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Your Personal CPAP Success Story - Post Here
Gross 
RE: Your Personal CPAP Success Story - Post Here
"I also have pretty much gotten over my phobia of sucking a spider up my nose during therapy."

Oh, man, did you have to say that?
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RE: Your Personal CPAP Success Story - Post Here
(02-21-2013, 08:52 PM)robgb Wrote: "I also have pretty much gotten over my phobia of sucking a spider up my nose during therapy."

Oh, man, did you have to say that?

Try turning on your CPAP and let it BLOW for 30 seconds to try to clear the tube of any.... "debris". Or wash it every day. And the chances of anything getting into the hose from the CPAP end are next to impossible. Watch your mask end at all times.
Sleep-well
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Sad 
RE: Your Personal CPAP Success Story - Post Here [copied from old forum]


I just wanted to let you know my success Story : First of all prior to getting diagnosed with Sleep Apena I was waking up all times of the night Snoring and waking up like a zoombie ! Now that I am a CP user I wake up refreshed not tired ready to meet the Challenges the day brings !










(02-23-2012, 11:03 AM)SuperSleeper Wrote:
moeschmoe Wrote:I am new to CPAP but it is an evolving success story. I know that the CPAP is for me and it's healthwise one of the best things I've done for myself. I'll give it some time and then I'll update. In the meantime, do note that my symptoms of TMJ have been alleviated since being on the CPAP. I don't know for sure why, but my best guess is that my facial muscles are more relaxed due to being able to breathe better. (My TMJ is caused by muscular issues).

I am also less irritable and way more positive, alert, and energetic in the morning.

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RE: Your Personal CPAP Success Story - Post Here
Hello all,

I'm happy to be here and hope I can be helpful to other members as well as your posts helping me! I know my story is probably like so many others...but it's mine and here it is...

I was diagnosed with Severe OSA about 5 months ago. Average AHI 46.4. (present AHI 0.0-2.5). Time flies when you're actually living instead of just existing.

At first I was horrified (probably as many of you were) that it was true, that I was going to have to sleep with a machine and a mask. Awful thoughts went through my head about dating and staying out overnight or at friends/family places and what if I have to travel and what if and what if...
It hadn't occurred to me that I could wake up dead without it.

Then came the night of the second sleep lab to set up my requirements and what turned out to be the best night of sleep I've had probably since I was a teenager.

I actually felt depressed waiting for my appointment to be set up to get a trial machine. When I brought the machine home I couldn't wait to get my own...now that I have my own I can't see myself without it and I've never looked back. I've been lucky and didn't have any trouble getting used to it at all. It was like I've always slept with one.

If I go out on a Friday or weekend night I pack it up and have it with me just in case. Eventually I'll have to cross that bridge of telling someone I'm dating that I'm the proud owner of a personal-size turbo charger but I'm not going to stress about it. These are the symptoms I was experiencing although I know there are more:

 I couldn’t function properly at work – fighting to stay awake every moment of the day, concentration was more along the lines of S.O.S. (shiny object syndrome)

 I’d sit down to watch a program on television and if I saw the first five minutes before I was sleeping it was a miracle! It didn’t matter if I was out visiting or not.

 If I wasn’t the driver of the vehicle when I went someplace, chances are I’d be asleep on the passenger side eventually.

 Sit down to read a book and actually get past the first page? Not happening!

 Acid re-flux in the middle of the night? Absolutely! I’d keep two bottles of Tums beside my bed every night, just in case.

 I can’t remember if my memory suffered or not.

 Morning headaches? If I didn’t know better I would have thought I was out drinking most nights in my sleep.

 Irritability is nice term. Short tempered? I was the evil creature in the closet most days.

 I couldn’t figure out why I was so tired from the moment I woke up, after all…I’d slept at least six hours. The reality being I was actually only getting about two hours or so.

Now I get frustrated when I hear/see these things in other people and offer the suggestion of visiting with their doctor to discuss the possibility of OSA and being tested but they get angry and refuse. Even worse is when they approach me to talk about it and then get angry. I understand the denial, however, so many have witnessed the changes in me that I have a difficult time when it happens.

