Newbie here—Just diagnosed and CPAP coming in 5 days

BigMoose13 · Post by **BigMoose13** » Thu Jul 05, 2018 11:18 pm

Hey All. I’ve been lurking in the forum for a few weeks and found the info beyond helpful. My background:
-ridiculously healthy 40s guy, body builder.
- was in an accident Xmas eve 2016 which left me with a shattered leg and required I sleep on my back for 6+ months
- am pretty much fully recovered and back to the gym
- while I suspected apnea for awhile before accident sleeping on my back made things a lot worse
- consitantly waking up choking and gasping and horrible recurrent dreams of suffocation
- tested recently in clinic with severa apnea, 70 apnea sessions within and hour and blood oxygen dipping to high 60s
- was told I never get beyond stage 2 sleep on my own
- now I’m super conscious of it (even tho I can side sleep which helps) but am waking up all night gasping
- not sure if it’s gotten worse or am just aware now
- can sleep for 12 hours and wake up exhausted, my quality of life is in the crapper
- family and friends are growing weary of hearing me whine so decided to come here.

I know I probably shouldn’t have expectations that I’ll wake up first day after machine and feel completely cured, yet I’m looking forward to results. They fit me with a machine and nose mask for latter half of clinic test and I felt remarkable next day. Still tired, but a different kind of tired. Like I could almost function again. So I’m hopeful I’ll have the immediate effects but also want realistic expectations.

I’ve been tired for a decade. The past 2 years it’s been worse. I genuinely have phases where I feel like I’m dying, like there’s something significantly wrong with me. My lust for life has vanished. I can work out for a day or two at best but then need to sleep 14-16 hours the following days. Never do I wake up feeling rested and ready to go.

I’m heartened by the succcess stories yet temper my enthusiasm. Are there any other athletes on this site who recall what it was like when they began therapy and their timeline to feeling like their life was their own again? I’m to the point now where there is light at the end of the tunnel (I hope) but I have major anxiety about going to sleep— waking up choking multiple times per night is frightening.

Any thoughts? Thank you again for being here!

HoseCrusher · Post by **HoseCrusher** » Sun Jul 08, 2018 1:50 pm

Whine away and do so with enthusiasm...

I view sleep apnea as a symptom of other stresses imposed upon the body. You can roughly put stresses in three bins, Emotional, Physical, and Chemical. The idea is that if you can reduce the stress you end up with a reduction of symptoms.

I think the body's natural state is one of health and any expectations you have of being totally healthy are excellent goals to strive for.

Let me ask you a question... How are you addressing the stresses in your life and are you doing anything that can hinder your progress to health?

ChicagoGranny · Post by **ChicagoGranny** » Sun Jul 08, 2018 2:14 pm

BigMoose13 wrote: ↑
Thu Jul 05, 2018 11:18 pm
Any thoughts? Thank you again for being here!

Please fill out your equipment profile - https://www.cpaptalk.com/ucp.php?i=prof ... pment_info

Then, post again in this thread telling us what your machine settings are.

In your post, you make no mention of the efficacy of your CPAP therapy. The first step is for us to help you figure out how well your CPAP therapy is working.

ChicagoGranny · Post by **ChicagoGranny** » Sun Jul 08, 2018 2:16 pm

HoseCrusher wrote: ↑
Sun Jul 08, 2018 1:50 pm
I view sleep apnea as a symptom of other stresses imposed upon the body.

HoseCrusher is a moron that has lost his little brain. It would be a good idea to ignore him.

HoseCrusher · Post by **HoseCrusher** » Sun Jul 08, 2018 2:48 pm

ChicagoGranny is stuck on focusing on symptoms and is unable to expand her focus to the root cause. It would lead to better and more restful sleep if you ignored her...

Muse-Inc · Post by **Muse-Inc** » Sun Jul 08, 2018 9:49 pm

Welcome to the forum, great peer to peer mentoring here! Tell us what machine they ordered so we can ensure you are getting a machine that stores data (helps to tweak for optimal settings). Mask?

I am not an athlete but it took me 18 months of xPAP therapy to be able to exercise and get off hypertension meds (life-long low BP, was a shock to find out it was 210/115 when I was diagnosed with sleep apnea, I too thought I was horribly ill/near death at that time). My first 4 nights were difficult, then I slept 9 hours of solid, uninterrupted, restful sleep for the next few weeks, then settled at 8 hrs/night. I saw immediate improvements in some areas and slow, steady, consistent improvements for the next 2 years. I am also categorized as severe and guess I had OSA for a decade before diagnosis. For me, it was a slow upwards set of improvements. My yearly average AHI has been 0.1 since 2008 and I have not gone to sleep without my equipment since August 20, 2007 when I picked up my equipment.

