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My article on today's Huff Post re sleep apnea journey - JaneAM - 09-07-2016
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jane-marquardt/becoming-a-hosehead-sleep_b_11869602.html
Hi Friends - Thought some of you would be interested in this article. Thanks for all the help you've given me in reaching a point where I love the benefits of the CPAP (although I doubt I'll ever love strapping that mask on my face each night...). Jane
RE: My article on today's Huff Post re sleep apnea journey - DeepBreathing - 09-08-2016
Hi Jane
Nice article! I think you've given a very fair and detailed account of what life's like as a hosehead. Like you, I don't think I'll ever come to love my machine, but I do respect it in the morning.
RE: My article on today's Huff Post re sleep apnea journey - Rcgop - 09-08-2016
182 days but who is counting and still struggling. Your story is very similar to mine. Same symptoms, problems, and benefits. But, as you said in the article, the benefits out weigh the problems. The part you left out was, the benefits FAR, FAR, FAR out weigh the problems.
P.S. The CPAP does not count as carry on luggage.
RE: My article on today's Huff Post re sleep apnea journey - justMongo - 09-08-2016
When you become eligible for US Medicare, perhaps you'll write an article on how difficult competitive bidding has made the task of obtaining expendable supplies.
RE: My article on today's Huff Post re sleep apnea journey - trish6hundred - 09-08-2016
Hi JaneAM,
Thank you for this article, and also for making many other people aware of sleep apnea.
Keep up the good work, and continued success to you with your CPAP therapy.
RE: My article on today's Huff Post re sleep apnea journey - stephennic - 09-08-2016
Hi Jane,
Thanks for the very encouraging article, I am in the early days of CPAP and I just purchased a dreamstation too. It is good to hear the benefits will outweigh the negatives and I will keep persisting with it.
Cheers
Steve
RE: My article on today's Huff Post re sleep apnea journey - somnia16 - 09-08-2016
Great article and your journey sounds a lot like mine - your outrage, perhaps even embarrassment at the diagnosis certainly is, not to mention the attempts at acupuncture etc...I am still struggling, on my third machine (others had glitches) and can only say I had one night (4 hours) which went well. I have to keep believing but this is tough - your article and all the support on this great forum is what keeps me trying (not to mention my throat collapsing many times an hour!).
RE: My article on today's Huff Post re sleep apnea journey - Maskup N. Sleepwell - 09-08-2016
Great article JaneAM
RE: My article on today's Huff Post re sleep apnea journey - MitchS - 09-08-2016
Great article.
RE: My article on today's Huff Post re sleep apnea journey - Sleepster - 09-08-2016
(09-07-2016, 09:08 PM)JaneAM Wrote: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jane-marquardt/becoming-a-hosehead-sleep_b_11869602.html
Hi Friends - Thought some of you would be interested in this article. Thanks for all the help you've given me in reaching a point where I love the benefits of the CPAP (although I doubt I'll ever love strapping that mask on my face each night...). Jane
Wonderful article, Jane. Articles like this raise awareness and help our fellow humans. Many people may be unaware that SuperSleeper, the administrator of Apnea Board, has this wonderful discussion board here only for the very same reason.
Your experience with sleep doctors and with equipment providers is, sadly, typical. But there are many very good exceptions. It is possible to find caring professionals, but it's not easy. I think part of the problem is that CPAP therapy is different from other forms of medical treatment, and our already antiquated systems of medical treatment are just not prepared to deal with it properly. Equipment manufacturers make their products attractive to the equipment providers, not necessarily the equipment users.
Finally, Jane, I note that in your article you said that you are unsure how much of your apnea is due to airway obstructions and how much is due to the brain simply not ordering the body to breathe when you're asleep. The former condition is called obstructive sleep apnea, while the latter is called central sleep apnea. Obstructive is by far more common, and is sometimes accompanied by at least some central apnea, in which case the diagnosis is "mixed" sleep apnea.
You report your diagnosis as "obstructive", so it's doubtful there's a significant central component mixed in there. Good CPAP machines (the only kind worth buying) make a pretty decent attempt at determining whether your apneas are obstructive or central. Yours will raise the pressure in response only to the former. It's also pretty good at recognizing an impending airway collapse by an analysis of your breathing pattern (called flow limitation) and can raise the pressure in response to prevent obstructive apneas.
People with central sleep apnea need an advanced machine that will sort of force them to breathe (by cycling the pressure) should the brain forget to do its job.