Your Personal CPAP Success Story - Post Here

[Peach25]

I was having problems with low oxygen through the day, which got to the point where if I exerted myself (including standing up) I would black out and realise what happened once I woke up on the floor a short time after. This was due to significant clear airway apnoea (aka central sleep apnoea) disorder…whenever I fell asleep, I would not breathe - even with my airway open and clear of obstruction (in all sleeping positions). 
Just for the sake of curiosity, I have partial diaphragm paralysis (I am normal body weight and build, bordering on athletic), due to a combination of traumatic nerve damage and degenerative autoimmune disease damaging peripheral nerve tissue. However, this condition was not recognised by many sleep specialists - even to the point I was told I had Munchausens disorder (!!) and told reproachfully to go home and “have a cup of tea and settle down”. 
Despite this, I didn’t give up and eventually a very smart sleep specialist saw I was very unwell and prescribed non invasive ventilation device which instantly made me feel like I wasn’t about to pass away each night from suffocation. 
I have ipap max of 35, which is perfect (sometimes I top out, but not often - when this happens, I up the ipap max for a while and then take it down again…my machine max setting is 40cm H2O), however the bilevel nature of the volume delivery (680ml) on a timed rate once I fall asleep (12 breaths per min) took me a couple of months to really settle in to. 
For the last 8 years or so I feel as if I’ve been given an extended ticket to life, because I have a machine that takes over the job of breathing for me while I go ahead and get some sleep. 
Mask fit is essential, though, and I mostly use good fitting, super clean (cleanliness affects adherence of silicone seals) pillows as a stomach sleeper (vent patients get better inflation face down, which translates into better blood oxygen/CO2 transfer), combined with a homemade custom chin and mouth strap (reducing cheek inflation and eliminating most if not all bypass mouth leak) and mouth guard to protect my teeth from clenching. Pillows and chin/mouth strap are easier for me at high pressure as otherwise I have lots of cheek inflation leading to full face mask dislodgement and resultant high leak. 
I only use ffm’s when I am in hospital and require supplemental oxygen (which can be integrated into my machine). 
I use the bed head to strategically position the tube (heated and wrapped for insulation and quietness on the bed head) so it doesn’t drag from the side of the bed, instead it drapes from above me, so I can turn my face side to side without my mask pulling off. 
And I use a bacterial filter in between the end of the tube and my mask tube to remove any impurities (I also have bronchiectasis), so the air feels gentle, pure and fresh. 
Without this intervention, I pretty much wouldn’t be around today, so becoming compliant on my machine was a must…having and keeping a positive attitude regarding therapy allows your body time to accept it, and then you start to sleep without being disturbed by the equipment. I only wake up if the pressure is maxed out for prolonged periods now, and all I need to do is touch the ramp button which I have set for 5 mins, and I go straight back to sleep. 
In Australia, these machines cost upwards of $10,000AUD, however I have saved up and bought two, with backup battery modules for both, so I am confident that I’ll be safe and sound through the night. Nothing is worth more than your health, and a good night sleep means everything

[jpthuot03]

2020 -2021 were some of the most difficult times of my life, not just COVID but for personal reasons. In 2021 I realized that I was groggy all the time, and was napping 2-3 times a day even at work, just to make it to bed time. Around the same time my son started telling me he could hear me snoring from the other room. I got a snore-recording app on my phone and was horrified to hear what sounded like a chainsaw starting over and over.

Got a sleep test done in October 2021, had an AHI of 23. Got a loaner ResMed AS10. Started with the nasal type masks (pillow etc) but found that I tend to sleep with my mouth open, so was constantly being woken by a rush of air out my mouth (very disconcerting!). Ended up using a full face mask (F20) and haven't looked back.

Once the trial was up I got a great deal on a ResMed AS11. It has changed my life. The only adjustment I made was just recently, when I realized that I was struggling with mask fit and leakage, so using the measuring card I could see I was right between M and L sizes. I went up to a L and it has made a huge difference.

