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plr66 wrote:... I simply couldn't wait to get that mask on my face when I learned what was causing my Alzheimers-drunken-addle-brained--cranky---body-dying symptoms!! Seriously. I framed the cpap therapy as my life-saver and a blessing. I just never let myself go to the negative places which relatively speaking were so superficial when compared to death....which I believed I was headed for. No drama here. It was just my perspective, and it made cpap a wonderful event. Like carbonman, I find the sound of the cpap and the feel of the air in my mask to be an incredible comfort--and I truly look forward to putting it on every night.

What SHE said! Oh sure, I spent a few weeks in the very beginning sitting up at night thinking of ways I might 'get out of this'. But from Day 1...I have been 100% compliant. Like plr66...I couldn't stand being "addle-brained". HATE that! So! This may sound crazy...and I don't care...but I slap that mask on my my face...and when I feel that air coming at me...I take a big deep breath...and visualize it is God's very breath of life pouring into me...and I get to live!

One of my first nights on CPAP, my husband looked over and said, "Hey, it's Seven of Nine in the regeneration chamber!" Everything was better after that.

pmcall57 wrote:It's just keeping stuff in perspective. This is really small potatoes in the grand scheme of things.

Yes Pam, we are all very fortunate to have a condition for which there IS effective therapy!

It is good to keep things in perspective. I try to live by the saying, "Don't sweat the small stuff -- and it's all small stuff!" In the big scheme of life, most "problems" are trivial, and so often transitory.

~ DreamOn

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pmcall57 wrote:Who wouldn't want to look like Seven of Nine?

DAMN SKIPPY!

Some history:

• In July 2008, my wife's appendix burst in July while 19 weeks pregnant. The scariest week of my life.
• In September 2008, my wife unexpectedly gave birth while 27 weeks pregnant. Made the diagnosis seem like -- what diagnosis?
• A week later my baby boy died in my arms.
• A month later, a beloved pet died.

In February 2009, I was in the midst of turmoil after multiple episodes of waking up, heart racing... absolutely sure I was going to die. Panic attacks every day. Fear gripping my mind. Stress hormones rendering me unable to control my thoughts. While I knew almost certainly I had apnea, the diagnosis of severe in that state of mind was a huge shocker. I was devastated and in tears... then, I got my machine.

After the first night, I felt alive again and knew this would be good. Oh, there were setbacks all right, but I persevered due to the incredible people on this board. I can't imagine -- and don't want to -- what the stresses of 2008 would have done to me had I been untreated for apnea. I sincerely think I would have had a heart attack or stroke. So, considering all that happened, I'm glad to have my mask as my friend. It keeps me healthy and alive.

secret agent girl wrote: Show of hands, please--Who flashed on at least one nightmare image of the Borg after being told you needed cpap treatment? Who resented the thought of being tied down by a machine, and spending time fussing over its accoutrements? Who wanted to stand on a mountaintop and yell "I am not my diagnosis; I am a human being!"

Not me. When I got my diagnosis, I was absolutely thrilled. It meant there was something that could treat all the problems I was having over recent years.

Nope. My sleep doc read my questionnaire, looked at my throat, asked me some questions, and told me he thought I had sleep apnea. I asked him what "Okay, so what do you do for sleep apnea?" and he had a very small CPAP machine sitting on a corner of his desk (I remember it as a PB 420 but I know he usually recommends Resmed machines so it was more likely one of those, but certainly something small enough that he could pick it up easily in one hand) and picked it up and said "You use one of these, you sleep with a mask hooked up to it like when you're on oxygen in a hospital" and I was like "it's that easy?"

(After my sleep study we did discuss other non-CPAP options though.)

rooster wrote:

secret agent girl wrote: Show of hands, please--Who flashed on at least one nightmare image of the Borg after being told you needed cpap treatment? Who resented the thought of being tied down by a machine, and spending time fussing over its accoutrements? Who wanted to stand on a mountaintop and yell "I am not my diagnosis; I am a human being!"

Not me. When I got my diagnosis, I was absolutely thrilled. It meant there was something that could treat all the problems I was having over recent years.

When I was in high school and college, I read craploads of self-help, self-improvement, and pop-psych books. I even took a couple of Scientology courses before running screaming. And now on TV there are all the late night infomercials promising to fix your life.

But, as I said in another thread and have been telling friends for years: If you have sleep apnea, CPAP actually delivers on magically changing your life overnight. Like, almost literally, if you can stand to keep the thing on all night for the first night.

The one advantage I think I had over other friends who started on CPAP is that I'm a gadget nerd, and comparisons to the Borg were more of a fanboy moment for me than a point of resistance I just pretended I was an astronaut the first night, and I was set.

[quote="lmorchard"
The one advantage I think I had over other friends who started on CPAP is that I'm a gadget nerd, and comparisons to the Borg were more of a fanboy moment for me than a point of resistance I just pretended I was an astronaut the first night, and I was set.[/quote]

Me too - gadget person - Darth Vader - yay lets take over the universe!! "Luke I am your mother!! Go clean your room now! "," You didn't read your documentation !!"(squeezes throat of offending user)

I don't think any amount of working out at age 60 will turn me into to Seven of Nine again.

lmorchard wrote:I just pretended I was an astronaut the first night, and I was set.

I used to fly airplanes (as a hobby) when I was in my 20s (which was a while ago -- ha ha). On the first night of CPAP use, when I wore my nasal mask, I pretended I was a fighter pilot. It made it seem a little more exciting, and made me feel less ridiculous when I looked in the mirror. Other nights, when I wear my nasal pillows mask, I'm a diver.

BlackSpinner wrote:I don't think any amount of working out at age 60 will turn me into to Seven of Nine again.

Yes, I hear ya on that! We may lose the shape and smooth skin of our younger days, but we gain wisdom and life experience!

~ DreamOn

I love these stories.

Mine is really simple, and I got it (in my very first few days here) from BlackSpinner. The machine is my "security blanket." With it, I am guaranteed a secure, safe, night of restful, rejuvenating sleep and oxygen. I don't resist it, I welcome it.

Did you ever know that you're my blower
That you help me breathe when time to sleep comes
I can fly higher than an eagle
But you are the wind within my lungs



(All apologies to Henley/Silbar)

DreamOn wrote:...made me feel less ridiculous when I looked in the mirror...

You look at yourself masked up I haven't the guts!

Muse-Inc wrote:

DreamOn wrote:...made me feel less ridiculous when I looked in the mirror...

You look at yourself masked up I haven't the guts!

That's funny, 'cause it is my gut that keeps me from looking in the mirror unless I'm wearing a mask.

I only started a couple of months ago, but I have found that I actually like the sensation of fresh air coming at me all night. I take pleasure in the little rituals of filling up the humidifier chamber, starting up the warmer, assembling the mask every night. I'm a gadget-geek and the APAP machine is like a fun new gadget for me... especially when you find the hidden clinical menu and get the software and card reader.

There was also the aha moment of realizing that my high blood pressure and low testosterone levels were very likely caused by sleep apnea... I felt like I was falling apart at a young age (currently 39, but diagnosed with high BP at 35), so the sleep apnea diagnosis put it all together for me and made more sense. I take comfort in knowing that I'm helping my long-term health and probably treating several chronic conditions at once. I also take comfort in realizing that I have helped my partner sleep better since I've stopped snoring.