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Your Personal CPAP Success Story - Post Here
RE: Your Personal CPAP Success Story - Post Here
Hey Guys,
I'm new around here but I wanted to give a brief sharing of my story. I've snored all of my life. I suffered from frequent migraines, got sick frequently, was depressed and very lethargic. After failing out of college one semester, I decided that I needed to check for sleep apnea once and for all. It turned out that I was having 47 episodes an hour.
That was back in 2009 that I was outfitted with my first machine. I'm just now replacing that machine.
I've slept 99 percent of the nights with it since receiving the machine. I don't know my data really. All I know is that it changed my whole personality (for the better), not to mention got rid of my lethargy and nearly all of my migraines.
Needless to say I'm grateful!
Cheers
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RE: Your Personal CPAP Success Story - Post Here
Hi All,
After a couple of comments and question I guess I should share my "Awakening" moment.

After diagnosis of COPD (too long a heavy smoker) in 2010 I attended pulmonary rehabilitation. This was my introduction to CPAP, expecting "Yuck, that's horrible" responses to a few seconds trial I just said I wanted to take one home! I realised that breathing COULD be easy and I wanted that feeling again. The nursing team recommended me for a sleep study which happened about six months later - just using an Oximeter for one night.

Owning my own Oximeter, I then, in disbelief, began a four week study of my own. Sleeping went in two hour stretches, 30 mins of good sleep followed by 90 minutes of oxygen levels bouncing between 95% and 76% (with 85% being an average). This cycle repeated four times most night giving a theoretical 8 hours sleep.

An exacerbation in late 2015 and a trip to the doctors as my emergency meds weren't having an impact, a new doctor saw me and within minutes was questioning SA. Tests arranged I left.
Three weeks later, a different hospital and a new team ... I left with nasal tubes, gadgets to sense chest movements, oxygen and pulse measuring devices and instructions on how to use them. Retuned them the next day and waited ... couple of weeks and the letter arrived for a CPAP trial.
They weren't happy that id already bought a Resumed 8 which kind of worked but I had some issues with the nasal mask.

Was given a Resumed 9 auto and sent away for a week. Arriving back they confirmed that I did need CPAP but they were concerned that it did not seem to have controlled the SA. they started talking about losing my driving licence! I was handed a Resumed 9 manual version, after some discussion they agreed a full face mask and, close to panic, I left.

My first night with the full face mask was the turning point! From that day on I have slept like a baby, sure I have sores around my nose from a reaction to the silicone, I've tried liners with little success and tonight, for the first time I am trying an Anew material full face mask. For me, the discomfort of a silicon allergy is far better than the on going torture of sleep deprivation.

I can only say that, although its only been going on for a few weeks so far, I have no plans to return to the awful nights of last year and earlier!

That's to all those that post on here, we newbies don't always respond but often listen to the experiences of the long time users so, thank you.
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RE: Your Personal CPAP Success Story - Post Here
Greetings.. as this is my first post here so go easy on me.. Wink I figured I'd start with saying I'm a life-long sleep apnea sufferer but only got help with it about 15 years ago when my wife said my snoring was like a chainsaw. So I found a sleep medicine doctor and got a study. My AHI was about 10 without therapy. I had it explained to me that it was like someone was shaking me about every 10 minutes.

Like so many people who want to be in denial and not realize it's completely treatable I tried those stupid over the counter "stop snoring" cures thinking that will help.

Of course - nothing helped..

Finally my wife forced the issue and told me to talk to the doctor about actually treating the problem. So.. I got a CPAP machine.. It was about the size of shoebox.. and at first I had a hard time getting used to it.. but I stuck with it.. and suddenly..for the first time probably in my life.. I knew what it was like to have actually slept.. It took a while to find the right headgear for me.. but I have that dialed in now. And I'm happier and more awake than I've ever been. So onto the questions:

Quote:1. How is CPAP therapy making a positive difference in your life? What impact has it made upon your health & happiness?

I'm now on my third machine (which is like something out of Star Trek compared to what I've used before) and I can say that CPAP has probably saved my job, marriage and life. Literally my life.. I remember falling asleep at the wheel of my car and going thru a stop sign just waking up at the last moment slamming on the brakes and stopping myself from crashing into someone.

Quote:2. Have you had any problems with CPAP that you solved with a positive outcome? If so, what did you do to solve the problem?

The biggest problem I had honestly was with my old humidifier.. I like sleeping with the temperature lower and that would cause condensation in the tubing.. if I turned onto my back - I drowned myself.. Sad

Fortunately my new CPAP has heated tubing... I had no idea how much that actually helps.. if you use CPAP and you use a humidifier get heated tubing. Totally worth it.
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RE: Your Personal CPAP Success Story - Post Here
(02-20-2012, 11:20 PM)SuperSleeper Wrote: 1. How is CPAP therapy making a positive difference in your life? What impact has it made upon your health & happiness?
My Bloodpressure is down to normal numbers again.
I am not sleepy during daytime anymore.
Before CPAP I had to stop my car on the way home from work and take a nap nearly evary day.

Quote:2. Have you had any problems with CPAP that you solved with a positive outcome? If so, what did you do to solve the problem?
In the beginning I had problems with my nose. Used a lot of spray until I found a doctor who did some surgery to my septum.

2 years ago I became a mouth leaker and I felt sleepy again.
BP went high but I didn´t know why this all happened.
My wife found out what was wrong and I am on a hybrid mask now.

Now AHI is 0,0 every night and BP is back to normal.
I use my ASV machine since 10 years now and I am so used to my mask that I can´t sleep without it.
When I put on my mask I fall to sleep within 2 or 3 minutes.

At the moment I am busy with finetuning to maximize the comfort.

