Your Personal CPAP Success Story - Post Here

[eseedhouse]

Finally after five months of CPAP therapy I seem to be getting some real benefits. Last night I slept more than six hours before waking up needing to urinate, and got more than 8 hours under the mask. More importantly, perhaps, I am feeling better during the day and can go most of it without absolutely having to nap.

Now I know this isn't conventional, but a big improvement happened right after I persuaded my GP to prescribe some Xanax. I take one about a half hour before bedding down and another after my first wakeup. I've always had a lot of trouble getting back to sleep after that wakeup.

So far I haven't seen any increase in AHI which hasn't gone over two since I started the Xanax.

I'll see the doctor early in May and we'll have to discuss the Xanax as I don't want to take that forever. Perhaps an antidepressant might help me better.

I'd been having a lot of palpitations during the day, but a Holter Monitor study showed noting except Premature Ventricular Contractions, which are considered harmless. The thing is the PVC's generally go away when I take a Xanax, suggesting to me that there is a strong psychosomatic component to them.

Anyway, I don't know if this is a very big success story, but it's nice to see some noticeable improvements both in my sleep and my life, so I thought I'd let you know.

[givemesleep]

I don't know that I have a success story per se.

Starting in my mid-thirties, I would literally dread bedtime. It seemed that bedtime was just a series of ten minute naps. It was so frustrating it was nearly maddening. I just dealt with it though.

About three years ago, I was dating the lady who is now my wife. She'd complained of my snoring enough that I saw my doctor who prescribed a sleep study. To this day, I still don't understand how they can accurately study your sleep when you can hardly move and so uncomfortable because of 100 different sensors glued to your body. I have to wonder if my lack of entering REM sleep was due to Apnea or due to my waking up every 15 minutes because of wires or something.

I got the results and the doctor gave me all the proper warnings. However, I chose to try a dental device first. I have four boys, I love to camp out, I love Saturday morning hugs when they come and jump on me in bed. I just couldn't fathom wearing a fighter pilots' mask and scaring them half to death.

Four months went by, the dental device helped, but then it began to fail? The snoring slowly came back and so did the girlfriend's complaining. I had another sleep study with the dental device. This time, they came in like alien abductors in the middle of the night and put a mask on me. It was uncomfortable, but when I woke up just a few short hours later, I felt incredible.

I got the results of my test and they told me that my Oxygen Saturation levels had dipped down into very unsafe levels. They began talking about all sorts of issues that stem from this low of SPO2. Thinking of how good I felt after the sleep study, I decided to try it.

They gave me the speech about compliance and insurance, so I warned them. This was Monday and on Thursday I was flying out to Vegas with my girlfriend for one heck of a weekend. I wasn't taking the gas chamber with me.

That was how I felt until I slept with it that night. I woke up the next morning feeling incredible. This thing was going with me to Vegas. Not only that, I have been a dedicated CPAP sleeper since then. Two years later, I love it.

However, I have never shaken my Excessive Daytime Sleepiness. The doctor said sometimes the effects are permanent. So I have been on about every stimulant known to man. Currently taking Nuvigil.

I just discovered this site in the last week and i have been reading everything I can. I have a ResMed S9 Escape Auto, which was set as a CPAP @9. I just changed it to Auto to see what happens. I just purchased an Oximeter to measure my SPO2 over night. I want to better manage my therapy so that I can get the maximum benefit out of it.

Which made me realize that the S9 Escape Auto really has no real data. It's only two years old so I am considering just purchasing a new unit out of my own pocket, or at what ever discount my insurance will provide.

I also just switched from a ResMed Quattro FX to a AirFit P10 nasal pillow. Getting use to it, but I love it so far.

I was borderline diabetic, now my blood sugar has leveled out and is in control. My cholesterol is lower? (I'm sorry, but I love cheeseburgers...) However, I still struggle with EDS.

Thanks to this board for having so much info out here.

