New to this Forum

[LowOnJuice]

Howdy, I've been posting at the Sleep Apnea Support Forum for a few months now, and I found you guys while in my endless search for more Sleep Apnea information. I was diagnosed in September of 09', and I got my machine in October of the same year. I'm 22 and it's amazing how much a CPAP improves your quality of life, how it changes your disposition and overall mood about things, it's just an unbelievable machine.

Despite all of this, I can't seem to make people understand how serious this was in my life, and how much it actually changed me and the way I live. How do you get the people around you and in your life to understand?

[Emilia]

I know it can be frustrating, but, really, why do they need to understand something about which they have no knowledge? I have no idea what it is like to be a diabetic, and if my diabetic friends tell me what it is like, I still can't empathize since I don't have it! I can offer support, but I'll never know what it is like. It is your OSA, and even that is different than mine or others who have it. It manifests differently in all of us to degrees. So, while I may have low-end moderate hypopnea syndrome, someone else may have severe OSA, but we both use the same equipment to treat it. I still have no idea what it is like to have severe OSA!

Ebrace your therapy for yourself and enjoy your new found energy and rest. Don't worry about others......

[nanwilson]

Hi
What Emilia said...and double ditto! Don't stress yourself out about what others think, simply enjoy your newfound energy and strength.
Cheers
Nan

[elena88]

The first person who saw my machine was my neighbor, I had not told her anything about it.

She peeked at it, and said" Oh, so this is the machine that keeps you alive?"

I was shocked she put it that way, but she had a young thin fella friend who had one for years, so she knew..


You can educatate the people around you, it is possible, but they have to WANT to be interested..


otherwise, its just something they dont want to hear about, and if they dont hear about it, maybe THEY wont get it..

( its that "not me" syndrome)