Giving up for now.

[Ghost1958]

Your DME has thirty days to send those masks back for refund. They CAN refit you within 30 days if you return the masks you have so they can send them back and refit you with new ones.

The medication route is simpler. I know I was on medication for heart rythem, BP, for over a decade and didnt know I had Sleep Apnea that was causing most of it. I wound up with a thickened Left Ventrical wall, Afib, a botched surgery for the Afib where my heart was punctured etc etc etc. All stemming from this Sleep Apena.

As I said the med route is simpler until one you have taken for six years suddenly goes wonky and about kills you. Like it did me.
Or your medicated until about everything you take interacts with something else you take.

Your a big girl. You get to make the Big Girl decisions. But Im guessing im older than you. Been on meds for 20 yrs and wish I had known what the Sleep Apena was doing to me so I could have got off most of em before I did.

Just a couple of stats. Food for thought if you will. Your 22 times more likely to be killed by your Doc giving you meds than you are to die of a gun shot wound.

And no 2. More people die from the long term effects or acute effects of medications than die of the condition the medications were supposed to be treating.

Im at this now for under 15 days. But the lifestyle thing isnt that big a change. Masks can be a pain but when you find the one that works for you its not a big deal.

[NickDanger]

Nightflight, it gets better over time. Some people have a nearly miraculous increase in energy immediately upon starting CPAP. For many of us, it took longer than that.

[SandysSpot]

My biggest concern for for anyone considering giving up because they can't adjust or only have mild OSA. I have mild OSA but my blood oxygen levels dropped down into the 70s. So of those few times you apnea, just how long did you stop breathing? I know others that dropped way down farther than that.

Food for thought.

Brain Hypoxia

Mild symptoms include:
temporary memory loss
reduced ability to move your body
difficulty paying attention
difficulty making sound decisions

Severe symptoms include:
seizures
coma
not breathing
brain death

[retired_guy]

Food for thought.

Brain Hypoxia

Mild symptoms include:
temporary memory loss
reduced ability to move your body
difficulty paying attention
difficulty making sound decisions

I'm sorry...... Say that again? I forgot what you said..........

Severe symptoms include:
seizures
coma
not breathing
brain death

........and it goes downhill from there!!!

[DeannaM]

Dear friends, an interesting thing happened to me late this afternoon. A friend who knew I was having trouble has gifted me a nasal mask to try, since my DME absolutely will not give me another mask to try. So starting tomorrow I will be trying her mask out. I had to go to the hospital medical records department to get it, but I now have a copy of the script. My friend is putting me in touch with a different DME for getting masks and supplies. After seeing the script, it is clear that the DME did not set up the machine as instructed. So I can remedy this myself thanks to the clinicians manual you all have provided. This is so very disturbing that my treatment is being arbitrarily administered by an equipment sales lady. So again I thank you all. This not so grown up 50 year old lady does need someone to hold her hand.

[Buckeyedog]

Good news. And good luck.

[Galactus]

And this thread should serve as a lesson to everyone, not to give up. Mostly because quitters never win, and winners never quit.

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,

When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit-
Rest if you must, but don't you quit.
Life is queer with its twists and turns,

As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a fellow turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out.
Don't give up though the pace seems slow -
You may succeed with another blow.
Often the goal is nearer than

It seems to a faint and faltering man;
Often the struggler has given up
Whe he might have captured the victor's cup;
And he learned too late when the night came down,
How close he was to the golden crown.
Success is failure turned inside out -

The silver tint in the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It might be near when it seems afar;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit -
It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.

[OMyMyOHellYes]

Hope it works and helps you... Good luck whichever way you go with this.

OMM

[Terry]

This is so very disturbing that my treatment is being arbitrarily administered by an equipment sales lady. So again I thank you all. This not so grown up 50 year old lady does need someone to hold her hand.

Congratulations! You'll do fine.

There is no financial incentive for optimal care, so you'll generally get just enough service for the provider to get paid.

Happily, places like this exist.

Take charge of your life. Nobody cares about it as much as you do. The rest just want to get paid.

[Ghost1958]

Hang in there. Most DMEs will get by with everything they can. My first one lasted a week before I fired them over the machine they wanted to give me and machine I wanted. Went to a more local one, let them know respectfully not to waste my or their time if they wanted to play the same game. Surprisingly they are excellent. Special ordered the machine I wanted, the mask I need, couldnt ask for better service.


Glad to hear you arent giving up. Id suggest a new DME