Newbie would like to hear success stories, please.

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
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andrasnm
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Re: Newbie would like to hear success stories, please.

Post by andrasnm » Thu Dec 26, 2019 6:13 pm

I had severe apnea - AHI 55, now I am under AHI 5. I do not wish to develop, mental or heart issues over apnea. It took me a few months to get used to the mask (I use a nasal pillow) but now I am wearing it with no problem. I sleep for 9 hours.

Translog
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Location: Montreal, Canada

Re: Newbie would like to hear success stories, please.

Post by Translog » Sun Dec 29, 2019 9:12 am

I went threw a quadruple bypass in 2016 and the anesthesiologist told me he thought I should get tested for Sleep Apnea.
Well after a few months I started feeling like I was dragging my ass everywhere and finally did a home test. AHI was 84 ! yikes.
I got a Resmed auto set 10 and was amazed at how I felt the next day...I finally despite wrestling with mask, pressure, hose ect, realized how good it felt to get a great night's sleep.
You can get 4 hours of sleep on a CPAP machine and still feel better than without it.
Over time, I felt good in the morning, rested I would say.
Lowered my blood pressure from 138/84 medicated to consistent 120/70 and less.
Resting heart rate seems to have fallen to 50 from 64
don't nap as often, nor do I tend to want to take a nap stop while driving from Montreal to Toronto when I need to travel there.
So stay with it, and the great individuals on this forum involved in order to tweak and help you on this journey.

Snoozee
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Re: Newbie would like to hear success stories, please.

Post by Snoozee » Wed Jan 01, 2020 5:11 pm

Dear Catnapper,

I have used my Phillips Respironics Auto A-Flex for about a decade with great success! It was hard finding the right machine when I was first diagnosed because they kept wanting to give me a straight CPAP which has unchanging pressure for exhalation. I felt like I was drowning! Couldn't exhale! Thank God I got a very good respiratory therapist who guided me to an Auto A-Flex which gave me the exhalation relief I needed. Yes! I could exhale easily with the drop in pressure it provided whenever I exhaled! I still don't know how anyone can exhale using straight CPAP with its strong, unchanging pressure. My CPAP is more like a BiPap at the lower CPAP pricetag.

My CPAP therapy has increased my alertness, my energy, and, best of all, I no longer have problems nearly asphyxiating at night! One night, before CPAP, I had woken up, wasn't breathing, couldn't get started breathing again, sat up, felt like my face was in concrete - PANIC!!! Fortunately, finally I could take a breath. Since CPAP use, that never has happened again. Actually, I would never consider ever sleeping without CPAP support for that reason!

Good luck with your pursuit of the appropriate treatment for you - and remember, if you can't tolerate exhaling under strong CPAP pressure, there is always Bipap or Auto A-flex (not sure if they have make this anymore). Good luck to you! It's worth it!!

gemini649@me.com
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Re: Newbie would like to hear success stories, please.

Post by gemini649@me.com » Wed Jan 15, 2020 7:29 pm

I have had OSA for 10 plus years and had much difficulty using it. As of Jan 3 this year my doctor ordered me the ResMed
Air sense 10, it has heated humidity which has made me
Much more compliant. I use small nasal pillows and have
Successfully worn it 8-10 hrs per night with no nasal dryness.
The heated humidity has done the trick.

Good luck,
Lynn

RLMMG
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Re: Newbie would like to hear success stories, please.

Post by RLMMG » Fri Jan 24, 2020 7:17 pm

My father was a terrible sleeper, snored so loud he could wake up the neighborhood, he would fall asleep talking to you during the day. He never did anything about it and at the age of 74 he passed away in his sleep. I didn't want the same thing to happen to me as I was getting bad as well. I had a sleep study and found out that I was severe and now THANK GOD I am doing so much better. Here is my story here viewtopic/t177923/My-father-passed-away ... -time.html

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Lifeisabeach
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Re: Newbie would like to hear success stories, please.