I suspect you are in better health than I was so your improvements might come faster than mine -- at least I hope so

palerider · Post by **palerider** » Sun Jul 08, 2018 10:55 pm

HoseCrusher wrote: ↑
Sun Jul 08, 2018 2:48 pm
ChicagoGranny is stuck on focusing on symptoms and is unable to expand her focus to the root cause. It would lead to better and more restful sleep if you ignored her...

Reality vs crackpot theory.

The "root cause" is "too narrow an airway", there, are we good?

Lucyhere · Post by **Lucyhere** » Sun Jul 08, 2018 11:28 pm

HoseCrusher wrote: ↑
Sun Jul 08, 2018 1:50 pm
Let me ask you a question... How are you addressing the stresses in your life and are you doing anything that can hinder your progress to health?

I think that's a legitimate question... but, yeah... too narrow an airway is my thinking also.

Selenium1% · Post by **Selenium1%** » Mon Jul 09, 2018 5:34 am

ChicagoGranny wrote: ↑
Sun Jul 08, 2018 2:16 pm

HoseCrusher wrote: ↑
Sun Jul 08, 2018 1:50 pm
I view sleep apnea as a symptom of other stresses imposed upon the body.
HoseCrusher is a moron that has lost his little brain. It would be a good idea to ignore him.

Chicago Granny uses the magic words that qualify her as a member of the forum bully club.

Arlene1963 · Post by **Arlene1963** » Mon Jul 09, 2018 5:48 am

BigMoose13 wrote: ↑
Thu Jul 05, 2018 11:18 pm
Hey All. I’ve been lurking in the forum for a few weeks and found the info beyond helpful. My background:
-ridiculously healthy 40s guy, body builder.
- was in an accident Xmas eve 2016 which left me with a shattered leg and required I sleep on my back for 6+ months
- am pretty much fully recovered and back to the gym
- while I suspected apnea for awhile before accident sleeping on my back made things a lot worse
- consitantly waking up choking and gasping and horrible recurrent dreams of suffocation
- tested recently in clinic with severa apnea, 70 apnea sessions within and hour and blood oxygen dipping to high 60s
- was told I never get beyond stage 2 sleep on my own
- now I’m super conscious of it (even tho I can side sleep which helps) but am waking up all night gasping
- not sure if it’s gotten worse or am just aware now
- can sleep for 12 hours and wake up exhausted, my quality of life is in the crapper
- family and friends are growing weary of hearing me whine so decided to come here.

I know I probably shouldn’t have expectations that I’ll wake up first day after machine and feel completely cured, yet I’m looking forward to results. They fit me with a machine and nose mask for latter half of clinic test and I felt remarkable next day. Still tired, but a different kind of tired. Like I could almost function again. So I’m hopeful I’ll have the immediate effects but also want realistic expectations.

I’ve been tired for a decade. The past 2 years it’s been worse. I genuinely have phases where I feel like I’m dying, like there’s something significantly wrong with me. My lust for life has vanished. I can work out for a day or two at best but then need to sleep 14-16 hours the following days. Never do I wake up feeling rested and ready to go.

I’m heartened by the succcess stories yet temper my enthusiasm. Are there any other athletes on this site who recall what it was like when they began therapy and their timeline to feeling like their life was their own again? I’m to the point now where there is light at the end of the tunnel (I hope) but I have major anxiety about going to sleep— waking up choking multiple times per night is frightening.

Any thoughts? Thank you again for being here!

Hi BigMoose and welcome to the forum!

It must have been quite a shock to be told that you have 70 events per hour and so I am not at all surprised that you are anxious and worried about sleeping after that news. Also, untreated sleep apnea increases anxiety levels. When I was first diagnosed I felt exactly the same as you do now waiting for my machine so that I could start treatment ASAP.

In a short amount of time you'll be starting CPAP and once you do, I'm hoping you'll feel much more in control and that will help alleviate your current anxiety levels.

Now, as for time frames and improvements, as you've read on the forum it varies greatly. I'm not an athlete but am quite active, swimming, running, walking daily, and CPAP has made a huge difference to my energy levels, also endurance. It only took about a month of CPAP every night and my resting heart rate was markedly lower compared with being untreated.

Main thing is that you are diagnosed now and can be treated effectively with XPAP. Once you have data post here and we will help!

Wishing you all the best.

