Average time it took CPAP to begin working for you

Just wondering how long it took the CPAP to start working for everyone once they started using it. I realize it is still early, but I have been using mine since last Wednesday and I don't think I notice much if any change in how I feel at all. Maybe it will take a few more weeks to kick in, but I am starting to wonder if surgery might ultimately be the best choice for me. I am sleeping comfortable with the machine and mask, but I still wake up a few times during the night and I still feel slightly tried throughout the day. I say this with the caveat that I am dealing with fall allergies at the moment and that always makes me feel lethargic.

Give it at least a month...possibly 2

About 5 minutes into the second half of a split night sleep study. I am one of the lucky ones, going on 11 years easily and not looking back.

I am going on 8 months, and feel marginally better. The gains have been so slow that I didn't notice them. I am still struggling with finding a mask that doesn't give me problems after a couple of weeks. Having said this, I wouldn't skip a night without my therapy. I know that my rainbow is still out there for me.

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Seattleboy49 wrote:Just wondering how long it took the CPAP to start working for everyone once they started using it. I realize it is still early, but I have been using mine since last Wednesday and I don't think I notice much if any change in how I feel at all. Maybe it will take a few more weeks to kick in, but I am starting to wonder if surgery might ultimately be the best choice for me. I am sleeping comfortable with the machine and mask, but I still wake up a few times during the night and I still feel slightly tried throughout the day. I say this with the caveat that I am dealing with fall allergies at the moment and that always makes me feel lethargic.

Have you ever broken a bone? Did putting a cast on mean you were able to go and do what you normally do? Were you running with that cast on the first day? I had a hard time just moving around the room with the cast and crutches and never mind the stairs! Cpap is the same - you need to learn to sleep with it first of all and according to my doc it can take up to a month before your brains trust that it might be safe to let you go into deep sleep. Then if you are really damaged it might take anywhere from 6 weeks to a year to regenerate your organs and brain, because even if you are still tired it is still working on repairing damage. Being tired is only one symptom.

So basically you need to unlearn bad sleeping habits, learn new ones, repair the damage done by lack of sleep and O2 - this isn't going to happen in 3 nights.

Into my fourth month and really don't feel less tired, but do feel less anxious. My AHI is almost zero, and I don't snore anymore. A friend felt a huge difference using CPAP after just one night. I am not sure why some people immediately feel much less tired.

Then if you are really damaged it might take anywhere from 6 weeks to a year to regenerate your organs and brain, because even if you are still tired it is still working on repairing damage. Being tired is only one symptom.

So basically you need to unlearn bad sleeping habits, learn new ones, repair the damage done by lack of sleep and O2 - this isn't going to happen in 3 nights.[/quote]

Really? I had never heard that there is damage that can be repaired, very interesting. How is the repair occurring, are blood cells getting re-oxygenated or something?

Then if you are really damaged it might take anywhere from 6 weeks to a year to regenerate your organs and brain, because even if you are still tired it is still working on repairing damage. Being tired is only one symptom.

So basically you need to unlearn bad sleeping habits, learn new ones, repair the damage done by lack of sleep and O2 - this isn't going to happen in 3 nights.

(OK let me try the quote thing again)
Really? I had never heard that there is damage that can be repaired, very interesting. How is the repair occurring, are blood cells getting re-oxygenated or something?

I've been using cpap for about 5 months now and the only thing i can say that has changed is my ahi went from 108 to under 2. My lovely wife says I don't snore anymore but I can't confirm that because I never heard myself snore before I still feel tired as much if not more than pre-cpap.
I do have numerous other health issues so I'm thinking that has a big influence to account for.

My mood has improved. I have seen a link on this forum for a study in which it was possible to measure the heart had begun to recover after only 3 months.

(OK let me try the quote thing again)
Really? I had never heard that there is damage that can be repaired, very interesting. How is the repair occurring, are blood cells getting re-oxygenated or something?

Basically what their saying is your body repairs itself during sleep. Sleep debt is a lot like cash debt, it piles up and needs to be repaid. You use it everyday and regenerate at night while sleeping. After a while, you repay your debt and start feeling great, but until you reach that point, you gotta learn to balance your books.

I am one of those whose results were instantaneous.

After my full night titration, I felt like I could go without sleeping again for at least a week.

surf_rower wrote:
(OK let me try the quote thing again)
Really? I had never heard that there is damage that can be repaired, very interesting. How is the repair occurring, are blood cells getting re-oxygenated or something?

It is usually called healing. No different from a broken bone, it knits up, so do cuts. Many organs can regenerate given time and materials - including the brain (though it often rewires and build new path ways)

Some things immediately, other improvements happened along a range of a few months. Later, when I got a machine with data capability and optimized my apap pressure range, even more improvements. (My doc was cool w my judicious pressure range finding for optimum therapy, btw.)

One thing to remember is that many of the sequelae (patholology from injury, etc) from OSA are from the local and systemic inflammation OSA causes. So, it might be a good idea to work at controlling inflammation. How? I'm not a doc, and I don't advise or prescribe; talk to your doc if you want to address inflammation. That said, I personally found fish oil and vitamin D3 supplements helpful, and I avoid excessive carbs (especially wheat and corn and anything made from them.) Again, check w your doc on this.

Good luck for getting that xpap therapy to do the job for you.


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