I'm back

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
LoneRider
Posts: 62
Joined: Tue Sep 13, 2005 12:52 pm
Location: Allen, TX

I'm back

Post by LoneRider » Tue Nov 01, 2005 10:44 am

G'day,

Well I made it back alive, initial stats of the ride are 3400 miles in 6 and bit days. Well actually had a 1 1/2 days of the bike, so really about 4.5 days of riding. Capped by 1228 miles in under 19 hours, more than enough for a SS1000 (http://ironbutt.com). I've done over 1000 miles in a day before, but never went through the full documentation procedure. Hopefully tonight I will be able to get the package complete and sent off tomorrow. Remember I said I was a bit nuts.

As far as therapy, I am definitely feeling better, and my BP is starting to lower. Hopefully I will be able to get to my normal routine and it will get even better. Last night was really my first decent nights sleep in a week. The day before I left my BP was 124/72, last night it was back to 140/83. The lowest seen in a very, very long time. That number last night was with no meds yesterday and dropping one of them for the trip. We will see how it is tonight, if is starting to climb I will get back on meds.

It is really funny, I am getting to the point where in the morning I check to make sure the machine is still working, I get so used to breathing with the machine on I don't notice it. As Bill said, it is amazing what our bodies will get used to. I'm finding that I am starting to bob around in bed like I used to as well, so I think I am going to put the Aura on my X-mass list. To all the other newbies on the list, it can take a couple of weeks to get used to it, I have been using the swift for almost three weeks and I am just about there.

I learned a couple of things, if you do place your machine on the floor at a hotel, place a towel underneath it, but that still only works for a day. Even though my room was non-smoking, and I had the towel on the floor, on the second morning it felt like I had been sleeping in a bar with the taste of smoke and stale beer in my mouth and throat. So on the third night the machine was on the side table As of last night all of the flavors had left my 420e.

Again, I am just amazed at how used to the machine I am getting. Proof of that is my snore number seems to be rising. Don't know if that is just a bit of congestion or if I am falling deeper to sleep I might bump up my pressure to 9 from 8 and see how I feel.

Anyway, hopefully I will have some pictures of my 3/4 days of torusisty riding up in the next day or two. There is also one of me in there.

Glad to be back at home, in fact Stacy and I sort played hookie yesterday, her back was pretty sore, and I was not in shape to work, so we caught up on a bit of TV and went to Chuys for dinner

Looks like I have a couple of interesting threads to fully catch up on.

cheers,
Tom


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rested gal
Posts: 12880
Joined: Thu Sep 09, 2004 10:14 pm
Location: Tennessee

Post by rested gal » Tue Nov 01, 2005 11:34 am

I've done over 1000 miles in a day before,
Wow! This couch potato is impressed!! Driving a car that far wears me out! You're tough.

Does sound like a magnificent trip you took. Glad you made it back safely. Welcome home!

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WAFlowers
Posts: 1172
Joined: Wed Jul 27, 2005 10:59 am
Location: Clearwater FL
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Post by WAFlowers » Tue Nov 01, 2005 2:51 pm

Tom, congratulations on the Saddle Sore 1000. Most I ever did was 680 in a day.

Glad to hear CPAP is working for you. When I'm out there in a couple of weeks maybe we can try to refine your treatment and improve the results.

You mention your snore numbers rising. Are you on APAP or straight CPAP? If APAP, try bumping your lower range number by even 0.5 -- it worked for me.

The CPAPer formerly known as WAFlowers

LoneRider
Posts: 62
Joined: Tue Sep 13, 2005 12:52 pm
Location: Allen, TX

Post by LoneRider » Tue Nov 01, 2005 3:45 pm

WAFlowers wrote:Tom, congratulations on the Saddle Sore 1000. Most I ever did was 680 in a day.
Thanks, it was fun. Don't think I would want to do it often though.
WAFlowers wrote:Glad to hear CPAP is working for you. When I'm out there in a couple of weeks maybe we can try to refine your treatment and improve the results.

You mention your snore numbers rising. Are you on APAP or straight CPAP? If APAP, try bumping your lower range number by even 0.5 -- it worked for me.
It will definately be interesting to here if there is a noise level difference between the machines.

The machine is in APAP mode, and will up there pressure during the night, last night it got up to 10 or 11 IIRC. The 420e suggest 90% pressure is still 8.0cm though.

So I guess I will try 8.5 tonight and see what it says tomorrow.

cheers,
Tom


LoneRider
Posts: 62
Joined: Tue Sep 13, 2005 12:52 pm
Location: Allen, TX

Post by LoneRider » Tue Nov 01, 2005 3:46 pm

rested gal wrote:
I've done over 1000 miles in a day before,
Wow! This couch potato is impressed!! Driving a car that far wears me out! You're tough.

Does sound like a magnificent trip you took. Glad you made it back safely. Welcome home!
Thanks, it was a lot of fun. I don't know if I would say I was tough. The bike I ride is fairly comfortable. It is all a matter of what you like. And I love riding. I will admit, at times on the ride back I was pretty boared after the sun went down. Riding in the midle of the summer is a bit nicer, when you have more than 11 or so hours of daylight.

There is a lot of cool things to see in NA, and for me, inside a helmet is a great way of doing. I've also had some cool road trips in the car as well. The farewell trip for my last car was really great. Stacy and I drove from Dallas to Tampa, hugging the coast from just East New Orleans on the way out.

The nice part about the bike, it gets around 40mpg.

cheers,
Tom