Will I become depedant on CPAP Mask?

AnotherMe · Post by **AnotherMe** » Tue Jan 22, 2013 4:09 am

Hello. This is my first post in this forum.
I just started using the CPAP machine and mask this week. I am starting to get a hang of it. I do like that it helps me to breath while sleeping. On the other hand, it does take getting used to. I tend to get claustrophobic at times. I woke up this mourning and took the mast off around 4:30. I tried to sleep again. I found I was snoring and I stopped breaking again. I hate that! Am I going to be dependent on the CPAP mask? Is it something that the more you use it the more you need it?
I'm glad I found this forum.

49er · Post by **49er** » Tue Jan 22, 2013 4:16 am

AnotherMe wrote:Hello. This is my first post in this forum.
I just started using the CPAP machine and mask this week. I am starting to get a hang of it. I do like that it helps me to breath while sleeping. On the other hand, it does take getting used to. I tend to get claustrophobic at times. I woke up this mourning and took the mast off around 4:30. I tried to sleep again. I found I was snoring and I stopped breaking again. I hate that! Am I going to be dependent on the CPAP mask? Is it something that the more you use it the more you need it?
I'm glad I found this forum.

Hi AnotherMe,

Welcome to the forum.

Let me answer your question in this manner. You will be dependent on it for optimal health since your body will stop breathing without the mask.

If you have any questions you feel the forum members can help you with, you might want to register your equipment so that the answers are targeted to your concerns.

https://www.cpaptalk.com/ucp.php?i=prof ... pment_info

49er

Denial Dave · Post by **Denial Dave** » Tue Jan 22, 2013 5:15 am

yes indeed! The machine will transmit tiny chemical's into your lungs for the 1st 30 days....

In less than 6 months time - you will be desparately craving to wear the mask by noon each day...

after which you will become completely dependant on the machine and the mask for the rest of your life

archangle · Post by **archangle** » Tue Jan 22, 2013 6:38 am

The simple answer is "no."

However, the real answer is a little more complicated. Over the years, apnea has crept up on you. Every night, you get strangled many times a night. It disrupts your sleep and wakes you up enough to catch your breath. It causes low oxygen and stress to your body. Your body has adapted as well as it can, and you get some measure of sleep, but there's still some damage every night. It's a bit like going on a drinking binge or smoking a few packs of cigarettes every night. Once you get used to it, you go through things that a "normal" person couldn't stand.

When you stop having apnea, your body will readjust to your new condition. Your health will improve in general. You'll sleep better and your body will heal up to some extend.

However, if you stop CPAP, you'll start having apnea again. You may find you can't sleep. You'll feel the effects of apnea much worse than you did before you started CPAP. Presumably, you'd eventually get back to the same state you were in before you started CPAP. Once again, think of it like an ex smoker or drinker smoking or drinking the same way they did before they quit.

quietmorning · Post by **quietmorning** » Tue Jan 22, 2013 6:42 am

Will the machine and mask cause you to get worse by opening your airway? No.

You will, however probably worsen with age as muscles just don't stay young and strong forever. Other things may effect you as well.

You will never be able to wean away from xpap like you can a drug because it is a mechanical treatmment. You MAY (depending on why you have apnea) be able to stop using the machine through weight loss. Unfortunately, this won't work for me as I have airways that are too small whether I'm a hundred pounds or two hundred.

Sheriff Buford · Post by **Sheriff Buford** » Tue Jan 22, 2013 6:48 am

Heck yea you WILL become dependant on the mask. You will also learn to love the mask and like me, may get the jitters if you think about not having the mask at night. But it helps your health so much, I think it's a good thing. I believe I've probably added 7-10 years to my life. I feel so much better during the day and I wake up refreshed and ready to chase down a few rascals!

Sheriff

RandyJ · Post by **RandyJ** » Tue Jan 22, 2013 6:52 am

We are all dependent on oxygen.

When we can't breathe properly due to apnea, we suffer from oxygen deprivation.

The mask allows us to get sufficient oxygen to our brains and therefore not be oxygen-deprived.

So in this sense, yes, we can become dependent on the mask.

Bons · Post by **Bons** » Tue Jan 22, 2013 7:22 am

Using cpap for sleep apnea is just like using insulin for diabetes or atenolol for high blood pressure. It treats the symptoms but doesn't cure the disease.

I've heard people say that they should be able to stop taking their blood pressure medication because their "bp is fine now". Yes, it's fine because the medicine is doing it's thing! Go off it, and the bp will go back up again.