[DariaVader]

welcome givemesleep

You will surely be able to tune your therapy to the best benefit by being here! your insurance might pick up the tab for a new machine if your doc says you need one and gives a medically valid reason --- my insurance does not give a time frame, just justification - for instance. If your insurance company wont foot the bill, tho - you are likely better off going with a discount supplier as the insurance approved DMEs all have a huge markup.

tuning your therapy might help with daytime sleepiness... also time might as well. One thing I found is that after yrs of deprivation is that I *want* to oversleep, and although I hate it, an alarm clock helps me feel less sleepy

[signal13]

Approaching completion of my first full month on APAP. After reading all of these stories on this site, I realize how fortunate I am to have really good insurance through my local government employment. From sleep study (Insomnia Study would be a better term) to walking out of my DME office with a brand new Resmed A10 and all accessories was less than a week. Total out of pocket cost was $40 ($20 for sleep study and $20 for sleep doctor to interpret results) I never even had to talk to my insurance company as they took care of all of that for me. Very streamlined process. I will say that I learned 100x more on this site than from anyone at the sleep center. I met with the sleep doctor for 5 minutes and he seemed interested in getting that meeting over with quickly, signing my prescription and collecting a nice fat insurance check. Fortunately for me, I am proactive with my own health to the point of being borderline OCD about learning all I can about my condition and treatment.

After a rough first few nights getting acclimated to sleeping with the nasal pillows and chinstrap, I have adjusted rather well I think. I am height/weight proportionate male in my mid 40's but am (was?) an extremely loud snorer due to heredity and a deviated septum. My untreated AHI was 17.6 which is on the low end of moderate but I did stop breathing one time for 81 seconds! My initial prescription called for CPAP pressure of 11 but since I insisted on an APAP machine, I was prescribed 6-20cm for my pressure range. My ENT doctor also prescribed Flonase to keep my nasal passages clear. I was having some difficulty getting to sleep with that low pressure so I took some advice, accessed the clinicians menu and jacked up the starting pressure to 7. I'm even thinking that I might go to 7.5 or 8 because it seems easier to breath and I feel that I can tolerate that starting pressure just fine. I am now sleeping at least 6-8 hours a night without interruption. Last night, my events per hour was 1. I am about to install the ResScan software on my computer to see exactly what's happening and whether I can adjust that top pressure down some. Unless I have problems, I don't ever intend to go back to the Sleep Center or visit the sleep doctor unless the insurance company makes me for compliance reasons. After about a week of finally getting some quality sleep, I noticed a dramatic change in my energy levels, especially mid-day. I no longer awaken with a sore throat in the morning from shaking the rafters all night. I no longer need a nap when I get home from work and I actually want to go outside and get work done around the house. The best part...My wife no longer needs wax earplugs shoved into her brain It's also great knowing that I improved my overall health and that I probably added many years to my life expectancy. Thanks for a great website that has greatly helped me through this massive change in my life. If you are on the fence with getting a CPAP, it will immediately change your life for the better!!

[SleepingDragon]

Ok,
Started this adventure back at the end of this January - finally agreed to have the sleep study done. Work is NOT happy with me - accusing me of sleeping on the job. The wife isn't happy with me... even a few friends are not happy with me, especially my best friends... Sit still, fall asleep. Didn't even realize that I had fallen asleep - just, out, literally like a light-bulb (happened at my God-Daughter's birthday, sitting in the chair, asleep, wasn't aware of it - I could hear everything (maybe)). Driving, in town, OK, but anything more than an hour away... we're switching drivers. Then there is the weight gain... I can't seem to shake this weight. Just climbing and climbing... I'm not eating hardly anything... normally I drop weight by blinking my eyes - pushing 300lbs, I've never been this heavy and nothing is working to get rid of it. And lets not go to the energy drinks and the amount of other caffeine I'm consuming.

So, the sleep study, get the sleeping aid from the pharmacy; however, the tech at the lab says that we'll only use that if we have to
Hooks me up to the device ( I'm thinking, "Right, sure I'm going to goto sleep like this... bahumbug) - I'm sure that I'm not telling the seasoned PAPer's anything new here.
Of course, the tech tells me the general spiel about how they can't discuss the results blah-blah-blah...
Then the tech says... "however, if I come in and hook up the PAP equipment, we can pretty much conclude that you have something going on - and afterwards, we'll briefly talk about it then"

So, I'm laying there... seems like 5 minutes... the tech is back in and says... "well, I have some bad news..." so I'm thinking that either I have to take that stupid pill or the study did work and we'll have to reschedule.
No, I've been "asleep" for about three hours... not. Yep... hooked up the PAP for about five hours.

