I had some doubts...

I've been doing a lot of reading on this site and just recently decided to join...so hello to everyone Sorry in advance for the long post.

I'm a 54 year old (male) and have been experiencing when I now know to be OSA for a long long time. So long that I can't even remember the last time I had a restful nights sleep. I'm always fatigued and my brain fogged up from no rest.

I had a discussion with my primary in 2005 but due to major events in my life at the time the sleep study never happened. So, during my physical last December I decided to bring it up with me new primary care Dr. I was to the point that I dreaded going to bed or waking up in the morning because I always felt like I wanted to crawl into a hole and die. I yawned all day long and then would experience insomnia at bed time. I could have fallen asleep at work at any time but never did because I wouldn't let myself do that. Anyway, you guys understand what I'm saying and all the bad things associated with sleep deprivation.

So, I had the sleep study done in late February. Although I don't think it was representative of my normal hellish night trying to sleep, it did reflect apneas and hypopneas during the 5 hours they were able to collect data. I had an over all AHI of 20.5 which is on the low moderate scale. Not sure I agree with that but it prompted the sleep doc to prescribe cpap therapy. Yay. I've always read of the life changing experience this has the potential to be and was looking forward to getting and using the machine. I've also read about the people who just can't tolerate the invasiveness of the mask and pressure. This worried me.

After a short wait for my insurance to approve, I finally picked up the Resmed S9 autoset w/humidifier on Monday and spent about an hour with the therapist going over it's use and fitting the mask. I wasn’t really comfy with the full face mask they gave me but the therapist said it was a good fit and would work fine. It actually pinched off my nasal passages (already have deviated septum) and made my mouth feel like the corners were being squished in.

On Monday night I tried it out setting the ramp to 40 min. After about an hour the full force of the pap kicked in and I couldn’t get the mask off fast enough. It was an awful feeling. I tried two more times that night and it wasn’t any better. Day one was bust. Day two was no better and I only used the machine for about 50 minutes and couldn’t fall asleep. Wednesday I didn’t use it all but because I was frustrated but did call the RT and the sleep doc that day. I asked for a better fitting mask and to lower the pressure from a high setting of 12 to something I could tolerate while getting use to this thing. I decided I was not going to give up. The doc agreed to lower the high setting to 10 and I went back in for a new mask yesterday morning.

So, last night I was on cpap for about 9 hours (two hours awake just getting used to the new mask and new pressure and both are very comfy) and although I did wake up and reset the machine every few hours, I got the best night’s sleep I’ve had in at least 10 years (guessing). I actually woke up this morning feeling good and with more energy that normal and I haven’t yawned even once today AT ALL!! That’s pretty amazing.

So I’m really happy I had some adjustments made to the machine and tried a new mask instead of just giving up (which I wanted to do). Ultimately I’m looking forward to using the device and a day when I actually sleep through the night. I would urge all new users not to give up if the first few days are not so pleasant. Hang in there!!! I appreciate all the good info here and will keep reading and learning.

Ron

Things will get better and easier. We do adjust to having this alien strapped to our face.
There will be bumps in the road too...so don't be disheartened. We all have the from time to time...even cpap veterans.

Welcome to the forum.

What a great story! You might want to re-post to the success story thread (pinned at the top of the forum). Reading that thread makes a newbie feel hopeful. Congrats!