Newbie - How Long to Feel Better with CPAP use
Hey all,
New CPAP user here and I was wondering what to expect in terms of feeling better with regular use of my new machine. I had an AHI of 18 when I had my sleep study and have been on my machine for 7 days now. Looking at my data, I've been in the .9 - 1.5 range every night but the first two and am feeling less fatigued than I was before starting my therapy.
I've heard that it can take up to 3 months to feel the full effects of therapy and was wondering what everyone elses experience was.
Also...thanks to everyone on this board. You've already answered a lot of my questions. I was pretty apprehensive about strapping a mask on every night but I seem to have taken to it pretty quickly.
RE: Newbie - How Long to Feel Better with CPAP use
Some folks like me come up the first morning feeling like WOW Ive come back from the dead. Then we chase to get that feeling again but usually dont. We just feel a new normal which doenst feel like being one of the walking dead.
Others like my wife notice things more slowly. First morning her pulse rate was normal at 70 bpm instead of her before cpap every morning of over 100 bpm. Then she began getting more energy in spite of some other things like flu and a few other health issues. And not taking daytime naps or falling asleep in her chair and just feeling worn out all the time.
Then lately shes started dreaming again.
Some get jazzed up real fast others take a while and the changes are more gradual. Feeling less fatigued is a good start.
RE: Newbie - How Long to Feel Better with CPAP use
And, some folks never really feel anything~! But that doesn't mean the machine isn't helping, not by a long shot. OSA (may) take many years for the damage caused by it to show up (like in me) as heart issues and the like. If your OSA is not too severe, and was caught before major damage has occurred, the effects of your CPAP may simply be better health with less issues.
Black vs white, dead vs alive, etc is how it went for me from day one, but my OSA was so very severe. Sadly, nothing to really brag about, but still, after all these years, I am one of my sleep doc's prime examples  ?
*I* am not a DOCTOR or any type of Health Care Professional. My thoughts/suggestions/ideas are strictly only my opinions.
"Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you. Jesus Christ and the American Soldier. One died for your Soul, the other for your Freedom."
RE: Newbie - How Long to Feel Better with CPAP use
I started feeling better after the 1st night , but I'd say a week before I was really starting to get the hang of it, I learned this board has a lot of knowledge (way more than my sleep Dr.) and all you need to do is read others comments and before you know it you become more comfortable with this whole process.
If something isn't right try something else, biggest thing was my mask, I started improving after trying a different mask on my second week. I'm positive I may even find something better, but for now I'm happy.
Happy Sleeping 
Mr. Van Winkle
RE: Newbie - How Long to Feel Better with CPAP use
I knew it was going to be a deal changer the first morning, when I woke after about 4 hrs of sleep alert and headache, body ache free, and in realization that for the first time since I stopped wetting the bed as a child I had not gotten up to pee. Then about an hour later I started craving sleep. This was the whole first week with that hour stretching a little longer every day.
It has only been 5 weeks, but I sense the emergence of that new normal Ghost was talking about, however I have battled sinus issues, a cold, an upper respiratory infection, and plugged ears from a jet ride so there has been some interference with that new normal. In addition, I still feel a strong craving to sleep. I am hoping that this will subside some and that various broken things will begin to repair; like fasting blood sugars, blood pressure, tachycardia, etc....
RE: Newbie - How Long to Feel Better with CPAP use
I started feeling better on day 1, a year later I still feel better. I felt the best WOW after my first day, I have never felt that WOW again but I feel way way better than I did this time last year.
If everyone thinks alike, then someone isn't thinking.
Everyone knows something, together we could know everything.
RE: Newbie - How Long to Feel Better with CPAP use
(12-19-2014, 04:27 PM)Sodbuster Wrote: I've heard that it can take up to 3 months to feel the full effects of therapy and was wondering what everyone elses experience was.
I've heard that it can take up to 3 months before patients report an improvement. But that sounds like a clinical answer to me.
I started noticing improvements within the first month on some days. Like you, I was more tired than before on most days. The hose, mask, and pressure were interfering with my sleep.
Within three months I was a new person. Functioning was no longer drudgery. I was thinking clearer and getting along with others much better. Anxiety and headaches were subsiding.
Things have continued to improve since and I'm still noticing improvement three years later.
Just keep wearing the mask every time you sleep, all the time you are sleeping. They call that compliance and it's the most important thing to do. Secondly, watch your leak rate. The third thing is, and I see you're already doing it, watch your AHI.
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.
RE: Newbie - How Long to Feel Better with CPAP use
I just started 2 days ago and same as Galactus above, after getting over 6 hours of sleep on my 1st night I woke up feeling great!
I usually sleep till 9-10AM and dont eat til noon but after a good sleep I had, I was up @ 7AM ready for breakfast.
Today ( day2)after 7 hours of sleep my neck hurts a bit so I may need to look in to changing pillow etc, other than that I am glad I've started using my S9. Wife says I had stopped snoring too 
As I am typing this, I don't remember being so awake and fresh in a very looong time!
RE: Newbie - How Long to Feel Better with CPAP use
(12-20-2014, 11:36 AM)Destin Wrote: I just started 2 days ago and same as Galactus above, after getting over 6 hours of sleep on my 1st night I woke up feeling great!
I usually sleep till 9-10AM and dont eat til noon but after a good sleep I had, I was up @ 7AM ready for breakfast.
Today ( day2)after 7 hours of sleep my neck hurts a bit so I may need to look in to changing pillow etc, other than that I am glad I've started using my S9. Wife says I had stopped snoring too
As I am typing this, I don't remember being so awake and fresh in a very looong time!
I bet the sore neck is because you are not moving around in bed as much as you used to.
And, like you I was too tired to eat til I had been up for a few hours - which was one of the 'proofs' to the sleep doc. If I forced myself to eat upon first waking, I would either be sick, or lose it within moments. No dreams ever remembered, would drop off within minutes (a skill I thought) anywhere, anytime...
*I* am not a DOCTOR or any type of Health Care Professional. My thoughts/suggestions/ideas are strictly only my opinions.
"Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you. Jesus Christ and the American Soldier. One died for your Soul, the other for your Freedom."
RE: Newbie - How Long to Feel Better with CPAP use
Really the bottom line is SA can shorten your lifespan, and cause some very nasty medical problems along the way.
If you felt only slightly better I have to come believe that it may be that you caught your SA before alot of medical things could get messed up. Heart issues, dying brain cells, etc etc and on and on. In that case count yourself lucky and stay on treatment so you dont have to do like I some others here have done. Get messed up pretty bad before figuring out what was causing most if not all of it.
JMO though
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