Post by Lifeisabeach » Wed Feb 12, 2020 12:00 am

Howdy all. On again, off again lurker here. So here’s my success story. When I was first diagnosed with sleep apnea, no one told me what I was dealing with. My primary doctor had referred me for a test. The sleep center called me. The person who did the test was like “Yep, you have it.” They called me back for titration. Then the supply company called me to tell me they had my machine ready. After 3 weeks I gave up trying to deal with it and returned it, figuring I’d just look into getting surgery or something. Supply company calls me and says my doctor wants me to go back on it (they are referring to a pulmonologist who I had never even seen or talked to) and I say no, I’m just going to look into surgery. I never saw a provider (pulmonology, that is). They never called me. Never explained the results to me. I had absolutely no clue what I was dealing with. I assumed my issues with stamina and exhaustion were due to my low testosterone levels, which was abnormally low and an apparent lifelong condition.

Flash forward 3 years. I had previously had a surgery consult, but no clear reason could be seen as to why I had sleep apnea from an ENT stance. Then something else came up so I blew it off. Then I convinced myself I’d lose weight, then look into surgery again. My doctor tried testosterone injections and my health went to hell. I couldn’t stay awake if I wasn’t actively doing something and my weight spiraled out of control. I finally resigned myself to revisiting my sleep apnea and called requesting to be retested. I get a callback the next day, and it was bizarre. They basically said the P.A. wanted to see me, and wanted to know when I wanted to come. So I went the next day and was told in no uncertain terms that I shouldn’t even be alive right then. The worst case they had ever seen was an AHI of 144, mine was 140, and I had gone 3 years untreated and clearly gotten progressively worse. The testosterone injections in particular had really exacerbated the condition. I was kidding myself into thinking I could lose weight, it was impossible due to how jacked up my hormones were. And I’m just sitting there like a zombie, finally hearing all this for the first time, and it’s all I can do to eke out the words “But no one told me anything.”

The ensuing 3 months were living hell as I strived to get used to using a CPAP machine. Well first off, they made a mistake by starting with a CPAP machine because the pressure was so high to resolve it that I needed a BiPAP. But I went through 7 different masks trying to get something to work. I even shaved my beard! But everything except nasal pillows leaked due to the high pressure, so that’s what worked finally.

Over the course of the years since I got this under control, a few things have become clear. First and foremost, I have had sleep apnea since my teens at the minimum, most likely since childhood. There’s just no questioning the signs of it in retrospect. The difference and impact on my life and health cannot be understated. One of the crazier things that my sleep apnea was directly responsible for was my compromised ability to regulate my body temperature. I used to feel like I had issues with heat and cold extremes, but was never sure if it was a real problem or just me being a wuss. What was real was that I never sweated much. I could be doing yard work with it hot and humid, and very little sweat. I was also prone to heat exhaustion. That all changed about 6 years after my sleep apnea was under control. I now sweat like a normal person and don’t have the stamina issues I’d always had as a child through my early 40s. Other changes, like to my temperament, are things that everyone around me saw improve for the better. But the bottom line is I’m alive and well, and other than my weight and Testosterone deficiency, I’m absurdly healthy when by all rights I shouldn’t be.

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Hosehead4ever
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Re: Newbie would like to hear success stories, please.

Post by Hosehead4ever » Sun Apr 19, 2020 6:07 pm

I guess I’m ready to post a success story. Been on PAP therapy for just over 9 years. I have just purchased my third machine. I used a PR Respironics System One for 4 years, an Airsense 10 Autoset for the last five years, and my new machine is the Airsense 10 Autoset For Her. My current machine has 16,991 hours on it as of this posting.

I was pretty much an immediate success story and have in the ensuing years become a Pap evangelist. I was pretty heavily medicated before Pap. I haven’t used a sleep aid since the very first night I got my first machine. I am now off ALL prescription medications of any kind for the last four years. I lost all the excess weight within the first year of Pap use and have kept it off for 8 years - going from a BMI of 43 before Pap to 26 now. I will always have to use Pap of some kind, despite being normal weight, because of anatomical deformities in my jaw and throat. I clearly should have been on Pap as a child - was always a heavy snorer and had both tonsils and adenoids removed by the age of 12 and dad was diagnosed OSA as well - and that it could have really made a difference in my school performance, mental state and temperament to have gotten proper sleep as a child.

Pap therapy is probably the closest thing to a medical miracle I’ve ever experienced. I think evaluation for OSA/CSA should be part of the standard questions doctors ask at every visit.

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ger365
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Re: Newbie would like to hear success stories, please.

