What has been your biggest mistake in dealing with apnea?

[G'night Gracie]

Or, to put it another way, what do you know now that you wish you'd learned sooner? Got my listening ears on, and hope to hear the voices of experience. Thanks!

[cosmo]

My biggest mistake was buying a new fancy apap machine with data for traveling (Intellipap). A cheaper cpap machine with no data would have been fine. Probably a $200 mistake. Oh well, I'm not kicking myself over it.

[purple]

Doctors have a different standard than I do. That is, for a doc, good compliance, AHI less than five, not a lot of leaks. The doc is good with my treatment. I want quality of life. To have successful sleep, I needed an AHI of more like .2 or .3.

That led me to think I was smarter than docs.

I did not listen to the doc, or DME rep who suggested which mask I should try. Someone with experience can glance at an individuals face, listen to what the patient has to say, (I can not stand to have air coming out my nose from the machine pressure, so I needed a FFM) I now have a Total Face Mask, nearly the same for air coming out my nose, the same mask a doc suggested I try.

The Aerophagia being driven by a machine on auto, which I set up to get a lower AHI, which caused me a lot of pain. My first sleep doc was adamant that my machine should be set to straight pressure.

Like always, I had outsmarted myself.

Now I concerned with how this effects all my choices in what I ask from doctors. And I could do a lot better with my sleep treatment if I had enough money to pay for the latest machine, better food, more expensive hobbies.

[quietmorning]

You mean . . .mistake(s) right?

Not getting an oximeter with data the first year.
Not paying attention to my data during the time before and after recovering from surgery.
Not sticking around on cpaptalk during that time, either - and assuming my fatigue was just recovery.

[jencat824]

My biggest mistake was my teeth. When they started moving, I should have seen an orthodontist instead of a regular dentist. My upper teeth have moved significantly over the 13 yrs on the hose & I now need about $4,800 in dental work to repair the damage if I want to keep my front teeth (AND I WANT TO KEEP MY FRONT TEETH). If I had known then what I know now, I could have saved myself 18-24 mos of pain & a lot of money.

I have cavity free teeth, but the movement of the upper teeth outward has caused bone loss & severe spacing. I will start treatment in May/June & hopefully only need the 18 month program (same price, just less time spent in pain).

Anyone who is a newbie: If your teeth begin to move, see your dentist AND a good orthodontist, you probably need a retainer to sleep in at night to prevent the teeth moving damage that I have. Unless you WANT to spend your vacation money in your mouth, see someone as soon as you notice signs of it happening. First sign will be soreness & some slight movement of teeth. You may not tell at first by looking, but soreness is a sign that your teeth are moving. I got this educational speech from my new orthodontist a few weeks ago.

I'm still reeling from the price tag, but I've gotten other estimates (yeah, just like a car needing work), and all are in that ball park. I'm just going with the orthodontist I like best & who has great recommendations from some patients I know. Well, I know the patients parents & grandparents, in our circle of friends its become a big joke about the money I have to spend at the orthodontist when I don't have any kids!

This was my BIGGEST mistake with CPAP. Still, I probably would not be here today without CPAP, so at least I'm here to spend the money.
Jen

[nanwilson]

Didn't find this wonderful forum until after I was sold an EXPENSIVE brick by a greedy DME. But when I did find it, I bought a slightly used auto from another member...THANK YOU FORUM MEMBERS.

[Sheffey]

Waited years too long to see a sleep doc.

[Nooblakahn]

Didn't listen to my wife right away when she told me I quit breathing in my sleep. Also told my pcp I don't have sleep apnea when he first wanted to send me to a study.

Other than that my severe mixed apnea and this great forum has kept me from mis stepping too far. Thanks again for that.

Oh... maybe getting very angry with the lady who ordered my machine... as she took way longer than she should have...

[herefishy]

Jencat, I don't understand how your teeth move - have you figured this out?

[knightlite]

Denial, I refused to deal with apnea for over 12 years, Even when honey told me time and again . Didn't want to be tied to a machine. Guys don't share their medical stuff until they get older it seems , if I had known as many guys on it as I do now I might have wised up . The internet info and boards can help now , they just weren't there in my generation.
Now I can see , do the best you can until the next good medical fix comes down the line and maybe your health will maintain and the new stuff will work on you.
Don't try to ignore it.

[jencat824]

Jencat, I don't understand how your teeth move - have you figured this out?

Well, my front teeth moved. The upper front teeth moved outward, forming an overbite & pushing the teeth further apart, creating large spaces between my front teeth (spaces between front 6 teeth). All this created some bone loss. If I had known a retainer would have prevented this, I would have seen an orthodontist back in 2000 when I started CPAP & got one made & wore it. I was on a very high pressure, 17cm at first, then increased to 19cm after the first few months. I've been on the APAP about a month & my pressure seems to be running around 13cm, proof that I didn't need that high a pressure, at least don't need it now.