It would be wonderful if using cpap for awhile would cure the condition - if for no other reason than the fact that it would allow us to buy used machines instead of laying out the big bucks

quietmorning · Post by **quietmorning** » Tue Jan 22, 2013 7:41 am

Ya know, come to think of it, you only make endorphins in deep sleep. Endorphins are extremely necessary, but extremely addictive - but your body only tends to make as much as you need - IF you get the deep sleep you need - and you can't do that without the cpap machine helping you to breathe.

The alternative?

Pain. All over, all the time - because life hurts with all it's little bumps, bruises and fatigue . . . the less deep sleep you get the less able you are to handle the normal every day pain your body is in all the time.

So using cpap will help you get the deep sleep you need, which will make the endorphins, which will kill the pain. . .and there ya go. . .vicious cycle, dontchaknow.

TheUglyTruth · Post by **TheUglyTruth** » Tue Jan 22, 2013 9:28 am

AnotherMe wrote: Am I going to be dependent on the CPAP mask?

If you are fortunate, you will be dependent and you will realize what a wonderful thing that is given the alternatives.

BlackSpinner · Post by **BlackSpinner** » Tue Jan 22, 2013 10:08 am

AnotherMe wrote: Am I going to be dependent on the CPAP mask? Is it something that the more you use it the more you need it?

Humans are dependent on Oxygen, your body has been lacking that and sleep for years and slowly (or not so slowly) degrading. Using the mask is allowing it to provide the optimal amount of O2 that your body needs to heal and survive. Take it away and your body will object. If I don't feed my cat she bites me, she is very dependent on getting fed at 3pm. Sort of the same way a leg brace allowed my friend, who had polio, to walk. Was she dependent on the brace? You bet she was. Could she live life as well without it? No. Did it mater? No.

chunkyfrog · Post by **chunkyfrog** » Tue Jan 22, 2013 10:22 am

Welcome to the forum, AnotherMe.
Using the machine will not make you more or less dependent; but it can make you a whole lot healthier,
and better able to heal the damage that untreated apnea has done to you for who knows how many years.
Until something better comes along, this is it, so if you are young enough, there is hope it may not be forever.
Actually, when it works like it does for many of us, you will not mind it much at all.
It's a bit like wearing shoes to protect your feet, even though going barefoot feels better (until you step on a rock).

jencat824 · Post by **jencat824** » Tue Jan 22, 2013 10:38 am

Welcome Anotherme,

I helps us to help you best when you sign up as a forum member, then go to the User Control Panel & add your machine, humidifier & mask to your profile. When you have questions we can all see the equipment you have. See mine below in blue.

As for depedency, I think that depends on the person. If you are compliant with your therapy, your body will crave the oxygen & become dependant, which in this case I see as a good thing. If you don't use as you should, no your body may not become dependant, but why do some half a*s? If you are going to do this, it pays to be compliant. You will get long term benefits of avoiding heart disease, stroke & even diabetes. Sounds like a good thing to me.

Most of us (not all) get great short term benefits of feeling better because we are now getting enough sleep with oxygen. I hope you will join us in this journey to feel better. For some of us, the feeling better comes slowly, for some we notice it right away. I've been on CPAP 12 yrs & don't want to sleep without my machine, since I know I will feel like crap the next morning. My hubby just started CPAP last month & already he is feeling the positive benefits. Each of us is different, but if you become 'hooked' on CPAP that is a good thing.

Hope you will join us & let us help you along your journey to better health,
Jen

Denial Dave · Post by **Denial Dave** » Tue Jan 22, 2013 11:30 am

4 months use for me... I can't take an occasional nap on weekends without the mask and machine.

it just doesn't feel right.

SilverAnn · Post by **SilverAnn** » Tue Jan 22, 2013 11:56 am

Well, I have. But only because when I don't use it I start having apneas even before I am totally asleep. This is so disturbing to me that I wake up and make sure I either don't go back to sleep, or put on the mask and go to sleep.

I spent too many years living in a fog, too tired to function and always getting sick before I was diagnosed with sleep apnea to want to go back to that sort of half life.

My father was a champion snorer. I used to lay awake at night listening to him, (yes I could hear him clearly down the hall) and thinking, okay dad, breathe, breathe. He suffered a massive heart attack at age 40 and had to have a quadruple bypass. He passed away at age 67. I firmly believe that had his apnea been diagnosed, he would probably still be here with us.

So yes. CPAP is addictive. Life is too.

Ann

Will I become depedant on CPAP Mask?

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