Do you wake up feeling refreshed?

I think I feel refreshed. I am happy in the morning.
. I used to have a morning headache, nearly every morning. Those are gone.
. I have multiple neck issues. That isn't as severe.

I look forward to going to bed now

Blackjackcat wrote: Looks like some users have felt great, right away, after the first use.

I call those "miracles". Some people are lucky enough to have them but I think most people just have to keep plugging along and taking what we get.

Wulfman is right, it takes baby steps and sometimes you gotta crawl before you even get those baby steps.

I know what you yearn for. About 2 months into therapy I had one of those miracles. In nearly 2 years I can count on one hand the number of "miracles". During those 2 months I was 100 % compliant and even had times where I felt worse than before CPAP. You just gotta keep at it to have any chance at all.

I only had small improvements. First to go was all the nighttime trips to pee. So that was my first and only sudden change. The rest has been gradual and I mean very gradual. If it were so easy to get the miracle this forum wouldn't exist........

The software was priceless for me. It enabled me to zero in to some problem areas I was having and thus helped me "crawl". If I hadn't had the software to see that I wasn't getting optimal treatment I probably would have given up long ago. Even after I was getting optimal therapy it still was only a very gradual improvement.

Do I now wake up completely refreshed and wanting to run a marathon? No, but I do wake up feeling much better than I did before I ever started the CPAP journey. Final thought, every night without any CPAP does damage to our bodies. Even without the miracle, a night on CPAP is at least preventative medicine IMHO. 2 hours is better than zero hours...4 hours is better than 2 hours..... get the idea?

Good luck, I hear your pain...

I'm a pretty new hosehead but I loved the comment about waking up feeling refreshed and not really wanting to take the hose off. That's me. Only 30 days on CPAP but I love it. Some days I'm a big tired and foggy but mostly feeling good. I'm one of the lucky ones I guess. Plus a zillion thanks to all who participate here - it has helped me big time!

Refreshed? Big fat NO.

You know those days where you are so very tired you just don't know if you will last another second? Where you could almost melt into the floor? I go to bed this way and wake up this way. My alarm goes off and my first thought is "oh no....OMG I don't know if I can make it...." and I want to have a meltdown. There are many mornings that I gag or even vomit from what I guess is pure anxiety and frustration from being exhausted and essentially snatched from bed and thrown into the day. Ugh.

However my numbers are great. (Don't mind me, I'm tired) LOL

Blackjackcat wrote:I hope to make it a habit I can work with then. : ) Looks like some users have felt great, right away, after the first use. I wish it was that way for me.

Sure wish I had been one of those lucky ones that felt better right right away. But the first three months on CPAP I felt far worse than I had before starting CPAP. I am only now starting to feel as well during the daytime as I did before CPAP. And yet throughout the entire time I continued to chose each night to put the hose on one more time because I knew it's the best thing for my long term health. I am still making that decision every single night, all night long: I choose to put the mask on one more time just for tonight. And slowly, but surely putting the hose on is becoming a nightly habit---like brushing my teeth, even though it is much harder to do.

SnoozyQ wrote: There are many mornings that I gag or even vomit from what I guess is pure anxiety and frustration from being exhausted and essentially snatched from bed and thrown into the day. Ugh.

However my numbers are great. (Don't mind me, I'm tired) LOL

Have you been checked for GERD? That is how I used to feel before I got that under control. I thought I had asthma very bad in the mornings or sinus drip, I would gag and cough until I threw up. Cpap helped the most but some people it does the opposite.

Looks like I have more company than I thought. I just need to buckle down and stay with this thing, I know if I give up on it now I will not go back to it. Thanks everyone for the comments so far in this thread, makes me want to keep going and put this thing on every night. I need to get this software asap so I can get a idea where I stand as far as leaks ect.

What i do not understand is the best night i had on CPAP was the night of my titration I've never felt as good the next day as the day after my titration.

