A Newbie from London.

Hello there,

I'm a Londoner, loyal subject to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II - gawd bless 'er cotton socks - and I live only six miles from the Olympic stadium. You Americans should be grateful that with all of the Olympic road, rail and other travel restrictions, we Londoners will be seriously discombobulated so that you can win your usual huge haul of golds in a month's time. Furthermore, the weather's been awful this year. We've had no summer. If you're visiting any time soon, bring your wellies.

Anyhow, I was recently diagnosed with sleep apnea. Whilst wandering around the Interweb, I stumbled upon this forum and thought it a good idea to join up. As a newbie, I understand that I need all the help and support that I can get. Here's my story so far:

My initial 'wired up to a box of tricks' , sleep test was last January and I was informed by letter that my follow up appointment would be at the end of April.

I had assumed that with such a gap between appointments, my condition had been diagnosed as relatively minor and nothing to worry about. Having that mindset, I was more than surprised when the consultant informed me that I had moderate apnea, that I was waking up 18 times and more an hour. When he went on to tell me that I would need to return the following week to be fitted with my mask and shown how to use a machine that I would have to use each night for the rest of my life I was totally flabbergasted.

I left in a daze.

A week later, I returned to hospital where I received my resmed 9 and full face mask and, after a detailed explanation of how it worked and how to put the mask on, I was sent on my way.

The following few nights were a complete disaster. They each followed a similar, depressing pattern. The Quattro FX mask and its straps were horribly restrictive to wear and the machine pumped what seemed like arctic cold air at my frozen nose. After two hours, in despair, I would give it up as a bad job, remove the mask, turn the machine off and go to sleep the 'old fashioned' and as I now knew, potentially dangerous way.

After a week of this, I had developed a dread of going to bed. I resented the machine deeply. On the eighth day, I was telephoned by the nurse who asked how I was getting along. Cue a long moan from me about how there was no way on Earth that I would ever get used to the infernal contraption. I wondered aloud whether there was another way to alleviate my condition and mused that whoever had designed the mask must have been a sadist.

Patiently, the nurse explained that there were things that could be done that may make things easier for me and suggested another visit to the clinic.

I had no choice but to accept. And so, it was with a resigned air that I arrived for my appointment. There, the nurse took away my full face mask and equipped me with a ResMed Swift FX pillow mask which was much less obstructive. He also suggested that I buy an H5i & climate line which, he assured me, would solve the freezing cold air problem.

However, even though armed with my new instructions and a new mask, I still left with a heavy heart, utterly convinced that nothing would enable me to get more than a few minutes fitful sleep while attached in any way to that damned device.

I ordered the humidifier which arrived a couple of days later.

Due to a combination of my scepticism and a busy travelling schedule, I was unable to try my new pillow mask / humidifier / climate line combo until a few nights ago.

Determined to give it my best shot, I informed my partner that I would keep the mask on and the machine working, 'come what may'. She wisely decided to retire to another bedroom for the night.

My plan was to stay up until I was dead tired and hope that that would overcome the terrible deprivations that would sure to come. It was with a heavy heart that I sat on my bed, set the humidifier onto its warming cycle and donned the pillow mask.

"No way was this going to help". I thought to myself.

I settled down for another night of tossing and turning.

And then, something strange happened. The machine ramped up, informed me that the mask, which I had deliberately fitted in a loose configuration, was perfectly set and then proceeded to waft warm & comfortable air into my airways.

It was a revelation!

I have to admit, it took me about an hour for me to get to sleep that night and I did awake twice for 'comfort breaks'. But when I awoke the next morning and checked the readings, I was informed that I had slept overall for eight hours that night and that my AHI was 3.6.

I was overjoyed and realised that the machine, far from being a device sent to ruin my life, was in fact something that would improve it in ways hitherto unimaginable. I was excited by this prospect and relieved that I would be able to cope. And cope well.

Last night was my fifth night with the new set up. My AHI seems to have settled down to 1.1. - 1.2 and I am feeling better each and every day.

Although, I'm still feeling slightly drowsy at times, I know that my journey has just begun - I've got 52 years of sleep to catch up on!

I'm probably on a pink cloud. But, I'm sure that I felt more refreshed when I woke up this morning that I have in years.

I look forward to many happy times with you on this forum. Thanks for reading.

