Brand new, stressing and can't wait

[green wings]

Hello, Midniterider. I am impressed with your good attitude. I do think that it's not the best thing for sleep doctors/centers to tell patients right after their sleep studies that they have been diagnosed with severe sleep apnea, and to tell them how dangerous it is, and then there turns out to be a wait of two to several weeks to get a machine.

There's some cognitive dissonance there. I see posts here from people who've just been diagnosed and feel the same way that you do. I felt the same way you do when I was diagnosed last winter.

You can put the waiting time to good use, though, by learning some about CPAP machines and masks. I didn't find this forum until a couple of months after I got my CPAP machine. I wish that I had found it beforehand.

I have a plain CPAP machine, but if I'd known beforehand, I would have asked the sleep doctor if I could have an auto-adjusting CPAP (APAP). At least the equipment supplier (DME) did give me a data-capable CPAP.

Some people take to CPAP like a duck to water, and then there are those of us who are committed to using it, but have one problem after another adjusting to the pressure and to having a mask on our face. This forum is terrific for helping to solve problems with getting everything just right with your mask and your machine settings.

The SleepyHead software (link at the top of the page) is great for analyzing your CPAP usage data.

Welcome to the Apnea Board.

Hello. I took a home test last week and my nurse called to tell me I was diagnosed with "severe sleep apnea" and that sooner rather than later I needed to make an appointment with the lab for a follow-up test and fitting for a mask. They said the doc put an "ASAP" note on the file for the lab. But wouldn't you know it's going to take 2 weeks before I can get in! I can't believe these labs must be that busy but I guess they are.

Anyway the "severe" and "ASAP" stuff, along with all of the morbid warnings on the internet have me slightly freaked out.

I suppose if it was bad enough they'd have me in right away and I suppose 2 more weeks after what might be years of apnea issues isn't a big deal.

I've heard some great stories from a growing list of people I know who use the CPAP machines so I'm eager and excited to get to work!

I hope things go well in the meantime and I look forward to using the site.

[Midniterider]

Thanks! So far, so good. I got a new ResMed with a pressure of 8 and a full face mask. I was surprised my doc checked full face because the sleep tech indicated nasal mask on the form. In general I feel like things are going well. I notice that I wake up almost the same time every morning and feel much less in a heavy fog. I also don't find the urge to nap and am more alert through the day. All great pluses.

I had a home test and so my lab titration test was the first time for me in such a setting. It took a while to fall asleep and the tech started me on a nasal mask. I was skeptical because I tended to have trouble falling asleep breathing through my nose previously. I asked him to wake me up and switch to a full face so I could get a sense of how that felt. The next morning he said that if I had not asked to try both he would have kept me on nasal because I was doing fine. Anyway, I went with Doc prescription and am using a full face mask.

MyAir gives me good feedback, assuming it's accurate. I still have nights where I creep up a little above 5 events per hour but most of the time it's below that.

I'm so thankful for the diagnosis and the therapy. I hope it continues to go well and even improves.

Thanks again very much for the question and previous responses.

[SaldusMiegas]

Hi Midniterider,

welcome to the forum. as others have said, nothing changed from day before yesterday to today, except now you know you can do something to get better which for me was a great day when I got my diagnosis.

Use the next two weeks to maximum advantage - learn all you can, especially about how to choose a machine, types of masks that might work for you, and how talk to the DME. Then don't be afraid to ask your doc for what you need, get a specific prescription for the machine you want, and be persistent with the DME to make sure they provide what your doc orders.

Might start here:
http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php...ne_Choices

Considering the fatigue-fog you have had to fight through every day, a few days to research and mull it over might be useful.

In the mean time, try to sleep on your side, not your back. For most people sleeping on our backs makes sleep apnea worse. Side sleeping won't make it go away, but you might find a little improvement by side sleeping if you don't already.

Hang in there, the good news is that you are going to feel a LOT better. It may happen fast or come on gradually, but what's been impairing your life now has a name and there is a remedy for you.

Once you get started, you have a key role to play in taking charge of your own therapy, and learning from the data to get the maximum benefit. There are a lot of really smart folks here who are happy to help you figure it out.

best wishes

Saldus Miegas