed of roses. There have been, are now and probably will be, nights when I fight my masks (Ultramirage FF and DreamFit), fight my APAP, and in general, just have a miserable night. But I know that the next night (or the one after), things will go right again.

Now the good stuff. I can take my son to the Rec center and play ping pong and basketball in the evenings till he cries "Enough, Daddy!" I don't stay up late enough to watch even Fox news at 9 PM, but I also get up at 5 AM.......so I'm good to go until 8:45 PM or so. YAAYYY! Sweetie and I have had time together........without me falling asleep. She is sleeping much better cuz she doesn't have to deal with my house shaking snores. And as for extra energy on the weekends, well in just the past 2 months, I've done some work on the house, built her a set of lights for her ebay work, rebuilt/refurbished a 16 foot camping trailer, gone hunting quail several times, taken up metal detecting and gold prospecting as new hobbies, cooked dinner darn near every evening, thrown a party for Superbowl, played golf, and in general, been running around like I was 20 years younger!

It didn't all start happening at once. There was the initial "CPAP euphoria" period of about 2 weeks when things got better really fast, then a little "fade" of about 3 weeks, then steady improvement over the last few months. I'm 100% compliant. Every night. Every nap. Every time I sleep, I strap myself in and turn on my APAP. EVERY TIME! And I do believe that helps. Also, I sleep all night with my mask on. If the one I'm using isn't cooperating, then I switch to the other. AHIs have gone from 105 pre-APAP to an average of 2.5 each night now. They've been as low as 0 (once) and as high as 9, but mostly run between 1.5 and 4.

So, to all you new folks out there, stick with it!!! Make this work for you! It is worth all the trials and tribulations you may go through at first. For all you old-timers and ones who give such great advice here, thank you one and all! Keep it going.

This forum is probably THE best thing that's happened related to CPAP. Johnny, congratulations on a great job here and thanks from the bottom of my heart!

I check in periodically, just to make sure things are still running smoothly. Looks like ya'll got it under control. Keep up the good work and keep up the struggle!

This therapy works! (And better than the EverReady bunny!!)

Kajun

WAFlowers · Post by **WAFlowers** » Wed Feb 15, 2006 3:56 pm

Kajun, great to hear from you! And congrats on your success. I just passed the 6 month mark as a hosehead (or, for fellow Canucks, as a hoser) and can relate to the initial euphoria and slow steady progress.

Excellent words of advice for those that are starting or struggling. For those that persist, there is light at the end of a very long tunnel. And it is worth "going into the light" .

NeurosurgeryNP · Post by **NeurosurgeryNP** » Wed Feb 15, 2006 6:13 pm

Ditto!!!!

I am up for my year anniversary in about 3-4 weeks. Cpap has completely change my life for the better. I am a better person because of cpap. People want to work with me...lol. I am so much nicer. I can drive for longer than 45 minutes without having to stop and walk around so I don't fall asleep. I don't wake up with horrible headaches anymore. No more 10-12 hor nights of sleep along with a 2-3 hour nap everyday. I have been 100% compliant also. I noticed improvement after 3 days or so with continued improvement after. I love my cpap life! Now, I have gotten my fiance in with an appt with the sleep doc - he's cranky lately, snores loudly and tired all of the time - hopefully he will be helped as well.

Thanks to all on this forum for making my transition to CPAP life a wonderful experience. I am so grateful.

NightTrain · Post by **NightTrain** » Wed Feb 15, 2006 8:53 pm

Txkajun congrats on the 1 year anniversary and thank you for the encouragement! I am back, on self therapy this time, after taking a year off. Of course the darn condition just didn't GO away! I am doing what it takes this time around. This forum has been an incredible motivator in getting back on track! Wish I had found it sooner. I have read many of your posts. Your material has been very helpful in understanding the therapy process. Thanks also for sharing your timeline of events over the past year. It is good to know that off nights are to be expected and that fighting the good fight is worth the effort. Keep on doing what you're doing and good luck with it!

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Wed Feb 15, 2006 9:06 pm

TXKajun (and all you others in this thread)... WTG!!!

Sharing your stories gives the kind of realistic encouragement that can help so many others get through the bumps and setbacks of trying to learn to sleep in this strange new way. It's worth it.

neversleeps · Post by **neversleeps** » Wed Feb 15, 2006 10:23 pm

What a fantastic, uplifting thread!!! It's so nice to hear the positive reports. Sometimes I feel sorry for myself having to use CPAP, but this is a gentle reminder of how lucky I am to have it!!!!! I wouldn't want to go back to how I felt (and the energy I lacked) pre-CPAP for anything!!!!!!!!

NeurosurgeryNP · Post by **NeurosurgeryNP** » Thu Feb 16, 2006 5:36 pm

I am so lucky...to have OSA. I could have been diagnosed with cancer or worse! I am so fortunate to have a treatment that has normalized my life. You can't say that for many diaseases or diagnoses.

sunnyvale sleeper · Post by **sunnyvale sleeper** » Thu Feb 16, 2006 6:04 pm

Congratulations, TXKajun, on your anniversary. I'm new to CPAP but it's very inspiring to hear what a difference it can make in our quality of life. I'm looking forward to the improvement . I'm curious on one item - have you considered surgery for your OSA or had a pre-surgery evaluation? I've read some of the info on the sleepsurgery.com site and your high AHI seems like a surgical indication. Thanks for sharing your experience!

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