I thought i was okay with this diagnosis and i am just NOT!

Everyone here has been real supportive, now time for a reality check.

You haven't started treatment and you are in De-Nile, Your life isn't over, you just need to make treatment work, that takes a positive attitude, and a very little work.

Weight can be a factor in your need for treatment, but really loosing weight is very good, but in the end you have a less than 1% chance of it curing your sleep apnea, it will however make you feel better, healthier, and happyier. I haven't managed to lose any in fact I gained 50 lb, but I am compliant because without this I will cease to function...

In this country it seems we as a people aren't resopncable for their actions, not in my world.. Many things come from our choices, we need to make better ones. You think you ate yourself into this mess, I don't believe that's always the case, however making the treatment work is you choice, sometimes we make things harder than they have to be, it's only air, no pills no cutting, just fresh air, sounds good to me, and it's been working for me for about 7 years, With luck you have a chance to correct this before you have major damage, I wasn't that lucky.

I hope you embrace this treatment and get the good it can offer, attitude counts for a lot in everything we do. This site has a lot of good people to help you down this road, but reading and learning helps too. the info is all here for the reading. Best wishes, Jim

Mine started at ~25 and normal weight. At first, the idea was difficult to accept, but as I got more and more tired, I stopped caring and just wanted something to make me feel awake! It's an adjustment, but not a terrible one.

I'm not enthusiastic about it, still, but there's much worse things to have in life. I think your kids will be fine with it, just explain it to them that it's something cool.

I'll just echo what others have posted. The idea that only overweight men get this disorder needs to stop. If you want proof, read this>

http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcnorth/post/_ ... leep-apnea

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percy_Harvin?oldid=0

Just for the record, I am the exact same size as Percy. I have been this same size since I was in my teens and I am 39 now. I have no doubt had apnea most of my life but was just recently diagnosed. Weight has nothing to do with it.

I hate that I have this disorder, as does just about anyone that has it. However, we have a treatment that is about as mild as possible - a bit of pressurized air applied when you care the least - during sleep. That is it - just air. A disorder as deadly as apnea is treated with simple air. I bet there are many, many people with serious illness who wish they could be so lucky. On top of that, we have fairly affordable machines that can accurately tell us how the treatment is going to give us confidence that it is working!

If you ever get bored, sift through the research publications on PAP therapy on pubmed. It can quite literally resolve a mind-boggling set of health issues - from enlarged hearts to high cholesterol to sexual disfunction. And remember it is only room air blowing through a tube!

That isn't to minimize how much PAP can suck, especially for newbies. I have had a horrible six weeks, and I mean HORRIBLE. For some people it causes more immediate problems than it solves. But, it seems that if you get over the hump, you are golden. So I keep putting on the mask every night hoping tonight will be the night that things change.

Hang in there and keep posting. There are many wise people on here.

I would like to think of something clever and funny to add to what has been said but I think it's all been covered. Just remember the URL of this group and any time you feel down, come here and talk to your new family!!

themonk wrote:I'll just echo what others have posted. The idea that only overweight men get this disorder needs to stop. If you want proof, read this>
http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcnorth/post/_ ... leep-apnea
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percy_Harvin?oldid=0
I hate that I have this disorder, as does just about anyone that has it. However, we have a treatment that is about as mild as possible - a bit of pressurized air applied when you care the least - during sleep. That is it - just air. A disorder as deadly as apnea is treated with simple air. I bet there are many, many people with serious illness who wish they could be so lucky. On top of that, we have fairly affordable machines that can accurately tell us how the treatment is going to give us confidence that it is working!

If you ever get bored, sift through the research publications on PAP therapy on pubmed. It can quite literally resolve a mind-boggling set of health issues - from enlarged hearts to high cholesterol to sexual disfunction. And remember it is only room air blowing through a tube!
That isn't to minimize how much PAP can suck, especially for newbies. I have had a horrible six weeks, and I mean HORRIBLE. For some people it causes more immediate problems than it solves. But, it seems that if you get over the hump, you are golden. So I keep putting on the mask every night hoping tonight will be the night that things change.
Hang in there and keep posting. There are many wise people on here.

Howdy,
themonk and all posters above have great advice. I would add to his reading list the following on this website: viewtopic/t80546/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=70 ... ep#p650437 I tried to write a similar paraphrase of the 12-steps for Apnea, but this one is better.
You may need to get professional help dealing with the denial and exasperation of having to cope with this issue, but it's worth it. Also, the best FREE help is right here, CPAPTALK. I affirm the fact that this is a DISEASE and there's lots of un-EASE that accompanies it. But it's doable, if you have the support you need and can develop the attitude that you can live with and improve your life using the treatment for Apnea. God Bless you as you learn to live with and accept this fact of life.

