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Your Personal CPAP Success Story - Post Here
RE: Your Personal CPAP Success Story - Post Here
Great story, DMR1, thanks for sharing. I can relate to a lot of your experiences and thoughts. At age 29 a change to a job that was far less physically demanding cause a weight gain and the onset of headaches. At age 31 I went back to the physically-demanding job, my weight reduced, and the headaches went away. At age 32 I went back to the far less physically-demanding job, which I've had ever since. Ever since then I've gradually gained weight and the headaches had been the bane of my existence until I was diagnosed with sleep apnea at age 55. That's over two decades of a headache-plagued existence that went away with CPAP therapy. It's a new lease on life!
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
OK, my first post. I'm not new to CPAP, but I just got my first smart machine. Amazing what an APAP can do!

I have to keep the story short, but I was diagnosed in 1998 with OSA, and AHI of 60, and a prescription of 15 cm-H2O. Even coming from the titration test was like night and day. Further complications are Type II diabetes (diagnosed late 1998), with diet control, and AFIB, diagnosed in 2012. It usually doesn't bother me, but various stresses will cause it to flare. Looks like allergy season is one of the stresses. Whee.

First machine Healthdyne Tranquility Quest 1998-2005
Second Puritan Bennett 420G 2005-May 2016(!).
It's mostly worn out, so when the budget said OK, I got a prescription through my family practitioner, skipped the titration study, and went for the S9 Autoset. I'm running 8 to 12 cm-H2O as a max each night, and the blowthrough is almost gone. I might have to try a chin strap, but we'll see.

I found info on Sleepyhead on this site, and downloaded it. It shows that I have some incidence of hypoapnea in addition to the OSA. I have AFIB, and I understand these can be related. The night I had an hour's worth of hypoapnea was followed by a miserable day from AFIB. It hasn't repeated much, though I'll get a few events every night.

Medical care is iffy in our rural county, but I have a really good family practitioner. There's one sleep/lung specialist, so if things get odd, I'll have to make a trek to a big city. Still, it's nice to have a setup with things Just Work.
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RE: Your Personal CPAP Success Story - Post Here
Hello fellow forumers,

While not exactly new to CPAP machines, I have the new S10 and I do find it a tad noisier than the S9.

Nevertheless, I am a strong supporter of CPAP machine usage. I never leave home on a vacation without them. Even got batteries in case of power outages.

Reason is that from the 1st day I started using them, I had the most restful sleep like in years. I still go for my regular reviews with the doctor and I will faithfully print out the reports and since 2011, the results have been excellent till today with an AHI of 0.1.

I feel sad whenever I hear of people giving up the machine due to it being "restrictive" and "inconvenient" .

Happy sleeping
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RE: Your Personal CPAP Success Story - Post Here
I've had sleep apnea for many years, and had previously used a dental appliance until it came apart during use. I am a dentist and have effectively treated patients with dental appliances. However I had no definative way of knowing how effective that treatment method was. I had been told that the CPAP was very noisy by my patients and friends, so i had selected this alternate treatment for myself. About a year ago, my cardiologist recommended an examination for the need for a CPAP appliance. He had just corrected my heart from stopping by placing a pacemaker and prescribed several medications to correct High BP (220/110). I have used the ResMed machine with full face mask since my exam. i do not find it to be noisy at all if properly sealed from air leaks. I can even wear it laying on my side now. I gradually got used to it, but was still having trouble with a very dry mouth waking me up at night even with the humidity at the highest setting possible. However, recently when I started using a chin strap that came with a nasal mask that i couldn't use effectively, dryness is no longer a problem. My wife feels and I do too that I am sleeping much quieter and deeper than before using the strap and I seldom need the water on my bedstand. I joined this group because I wanted to be able to read the disk that records my sleep patterns to see if I really am sleeping better. I am hoping that deeper sleep will lower my need for BP correcting medications and improve my brain function, suchas memory isue and recent seizures. From what appears to be a more alert daytime state and feeling of well being, and my wife's confirmation of great reduction of apnea episodes, there is no way that I would dis-continue full time sleep use of the CPAP. If I were still practicing dentistry, I would never use the dental appliance therapy without it receiving the testing that was done prior to my receiving the CPAP
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RE: Your Personal CPAP Success Story - Post Here
If I may add my 2 cents, I recently started with my new CPAP, I've had my 1st one for over TEN years and it's effectiveness was close to null when I started complaining to my current MD (I had NO idea the thing should have been replaced 5 years ago! my old md never said a word) The effects of improvement are outstanding, mental status on every level is greatly improved! IMHO the improvements, definitely outweigh the few irritations that can be overcome! From what I have learned from this forum, the devises are much-much better, and just knowing you can get (affectionately named)with a great group of "hoseheads" helps enormously !! I am grateful to this group! I am very proud to be associated with this group of "hoseheads" !!
I enjoy being with a group who like to share their "Hosehead" experiences, to remind me I am not alone.
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RE: Your Personal CPAP Success Story - Post Here
I feel this CPAP machine will extend my life and esp. my useful life significantly.We can't change the past, but it does not suprise me that there was some truth to the things that i had heard as a dentist from my patients about the differculties and shortcomings of the older models of CPAP. I will do what I can to diseminate the new very positive information to my profession. Thanks for your input.
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RE: Your Personal CPAP Success Story - Post Here
My CPAP journey began in early October of 2015 when I was diagnosed with mild sleep apnea. I received my CPAP, a DreamStation CPAP Pro, and began using it in mid November of 2015. While I adjusted to my therapy easier than some I have seen on the forum, I had my share of problems to deal with.

The first issue was finding a mask I could wear. Luckily I only had to try three FFMs before finding one I could live with. It took a while to get the mask adjusted, but with the help of information I found on this forum I managed to figure it out.

