CPAP saved my life

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
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pablomac
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Re: CPAP saved my life

Post by pablomac » Mon Feb 18, 2013 4:02 pm

herefishy wrote:I used to work Midnight shift and would sometimes come close to going to sleep driving home, besides being sleepy at social events made me real popular. I imagine CPAP saved my life too.
For some reason I didn't really have trouble staying awake while driving but then again, based on my results, that statement should be taken with a grain of salt. However, my fiance was always asking me if i was ok on the 45-minute drive back from her parents' house late at night -- it got very annoying to say the least. We haven't had the late night drive back since I started therapy but we'll see if she still asks or if she feels a little safer.

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SleepingUgly
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Re: CPAP saved my life

Post by SleepingUgly » Mon Feb 18, 2013 4:03 pm

DoriC wrote:Great news! I'm sure your post will help many who need encouragement. I'm curious, do you know what your pressure is? With an AHI that high some would imagine that you'd need a very high pressure but not necessarily so it would be good to know that. Good luck and keep us posted.!
Yes, tell us your pressure. Give us a reason not to be jealous of you. Seriously, such great publicity for treating OSA.
Never put your fate entirely in the hands of someone who cares less about it than you do. --Sleeping Ugly

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pablomac
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Re: CPAP saved my life

Post by pablomac » Mon Feb 18, 2013 4:08 pm

stage0 wrote:I agree the your life has changed wonderfully for the better. I would add to keep up with the following: 1. any weight loss or gain of 20 lbs. wil change your pressure need; 2. keep up with any other diagnosis like high blood pressure, diabetes and asthma...OSA can ba a cause of these (except asthma) and your medicaton need for each could change; 3. become an advocate for OSA in your community, we see many ppl just giver up on cpap.
I'm currently on Weight Watchers and have lost 25 lbs, but I started that before my therapy. Thanks for the tip, I'll keep that in mind. I want to keep it going for a couple of more months and then go back to my primary physician and show him some of my improved numbers.

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pablomac
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Re: CPAP saved my life

Post by pablomac » Mon Feb 18, 2013 4:18 pm

DoriC wrote:Great news! I'm sure your post will help many who need encouragement. I'm curious, do you know what your pressure is? With an AHI that high some would imagine that you'd need a very high pressure but not necessarily so it would be good to know that. Good luck and keep us posted.!
Thank you so much.

My pressure was set at 13 cmH2O. You can easily see on the snapshot of my sleep study that it was the magic number. The ramp function of my CPAP was set at 5 cmH2O and I started using it, but by the 3rd day I was already feeling like I was suffocating when I started with it. Now I don't even use it though it still feels like I stuck my head out the window going 80 mph when I first start it up and I already have my nose pillow set. It's an interesting feeling. Even then, by the time I wake up I wonder if the darn thing is still on since I don't really feel the stream of air. I do have the C-Flex function set to 3 -- a lot easier to exhale.

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Xney
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Re: CPAP saved my life

Post by Xney » Mon Feb 18, 2013 5:45 pm

23% ??!?!?#!?!#?!# holy cow.

Great that it's working for you - hope you feel better and better!

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DoriC
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Re: CPAP saved my life

Post by DoriC » Mon Feb 18, 2013 6:18 pm

pablomac wrote:
DoriC wrote:Great news! I'm sure your post will help many who need encouragement. I'm curious, do you know what your pressure is? With an AHI that high some would imagine that you'd need a very high pressure but not necessarily so it would be good to know that. Good luck and keep us posted.!
Thank you so much.

My pressure was set at 13 cmH2O. You can easily see on the snapshot of my sleep study that it was the magic number. The ramp function of my CPAP was set at 5 cmH2O and I started using it, but by the 3rd day I was already feeling like I was suffocating when I started with it. Now I don't even use it though it still feels like I stuck my head out the window going 80 mph when I first start it up and I already have my nose pillow set. It's an interesting feeling. Even then, by the time I wake up I wonder if the darn thing is still on since I don't really feel the stream of air. I do have the C-Flex function set to 3 -- a lot easier to exhale.
Interesting! My husband's titration was also 13cms and his AHI was only 28 and normal weight for his build. So it proves again that high sleep study AHI doesn't always equate with pressure needed to keep throat open. Keep us posted.

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domedog316
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Re: CPAP saved my life

Post by domedog316 » Mon Feb 18, 2013 8:36 pm

It's amazing....as I was reading your original post, I realized I could have typed the same thing and been totally truthful. I didn't have the amazing initial results as you, but after three years every aspect down to the GF/fiance are identical. Great job and congratulations!!

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kteague
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Re: CPAP saved my life

Post by kteague » Mon Feb 18, 2013 9:33 pm

I hope you consider copying your story into the thread at the top of success stories. Congrats on getting off to a great start.

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Re: CPAP saved my life

Post by Kitatonic » Mon Feb 18, 2013 10:54 pm

Wow, I just realized those decades of waking up at 4AM sharp and being asleep by 8:37 everyday...was apnea-related! Never could sleep in and tired early. Your work performance will improve considerably in the afternoons and so many other aspects that you didn't even think was OSA. Keep the monitoring up. I tweak everything to try to zero out too. The tech woke me up with a trembling voice after two hours to start CPAP, probably since I'm 60.

