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My experience
#1
My experience
I am just over a month on CPAP and I have to say that my results to date are less than stellar.

1. daily abdominal pain
2. extreme sleepiness during the day
3. dry mouth (even with a chinstrap)
4. condensation in mask
5. dry eyes (I must admit I had dry eyes before CPAP)
6. mask leaks some nights although not severe according to the info provided by my machine
7. nasal stuffiness/headache

Benefits to date

1. I don't make funny noises during the night so my husband sleeps better.

I'm seeing the respiration therapist this week and will probably go to a full face mask. Hopefully that will clear up some problems. I did ramp up my humidity level last night and my head is a bit better today. Any hopes for improvement?
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#2
RE: My experience
(02-15-2014, 10:40 AM)Sandra_ON Wrote: I am just over a month on CPAP and I have to say that my results to date are less than stellar.

1. daily abdominal pain

DO YOU KNOW WHAT IS CAUSING YOUR ABDOMINAL PAIN? DID YOU HAVE THIS BEFORE STARTING YOUR CPAP THERAPY?

2. extreme sleepiness during the day

DID YOU HAVE THIS BEFORE STARTING CPAP THERAPY? THERE IS NO TELLING HOW LONG YOU HAD OSA SO IT MAY TAKE A WHILE FOR YOU TO HEAL FROM HAVING THIS FOR A LONG TIME WITH NO TREATMENT. IF YOU DIDN'T HAVE THIS, MAYBE YOUR PRESSURE IS NOT HIGH ENOUGH YET. I WOULD TALK WITH YOUR DOC ABOUT THIS

3. dry mouth (even with a chinstrap)

YOU COULD ADJUST YOUR HUMIDIFIER MORE AND SEE IF THAT HELPS. YOU COULD ALSO TRY BIOTENE SPRAY OR BIOTENE GUM (THEY HAVE TOOTHPASTE AND MOUTHWASH TOO THAT WE USE DAILY AND IT HELPS A LOT WITH DRY MOUTH...AS ALWAYS, CONSISTENCY IN USE HELPS AND YMMV)

4. condensation in mask

PUTTING YOUR HUMIDIFIER HOSE OVER THE HEADBOARD OR HANGING IT ON THE WALL MAY HELP WITH THIS. CLIMATE LINE TUBING IF YOU DON'T USE ONE MAY ALSO HELP.

5. dry eyes (I must admit I had dry eyes before CPAP)

USING NASAL PILLOWS PROBABLY ISN'T THE CAUSE OF THIS. EYE DROPS AND/OR EYE PLUGS IN YOUR TEAR DUCTS CAN HELP. YMMV

6. mask leaks some nights although not severe according to the info provided by my machine

7. nasal stuffiness/headache

HOSE PLACEMENT, NOSE SPRAYS, TIME TAKEN TO HEAL UNTREATED OSA AND HUMIDIFIER ADJUSTMENTS.

Benefits to date

1. I don't make funny noises during the night so my husband sleeps better.

I'm seeing the respiration therapist this week and will probably go to a full face mask. Hopefully that will clear up some problems. I did ramp up my humidity level last night and my head is a bit better today. Any hopes for improvement?

I am sure that others will have other suggestions. Keep with your CPAP therapy. there is always hope for improvement and for most of us, we do see a LOT of improvement. It just can take some time for our body to heal from not being treated for OSA. Much success in your therapy. hopefully, the RT will listen and help you.
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#3
RE: My experience
Hi Sandra_ON,
I'm sorry you are having a rough time with CPAP therapy right now. It can take some time to get used to but I encourage you to stick with it.
Hang in there and others will have suggestions to help you.
Best of luck and don't give up on CPAP therapy, it does get better.
trish6hundred
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#4
RE: My experience
Have you been checking your data in sleepyhead? Do you know what your AHI has been each day? On a bad night when you wake up with a headache, what is the data telling you?

I am roughly coming in on a month as well. I check my data daily. So far it's been good, I did wake up one morning with a killer headache and I checked my sleepyhead data right away. My AHI went through the roof in a short time period right before I was woken up. I have now bookmarked this and printed it out and am circling the 20 events that happened in almost a 30 minute time period and causes me to wake up with a headache to show my sleep doctor at my next appointment.

Could be I rolled on to my back, but I remember waking up on my side. Anyways, tracking your data can really help if you are having a tough time.



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#5
RE: My experience
[quote='SnuffySleeper' pid='58988' dateline='1392482158']
Have you been checking your data in sleepyhead? Do you know what your AHI has been each day? On a bad night when you wake up with a headache, what is the data telling you?

My AHI yesterday when I had the headache was 1.7. It's usually .2 to 1.2. I don't use a software program to check, just what's on my Resmed machine.
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#6
RE: My experience
(02-15-2014, 11:55 AM)Sandra_ON Wrote: My AHI yesterday when I had the headache was 1.7. It's usually .2 to 1.2. I don't use a software program to check, just what's on my Resmed machine.

AHI is a general overview, but what I have seen is the specific singular event data is what tells the true story. Every time I wake up feeling a little heavy I notice a cluster of events (for me they are CA events) right before waking up even if my AHI is for example 1.8. Means everything was fine till I hit all those events that woke me up and waking up stopped the events which lowered the AHI.

Anyways, I just say this so that you can help your doctor pin point what is going on to help his diagnosis and his treatment decision. Don't want to advocate self diagnosis, but just trial and error by looking at the data after I changed something in my routine (changing my exercise time, what I drink before bed, what time I go to bed..etc..etc..) has helped me immensely.

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#7
RE: My experience


1. daily abdominal pain

DO YOU KNOW WHAT IS CAUSING YOUR ABDOMINAL PAIN? DID YOU HAVE THIS BEFORE STARTING YOUR CPAP THERAPY?

[b]I have many food sensitivities so I'm not new to abdominal pain but I did have it mostly under control prior to CPAP[/b]
[/font][/font]
2. extreme sleepiness during the day

DID YOU HAVE THIS BEFORE STARTING CPAP THERAPY? THERE IS NO TELLING HOW LONG YOU HAD OSA SO IT MAY TAKE A WHILE FOR YOU TO HEAL FROM HAVING THIS FOR A LONG TIME WITH NO TREATMENT. IF YOU DIDN'T HAVE THIS, MAYBE YOUR PRESSURE IS NOT HIGH ENOUGH YET. I WOULD TALK WITH YOUR DOC ABOUT THIS

Yes, I often had daytime sleepiness and I haven't seen much of a change.
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