Next I had to contend with mouth breathing. Even though I had the FFM adjusted right, my mouth would fall open causing large leaks and a continuing battle with dry mouth. After a lot of research I finally admitted the most likely way to solve the mouth breathing and leaks would be to use a chin strap. The chin strap turned out to be the right decision. It has helped me to keep my mouth closed and also to better control the leaks.

Even though I had, for the most part, got my leaks under control and my AHI under 5 consistently I was still having large leaks and occasional problems with dry mouth due to knocking my mask out of position while moving around in my sleep. I tend to be an active sleeper. I decided it was time to try a nasal pillow mask. After researching the board as well as other sources, I decided to buy a Nuance Pro. The Nuance is a good mask and for the most part stopped my large leaks. My AHI fell to between 3 and 4 with the Nuance with numbers below 1 occasionally and even an AHI of 0 once in a while.

However, I didn't think I was getting the full benefits from my treatment. I noticed that even though my AHI was good, I had several RERA's scattered throughout the night on most nights. By this time I had started using SleepyHead. I noticed that around the times I was having RERAs there appeared to be a hypopnea of 8 or less seconds along with a breathing pattern that resembled periodic breathing. On a hunch, I switched my DreamStation to auto trial. Within two nights the machine had settled on a pressure range that had a 90% pressure of 10 cmH2O and stayed there. My AHI dropped to a range of between 2 to 3 while in auto trial. Not wanting to use all of the auto trial I have available, I set my DreamStation to CPAP mode. After experimenting with the pressure a little (my wife tells me I can't leave well enough alone), I settled on the auto trial 90% pressure of 10 cmH2O. My original CPAP pressure had been set at 8 cmH2O. Within just a few nights my AHI fell to around one and stayed there. The suspicious breathing patterns also, for the most part, disappeared. I still have an occasional very short duration periodic breathing episode flagged, although I'm not convinced it is the real deal. It seems I benefit more from straight CPAP pressure than auto mode.

I have since phased out using ramp as well as CFlex (EPR) and my AHI has fallen to below 0.5 with an occasional 0 AHI, as shown by both SleepyHead and EncorePro.

A few weeks ago my wife finally admitted something I have suspected for a while. The noise from the vent of my Nuance as well as the as the air from the vent blowing on her was bothering her. I finally caved in and ordered a AirFit P10 mask. After all, as some of our fellow members say, resistance is futile. I think it is going to be a keeper. It is light, quiet and by far the most comfortable mask I have had to date. With it and my chinstrap large leak events have totally disappeared.

I believe that I am finally enjoying the full benefits of my CPAP therapy. I feel better than I have for years. My energy has increased and my attitude has changed for the better. Just this week I fell asleep in the chair in front of the TV instead of getting up and going to bed like I should have. Something I haven't done since starting CPAP. A few minutes later I woke up choking and struggling to breathe. I was having an apnea event. I thought to myself "how did I put up with this for so many years?".

I also received some good news this week. As some of you may recall my DME requested I turn in the modem in my DreamStation. After I got home from vacation to my paper work I found they were providing it at at no cost. When I returned the modem the only reason they would give me was the insurance company didn't need it any longer. Yesterday I received an EOB in the mail from my insurance company stating that due to my excellent compliance (99% the first month and 100% since the first month) they had waived the remainder of my original 13 month compliance period and paid their part of the purchase price of $1,100 USD. They only covered 60% of the cost. Luckily I have secondary insurance through my wife's employer. I went to their website and found they had already paid the remaining price of the machine. I am now the proud owner of a DreamStation CPAP Pro.

Due to CPAP treatment, and the good advice from this forum, life is once again good in Arkansas.


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RE: Your Personal CPAP Success Story - Post Here
I found your message very encouraging, however I have no idea what all the letter symbols mean yet as I have not delved into this as deeply as you have. It appears that much can be accomplished in improving results when attention to detail is persued, but I need a primer course in where to start. I guess for now it is on this forum.
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RE: Your Personal CPAP Success Story - Post Here
WlopezDDS,
Welcome to Apnea Board!
Here are some links to help you on your journey.

http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php...efinitions
http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php?title=Acronyms

http://www.apneaboard.com/adjust-cpap-pr...tup-manual

Open a new thread anytime in the main forum with any questions you have. Smile

OpalRose
Apnea Board Administrator
www.apneaboard.com

_______________________
OSCAR Chart Organization
How to Attach Images and Files.
OSCAR - The Guide
Soft Cervical Collar
Optimizing therapy
OSCAR supported machines
Mask Primer



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
Ok...I never post on boards....but in this case I have to thank all of you for this board....the threads...the knowledge.

My story- I had a doctor requested sleep study like 8 years ago and used my Cpap for a few months and stopped... no real value detected.

Move forward a few years and my quality of life has plummeted. So many close calls while driving (falling asleep)... I can't even think about it without thanking God...

Anyway, add the reduced productivity and energy.... well I'm preaching to the choir here huh?

I finally decided to get back on the Cpap wagon....I mean I felt like I was dying. I know I should have gone back for re-evaluation but I read the community posts here (a real blessing) and above all was lead to the "Sleepy Head" program!

I work for a company in the Medical arena and the information that program provides was awesome.

The first night I used it mu AHI was 54.86... really bad. After some changes a couple of nights later I was 14.89 ....a few days ago 14.89
and last night 0.65.... wow....

I know that AHI is not the whole story....and moving from 11cm to 13.5 is maybe not so wise but hay....I feel great...actually I felt great even after the night I scored 54.86 ....

I needed help in the worse way, and you all provided it....... Like a veil lifted .... I recommend and support both The Apnea Board and Sleepy Head... Contributing to both....thank you so much!!!!
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