CPAP dependency

[clarkriley]

I was asked by a friend if CPAP use becomes a dependency and that you can have issues if you do not use it. Is this true or myth?

[Sleeprider]

True in my case. Once you get accustomed to breathing, going back to suffocating sucks.

[NotADr]

Now that I've been quietly using it for almost a year, I think my spouse would threaten to leave if I stopped and started snoring again.

[sonicboom]

It is definitely a dependency. You depend on it to survive.

[mesenteria]

If your friend is implying that the device is like an iron lung, or a pacemaker, it's not quite true.  However, the device is meant to vastly improve one's chances of living to a ripe® old(er) age than would otherwise be likely.  The device simply improves oxygenation...period.  One could just as easily claim that once a person begins to take statins that one becomes 'dependent' on them to live.  It's not strictly true.

[SarcasticDave94]

FWIW one of my recent medical office visits, I was given a visit summary. It listed above my medication list that I'm dependant on BPAP/ASV for sleep breathing. I can say if dependant means I can't do without it, then I am, because I'll never sleep well without. I'll even going so far to state it's not safe to sleep for me without the ASV & mask.

PS It's not that I'm necessarily dependant on the machine, it's that I'm rather addicted to breathing oxygen.

[DanGagner]

For me it's kind of like my seatbelt in my car. If I try to drive without it, it just doesn't feel right. I am like that with my apap machine. I know I'll be breathing in suffocating motions all night. I never notice it like my wife does but just knowing that it will happen makes me reach for my mask automatically each night.

[greatunclebill]

when you start cpap you are on it for the rest of your life. apnea does not have a cure so you should never stop using it. so yes it's a dependency. it's a dependency that i'm glad i have.

[sheepless]

yes, we are dependent on the machines to breathe better than without the machine. we will revert to periods of not breathing without the machine so yes you can have issues not using it.

however, I read the OP to be asking a slightly different question: does use of pap lead to a further weakening of our native respiratory capability which will cause problems above and beyond the problems we had before treatment? can pap make our pre-treatment condition worse if/when we go without pap? I've never seen a definitive answer to this question and I am curious about it. but as a practical matter I guess it really doesn't matter since we're dependent anyway as long as we don't want to revert to our pre-treatment condition (or worse if pap use does actually weaken our native respiratory ability).but

[Walla Walla]

yes, we are dependent on the machines to breathe better than without the machine.  we will revert to periods of not breathing without the machine so yes you can have issues not using it.  

however, I read the OP to be asking a slightly different question:  does use of pap lead to a further weakening of our native respiratory capability which will cause problems above and beyond the problems we had before treatment?  can pap make our pre-treatment condition worse if/when we go without pap?  I've never seen a definitive answer to this question and I am curious about it.  but as a practical matter I guess it really doesn't matter since we're dependent anyway as long as we don't want to revert to our pre-treatment condition (or worse if pap use does actually weaken our native respiratory ability).but

If anything it strengthens your respiratory system due to exhaling under pressure. It's the reason why some feel muscle ache in the diaphragm when first starting out.