Have you been transformed?

elader · Post by **elader** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 6:12 pm

For encouragement for the new folks here - how has cpap changed your life - besides the 'medical benefits'. No fair talking about sleep, blood pressure, etc. What *gift* has it given you?

Eric starts:
Before cpap, I was gaining weight and literally could not even take a walk in the neighborhood at night due to total exhaustion. Work -> home -> couch. Six months later and I am an avid road cyclist, riding 40 miles a week and increasing.... in spandex no less. I curse my slow progress every day, but frankly I am amazed that this is me. Sure there are bad cpap days, even awful ones sometimes, but there is no doubt this stupid air pump saved my life.

Michele1234 · Post by **Michele1234** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 6:17 pm

I just started last week I have noticed much improvement in the past week,I don't feel tired like used to feel and I don't need caffeine all day either to keep me awake. last when I wake up in the morning I actually feel refreshed which is something I haven't felt in a long time.

Froro · Post by **Froro** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 6:41 pm

I am six weeks in and feel 10 years younger, happier, and back to being ME again. I was a bundle of nerves, and in complete denial initially.

Energetic (most of the time, I have the odd bad night). I am working out again, losing weight, and simply enjoying putting two thoughts together.

My kids have informed me (as I have mentioned before) rather uncerimoniously that I am not grumpy anymore, more fun, and simply happy. My teen son doesn't call home from school ahead of arriving to figure out what kind of mood mom is in.

I'm excited about something every single day. I literally feel like a million bucks. In the last two weeks, I've been out golfing twice, yoga every second day, baking like a lunatic, and getting things dealt with that I just simply too tired, and unmotivated to wrap my head around before. The fog has lifted and my entire family has seen the change in me. As a result, my entire family is happier and more cohesive.

Paul56 · Post by **Paul56** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 6:52 pm

If the effects of aging keep reversing at this pace... I'll be into baby talk in about 2 months.

tgzlavistane · Post by **tgzlavistane** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 7:05 pm

I can actually concentrate at work again. I make less mistakes and am far more productive than I was before I started my CPAP therapy. CPAP may have saved my Job and better yet my life.

“I'm back baby! I'm back! - George Costanza”.

carbonman · Post by **carbonman** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 7:13 pm

Aside from getting out on my bike, now and then...in spandex,
my biological clock running in reverse,
playing my guitars again,
just for a few things,
cpap has easied my depression and
helped me control the fear/panic attacks.
I have not had to take any xanax in months.

I am not the same person that started cpap ~10mths ago.

The gift-a community in cpaptalk.
From day one, before I got my equipment,
I found that I was not alone in this journey.

elader · Post by **elader** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 7:13 pm

tgzlavistane wrote:I can actually concentrate at work again. I make less mistakes and am far more productive than I was before I started my CPAP therapy. CPAP may have saved my Job and better yet my life.

“I'm back baby! I'm back! - George Costanza”.

I actually apologized to my coworkers for being asleep.... for months. They told me they hadn't noticed.

kteague · Post by **kteague** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 8:47 pm

Stepped away from death's door back into the land of the living. Not riding bicycles, but my worst day now is still immeasurably better than my best day 3 years ago. May not be who I wanna be, but thankfully I'm not who I used to be, and hopefully not who I'm gonna be. Didn't have a thimble full of hope when my cpap journey started. (Maybe that's an out of date term - doubt if my grandkids even know what a thimble is.)
Kathy

elader · Post by **elader** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 9:06 pm

kteague wrote:Stepped away from death's door back into the land of the living. Not riding bicycles, but my worst day now is still immeasurably better than my best day 3 years ago. May not be who I wanna be, but thankfully I'm not who I used to be, and hopefully not who I'm gonna be. Didn't have a thimble full of hope when my cpap journey started. (Maybe that's an out of date term - doubt if my grandkids even know what a thimble is.)
Kathy

Sounds pretty darn transforming!

kteague · Post by **kteague** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 9:55 pm

When my driving had to be limited due to sleepiness, my adult kids laughed when I half-jokingly told them I wanted one of those 3-wheel bikes that are so popular in the retirement communities of Florida. Hey, then I could post about bike riding. I just wouldn't post pictures except of scenery obtained from the web sites of local park districts - none of which would contain anything related to spandex!

RalphMalf · Post by **RalphMalf** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 9:59 pm

After 6 weeks of paying back sleep debt...and having the Wife ask why I was not working out...I am starting to come out of the 'fog'. I have started to run again and I have sights again on a season of Triathlons (at least three). I cannot imagine a night not on the hose. It is my safety blanket. Ah hah...finally a kid again!

preemiern · Post by **preemiern** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 10:35 pm

I feel alive again, and have the energy to truly enjoy my grandbabies!! Also, in the first week after starting BiPap, my thinking was clearer and my memory greatly improved. I feel so much better. My health improved, I was able to decrease my BP/heart medication. I'm no longer mistakenly thinking I am depressed. I can drive without falling asleep. My whole quality of life is back!! I am so afraid of not breathing in my sleep that I won't even take a nap without my BiPap. All I have learned about OSA has been from this forum, and the great friends I have made here. It's been quite a journey but I know when I am in my 60's I will still be around to enjoy my grandkids, and will be healthy enough to keep up with them

doggonediva · Post by **doggonediva** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 11:37 pm

I have had my CPAP for 6 weeks. I took some getting used to but last night I slept for 4 hours straight! Unheard of for me for over 20 years.

Captain_Midnight · Post by **Captain_Midnight** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 11:54 pm

Elader asks...Have you been transformed?

Yes, and as best I can tell, it all began when I went to sleep near those giant seed pods.

Seriously, I'm one of the many, many success stories from xPAP therapy.

Early on in the therapy, I noticed that I think more deeply and I'm more mentally alert, I speak more clearly, my mood is much improved (even though I've always been a "bright-sider"), my dreams are more user friendly, I write more clearly and type more quickly, I've noticed a boost in the "mojo" department, I no longer take daily naps, and without exaggeration, I accomplish twice in a day compared to what I muddled through pre PAP therapy. Multitasking is much easier now. My immune system is stronger (as evidence by a lack of URIs since starting PAP therapy in early Dec 05).My eyes no longer hurt to look from side to side.

I noticed significant improvement when I began CPAP at 5 cm, and then greater improvement when I had a home titration, and bumped things up to 8 cm.
My greatest therapeutic successes came after 2 good years of CFLEX CPAP, when I up and bought a data-capable AFLEX APAP (which I just love), and used the nightly info as feedback to tweak my settings. I now average about 0.4 AHI.

Before CPAP, I could run a few miles, but it was getting increasingly difficult to maintain conditioning. By contrast, today I ran 9 miles (in preparation for a half-marathon in 4 days.) this 60 year-old could never have gotten in this kind of physical shape without my trusty APAP.

One other thing. When I was just starting out with CPAP therapy, I would have loved to have read a thread just like this one, with several success stories. Thanks for starting an interesting and important thread.

.

Sleepy Boy · Post by **Sleepy Boy** » Wed Apr 29, 2009 5:08 am

Hey elader, my wife says I'm not the same person. I was grumpy most of the time, and not much fun to be around. Wife & friends say I'm a changed man..I've been struggling with some mask issues the last Mo. or so, and I told Rosy (wife) I was about ready to throw in the towel on this cpap stuff. She said that I'd forgotten how bad I was 10 Mo's. ago-kinda got me thinking how much better I feel-even during the bad nights...Thanks, Larry

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