Why do you use CPAP?

Before I started CPAP I had sleep onset apneas that stopped me from getting to sleep, nocturnal awakenings and panics once I did, multiple trips to the bathroom, elevated blood pressure, morning headaches and daytime fatigue. The additional load on my heart also triggered my a-fib.

Nothing serious.

Except for the a-fib, all of that vanished pretty much immediately when I donned the mask. Quite remarkable.

That's why I use it.

Hi,

I use CPAP so I can sleep. Without it, I am disabled. No sleep means not driving and not able to work. Not able to work means no money. The health benefits, longer life, weight loss, high energy levels are all bonus features, but the core reason is to be able to sleep so I am not disabled.

-john-

I use cpap so that I won't die from OSA. I know I'll die sometime but it won't be from OSA if I can help it.

I also would love to be able to drive without falling asleep. That's another way that this disease could kill me. I just don't want to go out that way or worse take anyone else out with me. I only started a week ago but I am still having this problem. I do have more energy during the day though which is a definite improvement over non cpap. This is a huge plus because I am a Head Start teacher. I need all the energy I can muster to keep up with my kiddos.

Doc said I had sleep apnea and afib. So I did a sleep study.
Mild sleep apnea AHI only 85.
So I started researching here.
I still enjoy my afternoon nap many days don't fell much different. Never noticed my afib but half a dozen doctors have confirmed it.
I gues I am destined to be a hose head for the rest of my long healthy life, weather or not I notice the problems or benefits.

The one unmistakable benefit is my wife has one less thing to yell at me about when I use my new ASV unit.

bwexler wrote:Doc said I had sleep apnea and afib. So I did a sleep study.
Mild sleep apnea AHI only 85.
So I started researching here.
I still enjoy my afternoon nap many days don't fell much different. Never noticed my afib but half a dozen doctors have confirmed it.
I gues I am destined to be a hose head for the rest of my long healthy life, weather or not I notice the problems or benefits.

The one unmistakable benefit is my wife has one less thing to yell at me about when I use my new ASV unit.

Do you mean AHI of 8.5?

Good to know you're using it, but it's unfortunate you're not feeling much different during the day.

ems wrote:No, I haven't had a sleep study on bilevel. My pulmonary sleep specialist didn't think it was necessary.

I'm not exactly a long term user. I stopped using the machine for many months and made the decision sometime last July to use it again. It was sitting here staring me in the face and between my PC telling me that 85% wasn't good (which I really didn't think was thaaaat bad b/c I don't have other health issues) and this forum, I decided to try again.

Also, see last paragraph above.

ems I sympathize. 18 months of continuous use for me, AHI enviable to most (.1 or .2 and always a sleep/wake clear airway 'pause''). I do not feel better than before I started, even with a severe untreated AHI. Much of the time now I feel worse upon waking. I stay with this crazy therapy so that I'm not desaturating all night and making things worse over time.

Because my doctor told me that untreated sleep apnea will kill me and I believed him.
Because I finally can - claustrophobia issues are under control with the Oracle 2 mask.
Because untreated centrals that last more than a minute and Cheyne-Stokes breathing episodes that last 15 to 20 minutes are really not helpful.

sleepstar wrote:Hi everyone.
I'm really curious about the answer to this question, and I think this forum has a great group of people to ask this.

Why do you use CPAP?

Is it because you solely are concerned about the increased likelihood of medical problems, but don't feel a real symptomatic benefit from the machine? That is, you don't feel "less tired" or "more energetic". (or you weren't tired to begin with)

Is it because it stops your snoring (maybe makes your bed partner happy!) and makes you feel better?

Or is it because of both these reasons? That is, it makes you feel better, and you want to take preventative measures.

I ask this mainly because I find that with people I talk to the answers can be very different. For example, my dad has very severe complex sleep apnea, with a history of heart disease, but has more energy than most people I know. He doesn't find a symptomatic benefit from the machine (he was never tired to begin with) but he uses it to reduce the risk of ailments.

If this is too personal to answer I understand

I have a very challenging job involving numbers and pinpoint accuracy. I had such a brain fog, now I find tasks that took me a morning , to take me half an hour. I remember things, I am not fighting through this fog confused and angry with myself

Snoring caused my lack of sleep – I needed to stop snoring to sleep

I’m very fit and healthy with no physical or medical problems, but I was tired and snappy all the time and sleep deprived. In the future this would have no doubt culminated in medical problems or heart problems

More than any of the above I wasn’t living life. I had no energy, everything was an uphill struggle which was only won by sheer will power alone. I managed to do well in my job and even buy and do up a house while sleep deprived, but I was exhausted at a start of a day, more exhausted at the end, firing instructions straight into my brain “you will not stop, you have no choice- keep going” and allowing sheer bloody mindedness to help me achieve. This was not living, this was surviving. I was never happy , relaxed, or content. Always stressed, worried, forgetting things. I felt I was looking in on myself and living a twilight existence. A man in my 30s I felt as if I were in my 60s.

Something was seriously wrong with me – once it got fixed, it was as if the years fell off, and I could do more in half an hour than I could before in half a day. That’s the reason. I’m young, I expect to have the energy of a young person. Sleep apnea took that from me so gradually I had to really do some double-taking to realise that this was the root cause. It deceived me it was just age, I was getting old. Such a liar! Acting like a 70 year old in my 30’s is an illness not a natural course of life expectancy. Once that illness was diagnosed, isolated, and treated. I was young again behaving and conducting my life, enjoying my life, with the energy of other men my age.

I hasten to add, it is also because of my partner, who I love, so she deserves a loving supporting man, not an angry, frustrated, bad tempered nightmare. You must realise that often a CPAP machine is so effective, it can effectively treat two people at once only by one person wearing it!!!

andy5805 wrote:I hasten to add, it is also because of my partner, who I love, so she deserves a loving supporting man, not an angry, frustrated, bad tempered nightmare. You must realise that often a CPAP machine is so effective, it can effectively treat two people at once only by one person wearing it!!!

So true! It's amazing how much better my sister sleeps when I a share a hotel room with her compared to before. She sleeps better, is happier, etc. My machine benefits both of us.

Getting Restful Sleep is the best benefit. Nothing worse than going tired all the time and falling asleep anywhere and everywhere.