Your Personal CPAP Success Story - Post Here

[Diane1048]

My story:

I had to have major dental work done under sedation and the dental team noticed that I had obstructive Apnea. (Although I had suspected that this may be the case – I had no idea that I would eventually be diagnosed with severe sleep apnea.)

The dentist urged me to have a Sleep Study done which I did. Went to the Sleep Screen clinic and was wired up so I could go home and sleep in my own bed and environment. I looked like a suicide bomber!!

The results came back that there was significant REM related obstructive sleep hyponoea/apnoea with desaturation to a nadir of 73% amongst other stats which I am still learning to understand what they mean.

Had a consultation with the sleep physician (who is booked out 12 months in advance) however I was fast tracked to see her earlier than that – thank goodness! She spent at good hour and a half with me explaining everything to me and getting my health history. Next it was back to the Sleep Screen clinic to be fitted out with my CPAP machine – they were fantastic and demonstrated everything then sent me off with my machine with an appointment to come back in two weeks time to see how I was doing, however I was to call any time if I was experiencing difficulties.

After 5 days, I have to say that I have adjusted reasonably well I think. The nasal pillows are comfortable and the auto settings means that I can fall asleep on a lower setting (sometimes I wonder it is working until I take it off and can feel the stream of air at 4).

My first night was a bit weird with me dreaming getting used to it as was I was getting used to it while at the top level of 11 I think. I woke up with a bit of a fright but nothing like that has happened since.

The results so far has been pretty amazing – my morning blood pressure has come down to normal. My high blood pressure has been an increasing issue for me over recent years with no real solution except to keep on increasing the dosage. I just wish that I had been more pro-active and mentioned my snoring which seemed to be increasing in volume over the years but I was embarrassed to mention it. So silly really now when I think about it – I could have been getting treatment earlier.

Another thing is the snoring is completely gone YAY!! I remember recording myself a couple of years ago and I was so shocked at how loud I was, that I just completely blocked it out of my mind. Last night, I recorded myself for two and half hours and my snoring had been replaced with this dainty barely audible regular inhale and exhale of breath – again I was shocked but for all the best reasons.

Anyways, I feel that my life has changed forever and I am forever grateful to the sleep specialists for helping me live a better and more energetic life.

[OpalRose]

Great story, it will only get better, and the side effect with Cpap treatment is continued good health.

[Diane1048]

OpalRose!

Little glitch last night though as I wore my nasal pillows mask upside down *blush* it didnt feel quite right but I fell asleep and discovered my error this morning ha! Learning all the time.

[DariaVader]

OpalRose!

Little glitch last night though as I wore my nasal pillows mask upside down *blush* it didnt feel quite right but I fell asleep and discovered my error this morning ha! Learning all the time.

heh heh heh
I did that once....

[Diane1048]

I was not sure if this was the right place to post this but here goes:

I wanted to thank everyone here - I am 12 nights into my CPAP and many of the little issues that I have been having mainly because this is all new to me, I have been able to address from all the information that people post here to help each other.

I am very grateful to the forum that I have not had to wait until next Thursday to ask the Sleep Clinic person at my first update appointment about all the little issues that were fixable with a bit of knowledge gained from here.

My anxiety has gone away and I am more relaxed and getting more and more confident each day with exploring the machine and I have been playing with the air pressure and am amazed that once my nasal pillows are in place I scarcely notice now how strong the airflow is at 10.5.

I feel blessed that I have pretty much had a dream run so far. Fingers crossed that this continues.

The only thing that is bugging me is the light on the ResMed 10 stays dim when I get up at night and I cant see what is on the dial without getting a torch. I think that this is a limitation of the machine though and not something that I can change?

[grumbledore]

Back in August, my tail was really dragging, I felt like @#$%&! most days, my wife said I snored, so I got a sleep test and was diagnosed with mild OSA, AHI ~5.
I've been on CPAP therapy for 50 days now and feel much better! I still have sleepy days now and then, but at least I feel like a human being again. With a CPAP pressure of 6.6 cm H2O, my AHI now averages below 3 with only one or none OSA events each night, so that part is fixed. The issue now is mostly with central apneas, but that is manageable.
I use a nasal pillow and early on had big problems with mouth leaks and lip leaks. A chin strap fixed that! I started with an Ace bandage wrapped around my head, but it was a bother to put on and take off, especially when I got up in the middle of the night; it also put big bags under my eyes. I recently switched to a Sullivan chinstrap (ResMed), which is much easier to put on and take off, works like a charm, and doesn't give nearly as much puffiness to my face. Problem solved!
I also have issues with aerophagia (bloated belly from swallowing air). That has mostly cleared up by using an expiration pressure relief (EPR) of 2 cm H2O. With an EPR of 3, I had no aerophagia, but was bothered by a lot of CA events. Lowering EPR to 1 reduced my centrals, but brought back the painful bloating. So an EPR of 2 is a good compromise. BUT, ONLY when I sleep on my right side; if I sleep on my left side or back, I get pumped full of air no matter what the EPR or CPAP pressure is.
Finally, early on I had problems with my nasal pillow mask leaking. I found that looser is better! When things are adjusted right, I don't even notice the mask is on and there are no/few leaks. With the mask tighter, the outer wall tends to pucker, which lets air leak out, or it deforms the inner wall, which makes a lot of breathing noise. When I was wearing the Ace bandage chin strap, I also found that securing the mask strap under the chinstrap kept the mask in place. With the Sullivan chinstrap, however, I wear the mask over the chinstrap and for whatever reason the mask usually doesn't shift.