In my phone I now carry a picture of my machine/mask/hose set up so I can show people what my particular machine looks like and how small my particular mask really is. I really believe more people go undiagnosed because they don't understand enough of what it is and how simple and live changing the treatment can be. I've proposed to my machine twice!
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RE: Your Personal CPAP Success Story - Post Here
Hi New to the board.
Where to start. 2005 wife got tired of elbowing me to keep me breathing, when sleep. Wife and kids stated could here me snoring fifty feet way. Did a search on the internet and found a sleep lab and doctor to be tested. One hour in test. They found I stop breathing fifty-two times hour. Put me on cpap only stop three time. Dr. , said I had serve sleep apena.

Everything went fine, until my doctor moved. Search for a year for new doctor, found one, did not work out (I know more than he did). Back to my search. Got lucky found a doctor that cared about the patient and made sure you got the right equipment.

So far so good. Switch from pap to bi-pap, doing good with the change. Have had many masks. Now using full face.Grin .

Found the forums Thanks lots of great information.We are never to New or old to learn. You guys are the best.

Muddpa
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RE: Your Personal CPAP Success Story - Post Here [copied from old forum]
(02-22-2013, 10:43 AM)Sleepy Time Wrote: I just wanted to let you know my success Story : First of all prior to getting diagnosed with Sleep Apena I was waking up all times of the night Snoring and waking up like a zoombie ! Now that I am a CP user I wake up refreshed not tired ready to meet the Challenges the day brings !

Sorry to hear your days are filled with challenges.
I hope there are better times ahead.
Other than that it's great CPAP is working for you.
If all goes well and I can take home an AutoSet on Friday then maybe I'll have a success story on Saturday.
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RE: Your Personal CPAP Success Story - Post Here
It has taken me five years, but I finally have good therapy that makes a positive impact on my day to day life. I used CPAP, AUTO, and Bilevel machines until last year when I finally got what I needed- an ASV. I had to fail each therapy before I had a sleep study with the ASV. The difference is literally like night and day. In the past I had to use Provigil/Nuvigil to stay awake and still slept 12-13 hours a night and took naps. Sometimes my roommate had to drive me to appointments because I was unsafe on the road. I had drug resistant depression and no joy in life. Finally last year I came to a place where I felt "OK", my O2 sats were good though I had an AHI of 18.6. I realized "OK" wasn't good enough. I had all the same symptoms as before I started therapy though not quite as bad. I asked for a trial of ASV in the sleep lab. That first night I didn't sleep well, the pressure was changing constantly. I responded to the treatment and got a prescription for a Respironics ASV. I thought I would give it at least six months for the machine and I could get in sync and get the full benefits from the therapy. Here I am, one year later and I can stay up late at night, sleep 8-9 hours, usually take no naps (I still love a afternoon nap), no provigil. With a few changes in my psych meds I am not depressed any longer- that is the best change for me. After a lifetime of depression to be happy is invaluable. I have an AHI of 4-8. I use my machine 100% of sleep time. My advice to newcomers and even those like me- four years into treatment, to not settle for feeling "OK". Talk to your doctor and push for what you think you need. I had kept my six month appointments, more often with pressure changes, to keep my sleep doc (a pulmonologist) apprised on my condition and my failure to thrive. That's what we can do with proper therapy- thrive. Never give up.
Mary
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RE: Your Personal CPAP Success Story - Post Here
I'm happy for you zimlich. And you bring up a good point about feeling ok. It's all relative, of course, but if you've given CPAP therapy long enough to work for you, and as you said it can take up to the better part of a year in some cases, and it's still not working, don't give up.
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
One Year Anniversary on APAP

Equipment:

ResMed S9 Autoset, Climateline Hose, H5i Humidifier, Swift FX Nasal Pillows mask, Avalon Aire ResMed style chinstrap. Also own ResMed Quattro FX mask but have difficulty using it. Also using a hose management system by BRO-GHO.

Settings: Pressure Minimum = 5.8, Max = 12.6, EPR Fulltime at 2.0. Temperature for humidifier at 72F.