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SisterBenedict
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Re: CPAP saved my life

Post by SisterBenedict » Fri Mar 01, 2013 5:32 pm

What an inspirational story. Glad you are going to be with us longer! Congratulations on your wedding.

lewsterr
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Re: CPAP saved my life

Post by lewsterr » Fri Mar 01, 2013 6:33 pm

Awesome story, pablo. It just goes to show that you can only be in denial for so long.
However, my fiance was always asking me if i was ok on the 45-minute drive back from her parents' house late at night -- it got very annoying to say the least.
It wasn't until I fell asleep behind the wheel and drove off the road at 70 mph that I knew something was seriously wrong that needed medical attention. Fortunately the rumble strips woke me up in time to make a correction before hitting anything. If it wasn't for the rumble strips, I would have been long gone. You obviously did the right thing by going for the sleep study and becoming compliant. Now your fiance will see you at your BEST! Congratulations to both of you on your upcoming wedding.

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pablomac
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Re: CPAP saved my life

Post by pablomac » Fri Mar 01, 2013 8:19 pm

lewsterr wrote:It wasn't until I fell asleep behind the wheel and drove off the road at 70 mph that I knew something was seriously wrong that needed medical attention. Fortunately the rumble strips woke me up in time to make a correction before hitting anything. If it wasn't for the rumble strips, I would have been long gone. You obviously did the right thing by going for the sleep study and becoming compliant. Now your fiance will see you at your BEST!
I had a scare like that about 12 years ago. I was on a road trip with my family and it was my turn to drive. I dozed off, ran over the rumble strips and my two left tires went completely off the road. It was one of the scariest times of my life, knowing that I could have killed my whole family. I wonder now if it was a symptom of my sleep apnea or just road hypnosis.
lewsterr wrote:Congratulations to both of you on your upcoming wedding.
Thank you. We're having our wedding in Las Vegas and I have to admit that I'm worried about not being compliant for one or two of those nights. I've been guilty of only 1 or 2 hours of sleep, if that, on my previous trips down there I don't want to ruin my perfect compliance record.

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Cavmdc
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Re: CPAP saved my life

Post by Cavmdc » Fri Mar 01, 2013 10:14 pm

I feel like it saved my life too. I had a rate of 98. Some nights I felt like I was dieing. But now, with cpap, I feel better than I have in decades.

The first night, I slept 11 hours on the machine. I felt so awake and alert the next morning it almost hurt. Wow, what a difference !

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Re: CPAP saved my life

Post by BlackSpinner » Fri Mar 01, 2013 10:48 pm

pablomac wrote: Thank you. We're having our wedding in Las Vegas and I have to admit that I'm worried about not being compliant for one or two of those nights. I've been guilty of only 1 or 2 hours of sleep, if that, on my previous trips down there I don't want to ruin my perfect compliance record.
Keep this in mind - for men cpap therapy can be a form of Viagra. You are getting married.

Also giving yourself 4 hours of therapeutic sleep will make everything more fun.

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wateee
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Re: CPAP saved my life

Post by wateee » Sat Mar 02, 2013 3:52 am

lewsterr wrote:Awesome story, pablo. It just goes to show that you can only be in denial for so long.
However, my fiance was always asking me if i was ok on the 45-minute drive back from her parents' house late at night -- it got very annoying to say the least.
It wasn't until I fell asleep behind the wheel and drove off the road at 70 mph that I knew something was seriously wrong that needed medical attention. Fortunately the rumble strips woke me up in time to make a correction before hitting anything. If it wasn't for the rumble strips, I would have been long gone. You obviously did the right thing by going for the sleep study and becoming compliant. Now your fiance will see you at your BEST! Congratulations to both of you on your upcoming wedding.
First of all, I would say I'm sorry for my English. I live in Thailand and no rumble strip on the road as US. I had a same experience but lucky that I hit the truck side instead of falling down from the road.

In my country, there are several problems why people will not be able to use CPAP.

1. Sleep apnea symptom is not claimable by insurance both of sleep lap test or CPAP machine.
2. CPAP machine price (in Thailand) is very high although zero imported tax. For example, PR 1 Auto CPAP + nasal mask = $1,700 while labor cost is $10

For me, after car accident, I realized how serious of sleep apnea. I had the surgery operation twice with Radiofrequency for throat tissue reduction and laser knife for expanding air way in nose. Both failed to fix my OSA. (Don't be surprise why I took the surgery. Because the surgery operation by government hospital is cheaper than CPAP machine cost.)

Last chance,I reduce my weight about 18 lbs, it did not work as well. Finally, my doctor said it is time that I have to take CPAP. Fine, I have no money. What's else? I took another 2 years to get enough money to buy one. During that period, I had to sleep on a chair, could not lay down on bed since I could not breath.

After I get the my APAP, My data shown AHI running between 0.0 to 1.0. The most important thing is I can sleep on my bed by laying down my body!!!

Thank you for people who read until this line. I just want to share how difficult to get OSA treatment for me. Don't be jealous. ha ha ha