How long did it take for you to feel better on CPAP therapy

Your poll will never be accurate, as the large number of people who "gave up" won't be here to read the post.

David,

I also know a number of people whose cpap works so well for them they have never had a need to visit a forum like this. This unscientific poll is what it is, a snapshot of people taking the time to answer.

>>"I also know a number of people whose cpap works so well for them they >>>have never had a need to visit a forum like this. "

True, but my point was that there are more people here using cpap successfully and posting, than not.
I am a bit jaded as I did not have success, but the folks here were a great help and wonderful advocates for the process, and really helped me wade thru the murky, mucky world of cpap.
You should have seen the look on thier faces at the Doc's office when I informed them that I had taped my mouth shut to see if I was mouth breathing during the night! [at the suggestion of a poster here]

Ok so maybe I'm being a big baby but the mask is driving me nuts and I hate going to bed at night now. I've been on the cpap for almost a week and it sure has been hard. Will someone tell me how long it takes to be able to just go to sleep with this on. I have been wearing the nose mask that has the bands on my forehead and around my jaw and I feel so confined. Are there any tips on how to make this experience any easier. ?
Any help would be appreciated.

Tracey...I usually wait until I'm practically asleep (or have fallen asleep and the first snore wakes me) to put the mask on. That way, I know I'm tired enough to fall right back to sleep without having to sit there and think about it and try to get comfortable with it. Some mornings, I have woken up without ever remembering that I put it on.

Give it a try. Good Luck.

PS...on rested gal's recommendation, I just ordered a Breeze system. I will keep you posted on my experiences in my original thread (For ComfortLite users only, please.) There are other masks out there that are less confining...check one of the internet ordering sites to reserch them. Feel free to ask questions here before ordering to get other's experiences with a particular mask...posters here are very willing to help.

Before i was assessed i would be napping before 9am and the odd time before that. There were many times i was woken by members of staff whilst sat at my desk, these naps were totally uncontrolable - for a lot of people who dont know about OSA find this hilarious.
I found immeadiate relief and improvement on energy levels and began to dream again after about two weeks. I did try to remember the time i had a dream before this but couldn't remember when.

Sweet dreaming

I have had the mask for about 8 months and I have not gotten any relief. I have given up on it. I am lost and frustrated. I recently started using the mask again and rememered why I stopped using it. I feel worse with the mask then I do without it. I get major gas when wearing the mask and waking up feeling even worse. Anyway, has anyone felt worse with the mask as I have. Either way I am suffering and wondering if anyone has any sugguestions.

Hi tb8173,

Your post is very much appreciated as I have just started using CPAP. I have invested a lot of time, effort, frustration and $$$ so far and want to make sure it's all worth it. After 2 weeks I think it is, but hard to tell as 1st week had bronchitis and trouble breathing at night. Seems better each night now.

I do not want to get frustrated with my treatment as you have. I know I need help to improve my health and this better show results. You and I both need to stick with it and resolve problems as we meet them.

You will get other replies to your post by some much more experienced and informed then me. My 2 cents is that your mask, pressure setting or some other issue is preventing your proper treatment. Get some help either from your doctor, this forum, your friends or just take the bull by the horns and do whatever to help yourself. If you have been properly diagnosed you do need to swallow the pill!

Better to feel better than not, don't you think?

All the best!

Hi, everyone!

I started CPAP in September of 1994 on a Tuesday night. I started at a pressure of 8 (without having had a titration) as the doctor's review of my full night diagnostic study made him insist on starting me right away. (I had an AHI of 82 and oxygen levels below 80% most of the night and as low as 52%). I was eventually titrated several weeks later to a pressure of 13 cm. In my case my results were based on only partial pressure.

Having had little exposure to info about a CPAP, I thought I would feel great on the morning after. I did not feel that great on Wednesday morning, BUT I had slept 5 hours straight without getting up to go to the john. My wife had been up all night long with her hand on my chest to be sure I was breathing -- because I was quiet! No snoring, no gasping. So she saw some success although I didn't "feel" it!

Even by Saturday morning I wasn't sure I could feel a difference. And I had been 100% compliant for 4 nights. I was actually a little disappointed.

That day I started out in my normal Saturday routine, which normally had me sitting around the house dead tired by noon and taking a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon. But instead, I did some long delayed chores around the house, some work on the computer, a little this, a little that... At 11 p.m. it dawned on me -- like a mountain fell on me -- I HAD NOT BEEN SLEEPY ALL DAY! I HAD NOT TAKEN A NAP! I HAD BEEN UP AND GOING FOR ABOUT 14 HOURS WITHOUT BEING EXHAUSTED!

Needless to say, that was the convincing moment for me. I knew that CPAP worked for me and while I've had occasional issues, it's still working well for me a little over 10 years later. As I often say in media interviews, "I got my life back!"

