I'm replying to a few different things I read during the thread.
Btw - after just over 2 years on XPAP, I have mostly 'OK' nights, some GREAT nights and occasionally HORRENDOUS nights where I fight with the mask all night. So I haven't just fallen into a 100% success with this - I still don't feel like bouncing out of bed in the morning, am still tired at times during the day etc. etc. however I REFUSE to give it up.
This sounds like me. A few rare awesome days, a few really bad days, and mostly okay days. I had a couple really bad days in a row this week, followed by a good day. It wasn't a truly awesome day, but it felt so much better than the previous days, that it felt like an awesome day. I had two stretches of 3.6 and 3.4 hours. I think I notice the improvement more when I have had a bad time so that I can feel the difference.
So, while I don't feel truly awesome, I have had enough really good days to keep me going after those. My sleep study was a split night study, and that first 5 hours of cpap treatment made a huge impression on me. I went in dreading cpap treatment, and came out wanting my machine right away. So much that I actually dreamt about it the next night.
Oh my gosh, it's absolutely refreshing to hear someone who has been super successful with CPAP recognize and say out loud that it may not all be about willpower and strength of character. Thank you Owl!
It's a factor for sure. But I don't think all the will power in the world will help if you get stuck with a brick and settings that aren't correct with no way to know that. My mom has been on cpap for 20 years. She would use it faithfully for years and then quit for awhile. And then use it again for half of each night, etc. Until about 4 months ago, she never had data. There is no way to know if her pressure was set wrong for a long time, or if her needs changed. But it wasn't high enough, so she was still having issues, so didn't feel any better compared to not using it. It sure is hard to do something that is inconvenient, uncomfortable, and doesn't seem to produce any improvement. She also had a doctor she did not like, and a DME who didn't help her find a comfortable mask.
She restarted her cpap treatment when I saw my mask, tried it on, and got one for herself. She went back to all night compliance after getting a new machine with data and a new prescription with a range that gave her full treatment.
Had I started years ago, like I should have, I don't know that I would have been successful. I know that having a newer quiet machine has helped me a lot. Having the data has helped me a lot. Yes, my prescription was pretty darned accurate, so I didn't have to troubleshoot. But I think it was helpful to actually see my data and see what the machine was doing to help me. Newer mask options have also helped me. And I really wasn't ready to get serious about it.
I read something awhile back about successful lifestyle changes (they were speaking of lasting weight loss)
and its link to significant health events--like having a heart attack or a serious health crisis, shocking enough
that the response carries through into action; and is SUSTAINED.
I had a health scare too. Not as serious as having a heart attack or stroke. But my doctor was warning me that I was at high risk of a stroke due to my high blood pressure. Then I had vertigo. I went to two emergency rooms in one week. I was out of town when the vertigo hit the first time, sudden and severe. Then home a few days later when it came back and wouldn't stop, even with the medication. BOTH doctors stated it was not a stroke during their examination of me. I was 39, and I am often mistaken for being 20 something. So, it really scared me that the doctors were looking at me and my symptoms and considering stroke. I got serious about taking my medications. Then, when I learned that sleep apnea often caused high blood pressure and stroke, I decided I better confess and start treatment. I don't know if I would have been ready to start treatment if I had known a couple years ago that sleep apnea caused strokes. But since the vertigo incident and high blood pressure not going away with medication; I was ready.
I have been very fortunate that my sleep tech fit me with the prefect mask during the sleep study. It did take several weeks at home to master, but I knew that it was the right one since it had been comfortable without any leaks during the sleep study. I was also fortunate that my sleep study went well and allowed them to get an accurate titration. And I was very fortunate that my doctor always prescribes a full data machine since he wants to see the full data. So, I hit the jackpot and got some of the worst problems solved without me even knowing about them. I joined this list after I got home with my machine and mask. I was excited to start, and had all day to wait. So, I went online.
And that brings me to the last thing I was really fortunate about. Finding this forum. I think a lot of people who have quit over the years, might not have, had they found this forum. Even with a good sleep doctor, a lot of this is experimenting and adjusting things to get the right fit, find the right mask, etc. You can't really call your doctor every day, even if you have a good one. And most people don't have doctors and DMEs who have actually used cpap themselves. So, having this group of people to help with problems and give advice is huge. I really wish that all doctors and DMEs would give their patients a link to this website and encourage people to participate. All of us here, have an advantage, that many other people do not.
It could be something as simple as recommending the right mask. Or helping the person know how to adjust the mask they have to make it work. That is something physical that cannot be changed with willpower, but can be changed with knowledge. And I have seen tons of examples where new people don't even know the questions to ask or the right details to mention. Because we have all been there, we learn what to ask so that we can get the information we need to help them. For example, it is a very common problem to feel like we are suffocating. We often assume, at the beginning, that the airflow is overwhelming us. We think it is too much air, when it is usually too little air. DMEs do not understand this, so they don't help the newbie with that. I can't imagine continuing treatment if I had to start the night every night, struggling to breathe, not knowing why, or that I could change it. A lot of people probably give up for that reason.