Elliott.

Hi Elliott,
Welcome to the forum. Glad to have you here. Sounds like you are finally on the right track.
Keep reading and educating yourself. It really does help when we can understand all this.
Lots of really great people here to help you out or just pat you on the back.

Thank you for your welcome and encouragement, Pugsy.

Welcome aboard. In your post you have not mentioned in details what's ailing you.

avi123 wrote:Welcome aboard. In your post you have not mentioned in details what's ailing you.

Well, my OH had noticed that aswell as snoring, I stopped breathing for periods while asleep and that set me on my journey.

Welcome Elliott
I am originally from Crawley....many years ago ....we would practically be neighbours . You have the right attitude to make this work as you have hunkered down and got into the flow of things. It isn't a bed of daisies, but you will get there, have no fear.
Again welcome to the land of hoseheads.
Cheers
Nan

Attitude plays such a huge part to this therapy. I know it isn't easy and there are lots of bumps in the road but how we look at them and deal with them really does play a large part in overall success.
Sounds like you have the right attitude and that will help you tremendously.

Welcome to the forum Elliott!

Great story with a good example of doing whatever needs to be done to stick to your PAP therapy. I have the feeling that as your story progresses, restful sleep will become the common theme throughout your journey. Please continue to update us on your progress and ask any questions you might have, regardless if they seem silly or not. We all started from the same place and are only where we are now because of the help, understanding, and wisdom of those who were here before us . Lastly, if anyone around here calls you an 'Hose Head' (like Nan did above), don't be offended, as it is just an endearing term that PAP'ers will sometimes use for those unfortunately diagnosed with Sleep Apnea, but who are fortunate enough to now be using a great treatment (machine, mask, and hose) that can overcome it and provide the opportunity of restored health, restful sleep, and a better quality of life .

Welcome to the club...'Hose Head' .

John

Hi Elliott and welcome to our neighborhood! Enjoyed reading your story. You are gifted at expressing yourself so I hope you do it here often.

No, I suspect London is the last place on earth I would want to be during the next couple of months. It's bound to be horrendous and I don't envy you one bit. You do have tickets, right?

Suz

Welcome to the forum Elliott from an aussie. My ancestry was English so you are in good hands.

Welcome and congratulations!

I have to admit that I must have received wisdom about UK as I read "Furthermore, the weather's been awful this year. We've had summer"

Elliott: Welcome! Hopefully you will get renewed energy and your drowsiness will go away. Keep up the good work. As you said, you have some sleep-makeup to do. By the way, several years back, me and my family toured England. I was in a pub having a few beers in a small village when I met some local gents. As we were talking, I told them I could drink them under the table. When it was all over, I ended up under the table, and they had a good laugh.

Sheriff

You can adjust the temperature and humidity of your s9 if it had the right settings in the clinicians menu.

Mines currently at 2.5 humidity and 23 deg C since its winder downunder and I got a cold nose. Its been so cold at night that the cat has been cuddly.

Hi all and thanks for your posts. Apologies for this late reply, I've been travelling for the past week or so and this is the first time I've been able to get online for recreation, rather than business.

In reply....

Firstly, I've continued to use the machine at night and I've managed to completely settle down with it. My AHI is now 1.0 or less each night. All's progressing well. As for your kind posts....

@ Nan: Crawley has the whole metropolis of London between it and where I live. Google maps says 64 miles by road. So, that will be between 1.5 hours travelling time and forever, dependent on the traffic.

@ 2 B: I do not like the term 'hosehead' one little bit. But, that's my problem, so I really should get over myself.

@ suzjohnson: Actually, to be perfectly honest, I'm quite looking forward to it. I do have tickets to the last day of rowing, which we're particularly good at. So, I expect to see us win a few golds. I'm on a promise for some athletics tickets too. I'd love to go to the stadium as I regard the athletics as the 'real' Olympics. However, quite a few ducks need to get all in a row. SO, I'm not getting my hopes up on that one. Incidentally, many, many people here in the UK failed to get any tickets. They're not happy bunnies.

@ ozze_dollar. Thanks for the welcome. It's lovely to hear from descendants of those we sent to penal colonies back in the day!

@ -tim. Mine is set at 3.0 humidity and 30 degrees. Seems to suit me well.

Now I'm off to catch up on what you lot are chatting about.