I've gone from a very sleepy person in 1994 to an energetic volunteer and sleep activist in 2005.

So for me, it took 4 days to really feel great.

Dave

I think the major problems with non-compliance are The Mask and The Machine. Both easily remedied, if the patient knows about it by getting an autopap or other type machine more suited to their use instead of a straight CPAP which drs are still prescribing for godonlyknowswhat reason. At higher pressures they are horrendous, and I don't see how anyone was EVER able to adapt to using them.
The mask is very important in compliance too. Pain, leaks, lack of comfort, a feeling of not being able to breath, claustrophobia are all a big part, again also easily remedied by a change of mask. See nearly any of Rested Gals recommendations for the 4, so far, very best, most comfortable masks in full face, nasal or nasal pillows: Mirage Ultra Full face, Mirage Activa nasal and the Breeze or Swift for nasal pillows.

An AutoPap (APAP) will adjust your pressure to what you actually need. If you have very high pressures and/or you have problems with exhaling against it, try adding CFlex with a Remstar model. This seems to work better than the BiPaps which will also reduce pressure on exhale but seems to be a bit too late to be effective.

Compliance is very much dependant on the right equipment. Too bad most doctors don't realize this with new users.

And it can make a big difference in how you feel in the morning too and how effective your sleep is.

Hi Guys,

I enjoy reading your all views and comments regarding CPAP and it is apparent that a lot of people are very knowledgeable on the subject.

I am so envious - it sounds like a good deal of people were given indepth tests, monitoring, info and assistance.

When i was assessed i had to travel 1200kms just to get to the sleep clinic. After been diagnosed with serious OSA i was given a letter/prescription for a cpap machine and to have its pressure set at 14 - had to travel another 30kms to get there. This supplier (i was only given two names of suppliers - possibly thats all there was) set up the pressure and gave me (literally) a 10 minute demonstration of how to assemble/disassemble & clean the mask. Then shown the door, oh yeah but not before coughing up $$$'s. (All at my expence, medical aid insurance would not pay a penny)

Touch wood i have taken to cpap like a duck to water and it HAS changed my life and very fortunate i havent needed any assistance since i began 3 1/2 years ago. Wouldn't know if my pressure needs adjusting.

Reading thru' some views and info that has been posted it seems to me that there is a 'sleep clinic' just around every corner in the US, and there are many outlets for cpaps & apaps, is this the case? For the first 6 months i thought Fisher & Paykel where the only suppliers of cpap machines, naivety for you.

On top of this I have to import all my cpap equip & acessories from the UK as there is no-one here.



I would appreciate if anyone who could explain how apaps differ from cpaps, is it worth changing? This heated hose from Aussie? Is it a good thing ? & any comments will be greatfully received.





Have a good weekend all,



Enviously

Nickzim

For the great majority of folks, CPAP still seems to work fine. If the pressure differential between side sleeping and back sleeping is not that great, a CPAP can work very well. For those who have exhalation problems, the bi-level PAP and the new C-flex allow for pressure drops. The auto adjusting PAPs are attempting to determine your actual need at any given moment and adjust to that pressure.

For some people the APAPs are great. Others find them difficult to use. I've not tried one long term, but only for a night or two as an experiment. I found the noise level changes (due to the pressure changes) to be extremely bothersome for me. I've also heard from folks whose apnea is controlled by the auto PAP, but who find (in the sleep lab) that the pressure changes are generating arousals that keep them from getting good sleep, so that the "treatment" is almost as bad as the original disorder.

I wouldn't say that there are sleep clinics on every corner, but it is a booming industry. I live in the Chicago Metropolitan area. The six county area has perhaps 11-12 million people in the area. I'm told that there are about 100 sleep centers/labs in the area. Many of these continue to expand the number of beds and new ones are still opening.

Just southwest of here, though, I know of a smaller community that has only 1 bed in their lab and the sleep doctors have to come from 90 minutes away in a larger town (or the patients go to that town for the doctors!).

There are probably 7 or 8 or even more manufacturers of CPAP equipment here in the US.

It took me about 6 months before I started feeling a differance.

Less than one month.

The most significant factor was changing from a constant pressure in cpap to a bi-level pressure in a BiPap.

The second factor, and a distant second factor when compared to the above, was getting the mask that fit me best.

Thank you God for the BiPap and software.

Andy

I'm only ending my second week, but last night was my first night staying on for about 7 hours. Before it was just 2-3 hour spurts with a couple of hours inbetween of not being on the machine. I'm not ready to run a marathon yet, but I was able to get up this morning when my alarm clock went off, take my shower, etc and I was 15 minutes early getting to work - instead of laying in bed listening to the alarm wishing it would just stop because I said so. I know improvement will come in stages over the next months and, perhaps, years - but I'm pleased so far.