Your Personal CPAP Success Story - Post Here

[remscape808]

Well it's two weeks into my therapy and so far I've already seen my AHI go from being int the 20s down to around 1 or 2 and I'm seeing in the charts that my rate of obstructives has dramatically decreased since the days of my first charts.

[OffroadToy]

Well.. it's been a month now since i started cpap and so far i'm impressed. I was very hesitant on this whole thing and dragged my feet for a few months after my doctor wanted me to do a sleep study. I've got to admitt that so far it's been working out great... just now getting my masks dialed in. I'm no longer laying in bed for hours trying to get to sleep and no longer waking up every 2 hours to go to the bathroom. Also, my acid reflux (gerds) that i've been taking pills for the last few years is gone since starting this therpy. I'm wishing now i would have started it sooner...

[remscape808]

...Also, my acid reflux (gerds) that i've been taking pills for the last few years is gone since starting this therpy. I'm wishing now i would have started it sooner...

That is impressive that the CPAP has helped you even further than you might've expected by eliminating the GERD symptoms you had been experiencing for so long. That's the icing on the cake and proof that CPAP is beneficial in more ways than one.

[Lambsydoats]

Stay tuned....I'll show you my most recent report!!

[toro33]

Spectacular Success Story

Three months of adjustments has finally paid significant dividends. Over the past 16 days my average AHI was 0.9 and my persistent aerophagia was finally under control. (The first two months of this journey were reported on page 50)

My Sleep study was done 11 years ago at age 70 and was AHI 70, OA 50, CA 18 and H 2. I’ve had two major problems since then that I’ve only recently come to understand.

First, my Respiratory Rate while sleeping is slower than normal, consistently averaging between 11.5 and 12.5 per hour. My machines on default settings never liked that. Resetting the Trigger and Cycle settings to match my Rate(Trigger-High, & Cycle-Very Low) brought my AHI down to a range of 1.5 -2.0, but I still wasn’t sleeping well.

Swallowing too much air does not make for a good night sleep! I finally figured out that all my air swallowing occurred while sleeping on my side. A traditional cot while camping kept me on my back and gave a great sleep. I now have two small body position wedges (11” by 7” by 3”) that I place on either side with just the tips under my waist (between rib cage and hip). So little, but they have worked very well.

My SleepyHead data showed two significant changes during the 16 nights since I began using the body position wedges.
- My Minimum Respiratory Rates were almost always 2 per hour or less, frequently zero and never higher than six. The lowest since adding body wedges was a 7.4 per hour.
- OA & CA events have been nearly eliminated. There was only a single CA event and 11 of the 16 nights were free of OA events. Only the Hypopnea events remain and those averaging less than one per hour.

Real restful sleep is wonderful!!!

[toro33]

Spectacular Success Story

Three months of adjustments has finally paid significant dividends. Over the past 16 days my average AHI was 0.9 and my persistent aerophagia was finally under control. (The first two months of this journey were reported on page 50)

My Sleep study was done 11 years ago at age 70 and was AHI 70, OA 50, CA 18 and H 2. I’ve had two major problems since then that I’ve only recently come to understand.

First, my Respiratory Rate while sleeping is slower than normal, consistently averaging between 11.5 and 12.5 per minute. My machines on default settings never liked that. Resetting the Trigger and Cycle settings to match my Rate(Trigger-High, & Cycle-Very Low) brought my AHI down to a range of 1.5 -2.0, but I still wasn’t sleeping well.

Swallowing too much air does not make for a good night sleep! I finally figured out that all my air swallowing occurred while sleeping on my side. A traditional cot while camping kept me on my back and gave a great sleep. I now have two small body position wedges (11” by 7” by 3”) that I place on either side with just the tips under my waist (between rib cage and hip). So little, but they have worked very well.

My SleepyHead data showed two significant changes during the 16 nights since I began using the body position wedges.
- My Minimum Respiratory Rates were almost always 2 per minute or less, frequently zero and never higher than six. The lowest since adding body wedges was a 7.4 per minute.
- OA & CA events have been nearly eliminated. There was only a single CA event and 11 of the 16 nights were free of OA events. Only the Hypopnea events remain and those averaging less than one per hour.

