Your Personal CPAP Success Story - Post Here

[sarm2005]

I believe I have UARS based on a recent WatchPAT study (AHI: 4.8, 12.4) and another WatchPAT study from around 2 years ago (AHI: 3.7, RDI: 14.2).

After my WatchPAT study from 2 years ago, I was given a APAP, but didn't have any success with it and eventually gave up. I'm now trying again using a BiPAP, still in the process of titrating it.

I'm wondering if anyone has rough idea on the success rate of using BiPAP to treat UARS?

[Gideon]

IMHO yes but it takes a manual read of the flow rate for flow Limits. And be aware that UARS may or may not be a cause of your symptoms. You will not remove all flow Limits. I know of no machine that sufficiently flags FL well enough to manage UARS.

[SakimaStorm]

Hello all,

I've been browsing the forum for awhile but just joined today.

My story ...

After suffering with bad sleep for about 10 years (waking every few hours, exhausted all the time, needing daily naps, BP high for no reason) I finally found a doctor who said this was not a normal side effect of aging (which all my previous doctors had said). He referred me to a pulmonologist who specialized in sleep disorders. That doctor was very knowledgeable, explained what he suspected was happening, and referred me for a sleep study. Sure enough, moderate to severe sleep apnea. He set me up with a supplier and I received my PAP device a few weeks later.

Due to Covid-19, my visit for setting up my machine was virtual ... uggg. I ended up with the mask way too tight the first night and as it turns out, the machine hadn't been set up correctly by the DME provider. I almost gave up but after research and talking to a friend who also has OSA, I got the mask and machine adjusted to a comfortable level.

It has been a work in progress. Using SleepyHead (and then OSCAR) I've been able to look at my data and using the suggestions on this forum, made nice tweaks that really helped. So grateful OSCAR runs on Linux. (Big Thank You to the development team for continuing to support Linux, especially Debian Linux).

My AHI is now between 0.0 and 0.4 which is a far cry from nearly 30.

Still waking every couple of hours even with such a low AHI but have been seeing improvements as time has gone by and also just tweaked my settings after reading the posts about Flow Limit. And ... last night I slept a little over 6 hours straight. Have only done that twice in almost a decade. Can't begin to describe how good I feel today.

Another thing to note regarding mouth taping. I started doing this before I got my CPAP even though I have always been a nose breather. A little piece of tape was all that was needed to keep my mouth shut while sleeping. BUT ... with a PAP device blowing air, I found that I needed to tape my entire mouth as the pressurized air leaked from the sides of my mouth while in REM sleep. Spent months trying different masks, and always got huge mask leaks during the night till I noticed when waking that the air was coming out of the side of my mouth and not from the mask. Tried taping across my whole mouth and the next morning my mask leak was 0 ... far better than 16 to 20. And all that time I spent chasing mask leaks when it was actually a mouth leak causing the problem.

Gratitude for this forum and all who contribute. I feel like I am getting my life back after suffering for so many years.

Sakima S.

[OpalRose]

Welcome to Apnea Board Sakima!  

Thanks for posting your success story!  

Even though your AHI is low, you may be experiencing other things that can cause you to wake up every few hours, like Flow Limitations or Reras.  

You can start your own thread here in the Main Forum and post a daily chart from OSCAR to get more advice.  
Also ask for tips from other members on how they handle those pesky mouth leaks.

[Dormeo]

You’ve done great! Solving mouth leaks, addressing flow limitations, and getting, FINALLY, a good night’s sleep.

I hope you’re now on track for sustained good results. There will always be some meh nights, but I hope you’ll mostly be getting those good ones.

[josedeca]

