Help and advice please

Hi everyone. Newbie here. I've been diagnosed as having moderate sleep apnea, so have just been given a CPAP machine. However, I'm so worried and nervous about putting it on and trying to sleep. I just think I'm going to struggle with it and not looking forward to the prospect of having to use it for the rest of my life, but I know I have little option unfortunately. Otherwise, I probably will not feel better and also leaving myself open to the various problems sleep apnea can cause in later life.
I wondered if anyone could please give me any help or advice which will hopefully make me feel more positive and comfortable about the future.
I've also been diagnosed as having Post viral symptoms with dysautonomia, so I believe there's more to my situation.
Any advice or help gratefully appreciated.
Thank you
Graham

Try using the mask and machine while awake and under no pressure at all to go to sleep for as long as it takes for your brain to become best friends with all this new stuff...
Time, patience and practice.
It's a bit weird at first but we do get accustomed to it and it becomes second nature.

Why would you have such a negative outlook and/or assume you'd need to use it forever?

I have come to feel that CPAP is the best thing that ever happened to me. My life is much better because of it. Every aspect of my health has improved since starting it.

Was it easy? No. Was it and is it worth it? Most certainly!

I wish you all the best with it. May life with better breathing and better sleep become a true joy to you.

-Jeff

Julie wrote: ↑

Sat May 10, 2025 10:06 am

Why would you have such a negative outlook and/or assume you'd need to use it forever?

I'm not a positive person generally to be honest, so having had it on briefly I don't like it. But I know, once I get used to it I'll probably feel a little bit different about it especially if it's helping.
And everybody I've heard of having one, seems like they've got it forever. As if, once you have sleep apnea you never really get rid of it and it's just something you have to live with. But I guess, it's not necessarily the case I'll need it forever..

I have it in my will that I want a CPAP installed in my coffin so I can use it forever.

Graham160 wrote: ↑

Sun May 11, 2025 2:09 pm

Julie wrote: ↑

Sat May 10, 2025 10:06 am

Why would you have such a negative outlook and/or assume you'd need to use it forever?

I'm not a positive person generally to be honest, so having had it on briefly I don't like it. But I know, once I get used to it I'll probably feel a little bit different about it especially if it's helping.
And everybody I've heard of having one, seems like they've got it forever. As if, once you have sleep apnea you never really get rid of it and it's just something you have to live with. But I guess, it's not necessarily the case I'll need it forever..

If there are other factors that you can change like lose a lot of weight you might not need it forever. But I guess the statistical likelihood is you will. My husband tells me I'm a pessimist and I counter with: Yes but that means I'm constantly pleasantly surprised when things turn out good. Better that than being an optimist and constantly disappointed when they turn out bad. I'm kind of half joking there. I see it more as always looking for the small things you can nip in the bud before they become bigger things.

Sleep apnea is probably a good example of that, since they say years untreated stresses the heart and other organs. And in my case it seems I nipped it in the bud because I have a very mild case. I didn't even think I had it but requested a sleep study to rule it out before I bothered getting a night guard for my teeth. I was having very severe morning headaches and thought it was teeth clenching but knew SA could cause it, and I'd just had a close family member diagnosed.

I was shocked when my diagnosis came back. They sent me the machine and like you I dreaded it and delayed starting it for a couple of days. The first night I had a claustrophobic reaction to the mask, feeling like I was suffocating. But after assuring myself air was actually flowing into me I powered through it and once I went to sleep, woke up the next morning with a profound positive difference. I was sold, from that very first night. I have used it every night since and now cannot imagine being without it. This isn't to say I haven't had problems. I'm on my 4th mask and it's not perfect. I have issues with my face swelling, and straddling that fine line between too loose (leaks) and too tight (uncomfortable) and it's just generally a big PITA to now keep up with the equipment, deal with the DME etc.

But the difference in my life is astounding, and I didn't even know anything was wrong. I was sleeping only 4-6 hours a night and getting up to pee several times, and thought that was just normal aging. Now I sleep 7-8+ hours and get up to pee 0 times most nigihts. Headaches went from 10 to 3 and now this teeth nightguard has brought them to 0. It's not just more energy and better mood during the day, the actual quality of my sleep seems better, like it's more "enjoyable" I know that makes no sense, you're unconscious, lol but it just is. Like I wake up saying "that was fun!" instead of "that was hell and now I have to drag myself up and drink a gallon of coffee just to get through the morning."

I realize I am probably a rare outlier, having this profound a result instantaneously but I theorize it is because I caught it before it got too severe but who knows?

Graham160 wrote: ↑

Sun May 11, 2025 2:09 pm

Julie wrote: ↑

Sat May 10, 2025 10:06 am

Why would you have such a negative outlook and/or assume you'd need to use it forever?

I'm not a positive person generally to be honest, so having had it on briefly I don't like it.

The problem with being a "not a positive person" is that expecting the worst often leads to self-fulling prophesies. If you expect CPAP to "not work" for you because it is just too uncomfortable, then there's a very, very high probability that you will in fact give up on the whole thing before you manage to give it enough time to figure out how to sleep with then dang mask on your nose and do the routine, but tedious work of figuring out how to trouble shoot a whole bunch of issues that many newbies face, including the basic one of finding a mask that you can tolerate and dealing with any leak problems that wind up occurring.

And I don't think anybody "likes" a CPAP mask the first time they put it on briefly. Because, to be honest, there's nothing particularly natural about having a six foot hose attached to your face with air blowing down your nose. But here's the thing: If you know you've got obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and you know the long term complications that can result from untreated OSA, you've got a choice: You can choose to put in the work needed to make this crazy sounding therapy work for you, or you can choose to not treat the OSA and deal with the ongoing excessive fatigue/daytime sleepiness issues combined with the increased risks for a whole lot of nasty stuff as the years go by. Your choice. The question is whether you want to commit to treating the condition or not.

Should you decide to make a go of CPAP therapy, we're here to help you trouble-shoot all the issues that you might run into. To be honest: There are those rare and lucky souls like my husband who can slap a CPAP mask on the first night, sleep through, and wake up feeling better the next morning; but most new users? It takes most people a few weeks to a couple of months before they find a mask that doesn't bother them (too much) and iron out issues like leaks and tweaking the pressure settings so that they can sleep well all night long. And even then, it can take a while before the body fully recovers from the sleep debt its acquired through the years and start to heal whatever damage may have already been done by the repeated apnea episodes during the years of untreated OSA.

And everybody I've heard of having one, seems like they've got it forever. As if, once you have sleep apnea you never really get rid of it and it's just something you have to live with. But I guess, it's not necessarily the case I'll need it forever..

For most people, OSA has more to do with the structure of their upper airway than just their weight. And sadly we can't really do anything to change the structure of our upper airway. So yes, for most of us, we'll be sleeping with CPAP for the rest of our lives. But after a while? It no longer seems to be "a burden" the way it did when we started out.

To draw a comparison: Type I diabetics know they're going to be "stuck" taking insulin the rest of their lives. And they're going to be dealing with a rather restrictive diet the rest of their lives. But dealing with the multiple daily insulin shots and the dietary restrictions is far better than dealing with the consequences of untreated diabetics. So they learn to do what's necessary.

Using a CPAP is in many ways much, much easier than what diabetics have to do. So again: It's your choice: Treat the medical condition you have and figure out a way to use the CPAP so that you can wake up feeling decently rested with enough energy to get through the day or dont' treat the OSA and live with the consequences.

Thank you, you've been very helpful