Intro

[just-dave]

I registered a week or so ago after lurking for a month or more and figured it's time for an intro.

The path I followed to get here sounds similar to a lot of people on the board. I suffered from sudden unexplained chronic fatigue that continued for over a year and after my Doc ruled out most things he referred me to a sleep clinic.

Since I live in the land of "free" health care it's been a tedious path of hurry up and wait. I was referred in August 2014, contacted 6 weeks later by the sleep clinic and booked for a sleep study November 26th. February 2nd I received my results from the sleep clinic (AHI of 12) and booked for a titration study March 23rd. April 1st I received a ResMed S9 to use to prove I was worthy of having my own machine. I think they referred to it as compliance.

Long story short I paid $550 for my portion of the cost of an Airsense 10 and mask and have been using it since April 30th.

So far I don't notice any difference but I'm going to stick with it after making the investment and here's hoping it helps.

Already gained lots of knowledge from reading through the posts and hope to learn more.

Dave!

[Sleepster]

April 1st I received a ResMed S9 to use to prove I was worthy of having my own machine. I think they referred to it as compliance.

Yup. Lots of CPAP machines end up in closets. There's no sense in your society paying for a CPAP machine if you're not going to use it! All it does is make the equipment manufacturers and providers rich!

So far I don't notice any difference but I'm going to stick with it after making the investment and here's hoping it helps.

Sometimes the progress is so slow we don't notice it. But you will eventually notice it and so will others around you. It might happen when you go to do something you haven't done in years and realize that the experience now seems entirely different.

[Quila]

Since I live in the land of "free" health care it's been a tedious path of hurry up and wait.

Long story short I paid $550 for my portion of the cost of an Airsense 10 and mask and have been using it since April 30th.

Universal health care, not free health care... It's only "free" in the sense that we don't have to pay our doctors when visit them under "normal" circumstances. But we still pay.

So far I don't notice any difference but I'm going to stick with it after making the investment and here's hoping it helps.

I didn't notice much of a difference at first either. However, one day I woke up with the mask off and discovered I had only used the machine for about an hour. I had slept just as long as I had previous nights but felt like I barely slept at all. That was my "aha!" moment when I realized that CPAP therapy was actually a good thing for me.

[trish6hundred]

Hi just-dave,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
Sometimes it takes a while to notice any improvements, it's good to hear that you want to stick with it.
Hang in there for more responses to your post.
Much success to you with your CPAP therapy.

[worn_out_in_lebanon]

Hi Dave and welcome. Sorry it took from August to April for you to get to this point. But glad you are here!

[jumpinminnow]

Dave,

I'm new here too but I'm lagging behind you a bit as I expect to begin haggling for the right machine any day. Some of the people that replied to my first post said it might take six weeks to really recover from the sleep you lost.

I would assume the more severe the apnea in terms of episodes per hour, average length of an event and 02 saturation levels the sooner you might notice a difference. I had 85 events an hour and noticed some difference after my second sleep study.

But I still have a very long way to go. Good luck!

[OpalRose]

just-dave,
It should be a crime to have to wait that long, but it seems that many of our Canadian friends wait a long time and have to jump through a lot of hoops to get treated.
Your health care may be "free", but it seems you pay for it one way or another.
Give it time to work. Some see a difference right away, while others take longer.
Good Luck.

[trailrider]

Welcome Dave! I'm a bit more north than you, but I had some relatives down in Waterloo. The hardest part is going to be getting used to the mask and hose. Keep at it and don't hesitate to ask questions if something doesn't feel quite right. We've all been there!

[BrownCow67]

just-dave,
It should be a crime to have to wait that long, but it seems that many of our Canadian friends wait a long time and have to jump through a lot of hoops to get treated.
Your health care may be "free", but it seems you pay for it one way or another.
Give it time to work. Some see a difference right away, while others take longer.
Good Luck.

I know it took a long time for me. After I had a stroke, a sleep study was ordered. It took 21 months for that to happen, a month to see the sleep doc, and I had a machine within two days! Hopefully our new provincial government will make healthcare a priority again.

[AlanE]

I registered a week or so ago after lurking for a month or more and figured it's time for an intro.

I'm new here too but I'm lagging behind you a bit as I expect to begin haggling for the right machine any day.

I know it took a long time for me. After I had a stroke, a sleep study was ordered. It took 21 months for that to happen, a month to see the sleep doc, and I had a machine within two days! Hopefully our new provincial government will make healthcare a priority again.

Hi just-dave, jumpinminnow, and BrownCow67. Welcome to the board. Good luck with your treatment.