cpap hoax

[ettilvry@aol.com]

CPAP...What a hoax...Invented by people who cannot tolerate snoring..I find the headgear to be intolerable at best, I can only sleep on my back,which I have never done.
I wear the STUPID headgear and lie awake until1:30 2:00 in the morning until my wife falls asleep,Then I take the STUPID THING off. She proclaims the "WONDERS" of the machine...that my snoring is "CURED" now go figure that>? I now get LESS sleep than I have had in years.... CAN SOMEONE RATIONAL EXPLAIN THIS???????? I am TIRED in more ways than one!!!!!! The Doctor says to "GIVE IT A CHANCE" But 5 Months in..... I HAVE MY DOUBTS!!!!!

[jnk]

Yes. Pretending to use CPAP when you are not is most definitely a hoax. Naughty, naughty. You are gonna be really embarrassed if you die in your sleep, too.

Many here sleep on their side. A few have found ways to sleep face down. All with our masks on and our machine running. It can be done.

Your doctor is right. You need to give it a REAL chance. Be a man. Make it work. Stop faking it.

Post your equipment. Ask your specific questions. Search the lightbulb of wisdom above. Let's get serious about this, shall we?!

jeff

Oh. And welcome.

[Goofproof]

You don't need XPAP, you need scuba gear, De-Nile is way too deep for you! Letting a little plastic that can save your life whip you. Make sure you have a good life insurance policy for your wife that you are fooling. Maybe her next husband will take care of his health better.

"XPAP", So easy, a Caveman could do it! Jim

[freepostg]

CPAP...What a hoax...Invented by people who cannot tolerate snoring..I find the headgear to be intolerable at best, I can only sleep on my back,which I have never done.
I wear the STUPID headgear and lie awake until1:30 2:00 in the morning until my wife falls asleep,Then I take the STUPID THING off. She proclaims the "WONDERS" of the machine...that my snoring is "CURED" now go figure that>? I now get LESS sleep than I have had in years.... CAN SOMEONE RATIONAL EXPLAIN THIS???????? I am TIRED in more ways than one!!!!!! The Doctor says to "GIVE IT A CHANCE" But 5 Months in..... I HAVE MY DOUBTS!!!!!

Could this possibly be "the dean" incognito? I wonder...

[jnk]

CPAP...What a hoax...Invented by people who cannot tolerate snoring..I find the headgear to be intolerable at best, I can only sleep on my back,which I have never done.
I wear the STUPID headgear and lie awake until1:30 2:00 in the morning until my wife falls asleep,Then I take the STUPID THING off. She proclaims the "WONDERS" of the machine...that my snoring is "CURED" now go figure that>? I now get LESS sleep than I have had in years.... CAN SOMEONE RATIONAL EXPLAIN THIS???????? I am TIRED in more ways than one!!!!!! The Doctor says to "GIVE IT A CHANCE" But 5 Months in..... I HAVE MY DOUBTS!!!!!

Could this possibly be "the dean" incognito? I wonder...

No thedean ain't smart enough for incognito. Although I guess someone could be helping him!

I think ettilvry was just venting. Emotional content. I think we all can relate on some level. But straight talk may help. Let's hope it helps. Life is a precious thing.

[freepostg]

CPAP...What a hoax...Invented by people who cannot tolerate snoring..I find the headgear to be intolerable at best, I can only sleep on my back,which I have never done.
I wear the STUPID headgear and lie awake until1:30 2:00 in the morning until my wife falls asleep,Then I take the STUPID THING off. She proclaims the "WONDERS" of the machine...that my snoring is "CURED" now go figure that>? I now get LESS sleep than I have had in years.... CAN SOMEONE RATIONAL EXPLAIN THIS???????? I am TIRED in more ways than one!!!!!! The Doctor says to "GIVE IT A CHANCE" But 5 Months in..... I HAVE MY DOUBTS!!!!!

Could this possibly be "the dean" incognito? I wonder...

No thedean ain't smart enough for incognito. Although I guess someone could be helping him!

I think ettilvry was just venting. Emotional content. I think we all can relate on some level. But straight talk may help. Let's hope it helps. Life is a precious thing.

