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Your Personal CPAP Success Story - Post Here
RE: Your Personal CPAP Success Story - Post Here
yes, I can relate to those small victories. it's good to exercise the old noggin. and despite my frustration at not having the vitality of a 20 year old ;-) after 3 years of this, there's no question it's all a heck of a lot better than before cpap. I figure it took 50 or 60 years of worsening apnea to get as bad as I did; it's probably going to take a while to recover.
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RE: Your Personal CPAP Success Story - Post Here
I'm pretty sure I'm at least 95% back. I can remember phone numbers and do day-to-day stuff like nothing was ever wrong. I'm even getting back some memories that I thought were gone forever! I feel at least 15 years younger. There may be still room for improvement, and the occasional brain fart happens to everyone, can't blame apnea for everything  :too-funny:
So I agree, it's not dementia and healing does happen. Remembering passwords is an astounding change! Same thing happening here.
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RE: Your Personal CPAP Success Story - Post Here
Welp, it took 2 years of being on CPAP to get some success stories, so here they are. I had generally adapted well to the machine and my AHIs generally stayed between 1-5. Maybe some bad nights here and there, but otherwise living in the target zone. Then I had my heart attacks in May. Had 2 of them one night, actually the same clogged artery-induced attacks twice in about 5 hours. Was very fortunate to be in the ER when they happened. 4 shots from a defibrillator and two rounds of CPR later, I get 2 stents inserted in a BIG HURRY! So getting through that night was a success of some sort. Spent the Summer in cardiac rehab and improving my general health condition with a new, required diet, more cardiac training, weight training, the whole 9 yards. Have managed to lose 25 pounds and get my Cardiologist to limit my activity restrictions to "If it hurts don't do it." Yeah me! Resulting from that, I had lost enough weight that my full face F+P Simplus simply wouldn't fit anymore, and the only way I could stop the leaks was to tighten the straps as crazy tight as they would go. Uncomfortable as heck and time to switch. It took 2 months to finally settle on the ResMed pillows and after a couple weeks with those, my 8 hour AHIs have been all less than 1.0 with 100% fit! I think I saw a 0.4 in there somewhere. Let's hope this continues for a good long time.
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RE: Your Personal CPAP Success Story - Post Here
You’ve been through the wars! It’s inspiring to hear about your successes on all fronts. Onward!!
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RE: Your Personal CPAP Success Story - Post Here
1.  How is CPAP therapy making a positive difference in your life?   What impact has it made upon your health & happiness?  
After receiving help from bonjour/Fred on this forum, I slept with minimal AHI two nights in a row!  I went from severe apnea and no CPAP for years to getting a CPAP, then BiPAP and still having mild to moderate apnea.  With the help from this forum, I had less than 3 AHI for 2 nights.  This resulted in the following:
  • No morning headache
  • No anxiety (used to have panic attacks without cause through the day)
  • No achy hip & knee joints
  • Having energy through the day without wanting to take a nap!!
  • No brain fog through the day!! This was effecting my career and friendships.  I love being able to think clearly.
  • My verbal communication is better due to being able to remember the words that describe what I am trying to say.  
  • No muscle aches!
  • Eyes look more white and alert.
  • Reduction in sugar/carb cravings.
I am sooo happy!  I can't wait to see the results of sleeping well for 1 month...3 months...then 6 months.  I may be able to go hiking and hunt for waterfalls in North Georgia or the North Carolina Mountains again.  This is one of my favorite activities.  I haven't been able to go for several years. I truly thought I was eventually going to be immobile due to the inflammation in my joints and muscles.  I can now walk and build up my stamina.  When I finally get to go hiking again, I will share a pic of the waterfall we find.


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 best advice I can give others is to be persistent!  Don't give up!  The medical folks are great and do their best to help us but they can only help so much.  The rest is up to us.  
  • Read the Clinical Manual for your CPAP/BiPAP machine.  
  • Download the OSCAR software as recommended on this forum and start tracking your machines data.  
  • Study all of the materials you can about sleep apnea.  Become your own expert!  
  • Last but not least, reach out to others on this forum for help.  They understand what we are going through and can help you!  
Nitaslenz Smile
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RE: Your Personal CPAP Success Story - Post Here
Great advice, Nitaslenz! We will be looking for those waterfall pictures down the road. Meanwhile, enjoy all the aspects of life you’ve recovered!
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RE: Your Personal CPAP Success Story - Post Here
I don't know if I qualify for posting a success story as I have only been using APAP for 1 month. Rather than listing my successes, I will list them as observations only as I haven't been using the machine long enough to say for sure my successes will actually last long term. 

