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I never forgot my first time...
#11
RE: I never forgot my first time...
My stats, hmmm....

My initial sleep study showed an AHI of 10. My AHI over the past year is 0.93 (nope, that's not a typo). Just call me 'lightweight.' Or a CPAP success story. I tweaked my minimum pressure from 6 to 8 and cut it in half to 0.45. I can get it above 1 very easily. Take an Ambien, AHI=1.5; take a melatonin, AHI=1.1; have a drink or two, AHI=1. The first two do make me feel more rested.

Average leak = 0.54; 95% leaks = 2.4. Average pressure = 8.54, 95% pressure = 9.44. I am not an expert in interpreting the numbers, but they seem very good.

I think PsychoMike and bwexler are right. The improvement is so gradual, I do not notice.

Last month, they sent me new mask and I asked for a nasal pillow. I can tell you that's not for me. Have you ever tried to talk to your significant other with the nasal pillow on and running? I sound like something out of a Wes Anderson movie.

Anyways, I have griped enough, I will go over and post in success stories (I do have good stuff too). Thanks to all in the forum. I don't post much, but I read a lot.

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#12
RE: I never forgot my first time...
Still Waiting !

I'm a new user less then a month and I have never had that feeling your talking of. Will it come ? I sure hope so but right now I don't feel the benefits of the therapy , at least not yet!

Last night my AHI was a low .69 and with numbers like that I thought I would be feeling better but not yet!
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#13
RE: I never forgot my first time...
I think the generality statements such as "are you feeling better?" or "are you sleeping better?" (my doc's favorite) are not necessarily good for us to focus on. I much prefer the more solid ideas such as "is my heart happier now?" or "am I saving water since I don't have to flush the toilet 5 times a night?" That sort of stuff.

For me, I measure my happy place by little things: For instance I don't fall asleep behind the wheel of the car anymore. Now granted, that might seem like a small thing, but it's really kind of nice knowing you can go from point A to point B without killing someone.

So, look to the symptoms themselves. Do you define "feeling better" by not snoring anymore? Certainly those thumps in the side all night can make for sore ribs. What is it for you?
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#14
RE: I never forgot my first time...
(10-16-2014, 01:31 PM)retired_guy Wrote: I think the generality statements such as "are you feeling better?" or "are you sleeping better?" (my doc's favorite) are not necessarily good for us to focus on. I much prefer the more solid ideas such as "is my heart happier now?" or "am I saving water since I don't have to flush the toilet 5 times a night?" That sort of stuff.

For me, I measure my happy place by little things: For instance I don't fall asleep behind the wheel of the car anymore. Now granted, that might seem like a small thing, but it's really kind of nice knowing you can go from point A to point B without killing someone.

So, look to the symptoms themselves. Do you define "feeling better" by not snoring anymore? Certainly those thumps in the side all night can make for sore ribs. What is it for you?

I agree - a question of "Are you sleeping better?" would be meaningless as I Thought I was sleeping well before I got my APAP.

Better questions, for me, would be
= "How is your energy level or stamina?"
= "Are you dreaming while sleeping?"
= "Can you do things you could not do previously? Exercise more?"
= "Does your cat get on the bed while you are sleeping?" (I also have Periodic Limb Movement Disorder which is MUCH less with my APAP)

Those, for me, are MUCH more telling and important.
Evpraxia in the Pacific Northwest USA
Diagnosed: 44 AHI when supine, O2 down to 82%
Treated since 20 Sept 2014:: 0.7 AHI, Settings 7-15, EPR on Full Time at Level 3
Better living through CPAP/APAP machines!
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#15
RE: I never forgot my first time...
That toilet thing is a big deal for some of us.

I was getting up about 5 times per night for the bathroom.

As soon as I started CPAP it immediately went down to once per night (rarely twice) and most of the time this was due to waking up with some other issue (stopped nose at first.)

Now, 9 months in, I regularly sleep through the night without getting up to go at all. Some times long hours (more than 9 on weekends perhaps.)
Sweet Dreams,

HerbM
Sleep study AHI: 49 RDI: 60 -- APAP 10-11 w/AHI: 1.5 avg for 7-days (up due likely to hip replacement recovery)

"We can all breathe together or we will all suffocate alone."
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#16
RE: I never forgot my first time...
(07-28-2014, 10:29 PM)zonk Wrote:
(07-28-2014, 06:51 PM)Stargazer Wrote: Would love to read more info on "flow limitation." Any links that you know of to further explain the implications? Very interested in this topic!
Sleep disordered breathing (SDB)
http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php..._%28SDB%29

What is flow limitation?
http://www.resmed.com/au/clinicians/comp...clinicians

That is a great video, should be required for everyone to see it. I knew about how it worked but that really was a great kindergarten basic 101 explanation, simply awesome.

As to the WOW! feeling; I had it the night of my sleep study after they fitted me for the mask. I am 7 or 8 months in now and have had it about 10 times. It has never fitted with having a 0 ahi or any specific numbers on my data, just an overall good nights rest and life going smoothly. I think the WOW factor is based on more than just the machine doing it's job.

If everyone thinks alike, then someone isn't thinking.
Everyone knows something, together we could know everything.
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#17
RE: I never forgot my first time...
Im about 2 months into cpap. First week it was wow every morning. 2nd week I wanted to sleep all the time for about four days so I slept about 10 hrs every nite for that four days plus a nap on two of em. I think my body was beat to death by SA for years and years and when it finally could rest it wanted a lot of it.

After that its been pretty steady. I wake up and Im like, well, awake!! Not half awake. Not somewhere in between sleep and awake and feeling like a dead person. Just eyes open and get up feeling good.

I was pretty far gone though. Heart messed up. Memory was shot and I do mean shot. Like not really sure where in the house I was for a few hours. Couldnt comprehend much I was told for about 2 hours or three after getting up and grouchy as an old bear.

I think WOW has a lot to do with just how bad your body has been slammed from SA and to what extent. If you have it but its caught in less than say 20 years or so before its got you feeling like a walking corpse all the time the difference may not feel so dramatic and take longer to notice.

If however youve been zombified before its treated then the difference in being strangled to death all nite and actually being able to breathe all nite is pretty drastic even after one nite. And honestly I think once you are feeling better for a while it as another put it becomes the new normal to you.

Just me guessing but seems to how it working out for me as far as WOW goes.
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#18
RE: I never forgot my first time...
I still remember my first time (it's been close to 10 years). I was sleeping up to 20 hours a day before my sleep study. I had a split night test--1/2 measuring for apnea, 1/2 titrating a pressure. The next morning I felt wonderful! I think I was tested at 80 apneas/hour. Pressure 16.

Of course, it then took almost a month to actually get a machine. Once I got it I think I missed about 4 nights since. I lost 50 lbs, and my pressure dropped to 8. About a month ago, I got rid of my brick, and got a new APAP machine.

I also take modifinal (provigil) for remaining excess daytime sleepiness, for what its worth.

To you newbies, hang in there. Once you find a mask that works for you, your life should get better...

Jim
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#19
RE: I never forgot my first time...
When I had my sleep test they turned oxygen on me..because I dropped to 84. So maybe they had oxygen on you. That's why you can't get that feeling again. Your nit getting the pure co2.?
I am getting frustrated with the burning and sneezing and water in my hose..so thanks for letting us new people see there is hope.
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