Barbee · Post by **Barbee** » Mon Jul 09, 2018 7:43 am

Hi BigMoose and welcome

Im no athlete, but I can relate to exhaustion. It stinks to wake up after sleeping all night and feeling exactly as tired as when you went to bed. One advantage you have, being an athlete, is that you already know you have to train to reach your goal.
So think of your cpap therapy as training to reach your goal of feeling normal again. It may take a few weeks or a few months. You may need to tweak your training program to reach your goal. The people here can help you with this, so make sure to ask for help when you need it.

Im around 6 months into cpap and feel much better. I noticed a marked improvement after about 3 weeks. Not normal, but much better. And now, at 6 months in, its even better. Still not my old normal self, but I have other medical issues that take time to resolve and I think thats most of my problem now rather than sleep apnea.

My family was not supportive at all and thought my naps were just a habit I could break if only I would just stay up during the day. They could not and would not understand that I could sleep for a full 8 hours and turn around 3 hours later and nap for 2 hours. Then take another 2 hour nap in the afternoon. And STILL be tired. They have seen the light now and believe in cpap therapy

So you hang in there and train. You will feel better soon, too.

chunkyfrog · Post by **chunkyfrog** » Mon Jul 09, 2018 9:46 am

Great advice, Barbee!
Training is essential to reach any goal.
Injury requires rehabilitation--waiting will not cut it.
Many consider OSA to be due to a physical defect, like a missing limb.
We can work around it, wait for a not yet perfected surgical solution,
or ignore it and slowly perish.
Training is hard, but here are coaches--some great, some good, some--no comment.

BigMoose13 · Post by **BigMoose13** » Sun Aug 05, 2018 12:39 pm

Thank you All for your replies. I put my machine in my signature. My doc has me on variable pressure 8-12. And my apologies for being so late in replying.

I’ve been on machine consistently since July 11–so roughly 3 weeks. I don’t feel any better, ironically. I’m keepong a journal and noting what’s changing (I don’t snort when I sleep, I don’t have night sweats and morning headaches have dissipated). I also don’t have that anxiety/heart racing sensation any longer. Huge plus. At the same time, my fatigue is about the same. According to the daily data downloaded on line, I have few events at night (0.4 or fewer) and my mask seal records as good.

I do know I’m struggling with the mask still (it’s too tight, leaves now permanent indentations on my face and the inside of my nose is so sore I can’t even blow it without pain). I’m going in tomorrow to try new masks.

I’ve read all the forums on this site and others about “when we feel better” and was hoping I’d be one of those miracle success stories. I’m not. I’m still averaging 10-14 hours of sleep per day with the same level of fatigue—following up w my doc at end of month.

I do know struggling with the mask is keeping me from sleeping deeply. I’m trying to train myself to sleep more on my back, and I’ve discovered some tricks to help keep the strap tightness off my face (using wash cloths between the straps and my face). But, the downside is in addition to tubing and air flow sensation, I have a chin strap, wash cloths, straps and an eye mask. I feel like a mummy lol. It’s a lot of sensations to deal with at once and I do wake up because of all the stimuli.

Maybe I just need to get my mask situataed and things will improve. I’m willing to keep trying but am frustrated—reading that it’s taken some folks as long as 3+ months to begin to feel the fatigue wane is encouraging. I really want to get to that phase!

Again, thank you for responding and welcoming me to the group!

Pugsy · Post by **Pugsy** » Sun Aug 05, 2018 12:58 pm

Do you take any medications of any kind and if so what?

How many times do you think you might be waking up during the night or are you sleeping soundly for the most part?

ChicagoGranny · Post by **ChicagoGranny** » Sun Aug 05, 2018 1:23 pm

BigMoose13 wrote: ↑
Sun Aug 05, 2018 12:39 pm
(I don’t snort when I sleep, I don’t have night sweats and morning headaches have dissipated). I also don’t have that anxiety/heart racing sensation any longer. Huge plus.

Congratulations on that part!

BigMoose13 wrote: ↑
Sun Aug 05, 2018 12:39 pm
I do know I’m struggling with the mask still (it’s too tight, leaves now permanent indentations on my face and the inside of my nose is so sore I can’t even blow it without pain).

Your mask is designed so that it should not be adjusted tightly. Have you watched any videos on fitting and adjusting your mask? - https://www.youtube.com/results?search_ ... sal+Pillow

Also, pay attention to hose management. When you get in bed, there should be some slack in the hose. Check that when you roll to another position, there will still be slack in the hose.

Newbie here—Just diagnosed and CPAP coming in 5 days

Newbie here—Just diagnosed and CPAP coming in 5 days

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