Real restful sleep is wonderful!!!

Mistake just corrected, Respiration rates are per minute, NOT per hour!

[mmdupas]

Hi,

I've been on CPAP since 1/27/14. My first weeks were terrible but it got better. My first success was understanding that the air leaks at high pressure are normal and it's best not to tighten the mask trying to stop them. My next success was to realize the PR Mirage mask was not right for me as I had sores on the bridge of my nose no matter what I did. The Quattro FX fixed that problem. But I got a lot of air blowing in my eyes with the FX. So next success was to go to the Quattro AirFit F10. For now my mask troubles are resolved.

My compliance has been 100% because I was motivated. My blood oxygen levels were as low as 64 at times and scared me. I use the PR System One Series 60 and the OAs are now under control and my AHI is usually under 5, so I guess that's a success.

But I also experience Central Apneas, many times do not feel like I got a good nights sleep, I continue to have trouble with nasal congestion and my AHI occasionally jumps up to around 10. So I still have challenges.

[rfox3304]

Got my CPAP in 1995. I was falling asleep at work. My wife was ready to divorce or muzzle me. Got my first sleep test, what an experience. Doc said 59 apnea events per hour, he looked at me and said "Bad Boy" we both laughed. Sent me to only place in town that had machines. The Respironics Tower 11 cm H2O. Machine was great the first night, wife loved me again. I used the ramp for three nights and have never used it again. Used that machine until the power switch gave out 10-11 years. Got a F&P H604 and discovered the joy of heated humidification and climate line raised to 13 in 2007. 2011 new sleep test went to BiPAP Respironics System One, 20/15 cm H2O used it until this Thanksgiving when the machine started beepin g and putting out no air and caused me to awake choking to breathe. DME night call said could not do anything until Monday, was I upset. Got new S9 with heated humidification and climate line. 20 years four machines, not too shabby as far as success IMHO.

[Gabby]

Got my CPAP in 1995. I was falling asleep at work. My wife was ready to divorce or muzzle me. Got my first sleep test, what an experience. Doc said 59 apnea events per hour, he looked at me and said "Bad Boy" we both laughed. Sent me to only place in town that had machines. The Respironics Tower 11 cm H2O. Machine was great the first night, wife loved me again. I used the ramp for three nights and have never used it again. Used that machine until the power switch gave out 10-11 years. Got a F&P H604 and discovered the joy of heated humidification and climate line raised to 13 in 2007. 2011 new sleep test went to BiPAP Respironics System One, 20/15 cm H2O used it until this Thanksgiving when the machine started beepin g and putting out no air and caused me to awake choking to breathe. DME night call said could not do anything until Monday, was I upset. Got new S9 with heated humidification and climate line. 20 years four machines, not too shabby as far as success IMHO.

Great story rfox3304, thanks for sharing.
May you have another twenty years plus of continued success.

PS. Welcome to the site!

[novatom]

OK, it's been only a week in but even I didn't think I would get this far. I took delivery of my CPAP last Tuesday and up until yesterday, got very little sleep. At first I used it the minimum 4 hours per night but was trying to increase my usage.

Finally yesterday (Sunday), I was really dragging so I decided to take a nap and use the CPAP. I am not a "napper." I always have difficulty trying to sleep during the day but yesterday was different. I managed to get 1.5 hours of sleep using the CPAP and woke up feeling incredibly refreshed, managing to get that "natural high" that I had attained a week ago when I did the titration (but that was with the help of a sleeping pill). It was really the first time I had been able to get some deep sleep with the CPAP on my own (and without the pill).

Last night I was able to continue my sleep (without the pill) and this morning I feel great, again with the "high" that comes from feeling refreshed, a feeling I hadn't felt in years.

I realize I'm not out of the woods yet, there will probably be some backsliding, but this morning my work colleague could see the change in my face before I even got the chance to tell her. She mentioned that I had seemed angry and tense in recent months, so now I don't have an excuse anymore