OH MY

I could have hugged and kissed that Tech that morning... the difference... just one night... just one...

Then he told me it could take a week before the Doctor could review my results.
I almost panicked... all I could think about was how was I going to go another week like ... I knew I was broken and not working/thinking like I should be... sigh


The unadjusted numbers AHI 106+, no stage 3, very little stage 2, and less than 40% sleep efficiency.
He had me tittered down to less than AHI1 before I left the lab and they canceled the remaining tests for other sleep disorders.

The Lab manager was going to come in to do the latency testing that morning; however, instead he came in to look at my charts because the tech called him at home at 3am. The Labmanager call me by 8am and told me that he had called my pulmonologist about 10 minutes into reviewing my chart, on his private line, and that the final count was around 96 to 98 events per hour... every 45 seconds... stop breathing... go hypoxic... wake... rinse... repeat... and repeat... said I must have been 100% stage 3 deprived for a very long time because once I was tittered down and hit stage 3 I stayed there, no back and forth... just stage 3, most of the remaining study time only going into stage 4 towards the end of the testing period. The sleep tech let me sleep until I started a normal wake because he was concerned about how long I stayed in stage 3 - anyway... the Lab Manager called my Doc at 6am, the Doc had my orders faxed to the Lab and the DME within the hour to set me up with a CPAP - ASAP!

So there you have it - I've left out some things... changed the names to protect the innocent. I could still hug the sleep tech!

This last Monday... SleepyHead showed that I had a AHI=0 ! ( I have a screenshot of that! )
The last thirty days I am averaging around a 1.5ish
I had a few bad days, one with a AHI6... couldn't tell you why... just a bad night.
Still having some sleepiness here and there... but not those blackouts like a PC going to sleep where I didn't know what happened! Doc says things look good, he has all the data from the machine since January.

The mask is a pain - When the 14psi hits all at once... it blows the seal occasionally.
The air was so cold hitting my face - yuck
Dry mouth like you wouldn't believe - even with a setting at 5 - like a cotton ball in a pill bottle.
Kept waking up in my back - not comfortable at all and my back hurt. However, the last few weeks (including that Zero-Night) I've been waking up on my tummy or my side like I use to and I am waking up and felt like I've actually slept (oh, yes, I have duh)

Lurked here for awhile and watching the YouTubes looking at the online stores... Wrapped my tube in a old flannel blanket which helped with both the cold air and the dry mouth.

Yesterday we upgraded my machine to the heated-tube which is a first for my DME. SO they want me to keep them informed about what my progress is and how I'm adjusting the settings so that they can help their other patients... My DME is ordering a couple more of the upgrade kits for other patients and so I'm the guinea pig.

Cannot express how stupid I feel for not doing this three years ago - by all accounts, I'm normally considered a fairly intelligent person by my peers and friends...

The wife keeps telling me... :I Told You So:

Had the follow-up, Doc says, "LOOKS GREAT! Come back in a year - or sooner if you start having any problems let me know and I'll write you a script to switch that over to the AUTO mode" showed him the summary from SleepyHead - he's like, "where's that at, let me get that info so I can Google that as I have a few patients I'd like to setup with this - and if you want to adjust the pressure I'll write you a script - you have my cell call me and leave a message day or night!" So maybe, Doc will visit and create a profile.

Good Doc... Good DME - even if they do charge a bit more than online... I'm very blessed.

Sorry for the length... seems my mind is working again!

[Quila]

I picked up my AirSense 10 Autoset today. I've been using a loaner ResMed S9 for the last month or so. Here's my story.

