Apnea Board Forum - CPAP | Sleep Apnea
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New member to the board. - 1BigDog - 08-17-2016

Just an introduction here. I did a search and found this site so it looks like i will be doing some poking around a bit. Im from Jax Fl and I have been on my "machine" now for about 3 months now. I am on an Aircurve10 Vauto Bi-level with an Amara View mask. So far so good. I went into this over a year ago kicking and screaming all the way. No way did I have sleep apnea. You were all nuts I told anyone who brought the subject up. I had some other issues such as being overweight and I had a heart catheter done and I passed with flying colors. The center also had their own sleep lab so I went ahead and did a sleep study. What a terrible night I had. The wires were driving me nuts and the tech said that I slept really bad. I was going to do a follow up but I had some insurance issues and was being billed for an out of network charge which took 7 months to correct. By then I was disgusted so I gave up on the whole thing. A few months later I was overwhelmed with exhaustion and I could not function properly. I called the sleep center and my first test was still valid so I was set up with another test. This time I was put on a CPAP and off I went to what was possibly the worst night of my life. Bad, uncaring tech, who was told in advance that I usually get up several times a night to use the toilet. After the first time she was upset with me. The CPAP kept me gagging all night, with air being forced down and waking me up. At about 5 AM they had enough data and home I went. I received a call a few days later and the dr wanted to see me right away. I went in the next morning and he explained just how bad my apnea was. Bottom line was that I was having about 44 events per hour and at that rate I will be doing some serious damage. He then set me up for a third study with a better tech and in the meantime ordered me the Bi-level machine. I picked it up and along with trying on several masks I went with the Amara View mask. The supply store techs set it up according to the dr's prescription and I tried it that first night. Insurance requires a minimum of 4 hours a night for coverage. It took a while to get used to it but forced myself through the 4 hour deal. In a few days I made my own adjustments to the ramp time and humidity and began sleeping better. I then went for my 3rd study and the tech said I did much better than the previous two tests. Dr was very happy with the results. I am now on the machine every night for at least 5 hours and my hourly events are between .05 and 2.1.
I also am falling asleep within a few minutes of hitting the pillow and hit a deep sleep rather quickly. I also am in love with this machine. I feel rested and can breath a lot easier now. Very little to no snoring as well. Yea, I know, a bit winded reading here but thats my story in a nutshell. Looking forward to reading some of these posts and learning more about whats available to those with this "issue".
oldman


RE: New member to the board. - chill - 08-17-2016

Welcome to the Apnea Board. You sure got put through the wringer! It sounds like you have things well under control and are getting good results out of it.


RE: New member to the board. - OpalRose - 08-17-2016

Welcome


RE: New member to the board. - JudgeMental - 08-17-2016

Welcome BigDog. After all of the trauma that you went though for the first couple of sleep study attempts, you are now on the right path. Great to hear. Your persistence and your Physicians determination to help is a good lesson for those who have less perseverance. I hope you are now on the road to sweet dreams often.


RE: New member to the board. - trish6hundred - 08-18-2016

Hi 1BigDog,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
I'm sorry you had to go through so much, but now that you've gotten that out of your way, you can move on to better sleep.
It's great to hear that you are doing well with your machine and mask, keep up the good work.
Good luck to you as you continue on your CPAP journey, hang in there for more responses to your post.


RE: New member to the board. - 1BigDog - 08-18-2016

Thanks for the welcomes. My days are so much better now that I am getting some better quality sleep. I just never realized how many are on some type of machine. I also found out that a great many of my friends (we are all over 60) use a machine as well.


RE: New member to the board. - DariaVader - 08-18-2016

good to hear! sorry you had to go through such a wringer to get there, though.

Welcome