Is this how cpap therapy feels??

I'm high....yes, I'm high,
but I'm not high on false drugs....no.....
I'm high on the real thing.

A clean windshield.
A full tank of gas...and
a shoe shine.

I'm high on 12cm/h2o.
Finally after 6wks at 11.5 and testing masks and
seals and pillows and caps and straps.....
I kicked the pressure.

YIKES......do I feel good.
AHI at 1.0......no change there.
Last weeks average was 1.6.
Leak rate down after the teflon tape deal.

I felt it as soon as I rolled out of bed....
even as I was reaching for the beacons of blue light
to shut'er down......I felt it.
(I love those beacons of blue light)
Not sure how .5cm could do that but
it was the only change last night.

I'm ON today. I have been flying around at work....
accomplishing stuff.....being productive.....remembering stuff....
.....having fun.......cognatating as I have not cognatated in years.

Is this how cpap therapy feels?????

If it is, I LIKE it.

you go carbonman.... you ... you .... cognator

0.5 cm can make ALL the difference in the world!!!! That and the right mask, as you know

.

[quote="mth712"]Carbonman - you are so eloquent! quote]

My personnal insight:

Carbonman; you really havemare than the fiber of eloquence !
Your writing is fluent, forcible, elegant and persuasive .
You primarily give it the power of expressing strong emotions in a striking and appropriate language, thereby producing conviction( and often persuasion!)
Did you know that the concept of eloquence dates back to the ancient Greeks? (Calliope, one of the nine daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne was the Muse of epic poetry and eloquence)

Thus, thank-you for sharing your ability to project words fluidly and in employing an extremely graceful style.
I raise my glass to you!
D.

Just last night, on the way home from work, it suddenly struck me that I was feeling bone-weary. Then it struck me that it had JUST struck me. Holy schmoley!! I had been awake for 11 hours WITHOUT feeling bone-weary. For me, that is nothing short of miraculous. And all because of some air. Who wouldda thought it?

I've been on the hose for ten weeks and three days (but who's counting? ), and it has NOT been an easy ride for me. But thanks to many of you, I had read enough to know to not expect one; just to be grateful if anything happened easily or quickly. Also, to help complicate matters, I tend to be a chickenheart. In fact, I often call myself Much Afraid (Hannah Hurnard's main character in Hinds' Feet In High Places, if any of you have read it.) So even though my titrated pressure of 9 cm h20 clearly wasn't getting the job done (AHI all over the place; anywhere from 2.7 to 18), I went for six weeks of making no changes because I was worried that if I did, my insurance company would refuse to continue paying for my rent-to-own machine when it found out I wasn't following my Rx. Then the brilliant thought occurred to me that what the insurance company decided to do wouldn't matter one whit if my already ravaged system just gave up and quit because I still wasn't getting restorative sleep. ("Oh....... Yeah." )

Heeding the wise counsel offered here, I bumped my pressure up by only 1 cm per step, carefully watched my daily numbers and stayed at the newly stepped-up pressure for 4-7 days before doing it again. That process began exactly a month ago. Had some leak rate trouble as my pressure rose, but I figured out what was going on, fixed it, and my rate's now usually a little under the acceptable rate. Since hitting 12 cm h20, my AHI has consistently been under 1.0, usually is 0.3, and I even had two 0.0 nights in a row. As you said, Carbonman, what a difference the right pressure makes. My awareness of the difference didn't hit so quickly or noticeably as yours, but I'll take it.

Earlier this week, a paper cut I'd gotten started to heal by the next day. A seemingly simple thing, but an incredible one. You see, for the last couple of years, I couldn't figure out why any kind of cut, wound, etc., seemed to take forever to heal. I take vitamins and supplements every day, I'm not diabetic -- in fact, my blood sugar usually is a little below normal -- and it really had me stumped. After hanging out here for a while (reading, then reading more, then rereading, etc.), it finally clicked that we are not talking about trying to regain a quality of life we'd lost to sleepyness or weariness; we're talking about our systems shutting down permanently if we don't do something about it. Talk about being snatched from the edge -- if something as simple as a cut, which I can see, isn't healing, what's been going wrong inside, where I can't see? And isn't it wonderful that the quality of life also comes along for the ride as our systems begin to recover?

Yet another wonderful offering, Carbonman. You have the soul of a poet and have been gifted with an uncommon way with words. Thank you so much for sharing them with us regularly.

By the way... I loved your idea of naming your mask from the first minute I read it, but somehow the idea of going to bed with Grace just didn't work for me. I finally came up with the right name... "C'mon over here, Baby."

(Still want the book. The free, expert proofing/editing offer is still available, with no expiration date. )

Marsha

Being a firm believer in yen/yang, I started this thread
as the yang to the Does Sleep Apnea Feel Like This? thread.
When I started cpap, especially after my first two nights, I was desperate
to know that "it" worked. My first 2-3 nights were terrible.
In those first few days, faith and hope may be all there is for a reason to continue....
you just got'a believe.

Infact, I was kind of annoyed by the Does Sleep Apnea Feel Like This?
thread, because I thought it was so negative. .....BUT, as all things have their
purpose, it has served to remind me of all those things, in my life, that are
fading into my past. It is my reflection of where I'm going.....better health.

...and yes, I'm high again today.
I'm bouncing off the walls......and it feels REALLY good!

I think what is happening is what Snoredog and Wulfman and probably others
have said about having auto set. As the pressure changes to chase down the
bad guys, it disturbs your sleep. I think that is what is happening to me.
With the pressure very close to controlling anything that comes up, the
change is not as drastic and I don't wake up.


....and thanks everyone for your kind thoughts.
I can only write what I feel.

carbonman wrote:As the pressure changes to chase down the
bad guys, it disturbs your sleep. I think that is what is happening to me.
With the pressure very close to controlling anything that comes up, the
change is not as drastic and I don't wake up.

Congratulations on your success!
Makes a lot of difference doesn't it?

carbonman wrote:I'm high....yes, I'm high,
but I'm not high on false drugs....no.....
I'm high on the real thing.

That would be.....a "Rocky Mountain High"?

Den

I love reading your posts, carbonman!

Hmm, what can I go tweak now that I am inspired by the thought that I could feel that good daily...