I started using cpap with the Phillips dreamwear oronasal mask. I couldn't get good AHI, as the mask fit was precarious. The mask seller had recommended oronasal to me, as I reported breathing through my mouth.
As the mask was damaged, I decided to risk a gelatinous nose mask. Ah, it was a good bet. The mask fits better and I now get much better rates, always below 8.0.
I set a minimum pressure of 5.0 and a maximum of 9.0 and I don't find myself breathing through my mouth at night. I think I breathed through my mouth due to apnea obstruction.
Now I sleep more peacefully, I don't find myself waking up from snoring before falling asleep.
The gel nasal mask is very inexpensive and is compatible with oronasal dreamwear Phillips. If you are afraid to use this mask, I assure you that it is very good for those who do not need high pressures - maybe even a value of 10.0. The exit of the tube through the top of the head is great - you don't sleep "huddled" with the tube and don't even feel like you are using cpap.
I'm also pleased with the Phillips dreamstation station, silent and efficient, with a great humidifier.
Anyway, I think now, after a lot of insistence, I think I've found a great cpap configuration.
Greetings.
Comecei a usar cpap com a máscara oronasal dreamwear da Phillips. Não conseguia bons IAH, pois o ajuste da máscara era precário. O vendedor da máscara havia me indicado a oronasal, pois eu relatava respirar pela boca.
Como a máscara danificou-se, resolvi arriscar uma nasal gelatinosa. Ah, foi uma boa aposta. A máscara se ajusta melhor e obtenho agora índices bem melhores, sempre abaixo de 8.0.
Ajustei pressão mínima de 5.0 e máxima de 9.0 e não me pego respirando pela boca à noite. Acho que eu respirava pela boca devido à obstrução da apneia.
Agora durmo mais tranquilo, não me pego acordando pelo ronco antes de pegar no sono.
A máscara nasal com gel é bem barata e é compatível com a oronasal dreamwear Phillips. Se você tem receio de usar essa máscara, asseguro que ela é muito boa para quem não precisa de altas pressões - talvez até o valor de 10.0. A saída do tubo pela parte superior da cabeça é ótima - você não dorme "abraçado" com o tubo e nem sente que está utilizando cpap.
Também estou satisfeito com a estação dreamstation da Phillips, silenciosa e eficiente, com ótimo umidificador.
Enfim, acho que agora, depois de muita insistência, acho que encontrei uma ótima configuração de cpap.
Saudações.

[Dormeo]

Josedeca, congratulations on finding a mask that really works for you! That can be the most difficult step in the whole process.

It would be nice to see your AHI lower. Any chance you could use the Oscar software and post a chart in a new thread so the experts here could give you some advice?

[OpalRose]

josedeca,
Your new thread is here:

http://www.apneaboard.com/forums/Thread-...apy-Thread

[Dormeo]

Thanks, OpalRose!

[happydreams]

After years of suffering terrible headaches and lower productivity than I thought I was capable of, it seems that I may be worthy of joining this thread.  It was a long journey, more than a decade on two machines, one a brick and the second an APAP that just didn't make me feel ok.  It made the insurance company feel great though, and all the people that fed off that non-patient centered system.  The lower productivity ended up me losing my job, but it was all for the best, because I got to fix this decades long problem.

I reached my nadir last year and thought maybe, just maybe, it didn't have to be this way.  This board and its outstanding members and advisors gave helpful suggestions that steered me in the right direction.  At times I fought the suggestions and perhaps was more ornery than I had right to be, but the advice I received here has turned my life around.  Although some were not positive that I would benefit from bi-level, a ResMed VAuto has given me my life back.  I bought the VAuto second hand, and it was an amazing investment in my health.  Please, please everyone, if you are in a similar situation, scrape up the money, eat beans and PB&J for a year, if necessary, and get the proper machine for the job.

The titration road was much longer than I thought it would be.  You see, my data is really noisy, by that I mean from day to day, the variations are really large.  The variation was large enough to obscure any subtle trends.  I eventually had to resort to statistical data smoothing to make any sense out of the data.  I had an initial diagnosis of micro-arousals (UARS) in my first sleep report, so AHI doesn't tell the whole story.  Consequently, I needed to drive my AHI very low to feel any better.  By doing this, the other sleep disruptions tend to decrease as well, or at least they do for me.  I found titration required a great deal of patience because a single night's results meant nothing.  My body has a short term response to the titration changes AND a long term response.  This is so totally unlike what the medical establishment does - wham, bam, give me your money on the way out the sleep lab door.  What really matters for your health and sleep is how you are doing for the whole month, or quarter, or year.

So for this last 32 days my average AHI was 0.77 and it is still trending downward.  The standard deviation is 0.31, which would be better if it were a lower value, but hey, that's life.  Two weeks after I made the change, there was an additional downward break point in the smoothed curve.  So far the curve shows no sign of leveling off, although I am sure it will.  Of the apnea components, hypopnea is the largest component.  The hypopnea index is 0.52.  I haven't been able to lower it significantly in about 6 months.  Oh I can reduce it some, but then the other components jump up.

I'm so happy about being able to post in this thread

It was such a long road.  I wanted to quit, but I didn't.  I told myself, Quitters don't get better.  If you take control of your therapy, and monitor your data, and make methodical changes, you will improve.  It may take longer than you want, but the results are worth it.  Two days ago, I was up early.  I was cheerful, so much so that I had a big smile plastered across my face.  My wife looked at me and stated, "you are feeling better, I can see it."   She's right, I do feel a whole lot better, and I have this forum to thank for this terrific gift.

Now I can have Happy Dreams!