I wake rested, I'm much more mentally alert and I'm also not getting the weird achiness in my chest that I had been over the last year. So glad I'm on CPAP

[JohnnyH]

On my 6th year of using a CPAP machine. I still sleep through the night without scaring my wife to death with my breathing stopping. Apnea Board and its users helped me in the beginning and I still thank them today. I replaced my machine at 5 years with another Resmed Airsense 10 with Autoset. The first machine still works fine but I found a sale and bought it. New users have found the right place to gain info for starting out or any point along your path. It's nice to sleep.

[ricknfli]

I normally do not respond to requests for donations. But for the Apnea Board I was glad to contribute this year what I can. 

This group has made a fantastic difference in my life.

When I developed complex sleep apnea with both central and obstructive pauses, using the what I learned here I was able to document exactly what was happening and show the results to my pulmonologist. He was then able to get me certified for an AirCurve 10 ASV machine.  I now sleep frequently with 0 apneas.

Thank you Apnea Board!!

Best wishes,
ricknfli

[AZGuy]

I've been on a CPAP machine since the early 1990s. As another mentioned, I've had Sleep Apnea since I was a kid. It's just that no one knew what to call it besides snoring. I got started on CPAP because my wife wasn't sleeping, afraid I wouldn't keep breathing. My doctor sent me to a sleep specialist, who did a home study, then a sleep study at a local hospital and on the CPAP equipment. The equipment was tough to get used to. Air leaks blowing in my eyes, zerbit air leaks around the mask, etc. But, I stuck it out. My wife was finally getting some sleep because I kept breathing. 
I've gone from the noisiest machines you could imagine to the quietest. It's been a long adventure but well worth it. Now, I couldn't sleep without my CPAP machine-literally. I may doze, but not sleep.

[Peach25]

@AZGuy: those early machines were incredible - I remember doing some training in the early days of being a sleep tech where the trainer described early testing methods using a pool pump of sorts, modified to blow at a controlled set rate to test if air pressure into the airway would help people breathe at night. The makeshift mask was glued on each night of testing, and the pump was so loud it was kept on the other side of the test lab wall with the tube piped through to the lab room to try to minimise the noise! Something which I also found interesting was in the ResMed head office/manufacturing plant in NSW (Au)…they have a little place aside the main assembly factory that is filled with the oldest to newest machines they’ve ever made to treat sleep apnoea - the technology has changed a huge amount since those early days! Initially I worked with some S7 machines, and even earlier on the odd occasion.
Your post reminded me of the very early days of emerging treatment and of how much things have changed to today

[CorruptAlligator]

Something I notice is quite a few AZ people. Is it because the dry weather?

[Jonah]

Hey,
 
I was diagnosed over 3 years ago. Before that, I depend on the medications for heart, lungs and high blood pressure .  I am now off of all the medicine and am a new man.  Surprising that all of that could be fixed with a CPAP machine. Very thankful.

[Jonah]

HEy,
You are right. Without good sleep, no one can be healthy and happy.

[Romany Rambler]

I was first diagnosed  in 1998 after spending a night at the sleep clinic at Bowen Hospital, Wellington, New Zealand. As an interesting aside the clinic was sponsored by NZ Rail.
My first machine was an Horrizon and was quite quickly changed to an F&P HC 220. This machine I took to USA, Australia and UK and performed faultlessly. I have just recently been issued with a F&P Sleepstyle machine which I am still coming to grips with. I have also purchased a Sometic Transcennd travel machine which I use in our Caravan (trailerhome).
My use of cpap has been transforming. Before diagnosis it was not unusual for me to fall asleep during meetings after midday. Now I can't sleep properly at night without it. I don't use any form of humidification, I dont like it. Now provided I am active during the day I don't need a daily nap. I use both a nasel mask and in the van nasel pillows.
I think these are amazing machines that are in my experience very reliable. My HC220 had 16,000hours on the meter when it stopped going.
Hope this is helpful, it has been life changing.

Cheers
Robin