Stats: I will give two sets of stats. 1) 2/29/2012 to 3/11/2013 which is the total time I have used APAP; 2) 2/21/2013 to 3/11/2013 used APAP with nasal spray and a hose management system.

2/29/2012 to 3/11/2013

2119.21 total hours used
6.21 hours median daily use
5.36 hours average daily use
306 days >4 hours use
51 days <4 hours use
21 days not used
81% used >4 hours

Apnea Index = .7
Obstructive = .2
Central or Clear Airway= .4
Hypoapnea = .2
AHI = .9

Median Leak = 0
95% Leak = 10.8
Max Leak = 12.1

Median Pressure = 7.9
95% Pressure = 10.8
Max Pressure = 12.1

2/21/2013 to 3/11/2013 (after starting use of flonase nasal spray and hose management system):

123.17 total hours used
7.18 hours median daily use
6.29 hours average daily use
17 days >4 hours use
2 days <4 hours use
0 days not used
89% used >4 hours

Apnea Index = 1.2
Obstructive = .3
Central or Clear Airway = .8
Hypoapnea = .3
AHI = 1.5

Median Leak = 0
95% Leak = 1.2
Max Leak = 3.6

Median Pressure = 7.3
95% Pressure = 9.1
Max Pressure = 10.3

Note on Days Not Used: The result of a few colds where I couldn’t breathe at all and some days when I just forgot to put the data card in the machine.

My sleep study of some years ago, which was not a good experience, showed an AHI of 23 for the limited amount of time I was able to sleep which included no REM sleep. I was diagnosed with moderate sleep apnea.

Conclusions from the Numbers: I have been able to control the sleep apnea very well and my AHI numbers are very low. I have many more CA’s than OA’s and many of the CA’s come immediately after a period of disturbed sleep (perhaps when I am rolling over) in which my minute ventilation shows an increase followed by a decrease which I assume may be me holding my breath. Who knows? Since starting on the flonase and the hose management system, I have greatly increased the amount of sleep time while using the machine and have experienced fewer awakenings and what I perceive to be much deeper sleep. My AHI numbers have also gone up from .9 to 1.5 which I assume is the result of deeper and longer sleep. Since the AHI is still very low, the nasal spray and hose management system seem to be working very well and improving my sleep. The leak and pressure numbers have come down quite a bit which I think also adds to the quality of sleep.

While my statistics reflect good quality treatment, I have had a continuing issue of not getting good quality deep sleep. I awaken every 2-3 hours usually and, while I can go back to sleep on many occasions, I don’t feel like I ever get to really deep sleep or that I ever get a really good nights sleep. There are some exceptions in which I might get 8 hours on the machine with only waking once but that is not the norm. My results are highly variable with my being able to use the machine as little as 2 hours to as much as 8 hours or more on a given night. The usual cause of my waking up seems to be related to nasal congestion where my nose (deviated septum on the right side) get blocked, flow limitation occurs, pressure increases to max or I move around causing leaks or both which leads me to wake up. Sometimes I can get up, clear the nose and go back on the mask. Other times my nose is so blocked that I just go off the machine and breathe through my mouth the rest of the night. I tried the Quattro FX mask but have been unable to get used to it and my numbers when wearing it were much worse than with the nasal pillows mask. The use of the flonase nasal spray and the hose management system have greatly improved my sleep situation even though my AHI number has gone up.

Issues:

Doctors – As explained in an earlier post, my first sleep doctor fired me as a patient because I wanted to use the APAP to self-titrate rather than do a second sleep study which didn’t make sense since I had already had a split sleep study and would be using an APAP. Current sleep doctor is fine but is only really interested in the compliance numbers. I gave him a disk with all the detailed data on it but he said he didn’t have the ResMed software so could not view it. He said he wasn’t familiar with the software anyway. So I think I will drop him and just see my regular doctor. Doesn’t seem like this sleep specialty is a real thing anyway – any doctor can tack it on – no certification exists, apparently.