Post by ger365 » Tue Apr 21, 2020 1:32 pm

I think because of THIS group and the only true living God's grace I'm still alive !!!
My primary quack planned on giving me a "brick" I think....going to order w/o asking me anything.
Wellll, Ya'll helped me figure out what I needed...I demanded it and received it.
BUT, THEY SET ME UP 4/20, THEY TOLD ME WORKS FOR EVERYONE...WHAT THE....
Went to the quack told them I needed the lower pressure raised...my doc wasn't there that day her asst. told me that was ok, she understood it would raise... :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:
Thank GOD I got the clinical set-up else at another group
Sooo I have been doing great for over 3 years!
Thank all of you who helped me I a time of great need!!!
Thanks to ya'll I got to see my grandkids AND some of my great-grand kids!!! Shalom ya,ll

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First World Problems
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Re: Newbie would like to hear success stories, please.

Post by First World Problems » Sun Apr 26, 2020 10:53 am

Count me as an APAP success (although there have been bumps along the way). Here's my story.

I've been constantly exhausted for years but avoided repeated recommendations/referrals from friends and medical providers to get tested for sleep apnea. I had absolutely no interest in wearing a contraption on my face while I slept (yes, that will be a theme). Everyone is tired in the morning, right? That's why people drink coffee.

Due to an unrelated(?) medical condition last October, I found myself in a neurologist's office (he's also a sleep specialist). He wasn't too concerned about my other condition, but he wanted to talk about the multiple referrals from my PCP about sleep apnea. I didn't see the point in a sleep study -- I had absolutely no interest in wearing a contraption on my face while I slept. However, my wife had a different perspective. Needless to say, I found myself going in for a split-night polysomnography study shortly thereafter.

The test result: Severe sleep apnea. The doctor recommended CPAP (of course), but I pushed back because I had absolutely no interest in wearing a contraption on my face while I slept. Surely there were alternative treatments -- and my sleep apnea wasn't really affecting me. After discussing and eliminating alternatives, the doctor provided me a CPAP prescription and referral to a DME provider. I really didn't intend to contact the DME because...(you know by now).

The realization: I was back at my primary care physician a week or so later and he mentioned he received a copy of my sleep study. The sleep doctor hadn't provided me a copy (not happy about that), so my PCP printed one out for me. I was shocked. AHI = 66 (63 obstructive). Average cessation of breathing 27 seconds. Quick math says I wasn't breathing 47% of the night. Blood oxygen levels as low at 51%. This scared the crap out of me (why oh why didn't the sleep doctor share some of this?). I contacted the DME provider to fill my CPAP prescription the same day.

Treatment results: Overall fabulous.
  • I wake up in the morning without an alarm clock feeling refreshed
  • My nightly "sleep" time reduced from 8+ hours to 6-7 hours
  • I don't fall asleep at work, during movies, or get tired while driving
  • My concentration levels are noticeably better
  • I haven't woken up choking, completely unable to breathe, with my throat closed for another 15-30 seconds like someone literally had their hands on my throat.
  • I no longer have a reoccurring dream (30 years) of dying in my sleep
  • And my favorite...No trips to the bathroom during the night (vs 3-5 trips prior to CPAP)

I can't say everything has been perfect:
  • I'm not happy with my sleep doctor
  • I'm not happy with my DME provider
  • It took a couple of weeks for me to tune-in and adjust to the treatment
  • Treatment effectiveness has slipped slightly in the last 4-6 weeks, but I suspect that will be corrected with some fine tuning
  • I still don't like wearing a contraption on my face while I sleep

On the whole, the positives far outweigh the negatives. I can't imagine a scenario where I'd go without treatment for sleep apnea. APAP changed my life.

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moo2425
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Re: Newbie would like to hear success stories, please.

Post by moo2425 » Wed May 06, 2020 5:40 pm

my life is transformed, i lost 100 pounds plus, i got off all my meds although i still struggle.

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anadybella
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Re: Newbie would like to hear success stories, please.

Post by anadybella » Tue Jun 02, 2020 11:56 pm

Just join this foruma a few days ago and glad to be a part of this forum.

DickyTicker
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Re: Newbie would like to hear success stories, please.