Some advice here from the old lady..............
OSA is NOT your fault, if it were we would all be on a diet. Last time I looked there were over 62,000 patients registered on this forum......yes thats over 62,000 and you and I are each one of them. Being diagnosed with a disease is mortifying I know, I had cancer in my mid twenties also dx'd with the thyroid problem in mid twenties, heart condition in my fifties...........blah blah, been there, done that, and I have the t-shirt . I'm not alone here with all these problems, there are MANY here that are in worse shape than I am. Yes, we've all been diagnosed with a mortifying problem, but hey, we pulled up our socks, put on our big girl panties and dealt with it. Believe me, once you get going on this therapy and it takes effect, you will have more energy than you can deal with and your darling hubby will wonder where that sexy new bed partner came from , your girls will be laughing and happy with you in the kitchen baking cookies . Its NOT a death sentence, once on the hose all night every night, you WILL recover and there will be a new, happy, well adjusted YOU wearing your shoes. You are not even the youngest to be diagnosed and on the hose, one of our members here has an 8 year old son who has osa, my neighbours granddaughter age 10 has it......now that has got to be hard to deal with. What if you were dx'd with diabetes (many of us here have it) would you accept it and get on with whatever you had to do to control it?????? Just be thankful that you only have a thyroid and an osa problem......as I said before "pull up your socks, put on your big girl panties and deal with it" . Put on a happy face, smile and get with the recovery program and YOU WILL RECOVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Cheers
Nan

It is weird how cancer and AIDS for years have been so misunderstood by the public and the medical community.
Now with expanded knowledge about these diseases, they have become a social phenomenon, support is a 'status' thing.
We with OSA are still waiting our turn.
Like leprosy, the ignorant have a suspicion or belief that it is caused by a character flaw, a 'sin' as it were.
Even now, many people keep their condition a secret because of the shame they so wrongly feel,
or existing social disadvantages placed on us by those who just don't understand.
But know this: IT'S NOT OUR FAULT!
And it's really SHAMEFUL how we and our treatment have been abandoned to a pit of vipers.
We must hang together, share our knowledge, and fight the injustice.
Those who have the courage to go public must do so--it can save so many lives.

Mzlaura' thank you so much for starting this thread. I'm newly diagnosed too, haven't seen my doctor following my titration study. The waiting is a killer. But I have done lots of reading on this forum. I am still pretty unhappy about using a cpap, but I think I am starting to have more acceptance. Angela's thread of people posting photos has helped me immensely. I is good to see actual users using their equipment. I appreciate you posting on there as well.

I have teenagers and I'm not too excited about getting teased by them once I start using my cpap. BUT. As moms it's our job to model good behavior. I WILL be compliant, not just to feel better (although I am really looking forward to that) but to show my children that following up and following through are important with our health and all aspects of life.

We've just gotta hang in there.

Thank you for starting this thread. I needed to hear all these things too. I've been papping since April, but just recently had a pity party. All these posts have really helped me too. Hang in there. Once you start feeling better ( a tiny bit at a time) you will realize it's worth it.

In my husband's case with all the debilitating symptoms he was having, we were grateful to find that the diagnosis was OSA and that there was a treatment for it. Sure better than hearing something really devastating and telling us there was nothing to be done and he would only get worse or...! Even with all his medical setbacks his life has improved so much that it was worth going through the adjustment phase and this forum was here to help along the way and they still do.

I'm 51, so when I got diagnosed, I really didn't have any problems accepting the machine and the need for it. Like you, I'm on continuous thyroid hormone,not for hypothryoidism, but because I had mine removed for cancer 8 years ago. Chances are I have had OSA my entire life. But when you are older, you start accepting that your body is not as perfect as it used to be. And when you've been diagnosed with cancer, OSA seems tame in comparison. But also because I spend a lot of time researching any medical condition I might have, I go into these things with as much knowledge as I can. That helps me from getting frightened because fear is mostly fear of the unknown. Read up on your diagnosis as much as you can, this is a great place for that!

I've put on steady amounts of weight ever since I had kids, even though I'm eating less. Now that I'm on CPAP, I'm starting to see some weight coming off, so far about 6 pounds. I thought because of my thyroid being gone, that nothing would ever reverse my metabolism's slow decline. Hopefully, now that I've been on CPAP for a month, that is changing!

Goofproof wrote:Weight can be a factor in your need for treatment, but really loosing weight is very good, but in the end you have a less than 1% chance of it curing your sleep apnea,

Geez, I don't want to encourage apnea denial, but you just made that 1% number up, didn't you?

I suspect 50% or more of us fatties would lose or greatly reduce our apnea if we got down to our proper weight. Doctors used to think it was 100%.

However, it's not a sure bet. Even worse is when someone says, "I won't do CPAP, I'll just lose weight." What usually happens is they don't really lose the weight and the patient suffers with untreated apnea. The biggest problem about weight loss for apnea reduction is most people never lose the weight.

I would have never been able to lose weight without CPAP.
I know, because I tried. REALLY TRIED!
Even so, I still have to work at it to keep the weight off.
Luckily, CPAP gives me the energy I need to keep at it.
I don't know what makes me feel better: CPAP or weight loss.
As long as I can have both, I don't have to choose.