The teeth issue is one I discussed with the dentist I was seeing at that time, he said he didn't think they were moving. It became very obvious after about a year that they were indeed moving. I switched dentist a couple of times, & both said there was nothing they could do, unless I wanted braces & they said that jokingly. Well, it turns out if I had been encouraged to actually see an orthodontist & get a retainer made the movement could have been prevented.

Basically, the orthodontist I'm seeing now is getting me ready for adult braces that are similar to Invisialign, something called Clear Correct. These are expensive, but cheaper than actual braces, that part shocked me. I'm being prepared for this with several medications due to medical conditions & the fact that I have artifical knees. I will have to be pre-post medicated each orthodontist visit with antibiotics, but before they can do that, orthodontist has to defer to my oncologist so that she can get several of my blood numbers in line to be able to take the antibiotics. The process is harder for me, since I have Lymphoma & other medical conditions, but most of my drs are being supportive.

My endocrinologist is kind of being shi**y but I think he has dentures & wanted me to go the easy route - just pull all my front teeth & get a bridge. I'm NOT doing that.

In order to prevent problems with your teeth, watch carefully for movement, there is pressure going into your nose and mouth (even with a nasal mask - I've worn all nasal masks, never FF) and that pressure can cause things to move around. It did in my case, possibly due to such a high pressure?

There have been several posts since I've found the forum (I stumbled across this wealth of knowledge in Oct 2012) and you might want to search 'teeth' & see if you can find some of them & read up on other peoples problems. It was on one of those posts someone suggest I needed a retainer. When I got in to see the orthodontist I found out in my case I was WAY past retainer, but instead had reached a very advanced stage of problems.

I wish I had known problems like this can occur and that I needed a retainer, but I kind of blame the dentist's I went to, they should have known & send me to an orthodontist instead of just saying 'oh well'.

My overall 'word to the wise' - if your teeth are sore, see an orthodontist to see if you need to get a retainer made. It could help you avoid what I'm going thru now.
Jen

[Cavmdc]

My biggest mistake, was in not getting cpap 20 years ago !

[Steel Viper]

This is my first day of looking at these posts. I'm on C-PAP since 2005. My fellow friends in the endeavor, I have also ruined my bite, both upper and lower and my Orto has limited options correcting it since I have a bridge on the front. Be patient shopping Orto prices. All of my previous estimates were $5-7K. Neighbor referred Orto Dr give me a price of $1700 complete. Next - PRODUCTS TO AVOID - face mask with four straps is what caused the damage. Too much "pull" and pressure on the teeth during sleep. I called the OEM and they immediately offered to pay for return and sent me a strapless product for free, "Comfort lite 2" with nothing going over my face. I asked them to help me with the Orto costs, but they went silent. That strapless mask has two plastic "nipples" that stick into the nose. Takes getting used to but at the end I give it highest ratings. Write back if you wish. C-Pap extends my life, quality and time.

[zoocrewphoto]

my biggest mistake was assuming that sleep apnea was about sleep deprivation and not actually learning about it and discovering that it was really OXYGEN deprivation. Because of that, I let it go for at least 10 years.

Ten years ago, I was healthier. No high blood pressure, more energy, not as heavy, no back pain, no hip pain, etc. If I had gotten treatment 10 years ago, I would be healthier today, and probably would be more physically active, further along in my small business. And I'm sure my vacation photos would look better

Seriously though, I think I would be a lot healthier had I gotten treatment back then.


Currently, my biggest mistake is to take the mask off in the middle of the night and not put it on again until a trip to the bathroom (which are fewer now). When I am tired, I don't think straight, so it doesn't occur to me that this is wrong until later when I realize my mistake. I have not learned how to successfully put my mask on while lying down, so I have to get up out of bed to put it back on. I did manage to do this once a couple nights ago, so that was an improvement. I hate getting up and usually only do it if I have to go to the bathroom.

[Cavmdc]

Ten years ago, I was healthier. No high blood pressure, more energy, not as heavy, no back pain, no hip pain, etc. If I had gotten treatment 10 years ago, I would be healthier today, and probably would be more physically active, further along in my small business. And I'm sure my vacation photos would look better

Seriously though, I think I would be a lot healthier had I gotten treatment back then.

Amen zoocrew. I'm in the same boat. However, I've had no problem adjusting to the machine. If my mask comes off during the night, I immediately awaken and pull it bak on. Guess I'm lucky in the ease I've had in using it.

Greg