Nasal Congestion Problems – I had used several nasal sprays which did not help at all. Have used the Netti Pot and Saline Spray which help some. Am now using a generic for Flonase and am getting very good results with it. However, it has potential side effects for glaucoma issues so after six weeks of use I have to be tested for eye pressures – sure hope there is no problem with that and I can continue to use the flonase spray. Will keep close tabs on that. If it weren’t for the nasal congestion, I would have no problems with the APAP treatment and use of nasal pillows mask.

Nasal Pillows consistency issue – Have had some problems with replacement nasal pillows from ResMed. Consistency seems to be an issue with some of the replacement pillows having problems with the internal cone (or whatever you call the thing inside the pillows) collapsing after being washed and in some cases while in use. Also, sometimes the new pillows do not seem to fit the same and do not have the same feel to them. Probably a manufacturing tolerance issue or my DME is being sold counterfeit goods. Sometimes the replacement pillows are fine – it is highly variable.

Quattro FX Mask issues: I have a problem with claustrophobia and also with leaks when using this mask. I also find that I don’t like the mouth breathing that it makes possible as it creates humidity in the mask. Finally, it makes it very hard to scratch an itch on your face. Mainly, though, my problem is with leaks (side sleeper) and with poor numbers for AHI. I still have the mask and will try to use it for situations where I have a cold or something like that.

Replacement Climateline hose kinking and not as flexible – I have seen several posts about this so I guess it is an aftermarket type problem. I have not tried to soak it in hot water. Instead I went back to my original equipment hose. The new one, which has several kinks, also seems less flexible and behaves as though it is alive – moves around a lot and resists you when you move.

Humidifier settings and warmup process – I have it set at 72F and when I turn on the warm-up it works fine. However, I do wonder whether the warm-up continues once you put the mask on and start treatment or whether it stops warming up at that point? Seems to me that when I start treatment before the warm-up bar has gone all the way to the far right, I use less water so I am thinking that starting treatment ends the warm-up. Does anyone know?

Hose Management System – was having problems with the hose especially the new one with the kinks so I got the Bro-GHO hose management system (both the regular and travel ones) and have been using the regular one for a short time – I find it helpful in that I don’t have to worry about the hose sliding off the edge of the bed etc. So I think I am getting better sleep with it – fewer leaks as well.

That is it – not sure this will be a much interest but thought I would post it just in case someone finds it useful. Thanks to all on this Board for your inputs - I have found the Board to be a terrific resource.
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RE: Your Personal CPAP Success Story - Post Here
(03-12-2013, 12:55 PM)DenD746 Wrote: While my statistics reflect good quality treatment, I have had a continuing issue of not getting good quality deep sleep. I awaken every 2-3 hours usually and, while I can go back to sleep on many occasions, I don’t feel like I ever get to really deep sleep or that I ever get a really good nights sleep. There are some exceptions in which I might get 8 hours on the machine with only waking once but that is not the norm.

I have been on CPAP just a bit longer, 16 months, but I have these same issues with waking up frequently. I have noticed as the months go by the awakenings are generally not as frequent, but on any given night it can return.

Have you noticed any improvement in these symptoms as the months go by?

Quote:Nasal Congestion Problems – I had used several nasal sprays which did not help at all. Have used the Netti Pot and Saline Spray which help some. Am now using a generic for Flonase and am getting very good results with it. However, it has potential side effects for glaucoma issues so after six weeks of use I have to be tested for eye pressures – sure hope there is no problem with that and I can continue to use the flonase spray.

I had endoscopic sinus surgery many years ago and have benefited from it tremendously. You might try the Astelin nasal spray. It's less convenient as you have to administer it more times per day, but it's just an antihistamine so it lacks the side effects of those steroidal sprays.

Quote:Nasal Pillows consistency issue – Have had some problems with replacement nasal pillows from ResMed.

I had those same issues with the ComfortLite2 nasal pillows. I found that washing them in warm water, not so hot as you can't put your hands in it, helped somewhat.

Quote:That is it – not sure this will be a much interest but thought I would post it just in case someone finds it useful. Thanks to all on this Board for your inputs - I have found the Board to be a terrific resource.

It's always therapeutic to hear about others who are experiencing the same problems. Thanks for posting.

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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