Your Personal CPAP Success Story - Post Here

[Gianna]

If I have these symptoms, it may help?
morning dry mouth or sore throat
snoring loudly (though not everyone who snores has sleep apnea)
falling asleep at the drop of a hat, such as while watching television, reading, or even working
gasping or choking during sleep

[DeepBreathing]

Hi Gianna, welcome to Apnea Board.

Those symptoms are certainly suggestive of sleep apnea. If you haven't done so you should see your medical advisor to see if you need a sleep test.

[mmccobb]

I'm new to this board and I hope this is the right place and way to post this, so please let me know if it's not. I've struggled with Bruxism (teeth grinding) for over 10 years now. My jaw would hurt during the day so badly that it was a huge effort to try to speak clearly and when I did it was painful. I had no idea what was going on at that time or why this was happening. I went to several TMJ and other Dr.'s, but they seemed to have no idea and said my jaw bones, muscles and everything looked fine. Most of them blamed it on my bite from have orthodontry work over the years or ridiculous things like the way I’m holding my chin at my work desk. I didn't think this was accurate, but accepted it and just lived with the pain. My dentist finally realized after a few years that I was grinding my teeth at night, from the wear that was now so apparent, and he fitted me with an bruxism appliance. This made the condition slightly more bearable, but not a whole lot and at least I wasn't damaging my teeth as much anymore. I lived with the pain for another 8 years. Then recently, the jaw pain seemed to be worsening. I decided to find another Dr. and give it another try. I found a dentist who also had degrees in TMJ/Bruxism and specialized in that area. She made me a new bruxism appliance, which reduced my jaw pain much more than the one from the non-specialized dentist. This was reducing the pain somewhat, but I had still not gotten to the root cause. So I said to the Dr. at one of my fitting sessions, this appliance is much better, thank you, but the open question is why am I doing this at night? She said, oh yes, you’ll also need to go for a sleep study, here's a prescription. I said, what? She said you probably have sleep apnea, do you snore? I said yes, like a train, I've been told. She said, yes that’s another symptom and what might be happening is your airway is closing at night because your palate relaxes. Your brain then triggers your teeth to grind in an effort to reopen the airway. Its instinctual and subconscious and you'll have no recollection of doing this every night. Needless to say, I was amazed with her answer. Finally, a logical reason for what was happening to me all these years. I quickly scheduled the sleep study and of course I did have sleep apnea. I've just started cpap in the last two weeks and my teeth grinding is not gone yet, but it’s much improved and so is my alertness during the day. I'm getting use to the cpap and fine-tuning it, so I hope it gets even better the next few months. It’s interesting looking back now on all the signs that I had sleep apnea, such as waking up feeling unrested and also having to use eye drops every day before work because I had no idea why they were so red. I wanted to share my story so that it may help others with the same condition and hopefully they do not have to wait so long for a solution as I did.

[Shortygeorge]

In 2009 after a sleep study, I was prescribed a RemStar M Series Pro set at 10 cm H20 by a rather disinterested Dr. and his snarky Sidekick (PA?). For me it was a real fight between pressure, mask leakage and comfort. A lot of nights seemed to be more fitful than without the CPAP. When I finally went to speak with my DME, I met Joshua who spent an hour plus with me fitting various masks until I found the best fit. He also provided me with a folder of 30 pages or more of reading material, and references to more in depth material along with contact information for a better Provider. In the end budget cuts and probably the fact that many buy their expendables over the internet the DME went out of business. I don’t feel bad for Joshua because he was on to bigger and better things.

Anyway, recently I would awake in the morning feeling sluggish and began to wonder if my CPAP was functioning as it should. As things go, Google lead me to ApneaBoard.com and I learned that machines that had an excess of 15k hours were potentially on shaky ground. Not really wanting to see a doctor who would insist on another sleep study and having a very high deductible I ended up buying my ResMed S9 Autoset w/ H5i from Craig’s List with 5000 hours on it for $300. I felt that this was an inexpensive way to see if I liked the technology of variable pressures. Little did I know how much more comfortable the air flow was and how verbose the information provided to me by way of Sleephead would be. Wishfully thinking I took a chance that in 7 years my required base pressure hadn’t gone up and set my machine with a low of 9.4 and a high of 13.4. So far (two weeks use) the reports have been: AHI between 1.4 and 5.4 and the pressure has only gone slightly over 12 on a night were there were a few libations and often holds below 10. I feel like I’m in control of my sleep issues and can seek help from a professional when I see something go awry. In the meantime ApneaBoard is a wealth of good info, and hope that many show their gratitude to Jedi Mark by donating to SleepyHead and the ApneaBoard . I know I will.

[Sybil456]

Mine is definitely NOT a success story. I was diagnosed and got a Respironics. I used it for 1.5 yrs, easily got used to the mask and eventually nasal pillows, and guess what: IT NEVER WORKED.

In the meantime, I had several bouts of pneumonia and stopped using it.

Now, two yrs later, I am trying again because I am always exhausted and wake up just as tired as when I went to bed.