I didn't actually know I had a sleeping problem. I knew I snored sometimes and I would often fall asleep while watching TV, but I didn't think I had a sleeping problem. My GP referred me to a sleep specialist because he thought I had a small breathing hole (not his exact words, but that's how I remember it). They sent me home with a little gadget that measured my breathing and pulse while I slept. About a week after I returned that to them, they called to make an appointment so I could try a CPAP machine for a month. I put this off for a bit because I was traveling out of the country, but made an appointment for about a month later.

I returned home from my travels to find a letter from the insurance company approving what would turn out to be a little more than two thirds of the total cost of a "breathing apparatus". I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into.

The first few nights with the loaner machine were a bit frustrating. I had two different masks to try, an N10 nasal mask and a P10 pillow mask, both made by ResMed. The P10 came with different sized pillows. The sleep specialist had me wear each of them while at the lab to make sure I knew how they should fit and how they would feel with air blowing through them. Initially, the N10 seemed to be the most comfortable one, but I quickly realized that it would not stay on my face. It would end up on the bed beside me or on the floor at some point during the night. I didn't think I'd like the P10 because the airflow seemed a lot more direct and uncomfortable. What did I know? It turns out the P10 with the large pillows work quite well for me.

Another small frustration was trying to fall asleep with someone lying beside me laughing at how dorky I looked with a hose coming out of my face. That laughter quickly disappeared along with the snoring though. I think we're all good there.

I didn't really notice how much better I was sleeping until I tried to use the N10 mask again. I thought I should give it another chance after getting used to wearing something on my face while I slept. It came off a couple hours into the night. I have no recollection of removing it, but it was on the floor in the morning. And I felt like I hadn't sleep at all. It suddenly occurred to me that I had been sleeping a lot better than I had in a long time.

I've learned a lot from this board in the last month or so. I've been using SleepyHead to track my progress and try to understand what's going on. I still have a lot to learn, but so far this CPAP therapy seems to be doing something good.

[leximorph19]

After two weeks, my AHI has gone down to less than 2 (yesterday was 1.68 according to SleepyHead) although EncoreBasic reports the average of 3. Either way, it looks ok.

I feel a bit better. Not as great as when I had my split sleep study & titration more than a month ago when I had more than 7 hours of sleep and felt really great. I hope I can squeeze in a few more hours of sleep during my normal work day but am averaging 4 to 5 hours only. I do feel the benefits from the quality of sleep. No more drinking coffee before driving home. And I might be losing weight already - half-inch less waistline in 2 weeks. :-)

[Sleepster]

Glad to hear you're doing so well, leximorph. Just be careful with your weight loss attitude. I made the mistake of thinking CPAP therapy would be a magic weight-loss experience, but as it turns out you still have watch what you eat. Exercise will help with that, and help you sleep better. And watch the coffee. If you don't think caffeine affects your sleep, try skipping it for a day or two. You'll find yourself nodding off as soon as the sun goes down. I have to limit myself to two cups in the morning. Except days like today, where I had a third.

[eseedhouse]

If you don't think caffeine affects your sleep, try skipping it for a day or two. You'll find yourself nodding off as soon as the sun goes down. I have to limit myself to two cups in the morning. Except days like today, where I had a third.

One of the things APAP therapy has done for me is that coffee actually "helps" me more than it did before. I used to take a nice strong cuppa and then lie down and sleep in front of the TV for an hour or so.

Now if I feel the need to nap but can't allow that because of appointments drinking a cup actually keeps me awake and functioning well long enough to get by. I do normally take my last cup before 5:00 p.m. Currently I'm drinking three to four cups on a normal day. That's a lot less than I used to drink before therapy.

[timyo wegow]

I have low level sleep apnea, but my snoring was enough to give me problems. After paying out of pocket, ( because insurance won't cover snoring) I began getting used to using the mask, after tearing it off in my sleep. I hated it, but stuck with it and now am addicted to a good night's sleep.C- pap is a good addiction. My problem is paying out of pocket. My first Remstar lasted 7 years. I paid approximately 600$ for it online. My employer provides good health insurance, so a lot of my coworkers are Covered. However, most of them don't ever get used too or use the mask.So I have. Bought several lightly used machines for 50$ - 75 $. The medical supply place that the doctor sends patients charge about double from what you pay online