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OpalRose!

Little glitch last night though as I wore my nasal pillows mask upside down *blush* it didnt feel quite right but I fell asleep and discovered my error this morning ha! Learning all the time.

heh heh heh
I did that once....

Yeah, me too!
I guess that wouldn't be an issue with a face mask, huh?

[Digital1]

Hi everyone! Thank you for taking the time to make this board possible. The information is invaluable. Sleepyhead, thank you for the time I know it takes to run something like this!

I had a heart attack 7 years ago. It was mild and my cardiologist recommended the usual, stop smoking, lose weight, exercise...never asked a single question about sleep. I was 42. I quit smoking immediately and that was about it.

Cut to the last 7 years: Sleepless nights, loud snoring (not going to elaborate how loud, I am sure you all can relate), wife asking why I take such deep breaths when I'm asleep and then hold my breath 10-15 seconds, irritable as all get out, etc...To make a long story short, I'm uninsured and do not have the funds to do a sleep study locally, so I read...a lot...and self diagnosed OSA. I know there are other things that it could have been, but through the years I have ruled most of the benign ones out, and time ruled out the scarier ones. So on to the success!

I love craigslist, and when I saw a sweet little jewel of an S9 VPAP-S come up for sale WITH the heated humidifier, new hose and FFM (I'm a mouth breather all day and night), I was sold (thanks to a little extra pocket change!). I explained to the seller (a RT) why I had no prescription and of course got lectured and cautioned. When I continued to show I had done research (here, ty!) he agreed to sell it to me with the settings at 12/8 in S mode. The first night I used it was HORRIBLE! It was loud and blowing air all over my face. The mask was constricting. I on the other hand slept like a baby. I was excited cause I had done something to beat the beast! I woke up to a sore throat and a machine reading of 44.5 AHI. WHAT?!? Man, I thought this would work! Needless to say, When you are using a F&P Forma, you have to seal the inserts into the mask! oops.
I've used the machine for over a week now: I have used sleepyhead, and titrated up to 14/9 as of last night and woke up to - drumroll please - a 2.6 AHI. It isn't perfect but when I pulled last nights numbers, I had a MAX AHI of 4 and I woke up refreshed!!!! Time will tell, but I am so happy!

Now, I DO NOT RECOMMEND DOING WHAT I DID! With that said, someone out there is in the same or worse position I was in and needs to know its possible. Thanks to this site, yes it is, but be prepared to read your butt off! Use the search feature!

[SuperSleeper]

Howdy Digital1, thanks for posting this! I don't have health insurance either, so I know it can be frustrating. But, you persevered and "got 'er done".

Your 2.6 AHI is really good. Whatever you're doing, keep doing it!

[robbiegw]

Love reading the success stories on here. Unfortunately there has not been any for me. I was diagnosed with OSA, Insomnia and PTSD about 8 years ago. I have never had any success with my machine. I was told my pressure was about 10 but I used autoset, auto humidification to no avail. keep trying though. I currently have the airsense10 with resmed full face and a nasal mask.Basically I have become an expert at surviving exhaustion, some days are worse than others but I keep going despite everyone telling me I look like sh*t or look tired. Despite all that most nights I try and use the machine in the hope that it might just click.

Usually I cant fall asleep with the machine on The air seems to annoy my throat and after a short time I feel like I have a small bit of food that has gone down the wrong way and begin to cough. With the nasal mask I usually have a blocked nose. If I do ever fall asleep with the mask on I wake a short time later and have peeled it off. The maximum time I think I have gone is about two hours. I think I need 10 points for perseverance.

Don''t know what to do as I am 51 years old. Being tired all the time is becoming more difficult the older I get. The last few months I have come to realise it is going to end up killing me. Just don't know when.

[Tez62]

Welcome robbiegw, I'm sorry to hear your story, I know how you feel and look, I was like that before I was diagnosed, I'm ok with mine most nights.
What is your sleep specialist saying? I thought they may at least try a dental appliance or surgery, I don't like either option but you have to try something if you can't get CPAP to work.