Post by DickyTicker » Sat Jun 13, 2020 10:31 pm

I was recently diagnosed with atrial fibrillation which means my heart beats irregularly and inefficiently. My cardiologist, after speaking with my wife thought that it was caused by sleep apnea and referred me to a sleep specialist. I took the overnight wired-up test which confirmed I had severe sleep apnea. The number 55 was mentioned which was how many times I was waking PER HOUR. I was shocked. No wonder I was always tired during the day.

I was prescribed a CPAP machine three days ago. My numbers have improved from 55 to 22, then 16 and last night it was 5. I’m so pleased. It hasn’t been easy getting used to the nasal mask and the hum of the machine but I’m hugely encouraged.

My heartbeat seems more regular now so my AFib, once treated, may not recur. I do hope so! :D

Littlethoughts
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Re: Newbie would like to hear success stories, please.

Post by Littlethoughts » Tue Jun 16, 2020 3:48 pm

New to forum and APAP therapy - Male, reasonable fitness, turned 44 end of May and started with therapy May 26. Was really looking forward to it as my sleep doctor said my events per hour were over 40 during sleep test including stopping breathing for up to 75 seconds. Had bad snoring, general fatigue and seems to have been getting worse over last 5 or 6 years.

Got a Resmed Airsense10 for Her and the Airsense 30 nose pillow mask. First two nights realized a lot of air leaking from mouth being open so I bought a cloth chin strap. Since then - been a dream. I’m sleeping consistently 7+ hours with maybe one wake up, AHI consistently under 1, usually 0.2 to 0.6. I’m noticeably more alert during day, rarely if at all nap, mood much improved, no more snoring and no more tossing and turning according to wife.

So, for anyone reading this who isn’t sure about whether to get treatment - please do it. I know I’m lucky I found a good mask fit right away but I can’t imagine going back to sleeping without this machine now. I’m hoping for more energy over time but I’d say I’m at least 20 to 30% more alert and energized already

Karen Avery
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Re: Newbie would like to hear success stories, please.

Post by Karen Avery » Fri Jun 26, 2020 8:51 am

Dx June 4, CPAP 6/16, 1st full night's sleep :D since 6/16 occurred last night on 6/25! Dx moderate (AHI 16), was under AHI 4 from 6/16-6/24, but had awful aerophagia. :roll: Had doctor turn on the EPR to a 3 (why was it even off?), and wore a fabric headband as a makeshift chin strap to stop the mask from burping (not hissing, but burping on the verge of farting!) air on my cheeks all night; I'm a side-sleeper). With the addition of the EPR and the headband/chinstrap, even though I went back up to AHI 7.5, I had my first night's sleep in 9 days.... sooooo worth it!

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bonum.noctem
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Re: Newbie would like to hear success stories, please.

Post by bonum.noctem » Sat Jul 18, 2020 4:26 am

Cured By Healthy Keto + Intermittent Fasting + Physical Exercise

Has it been 2 years already?

What can I say, I've kind of struggled with my ResMed AirCurve 10 CS-A PaceWave (ASV) + AirFit P10 / N30i + CPAP Hose Bracket for around 1.5 years. The equipment did its job, but sleep quality was just not OK as I somehow could never accustom myself to it, especially as I prefer to sleep on my belly.

I was slightly overweight (with a maximum of 98 kg ~ 216 lbs) and loved to eat and drink (but not as an alcoholic), and I am a nonsmoker since my youth. Exactly one year ago I decided to stop drinking alcohol and changed my diet altogether. After some regular fasting and low carb I ended up with healthy keto, intermittent fasting and physical exercise consisting of almost daily 1.5 hours hikes (whenever the weather plays along) and workout every other day. Since then I have lost 20 kg ~ 44 lbs, added some muscle mass and my sleep apnea went away. I'm off my equipment for around a month now, monitoring my nightly behavior with a snore app on my mobile phone, which typically shows something like this:
snorescore.jpg
Snore Score
snorescore.jpg (30.45 KiB) Viewed 267404 times
I am going to stick to my routine and my whole family is more or less with it, especially with the knowledge of how carbs are responsible for pretty much everything bad that can happen to your body. We have learned a lot about proper nutrition, even the kids, and with that kind of support it's really easy to maintain that lifestyle.

So that's it for me, mission accomplished and good luck to you too!
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