Hello Guest, Welcome to Apnea Board !
As a guest, you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use.
To post a message, you must create a free account using a valid email address.

or Create an Account


New Posts   Today's Posts

I Keep Meeting People Who Don't Use Their Machines
#31
RE: I Keep Meeting People Who Don't Use Their Machines
There is no answer to this question and then again there are hundreds. My last appointment was over a year ago, by the time I see my doc it will have been 18 months also my clinic is a 100 mile round trip, theres 2 answers. What about the working guy that is so tired that he's asleep before he has a chance to put is mask on.

Denial, discomfort, noise, happy hour, tiredness etc. The only way to get the message across is for people like us to make others aware of the risks, other than that, theres nothing else you can do.

You've got about as much chance of curing me of madness Too-funny
Post Reply Post Reply
#32
RE: I Keep Meeting People Who Don't Use Their Machines
(06-19-2012, 07:01 PM)Sleeping Beauty Turquoise Wrote: I met a woman at Costco who said she can't use her machine because she was in a car accident a while back and her brain is spaghetti, as she pointed the the back of her head. said something about anxiety and can't sleep and her mind messes with the machine.

For the longest time I could take it or leave it. I was always tired. I snored. And was so lazy about it. I've tried to make a more considerable effort the past year or two and with a new machine it's better because it's so quiet. Even in light of common sense it isn't always easy. I was one of the foolish ones who didn't wear it all the time. But then again I was once that way with my eyeglasses as well.
Post Reply Post Reply
#33
RE: I Keep Meeting People Who Don't Use Their Machines
Hello Everyone, I'm new here. Was dx'd back in July 2012-got machine in Aug 2012. I've read the comments here and want to say that we can't put everyone in the same box and say you will submit to cpap therapy-no deviations, no way-keep your mouth shut and follow orders. I find that it is true that support from the DME-RT drops off very quickly. Difficult to get return calls as I suspect she is hiding behind her voice mail and if a call back is made to me-wants me to call her back rather than answer the question I originally asked. I'm a persistent person but don't think that everyone is that way. Some people just require more support and follow-up then others. I had no idea how serious my problem was and had to do my own research to find out. I was not prepared for how difficult to get started it turned out to be. I may be in the small minority but I believe that support and lots of it may be needed in many cases.
Post Reply Post Reply
#34
RE: I Keep Meeting People Who Don't Use Their Machines
Hello AuntElizabeth and welcome to Apnea Board.

I agree with you that attitudes like thou-must-submit-and-keep-your-mouth-shut are ridiculus. All the research shows that the number one problem with CPAP therapy is that many patients find compliance difficult, so you are by no means in the minority. That same research shows that counseling and support are critical to success. Some health providers understand this and attempt to provide that support, others just want to sell you the equipment so they can collect their money.

This is where Apnea Board comes in. We try to fill in that gap and provide that support network for people like you and me who hit CPAP therapy like a brick wall. We can help you navigate the medical system and figure out ways to help make your therapy successful.

When it comes right down to it, CPAP therapy is a fight for your life. Without it we'll live miserable sleep-deprived lives and die early of a heart attack or stroke. Before I got diagnosed I was going insane with anxiety and headaches. Therapy helped with the anxiety but CPAP therapy was the real cure. I'd had the headaches for 30 years and CPAP therapy appears to be curing them, too. I've been at it for 15 months. The first six weeks was the hardest part. I started to notice some improvement within the first week, but it was miniscule. Since then things have continued to improve at a very slow rate. Those improvements have accumulated, though, and I would never want to go back to the way things were before I started CPAP therapy.

Sleepster

INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
Post Reply Post Reply
#35
RE: I Keep Meeting People Who Don't Use Their Machines
Hi AuntElizabeth and WELCOME! to the forum.
What Sleepster said.
I know how difficult CPAP therapy can be as I watched my mom deal with it. She rebelled against her machine for quite a while, but, to be fair to mom, she had a "brick," (a machine that is not data capable,) and the technology wasn't as good as it is today either. She had a "Respironics DS100S."
Hang in there and best of luck to you with your CPAP therapy.
trish6hundred
Post Reply Post Reply
#36
RE: I Keep Meeting People Who Don't Use Their Machines
Thank you for your kind words of support. I'm glad I found this board. It has the most info that is important to me. I hope that I can be just as supportive of the new people who are struggling and need encouragement. I'm into my six month now and it is getting a little easier to face the restrictions that having a cpap machine mean. No more just tumbling into bed...now there are tasks that need to be completed first.Smile
Post Reply Post Reply
#37
RE: I Keep Meeting People Who Don't Use Their Machines
(02-06-2013, 02:54 PM)AuntElizabeth Wrote: Thank you for your kind words of support. I'm glad I found this board. It has the most info that is important to me. I hope that I can be just as supportive of the new people who are struggling and need encouragement.

Welcome Aunt Elizabeth. I found this forum to be one of the best forums I visit. I can imagine the Moderators have a fairly easy job. This forum has given me the information and tools that the Sleep Techs could not or would not give. My Specialist Physician on the other hand is 110% supportive of my desire to know and understand. He endorses my monitoring of myself and adjustments to fine tune myself to the point that he has given me my next appointment in 2 years as long as I keep monitoring my stats and report any change or instability.

(02-06-2013, 02:54 PM)AuntElizabeth Wrote: I'm into my six month now and it is getting a little easier to face the restrictions that having a cpap machine mean. No more just tumbling into bed...now there are tasks that need to be completed first.Smile

This is my 7th month and I cannot imagine not using the mask to sleep. It means that I sleep through the night and that my wife is not lying there wondering if I am going to start breathing again after an OSA.

A tip on the tasks needed before going to bed... I clean the mask and set it up in the morning after I get up. All I need to do tip a bit of water in the humidifier if I think I will need to use humidification. That means I can just drop into bed and go to sleep without mucking around.



Post Reply Post Reply
#38
RE: I Keep Meeting People Who Don't Use Their Machines


A tip on the tasks needed before going to bed... I clean the mask and set it up in the morning after I get up. All I need to do tip a bit of water in the humidifier if I think I will need to use humidification. That means I can just drop into bed and go to sleep without mucking around.
[/quote]

Thanks for the advise on washing mask first thing. Trying to wrangle mask cushions from the DME is complicated. For instance, I got the new cushion on 1/18 and she's making me wait until 2/20 before I can get another one. But, that's another story.
Post Reply Post Reply


Possibly Related Threads...
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
  csa machines cexer 1 73 03-20-2024, 01:43 PM
Last Post: cexer
  Returning defective machines to Philips Respironics big_dave 5 671 02-04-2024, 02:15 PM
Last Post: big_dave
  Central vs. OA Events: Switching Machines or Tweaking Current CPAP Settings? fjones416 4 498 12-14-2023, 12:28 PM
Last Post: SarcasticDave94
  Difference in Machines SufiMindtricks 8 594 11-26-2023, 11:59 AM
Last Post: HappySailor
  SoClean & other CPAP cleaning machines britincanada 505 83,112 11-12-2023, 12:35 PM
Last Post: Sleepster
Angry [Equipment] KILLER STORY ON PHILLIPS CPAP MACHINES srlevine1 10 2,016 11-03-2023, 08:27 AM
Last Post: DaveL
  Anyone interested in starting an online self-help video chat for people with SA/UARS? JamesD0079 0 345 10-26-2023, 09:56 PM
Last Post: JamesD0079


New Posts   Today's Posts


About Apnea Board

Apnea Board is an educational web site designed to empower Sleep Apnea patients.