Your Personal CPAP Success Story - Post Here

[factor]

But Men Snore...  Thats normal right?

Hey Everyone,
I am Factor aka Brent.  I woke up tired.  Woke up to go to bathroom.  Slept at work.  Took Naps after lunch.  Slept a lot on weekends. Slept separate from my Spouse.  I snored so loud my wife could hear me downstairs.  I grew up with a father that snored the same.  He slept in his easy chair.  So as the subject states "but men snore its normal".  Dad snored. I snore seems like a man thing...  At 45 I was Dx with HTN, my MD said you need a sleep study.  I was like sure whenever.  Well due to me traveling (for work) constantly and lack of follow up by me and the MD it never happened.  I did tell my wife about it.  Shameless plug for telling your wife everything = Wife saying "When are you getting the sleep study?"  You snore so loud maybe something is wrong.  Me: But men snore I mean dad snored isn't it normal?  I just need to catch up on my sleep.  I hope some of you reading this it sounds familiar and if you haven't had a sleep study go now...  Ok now in 2016 we moved to a new town and as luck would have it a new MD.   I told him about the snoring and HTN.  Yep he said You need a sleep study.  We will schedule that today.  They should contact you by next Tuesday.  They never called.  Something clicked in me though I had made up my mind to prove I just snore like dad..  So I called the Sleep lab and asked about my appointment.  The nice lady said we dont have a request for Brent???  She said I will just call your MD and call you back.  Well needless to say I got the Sleep Study.

Well I am sure everyone already here knows how this goes.. for those still wondering I will carry on.  The Sleep tech wired me up and put me to bed.  About 3 hours in he had seen enough and woke me up.  I was like all good?  He said no we need to do the other part with cpap now.  On went the mask, out to "sleep" for the first time in years did I go..  5 hours later he woke me up.  This were I was thinking he would say You snore but its "Normal"..  Boy was I wrong.  He told me the sleep clinic will need me to come in to get a machine ASAP.  He told me my AHI was 87 (Normal is 5 or less), my spO2 was 50%, and I had bradycardia in the 30's.  He told me I was basically unconscious at night not really sleeping. Basically my physical body was so exhausted he said your just out but not "sleeping" your brain is not sleeping because its fighting a battle to keep you alive from the moment you head hits the pillow.  I was stunned.  Then I thought of my Dad he had HTN, Snored never felt good.  Yes, you guessed it Snoring night after night is NOT normal.  I assume my dad had undiagnosed OSA.  Sleep medicine wasn't a thing back then and yes I am old.  

In 2017 I received a PR Dream Station 1 (recalled I know).  I use it like religion now.  My AHI is usually around .5 or maybe 1.  Everyday I felt better and better.  I literally became a new person.  No waking up, no snoring, no naps and best of all the spouse sleeps in the bed.  I should tell her story too.  So I come home with the CPAP.  She said this is great honey you can sleep now and you will breath so you can live.  I want you to live.  I was so touched..  Then I said Yes dear no more snoring...  She replied Wait what?  No Snoring?  I though it was to help you breath?  I said yep that and no snoring...   I never knew a little german girl could jump so high...  I think if she could do back flips she would have.  So when you hear CPAP can help 2 people its true.  

For those who get here that are undiagnosed.  If you, your spouse, your dad, and anyone you knows snores like a train or seems to fit the story.  Tell them now. Send them to a sleep lab get them tested.   You could save their life and or greatly improve their life.

but men snore..  Thats Not Normal.

Go Now...  Stop waiting.

Thanks,
Factor

[Dormeo]

Brent, what a great post! Your advice is spot on and very compelling given your personal story. I'm so glad you addressed your serious health problems in time and basically got your life back.

You are one of the fortunate people who takes to CPAP right away. For most of us, it's a more gradual adaptation, but with the same wonderful endpoint: relief from apnea and restorative sleep.

[factor]

Brent, what a great post!  Your advice is spot on and very compelling given your personal story.

Thanks I hope my voice helps anyone.  

The key is to go get it looked at and find out if you have sleep apnea.  Then never give up.  Fight tooth and nail..  Stay the course.  

I have already helped two of my friends both dx with OSA.  

[Ratchick]

method115 - With the F30, just use the quick-release clip that disconnects the tube from the front of the mask. Then you don't have to faff around with the mask fit and straps etc, you can just pop off the tube, do your thing, get back into bed and pop it back on.

My success story: I am an inveterate mouth breather. I always have been, and I figured I always would be, so I was stuck with full face masks. And I don't hate them I actually really love the AirTouch F20. But I struggle to get it to seal on my small face, especially as my jaw drops when I'm asleep, hence the mouth breathing. In order to keep me from experiencing either chipmunk cheeks or massive leaks, it ended up being snug enough to cause a pressure sore on the bridge of my nose that WOULD not heal. I had previously tried an F30 which had been a disaster - but I couldn't bear to wear the F20 because of the sore. No amount of Gecko pads, Duoderm or padding was helping.

In desperation, and during the sale, I ordered a P10. This is a huge deal because a) the whole jaw dropping part and b) I have major allergies to medical tape, as well as my skin tears really badly removing any kind of adhesive dressing. The idea of taping my mouth was not something I seriously considered for that reason but desperate times call for desperate measures.