Hermann
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RE: Your Personal CPAP Success Story - Post Here
For my whole life, at least as much as I can recall, I have never woken up refreshed. Morning is a battle getting out of bed. I was so incoherent out of bed that I was incomprehensible for many years. I did a two night sleep study in 2010 which resulted in a diagnosis of sleep hypopnea and a recommendation to lose weight and to avoid alcohol.

Fast forward fix years and I am heavier and drink more (yeah, I know, but that is what it is). I suffer from depression and anxiety attacks, and have a very difficult time concentrating and thinking though complex things at work. I talked to a specialist dentist about a dental device but the changes in bite put me off. I finally convinced myself that I needed to try CPAP. It was a hard decision as sleep with a mask and a noisy machine was not a thought that I relished. I practiced denial until I could no longer.

Tonight will be my fourth night on CPAP and I LOVE it. I have a DreamStation and it is quieter than I could have imagined and the air pressure compensating for my normal shallow breathing is a comfort. This is not at all what I expected. I feared it for so long. I should have done this years ago! I look forward to going to sleep with the mask on. This is shocking to me. The morning anxiety that plagued me is gone, my mood is amazing. I was suicidal on Sunday, dancing and singing on Monday. I realize that is a rather extreme reaction, but that is what happened for me. For the first time in months, if not years, I am at least a minimally functioning human. And I am hoping for more improvements in the future.


1. How is CPAP therapy making a positive difference in your life? What impact has it made upon your health & happiness?
Radically less depression, total lack of anxiety, no dry mouth at night, not choking, coughing, spitting in the morning as my sinus's clear. Better mental function and clarity in the day. Wow!


2. Have you had any problems with CPAP that you solved with a positive outcome? If so, what did you do to solve the problem?

I am one of the lucky ones, I took to it from day one, 8, 8.8, 9.8 hours a night on it so far. Yes, I have a sleep debt to clear.

If you are in any doubt, please, just try it. Just try it for a while. You might not get my instant results but this can be so, so very rewarding.

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RE: Your Personal CPAP Success Story - Post Here
Welcome to Apnea Board, Chill, and thanks for posting your very positive experience. Not everybody experiences instant results, so you are one of the lucky ones. Just beware that sometimes the immediate high is followed by a return to reality, but it's always better than suffering with apnea.
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RE: Your Personal CPAP Success Story - Post Here
My story begins while a was hospitalized for a hip replacement in 2007. The nurse told me that they had noticed I had quit breathing momentarily. I told my doctor and he sent me a to sleep study doctor. I had the sleep study and my AHI was 14/hr. So a CPAP was ordered and I went and picked one up. I was given a full mask. I was having insomnia and I just couldn't tolerate the mask. I tried but ultimately gave up.
Fast forward to my annual physical. My doctor noticed I had varicose veins and said there was some correlation between sleep apnea and varicose veins. Of course, I already knew I had sleep apnea. But it had been 9 years and I thought there must have been strides in the CPAP world. So I had another one done on March 10. And again, was diagnosed with sleep apnea/hypopneas. But this time my AHI was 6 which was less than the first time. Don't know how to explain that. Also my O2 saturation dipped to 74%....NOT GOOD

I picked up my new CPAP machine and nasal pillow mask after going back to the sleep center to have the CPAP machine titrated. It was set at 7. I used it for the first time on March 31 and I slept for 8 hours. I tolerated the nasal pillow very well. No problems with leakage or pillows moving. My events per hour was 0.3...

So Ive been averaging 8 hours of sleep since I starting using it.

So now my question is, how long will it take before i begin to notice a change and how will I know that's it's working? what will I notice?

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Hello
I hadn't been sleeping well for several years before I had two major surgeries, and since then my sleeping pattern went from bad to worse. A year ago I was getting only an hour or two of sleep each night and I was not very happy. I insisted on having a sleep study and finally got a CPAP machine last fall.

Once I began therapy, I slept five to six hours night which was certainly a huge improvement. I complained about having to fight to exhale --- only to be told, "No one else has ever complained about that before." Unsure

I certainly had the feeling that my CPAP machine was far more complex than what the breezy owners manual would lead a patient to believe. About a month ago I managed to hack my way into the setup menu, discovered something called EPR, and after a little research on the internet figured that Expiratory Pressure Relief was exactly what I needed. After tweaking the EPR settings myself, I am now getting seven to eight hours of sleep.

Certainly this is a success, but I feel that it is a success in spite of the medical technicians who seem to want to keep everything a big secret. In my case, the secret the technician was hiding was that she didn't know what EPR was!

This morning I downloaded the complete Clinician Manual for my machine and I hope to discover further ways to get an even better sleep.
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RE: Your Personal CPAP Success Story - Post Here
(04-04-2016, 01:17 PM)iloveoliver Wrote: So now my question is, how long will it take before i begin to notice a change and how will I know that's it's working? what will I notice?

Welcome to Apnea Board. I'm glad you've managed to use your CPAP machine this time. Unfortunately, too many of them are gathering dust in closets simply because people never got over the hurdles.

I suggest you start a new thread in the main forum to ask your questions. Different people respond in different ways and that's the best way to hear about those experiences. We try to keep the back-and-forth discussions limited in this thread.
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.
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RE: Your Personal CPAP Success Story - Post Here
I've at my cpap for over a year now! I've finally found a mask that works for me after an initial struggle with sores on my nose. I also have afib and had an ablation in Jan and so for no episodes since my surgery! Last year was a struggle for me in and out of the hospital 7 times however always bringing my machine with me ! I have never missed a night of cpap and started biking and walking 3 miles again!
Thanks to everyone that helped me in this forum!
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