Uncle_Bob wrote:What i do not understand is the best night i had on CPAP was the night of my titration I've never felt as good the next day as the day after my titration.

And my titration night was a nightmare and next day was a disaster. I guess it is no wonder that my prescribed initial pressure was a bit off. OP really needs the software.....

I went in for a sleep study and it came back that I did not have enough sleep apnea's to get insurance to pay for a cpap. I barely sleep, during the study, I can see why it came back like that. A few months later, I asked about doing a at home study(that way I would sleep more). During that study it came back that I had sleep apnea. I never did go in for sleep study while wearing the cpap. How do you suppose they came up with what pressure I needed?

I am going to buy the encore 2.0 software. I assume I need a reader with it? Also I see there are two kinds, for those that have bought them, which one is best? Thanks

Could someone advise which software OP needs. I am unfamiliar with what comes standard with the PR System One machine. Does she need the smart card reader package for $111 or is the $99 disc all she needs??

If you had a home study to check for OSA, they would have used an APAP and likely set it wide open and then looked at the report to get an idea where it tended to go. Then came up with what pressure to use. Your machine may or may not be at adequate pressure. It is possible that leaks are causing ineffective pressure. Lots of things behind the scenes could be hindering your progress. Only way to even have an idea is to see the reports. This happened to me and that long story I won't go into but the software is crucial for those having problems.

Thanks Pugsy, hopefully someone will chime in on the software. On the home study I was not on a apap, just had some electrodes and oximeter(I think thats what it called) that I hooked up on myself. BTW, I am a "he": )

Pugsy wrote:Could someone advise which software OP needs. I am unfamiliar with what comes standard with the PR System One machine. Does she need the smart card reader package for $111 or is the $99 disc all she needs??

If you had a home study to check for OSA, they would have used an APAP and likely set it wide open and then looked at the report to get an idea where it tended to go. Then came up with what pressure to use. Your machine may or may not be at adequate pressure. It is possible that leaks are causing ineffective pressure. Lots of things behind the scenes could be hindering your progress. Only way to even have an idea is to see the reports. This happened to me and that long story I won't go into but the software is crucial for those having problems.

So sorry Blackjackcat. Don't know why I assumed female... Brain fart I guess. I will try to remember better.

So no APAP trial? Hmmm, that explains things even more. They likely have given you the APAP and set it wide open because they didn't know. I haven't read all your posts but without seeing any reports I would suspect that the minimum pressure setting is not adequate to deal with events. This is what happened to me. Originally titrated at 8 cm but found out I needed about 10 or 11 to ward off the bulk of my events. That small of a change helped tremendously.

I have a different machine and the software (even though it is EncoreViewer) that I use won't work with your machine. Not sure if your machine came with what is necessary to hook up to computer or not. That is why I asked for someone to clarify. Someone will know and chime in. You may have all you need except the software. I just didn't want to tell you one thing and it be another.

Blackjackcat,

The PR System One machines are compatible with Encore Viewer 2.0 (or later?), which is available from our host, cpap.com.

The data card is a simple SD card of the same sort that is used in many digital cameras. Any SD card reader will work to read the card. They are readily available at places like Best Buy for $10 or so. Many computers have built-in SD card readers that will also work just fine. You do NOT need to buy a specialized card reader.

The main SNAFU to watch for is this: Encore Viewer is NOT supported by PR on 64-bit computers. In other words, as shipped on the CD, Encore Viewer is designed to be installed on a 32-bit PC running anything from Windows XP through Windows 7. But it will NOT easily install on a 64-bit computer; there is NO documentation on the CD about how to install in on a 64-bit computer; and PR will not help you install it on a 64-bit computer. There are some threads here about how to get Encore Viewer to work on 64-bit machines if you search for them and if you want to spend the time trying to make it work.

However, if you happen to have a 32-bit computer lying around running anything from Windows XP or more recent, you'll have no trouble installing and running Encore Viewer.