So, with a roll of Transpore and a chin strap, I carefully taped up my lips and tried the pillows. My cheeks popped out like a hamster in a peanut factory every time I started to doze off, promptly waking me up. In addition, although the pillows were the most comfortable size of the three options in the pack, I felt like I was short of breath. So I swapped to the next size up pillows, applied the chin strap, and tried again. It was like night and day.

Y'all... I love this mask. It's so light and it doesn't even leak that badly - more steadily than the F20, yes, but not the sudden, noisy, disturbing leaks that would wake me up. Even the louder venting wasn't enough to disturb me. I'm pretty sure I could tighten up the mask a little more, but it's working and comfortable. I feel like I get enough air. My cheeks barely pop. And (so far) my lips aren't screaming at me. The tape issue means I can't make this a full-time option... but I'm so glad that I've managed to make this a success - even if it's just to give the bridge of my nose a rest and prevent the pressure sore from reoccurring by having another option now.

[method115]

method115  - With the F30, just use the quick-release clip that disconnects the tube from the front of the mask. Then you don't have to faff around with the mask fit and straps etc, you can just pop off the tube, do your thing, get back into bed and pop it back on.

My success story:  I am an inveterate mouth breather. I always have been, and I figured I always would be, so I was stuck with full face masks. And I don't hate them I actually really love the AirTouch F20. But I struggle to get it to seal on my small face, especially as my jaw drops when I'm asleep, hence the mouth breathing. In order to keep me from experiencing either chipmunk cheeks or massive leaks, it ended up being snug enough to cause a pressure sore on the bridge of my nose that WOULD not heal. I had previously tried an F30 which had been a disaster - but I couldn't bear to wear the F20 because of the sore. No amount of Gecko pads, Duoderm or padding was helping.

In desperation, and during the sale, I ordered a P10. This is a huge deal because a) the whole jaw dropping part and b) I have major allergies to medical tape, as well as my skin tears really badly removing any kind of adhesive dressing. The idea of taping my mouth was not something I seriously considered for that reason but desperate times call for desperate measures.

So, with a roll of Transpore and a chin strap, I carefully taped up my lips and tried the pillows. My cheeks popped out like a hamster in a peanut factory every time I started to doze off, promptly waking me up. In addition, although the pillows were the most comfortable size of the three options in the pack, I felt like I was short of breath. So I swapped to the next size up pillows, applied the chin strap, and tried again. It was like night and day.

Y'all... I love this mask. It's so light and it doesn't even leak that badly - more steadily than the F20, yes, but not the sudden, noisy, disturbing leaks that would wake me up. Even the louder venting wasn't enough to disturb me. I'm pretty sure I could tighten up the mask a little more, but it's working and comfortable. I feel like I get enough air. My cheeks barely pop. And (so far) my lips aren't screaming at me. The tape issue means I can't make this a full-time option... but I'm so glad that I've managed to make this a success - even if it's just to give the bridge of my nose a rest and prevent the pressure sore from reoccurring by having another option now.

Wow I completely forgot about that. Thanks for this. I spent more time then I would have liked this morning getting it back on my head but thankfully went right back to bed. The quick release is going to make it so much easier. It was the only thing I didn't like about the mask. Everything else so far I've preferred over my p10. I don't hear leaks anymore which would happen with the p10 sometimes, no more air in my mouth. I've eliminated about 10+ wake up events by switching.

[Ratchick]

Wonderful to hear that's clinched it for you.

[Sleepster]

  Then I thought of my Dad he had HTN, Snored never felt good.  Yes, you guessed it Snoring night after night is NOT normal.  I assume my dad had undiagnosed OSA.  Sleep medicine wasn't a thing back then and yes I am old.  

We are fortunate to live in an era when OSA can be treated. Our parents and their ancestors were not so fortunate. In many cases they lived miserable sleep-deprived lives with a greater risk of stroke and cardiovascular disease.

[factor]

We are fortunate to live in an era when OSA can be treated. Our parents and their ancestors were not so fortunate. In many cases they lived miserable sleep-deprived lives with a greater risk of stroke and cardiovascular disease.

I wish about 40 years ago I could connect my Cpap to my dad..just to see.

[sndraco]

After several years (I think at least 5 maybe more) of having difficulty waking up in the morning, and struggling to make it through the day without a nap, and lack of energy even when I was awake, I finally got a sleep study (quite upset that my doctor didn't prescribe one earlier) and was diagnosed with moderate sleep apnea in late 2019, got a Resmed 10 Autosense in December 2019 and used it every night from then on. 

Now I still have some trouble getting up after 8'ish hours of sleep and sometimes sleep 10 hours, however my energy and mood is so much better each day than before cpap. Still working on optimizing my therapy (will start a thread on that). I went from a F20 which worked ok initially and then had lots of leaks, to a P10 which mostly solved the leak issue, as I am a side sleeper and do turn from side to side, the front tube wasn't ideal, so switched to a P30i (top of head attachment) which works a lot lot better. Also added a homebrew hose hanger and that helps with hose management as well. I did try a cervical collar and that didn't help, and trying mouth tape which seems to help a little. 

Thanks to all on this board. 

Shri

[Dormeo]

Great post, Shri! I’m glad you’re feeling better and hope your therapy can be tweaked a little more.

I especially admire your experimental attitude, which I’ve realized is really important in getting PAP therapy to work the way it’s supposed to.