But again, it seems to do nothing. Very disappointed.
I'm trying to figure out how to increase the pressure but not sure I know how.

In the meantime - a BIG disappointment.

[DeepBreathing]

Mine is definitely NOT a success story. I was diagnosed and got a Respironics. I used it for 1.5 yrs, easily got used to the mask and eventually nasal pillows, and guess what: IT NEVER WORKED.

In the meantime, I had several bouts of pneumonia and stopped using it.

Now, two yrs later, I am trying again because I am always exhausted and wake up just as tired as when I went to bed.

But again, it seems to do nothing. Very disappointed.
I'm trying to figure out how to increase the pressure but not sure I know how.

In the meantime - a BIG disappointment.

G'day Sybil, welcome to Apnea Board

It's always distressing when a person tries for a long period but can't get good results from their CPAP therapy. Perhaps you could post again in the main forum and set out more fully some of the problem's you're having. There are plenty of experienced users who can help you.

[Bergie51]

I've been on CPAP now every night for 7 weeks, and although I can't say it's changed my life (as many claim), there certainly are positives...including one I hadn't expected.

I'm using just the nose pillows with the ResMed AirSense 10 Auto and had some difficulty getting used to the whole process for a couple of weeks but now it seems normal. Just today I replaced the nose pillows for the first time because I've felt the seal wasn't the best the last two nights. We'll see if new pillows make a difference.

The positives:
I sleep through the night now instead of fully waking every hour or so.

My sleep test AHI was 30. That's only in the moderate range so daytime sleepiness was never really an issue and it's probably not surprising that I haven't noticed a huge improvement in overall well-being since treatment began. But now my AHI is consistently under 1.5.

My snoring (described as "loud" in the sleep test) has virtually disappeared.

I no longer have much of an issue with morning congestion. My machine is humidified, which I'm sure helps.

The surprising positive: I used to wake up 3-4 nights a month with severe leg cramps. I haven't had one since starting CPAP treatment! Even my sleep doctor is surprised by that.

So far so good. My sleep doctor says things are going extremely well.

[Sybil456]

I've been on CPAP now every night for 7 weeks, and although I can't say it's changed my life (as many claim), there certainly are positives...including one I hadn't expected.

I'm using just the nose pillows with the ResMed AirSense 10 Auto and had some difficulty getting used to the whole process for a couple of weeks but now it seems normal. Just today I replaced the nose pillows for the first time because I've felt the seal wasn't the best the last two nights. We'll see if new pillows make a difference.

The positives:
I sleep through the night now instead of fully waking every hour or so.

My sleep test AHI was 30. That's only in the moderate range so daytime sleepiness was never really an issue and it's probably not surprising that I haven't noticed a huge improvement in overall well-being since treatment began. But now my AHI is consistently under 1.5.

My snoring (described as "loud" in the sleep test) has virtually disappeared.

I no longer have much of an issue with morning congestion. My machine is humidified, which I'm sure helps.

The surprising positive: I used to wake up 3-4 nights a month with severe leg cramps. I haven't had one since starting CPAP treatment! Even my sleep doctor is surprised by that.

So far so good. My sleep doctor says things are going extremely well.

---

I've been on CPAP now every night for 7 weeks, and although I can't say it's changed my life (as many claim), there certainly are positives...including one I hadn't expected.

I'm using just the nose pillows with the ResMed AirSense 10 Auto and had some difficulty getting used to the whole process for a couple of weeks but now it seems normal. Just today I replaced the nose pillows for the first time because I've felt the seal wasn't the best the last two nights. We'll see if new pillows make a difference.

The positives:
I sleep through the night now instead of fully waking every hour or so.

My sleep test AHI was 30. That's only in the moderate range so daytime sleepiness was never really an issue and it's probably not surprising that I haven't noticed a huge improvement in overall well-being since treatment began. But now my AHI is consistently under 1.5.

My snoring (described as "loud" in the sleep test) has virtually disappeared.

I no longer have much of an issue with morning congestion. My machine is humidified, which I'm sure helps.

The surprising positive: I used to wake up 3-4 nights a month with severe leg cramps. I haven't had one since starting CPAP treatment! Even my sleep doctor is surprised by that.

So far so good. My sleep doctor says things are going extremely well.

[Sybil456]

Thank you for your comments. It's good to know that perhaps there is hope. I just learned today that my machine pressure is set at 5, but it should be 13! So they will reset it on Friday. Maybe that will make the difference. My last sleep study said I was waking up 22 times per MINUTE and that I had no REM sleep. So no wonder I'm so tired all the time.

Hoping the new setting will work!

[Bergie51]

Thank you for your comments. It's good to know that perhaps there is hope. I just learned today that my machine pressure is set at 5, but it should be 13! So they will reset it on Friday. Maybe that will make the difference. My last sleep study said I was waking up 22 times per MINUTE and that I had no REM sleep. So no wonder I'm so tired all the time.

Hoping the new setting will work!

I think there is always hope, Sybil! Keep trying, keep adjusting and give it time. From the stats you listed, you definitely need the treatment. You just need to find the right combination of things that work. Don't give up!