Yeah, you're right..I forgot about "the dean's" limited synapse functionality. I stand corrected.

[kteague]

Ok, so you got off to a bad start with cpap - you're not the first, and I'm in that group. Even quit for a bit. But this is now, and you must be ready to get this thing right, or you wouldn't have bothered to post here. If you read any of the messages here you've got the idea that this isn't the place to come to find someone to co-sign any intent to quit.

Results follow due diligence. Of course you feel like crap. I would hope your doctor would have asked you specifics of why it wasn't working for you and offered options to make your treatment more workable. But again, this is now, and there's lots of folks here who can help you work thru the annoyances. Consider this a fresh start.

Personally, if I could no longer go to sleep on my side, I'd be in a world of trouble. It's my personal pet peeve that initiating treatment doesn't entail finding a mask or and/or pillow setup that accomodates a person's sleep style. It's like setting someone up for failure. It's hard enough to get used to the treatment and equipment without that unnecessary adjustment.

I came here when I was desperate to make it work. Couldn't sleep with it, couldn't sleep without it. Now it's second nature. Hope you get there too. It's been worth the effort.

[Slinky]

I take it you are one of those too stiff necked to ask for directions when you've lost track of where you are. If your sleep doctor is no help have you tried asking your local DME supplier's RT for assistance? That's part of their job. There's more than one model and style of mask available. If you can't sleep w/the one you've got why haven't you had the good sense to ask for another? The good Lord helps those who help themselves. ASK FOR HELP!

Since you are here, why not start w/telling us which CPAP and mask you are supposedly using? What is your pressure setting? If you dont know these simple answers, why not?? We might be able to make some worthwhile suggestions that could make your life w/CPAP one h*ll of a whole lot easier. Assuming you are willing to take an interest in your own health and willing to help yourself get some decent sleep.

Request a copy of the doctor's dictated results (1-2 pages each) and the full scored data summary report w/condensed graphs (5+ pages each) from both your sleep evaluation and your titration studies. There may be some clues in there to help. They are part of your medical records and you have a legal right to them under HIPAA if you are in the USA.

Hopefully you will live long enough to grow up and use your CPAP and mask properly - and comfortably. Its up to you.

[Goofproof]

Either get help, after you swim to the shore, and climb out of De-Nile. Or other methods from http://www.ihatecpap.com/, not saying they work, but they can pass the time until your health get worse.

If you make up your mind to make XPAP work, (And it probably won't until you do) Sign-in fill in your profile (In text not ICONY), and if you are willing to make the effort to become proactive in your treatment, the good folks here will try to help. Jim

[Wulfman]

CPAP...What a hoax...Invented by people who cannot tolerate snoring..I find the headgear to be intolerable at best, I can only sleep on my back,which I have never done.
I wear the STUPID headgear and lie awake until1:30 2:00 in the morning until my wife falls asleep,Then I take the STUPID THING off. She proclaims the "WONDERS" of the machine...that my snoring is "CURED" now go figure that>? I now get LESS sleep than I have had in years.... CAN SOMEONE RATIONAL EXPLAIN THIS???????? I am TIRED in more ways than one!!!!!! The Doctor says to "GIVE IT A CHANCE" But 5 Months in..... I HAVE MY DOUBTS!!!!!

Sounds like the "pity party" is at your place. Got some cheese to go with all that "whine"?

One thing that you HAVE done right......you found your way here.

But.....now that you're here.....do you want some help figuring out how to get your therapy to work or do you just want to throw a tantrum like a little three-year old?

I would suggest that if you DO want some help.......ask for it like an adult.

Den

[Kiralynx]

CPAP...What a hoax...Invented by people who cannot tolerate snoring..I find the headgear to be intolerable at best, I can only sleep on my back,which I have never done.
I wear the STUPID headgear and lie awake until1:30 2:00 in the morning until my wife falls asleep,Then I take the STUPID THING off. She proclaims the "WONDERS" of the machine...that my snoring is "CURED" now go figure that>? I now get LESS sleep than I have had in years.... CAN SOMEONE RATIONAL EXPLAIN THIS???????? I am TIRED in more ways than one!!!!!! The Doctor says to "GIVE IT A CHANCE" But 5 Months in..... I HAVE MY DOUBTS!!!!!

