Hi everyone- I am newly diagnosed and new to the forum

[ZeldaHubert]

Hi everyone,

My name is Liz and I’m a 40 year old woman in Michigan. I have had snoring and sleep issues since childhood which resulted in adenoid surgery which did nothing. I just thought it was something I had to live with until eventually my husband started telling me he was worried about how bad my snoring was getting and insisted I see a sleep doctor.

I was diagnosed with moderate sleep apnea about a month ago after a sleep study and just started CPAP therapy a few weeks ago. It’s going overall better than I expected so far. I have not yet experienced any change in how I feel but the therapy itself is less difficult than I thought it would be. I have figured out that I am a serious mouth breather at night which I am learning is a health issue and I suspect that I may also have a deviated septum or some other issue because I started noticing that, when I block off one of my nostrils, breathing through my left nostril alone is so difficult that it forces me to breathe through my mouth (right nostril is perfectly fine).

I just wanted to make a post introducing myself and saying thanks to you all for creating such a wealth of information. I was on a similar forum for broken legs about 10 years ago and that forum got me through a very difficult time in my life and I so appreciate folks sharing their personal health experiences and knowledge like this. It is so helpful to so many people especially with an issue like this where they just hand you some complicated equipment and say good luck. My doctor actually never even called to tell me I had sleep apnea... I learned it from the medical supply store tech who called to schedule a time for me to get my machine. It has been pretty confusing for me which it seems is the experience for a lot of people.

A friend sent me the link to this forum and I’ve been making my way through the information for newbies. I don’t have any specific questions yet but I’m sure I will soon. I don’t understand the OSCAR stuff yet at all... just working with my ResMed app info right now.

Looking forward to getting to know you all,
Liz

[zonker]

A friend sent me the link to this forum and I’ve been making my way through the information for newbies. I don’t have any specific questions yet but I’m sure I will soon. I don’t understand the OSCAR stuff yet at all... just working with my ResMed app info right now.

Looking forward to getting to know you all,
Liz

welcome to the zoo! as you may know from looking around here, the moderator (pugsy) has a handsome specimen of pug herself. so you already have an in!

i don't understand much of oscar my ownself. but as long as you can get to the point where you can post a chart, the experts here can give you all kinds of good advice. (some of us will even give you some bad advice!)

good luck!

[Miss Emerita]

Hello, Liz, and welcome! You have a great machine there, and it sounds as though you’re making a good adjustment to the new experience. There are many people here who will help you however we can.

Sorry you got so little help from your doctor. That means it would be especially good if you could download Oscar and post a chart or two, in case your settings weren’t optimal. Let us know if we can help with getting you going on Oscar.

Sometimes it just takes time for the benefits to make themselves felt, so patience will be your friend.

[Pugsy]

Welcome to the forum.

As far as OSCAR goes...start with the basics. Most of what all you see you won't ever need or use. Concentrate on learning about AHI and leaks for now.

Are those your babies in your avatar? You might be able to guess that I am a pug lover. My avatar is my little Sarge. I lost him not quite a year ago to a sudden heart problem. The one that is common in pugs at around age 9 or 10.
So I had to get another pug a few months later. Meet Lucy...sort of a rescued pug. She came from a breeder at age 6 who didn't want her any more because she ended up having to get spayed after her last litter. I don't know who rescued who to be honest. I think she saved me more than I saved her.

Taken shortly after she came to live with us...and a bit thin but not now.

[Julie]

Lucy's gorgeous!

[Okie bipap]

Welcome to the forum. You can find lots of help here when you have any questions. Some of the people will answer in great detail and explain the answers in plain, easy to understand language. Others take a more direct approach and they may have a lot of knowledge, but they can also be rather terse in their answers. We also like to have a laugh now and then, and often lead threads astray when doing so. It usually only takes a gentle reminder from the moderator (Pugsy) to get us back on track. As for feeling better, some people do not really notice a sudden improvement. I am one of those people. I did not notice any difference when I started treatment, but about a month later it suddenly dawned on me that I could sit and work the crossword puzzle in the daily paper without dozing off, and I could actually stay awake when reading or watching a movie on the TV. My wife, on the other hand, noticed an improvement after the first night of treatment. The best advice we can give at this time is to hang in there and make the most of your journey into hose head land.