Here's my observations after one month of therapy:
  • Snore - STOPPED
  • Nocturia  previous 4-6 times per night, diagnosed and treated as BPH (30 YEARS). - WITH CPAP1 BATHROOM BREAK PER NIGHT 
  • Gerd - STOPPED; NO MORE HEARTBURN, STOPPED TAKING PRESCRIBED MEDS  
  • Dry mouth - STOPPED
  • Sleep drooling - STOPPED
  • Nocturnal leg cramps - STOPPED
  • Restless sleep - STOPPED; FALL ASLEEP FASTER, AND STAY ASLEEP WITHOUT WAKING OFTEN
  • Blocked sinuses - REDUCED; IMPROVED NASAL BREATHING
  • Mouth breathing - SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED
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RE: Your Personal CPAP Success Story - Post Here
Well lacro, that certainly sounds like a lot of success there, especially for only one month's worth of treatment.

Congrats
SuperSleeper
Apnea Board Administrator
www.ApneaBoard.com


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
Bravo, lacro! And on top of all this, just think of all the good you’re doing for you future health!
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RE: Your Personal CPAP Success Story - Post Here
I am currently an APAP user using a ResMed AutoSense 10 Autoset ranging from 10 to 17 cmH2O.  My mask is the ResMed AirTouch F20.

However I didn't start out using the above.  I started with a CPAP by ResMed, an AutoSense 10 Elite in July 2018.  First it was 8, then 10, then 12 cmH2O and I was still having a 10 to 15 AHI at night.  My sleep test was a 77AHI in June of 2018.  


Then I moved from Michigan to Kentucky in July of 2019.  In Lexington, KY in September of 2019 I had a new CPAP technician.  His first question was why I was using a CPAP?  I was sort of surprised by the question, but he walked out of the room and came back in with a new ResMed APAP.  Initially, he set the range for 10 to 16 cmH2O.  I was and am using the ResMed AirTouch F20 full mask.  He told me to come back in two months.  
In two months he noted the machine was topping out at the 16 cmH2O quite often, so he changed the range to 10 to 17cmH2O.  This machine auto ranges throughout the night and my AHI's are now usually below 5.  I awake rested and ready for the day.  No more falling asleep during the news or movies.  And my wife loves it that I don't snore.

I consider myself a success story in the CPAP/APAP world.  It didn't come over night.  But I am glad I have arrived.  I don't go anywhere without my APAP.  In fact, I have the ResMed power adapter for running off either a 12 or 24 volt cigarette lighter.  This same adapter has battery clips for hooking to a battery.  I bought a 35amp hour battery for emergencies or camping.  By turning off the humidifier heat and the ClimateLine heat, I can get four nights use.  I also have a small 6 amp charger for the battery.  I was told not to do a fast charge with a bigger amp charger since that would shorten the battery's life.

I make sure I clean my gear:
Daily - I empty the humidifier tank and dry it with a white dry washcloth (I bought a pack of 18 - a clean one each day).
Daily - I baby wipe the mask, then the white washcloth from above is now used to wipe down the mask.  Now the washcloth goes to the hamper.
Weekly - I wash the humidifier tank, wash the Climate Line Tube, and wash the headgear.

Finally - I dry everything, put them in a tub that has a seal and use my 30mg/h ozone machine that kills bacteria, mold, fungus, algae and germs.  I bought the ozone machine for just under $30.00.  Search for "CPAP Ozone" on the big internet sellers that sell everything.  Mine was through a Chinese site and works great.  Stay away from the small triangle ozone devices.  They only put out 2mg/h.  I bought this at first, but got a refund.  My device that puts out 30mg/h is about the size of two full-sized bars of soap.  This device runs for 25 minutes and then you let it sit for two hours.

I recently have seen a very similar ozone machine on TV and they want over $100 for the very same thing!!

Why have I gone the extra step of the ozone?  I have had a history of sinus and respiratory infections.  Ozone insures my equipment is sterile.  I haven't had an infection for a LONG time.

By the way, I also use Ozone to wash my clothes.  They come out clean and nice and smell fresh, too.  No laundry soap and I use cold water.  Only when I have heavy stains that I Spray and Wash or use something like OxiClean.  Ozone is good enough for the hospitals so it is good enough for me.
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