I'll be starting on my fourth week with CPAP tomorrow night. Sure the headgear's stupid. At least you have the advantage of being male! I've come to the conclusion that all the engineers designing the dratted masks are (a) male, and (b) bald, and (c) probably have never tried to sleep, night after night, in one of these contraptions.

Did I mention that I'm claustrophobic to the degree that it took me seven years to tolerate light reading glasses on my nose? Just imagine what the mask is doing to me!

Yep, I'm having lots of days where I feel as if I'm getting less sleep than ever. But the fact that the dark bags under my eyes are going away, the fact that my friends say I'm calmer, that my hips don't hurt any more gives the lie to that.

You've got sleep deprivation up the wazoo, and my guess is you know it, and you know, however much you hate the d@mned mask, that you need it. Which is why you're here.

If there were another proven method than sleeping attached to a glorified hairdrier, I'd use it. But there isn't. So I decided that if it didn't seem to work, I would scorched all find out why it wasn't working.

I bought, out of my own pocket, the card reader and software so that I could take control of my therapy. We've already made adjustments to the therapy to make it work better.

What kind of machine do you have? What kind of mask? Do you use any special pillows?

CPAP ain't no fun... but it's a darned sight better than constant pain and the possibility of sudden death. I'm surviving cancer -- four years and eight months to go before I'm declared cancer free. Think I'm going to let oxygen starvation set me up for other diseases which could kill me, or give the cancer a chance to come back? No bleeping way in h-ll!

So... you're here. Welcome to the Forum. We're glad you found us... and darned sorry you needed to. Now, let's get started. Are you ready to help yourself?

[Julie]

Did you know you don't HAVE to sleep on your back? Some people think they do (and yet it's the worst position to be if you have OSA and aren't treating it) because it's what the techs made them do for the test (they need to see the worst to be able to set you up properly), but as someone else said you're free to sleep however you want to, in whatever position works for you and your chosen mask (not just whatever they pawned off on you at first). Having a mask that fits well is 99% of the way there, and some go through quite a few getting there, but now can't conceive of sleeping any other way (like me... which was a huge surprise!). This is about you and your future (you can have one, but have probably forgotten by now what it feels like not to feel lousy), so never mind about what your wife says, or the MD or DME (if they don't help), but don't cut off your nose (ha!) to spite your apnea.. just let people here help a little and the way to start is by listing your equipment and whatever numbered pressure setting(s) you were given to use the machine at.

[dsm]

I am happy to take the original post as a genuine frustrated comment.

Many of us have been through that type of emotion & some more than others. When you feel you are doing something you really don't want to have to it can become a true PITB big time.

And, to an outsider we can here appear to be having some sort of bizarre party but a reason so many of us keep coming here is that there is so much to learn and there are so many people we are happy to help come to grips with this 'situation'.

The more we learn the more many of us realize how critical CPAP therapy now is to our later life expectancy and how well we may deal with getting older. (The damage is hard to undo if left too long).

Good luck - we are willing to help you if you want.

DSM

[goose]

The only hoax is the one you are playing on yourself. Look in the mirror. Is that the quitter you want to see??? Your health depends on you making this treatment work!!!!

The others have given you a direction -- register, fill out your profile (text please, not those bloody icons), come back and ask questions in a mature way and you'll find there are a lot of folks here that will bend over backwards to try to help out......

Your rant is well taken -- this is a legitimate place for rants -- we do it all the time, but as you can see, we tend to be fairly harsh on a "prospective quitter" because "quit" is not part of our vocabulary. We've all had to deal with it in one way or an other, so we know it can be done. You'll find you're not alone, and that there are actually some here that have had it worse......

So, hike up your shorts, log back in, register, fill out your profile, read the yellow light bulb at the top of the pages, and ask your questions, describe your problems -- we're here to help!!!!

Good luck
take care
cheers
goose

[luke]

Like someone here on the board said:

It's better than waking up dead

Luke