Intro from Gumby

Hey Gumby,

Congratulations on the anniversay! Keep it up

Mindy

Well it does sound appropriate you visit your first support group (real world one that is) on your anniversary. I hope you don't give them too much flack.

I also hope you get that bipap soon. I know you have been getting the runaround by the sleep docs, but then I think that many are too asleep and have their own "apnea fog" to know what people really need.

Let's hope for many more anniversaries. Congratulations.

Gumby celebrates another year on the hose.

Thinking about what milestones for my 2nd year, listed in no special order.

Received my Bipap - going from a Remstar Plus tank to M auto then M bipap.

Received an Aeiomed Headrest from a forum member. It didn't work for him but has become my Favorite. Just wish my DME would recognize AND accept that this mask was prescribed by my sleep doctor. This year was marred by battles with my DME who claimed the Headrest is the same as the NA II and kept sending my nasal seals for a mask I wasn't using. They claim that Aeiomed is not an approved vendor and had to get corporate to approve it. That's like the pharmacist saying I don't have Bayer aspirin so you have to use Tylenol cuz they do the same thing.

Since using the Headrest my leak rate has declined and therapy has stabilized to avg. AHI less 1 with quite s few 0.0AHI nites.

Nov. 8, 2009 I completed my 4th PSG which confirms the pressures I found on my own as being effective for me and that I was NOT mouth breathing.

While I do feel less sleepy I have found that I am now allergic to dust. Not sure if it's bc of CPAP or that I quit cigarettes in Dec. 2007. I now take 1 Claritin before bed which helps with the runny nose in the morning but it does nothing for the wave of tiredness I can feel come over me which I suspect is due to the dust allergy.

In the middle of some upgrade thing now, so I may have more later.

Congrats & Happy Anniversary, Gumby! And hooray for cpaptalk.com, such a great resource for us all!

Gumby,

Sorry to hear about the allergies - we never do seem to manage being completely free of medical "stuff".

Thanks for sharing your news and status. It sounds like you've got your CPAP therapy in great shape - congratulations!!! Now go for another year

Take care,
Mindy

Hiya Gumby!

It has been a while since we spoke. I'm so glad your therapy is going to well for you. I was doing really well (AHI under 5) or so I thought until I saw your AHI rate!

Congratulations to you and I also have had a year of CPAP under my belt.

Maybe I'll jump into chat sometime soon when you are there. (NO I have not been shopping in Houston, LOL).

Deglorious

GumbyCT wrote: I now take 1 Claritin before bed which helps with the runny nose in the morning but it does nothing for the wave of tiredness I can feel come over me which I suspect is due to the dust allergy.

I guess we're all different, but are you sure Claritin is the right thing to take before bed? Even the 12 hour variety and I'd be up all night. I take Claritin if needed in the morning and Benadryl if I'm having allergy problems at night...

GumbyCT wrote:Must be my work here is not yet done...
GumbyCT

A few years ago, when I was deep in depression and
unknown to me at the time, OSA.....I was involved in
Cognitive Behavior Therapy, for the depression.
Long story short, in CBT, you attempt to replace old,
destructive thoughts and habits w/new, constructive
thoughts and habits. To support yourself, you choose
images or figures that you can call on when you are alone
and need that support. My support figure was Gumby....
but not the green, Gumby, but the black, militant Gumby,
played by Eddie Murphy on SNL. I call on that Gumby today.

When I was diagonsed w/OSA and started cpap, thankfully I
found cpaptalk.com. When I got my first machine, an Mseries Plus,
I got the software and thought I had it pretty much under control.
.....well, after many wonderful folks tried to help me get real data
from a machine that doesn't produce real data, I was frustrated
.....because I was sure I had a Pro model.

As I was requesting help from the forum, Mr. GumbyCT,
made a post that in no uncertain terms, suggested that I take a
close look at what model I really had, just to be sure what we were working with.
....WELL, I was pissed....how dare he suggest I didn't know what I was talking about.

When I went into my room and looked, long and hard at the
top of the system and actually looked...and saw PLUS....
it was the 2X4 upside my head.
For many minutes I just stared at that machine and it all
just washed over me.
I realized for the first time how serious this OSA is.
I realized how fried my brain was.
I realized that the fatigue of the past years OSA fatigue.
I realized that the depression was OSA depression.

......and I realized that this machine was to be my salvation.

Congratulations Mr. GumbyCT on your anniversary.
Yes, your work was not done here.

How could I have known that years before I knew anything about OSA or cpap,
I would choose a support figure, that would actually come to life and
point me in the direction of a new life. All things are connected.

Thanks! I will never forget.

Wow, has it already been that long, Gumby?

I read back in the thread. I found that I had said I hoped to see a lot more of you...but I didn't know how much I really would see of you. You certainly have come through your year with great success, and I hope that you will have many more years that are equally successful.

It is always good to find that there are so many "newbies" who come in for help, and grow to the point of helping others. It really makes it worth being around for all of those "what is the best (mask, machine, rainout solution, etc.) Thanks for taking up the cause so well!

I hope that we will see much more of you, Gumby, by gum. Bibi for now.

Karen,
Who hopes to see you on chat some ni-ni soon

My thanks to all who replied.

Carbonman - you brought a tear to my eye. You are a very effective communicator and thanks for refreshing my memory.

Fogheaded newbies may often be discouraged, esp. if/when they find they've made a mistake. It is a delicate balancing act, trying to get "accurate" information when trying to help them. Some want to give you a noun and 3 verbs and expect an accurate diagnosis.

You were not discouraged, just came back to acknowledge what the problem was so we all knew why you were not getting the expected results. I think many folks deny making mistakes and some never return to acknowledge feeling ashamed or intimidated. When that happens we (I) never know if they were helped or not.

I know I make many mistakes each day and stand by my words then and now -
The ONLY people who never make mistakes are those who never do anything.

GumbyCT - who thinks mistakes are part of the learning process

Coming up on my 3rd Anniversary on CPAP err well BiPap now. Let me see if I can remember some of this years milestones.

I escaped going thru another PSG this year. That's remarkable itself. My therapy seems to be pretty stable with an AHI <1 including FL's from most sessions.

I discovered I can or have had up to 5 sessions with my M BiPap using Encore 1.8.48. For a time I thought there was a 3 session limit per day. Now I am thinking that problem was likely fixed with the M series firmware and created the Missing Data problems. But that's all for another thread.

I hacked (customized) my Headrest by removing the rubber parts (all of it) this year and also found a Brinks Timer for my repti-heated hose. Both are working well but are also for another thread.

My allergy to dust continues but I take the Claritin in the morning again so I can have better results when I am breathing more dust.

I can't think of anything else remarkable except that I have remained nicotine free since 2007Dec03.

Oh I wish NBC would give me something to stay off the TV.

I think the idea of resurrecting your newbie post every anniversary is GREAT. Here's a toast to many more! Happy Anniversary, GumbyCT.

Happy 3rd Anniversary, Gumby! Thanks for being so patient with this newbie. I appreciate your help!

Hi Gumby,

Happy 3rd anniversary! Congratulations on your big milestone

Mindy

Happy Anniversary! And thank you, I've learned alot from your posts.