[Deborah K.]

Pugsy, Lucy is just adorable!

[ZeldaHubert]

Hi everyone, thank you for the welcome and yes those are my pugs! Zelda on the left is 8 and Hubert on the right is 13ish and also deaf and mostly blind. We rescued him in April and he is the sweetest, most loving guy and a heat buddy to Zelda. I love all the pug lovers on here!

[Pugsy]

Beautiful pug babies. I love them all. Pugs have huge hearts and love unconditionally. Lucy even won over my husband because she paid more attention to him than she did me. He's always been jealous that all our dogs pay more attention to me than him.

[ZeldaHubert]

What a sweetie pie! Pugs are the best

[Movieman]

Hi and Welcome!!

I too have recently been diagnosed with moderate sleep apnea and a deviated septum that affects my left nostril.

The people here have been great in helping me with any questions. Glad to hear that you are adjusting well to treatment in that you don’t seem to have issues with the therapy. I’m still trying to work out issues with being able to sleep through the night with the CPAP. I’m hoping once I get the kinks worked out that I will notice a difference. I’ve been on CPAP 30 days now.

I did read some people need to be on CPAP for awhile before they feel better. Hopefully you will start to notice a positive change soon.

[Pugsy]

I did read some people need to be on CPAP for awhile before they feel better.

Actually the people that have the overnight miracles are in a minority. Most people it takes some time to feel better.
A lot is simply because it takes a while for the body to adjust to cpap therapy itself (assuming therapy is even optimal) because the brain just seems to have a problem accepting that the alien on its human's face is a good guy. I know it took me at least 3 months for my brain to quit waking me up 2 dozen times a night just to alert me that "hey dude...do you know an alien is plastered on your face blowing air up your nose"... Until we can actually sleep soundly and decently...we are going to find "feeling better" elusive. There's so much more to feeling those good numbers than just getting them I always tell people the getting part is the easy part...feeling those good numbers is a whole different ball game for any number of reasons.

The people that had the overnight miracle and feel better immediately...very lucky minority. Sometimes progress is slow...sometimes faster but I figure we don't have much choice either way.

[Movieman]

I did read some people need to be on CPAP for awhile before they feel better.

Actually the people that have the overnight miracles are in a minority. Most people it takes some time to feel better.
A lot is simply because it takes a while for the body to adjust to cpap therapy itself (assuming therapy is even optimal) because the brain just seems to have a problem accepting that the alien on its human's face is a good guy. I know it took me at least 3 months for my brain to quit waking me up 2 dozen times a night just to alert me that "hey dude...do you know an alien is plastered on your face blowing air up your nose"... Until we can actually sleep soundly and decently...we are going to find "feeling better" elusive. There's so much more to feeling those good numbers than just getting them I always tell people the getting part is the easy part...feeling those good numbers is a whole different ball game for any number of reasons.

The people that had the overnight miracle and feel better immediately...very lucky minority. Sometimes progress is slow...sometimes faster but I figure we don't have much choice either way.

Thanks Pugsy! Your explanation is great! When I do sleep my numbers are good, but I surely don’t feel it. I know now my expectations were unrealistic in how quickly I would feel better.

Also, Your description (alien on face) is spot on!! . It took me two weeks just to get over my extreme claustrophobia, but I did it. I’m glad to hear that eventually I will be able to sleep through the night without my brain waking me up every two hours to tell me about the “alien” on my face

I couldn’t agree more...not much choice... I know I need to get used to CPAP in order to feel better! I’ve gone tired for too long!!!