Your Personal CPAP Success Story - Post Here

[Syridian]

Sometimes it feels very congested but I'm working on it.

I find that when I'm congested putting a drop or 2 of eucalyptus oil in the humidifier really helps.

[RedNailz]

To celebrate my first year of PAP therapy, I’m posting my success story.   All is not perfect but, as I learned in this forum,  it’s a dynamic situation, with quirks and adjustments.   Sleep apnea is a condition you manage, and with my ASV, I am managing it well.

Highlights of my ASV journey so far: 
1. I can think when I wake up.   I can function before I’ve had coffee.  Sometimes I’ll even do a chore before coffee.  Once, I even walked the dog without coffee!
2.  The brain fog has slowly lifted.
3. Occasionally, I wake up with energy and get a glimpse of what must be like to be a morning person.
4. I have decent sleep habits for the first time since childhood (and even as a child, I fought going to bed because I was sure my family was having fun without me)
5. I finally have the motivation to move forward with the next chapter of my life.  I’m changing habits and setting goals, which is a major change for me.

Problems I have addressed:
1. Jaw drop (not mouth breathing) - I hated the chin strap, but a soft cervical collar works for me.  I’ve also found that it helps with aerophagia and AHI.  
2.  Eyes swelling due to mask venting - An eye mask solves this.  Until I found a thin one to wear under my  face mask, I wore one over the mask.  Dumb as that sounds, it was enough to deflect some of the air and actually helped.
3. Aerophagia- Thanks to pressure settings I got on this forum, plus sleeping on an incline on my back, continuing to wear the c-collar,  improving sleep hygiene, and wearing P10 nasal pillows, I can stop aerophagia (I posted about this).   The problem is that I can’t consistently wear the P10 (need to post to ask advice about this) so I rotate between that, the F30, and the F20, and the aerophagia comes back.  Still, it is not as bad as it was.


My story:
I snored in my 30s but didn’t fit the type for sleep apnea (wrong gender, age, weight). 20 years later, my snoring worsened and would wake me up.  2 years ago, I was under a lot of stress and would jolt awake at night with my heart racing.  I was losing sleep and having other symptoms (including brain fog)  that, to me, indicated a recurrence of a thyroid issue.  My endocrinologist said my thyroid was fine, but perhaps I had sleep apnea.  He said, “While you don’t look like you would have it, there are different types, like central sleep apnea.”    He explained what it was and, while I was sure I didn’t have THAT, I followed up with the pulmonologist he recommended. 

After months of insurance issues, and switching to a sleep doctor due to cost, I had an in-home test which I thought would prove that I didn’t have sleep apnea of any kind.   The result was that I seemed to have both obstructive and central apnea, so I needed to do an in-lab split study. Fairly soon afterwards, the doctor’s office called and said I had central sleep apnea with some OSA and needed an ASV machine.  

I didn’t find out my AHI until months later when I called to set up an appointment with the DME (I was in no hurry to get the ASV because I decided my AHI would be so low that maybe I could go without treatment).   The customer service rep made the comment, “Your AHI was 41 so let’s get that appointment scheduled now!”   That was when I finally stopped denying that my sleep apnea needed to be addressed.

Now my AHI is usually under 1, though I have an odd spike here and there.

[BobinHI]

About a quarter of a century ago, my wife said that I seemed to stop breathing occasionally at night, and suggested I mention it to my doctor. So, the next time I went in to see my primary care physician, I told him about it, thinking in my naiveté that it was one of the least significant of my problems. Much to my surprise, that was the most important thing in his opinion, and he had me booked to see a specialist in short order.

Apparently you can die from this apnea stuff! Who knew? No, you won’t suffocate at night. But the additional load it causes on the body increases the risk of heart failure or stroking out.

So, I did the sleep lab test (back then, no one dreamed of a home test). My AHI was 68. That led to a diagnosis of Sever Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome. I went back for a second study and titration, got my prescription for a CPAP, and started CPAP

I was not using CPAP because I felt sleepy during the day. I was using CPAP because I did not want to die. But much to my surprise, my wife began to say that I was exhibiting a lot more energy during the day. I was not really aware of that, but she certainly was.

I was not particularly fond of the single pressure CPAP the DME provided, so I bought an early Auto-PAP machine from DeVilbiss, which I liked very much. I continued over the years with a DeVilbiss IntelliPAP and then a DeVilbiss IntelliPAP II. With each generation of machines, they got quieter and better.

When I started CPAP, I had a lot of trouble breathing through my nose with a regular mask. I felt congested, even when I was not. I tried decongestants and other things that did not help me much. My go-to remedy was a hell of a lot of hot sauce, before I went to bed, hoping it would clear my breathing! Generally it did not.

Then I went to nasal pillows. It changed everything for me. The pressure applied straight to my nostrils blew right through the congestion. I could breathe easily with the CPAP at night, even when I was congested during the day! And (it seems to me) I had way fewer colds or other nasal congestion, once I started the nasal pillows. It was a great improvement for me.

Now I am amazed how comfortable and quiet modern machines are. I have a new ResMed 11 AirSense, which is remarkably comfortable and which reliably keeps my AHI below 1 (which I think is frankly astounding). I use the ResMed P10 nasal pillows, which I find light and comfortable. When we travel, I toss an AirMini in my bag, and it seems to work just fine in any country we have visited, whatever voltage they may use. That amazes me, too!

So, it is now 25 years since I started CPAP. I have not missed one night in those 25 years, except for overnight flights. (Even when I had to haul a motorcycle battery up a hill to a remote cabin to power a CPAP there, long before traveling with a CPAP was easy.) I’m still not sure I have that much more energy during the day, although my wife still makes that claim. I use it because I am not dead yet, and I think maybe the CPAP helps me stay that way.

Keep the faith. Use your machine!

Aloha,
Bob in Hawaii

[Andre Carignan]

Hope I am at the right place to post this…


Hi! 2 years ago I was diagnosis with mild obstructive apnea and and I tried a CPAP for about 8 weeks, it was not a success. I kept getting backup airflow in my mouth and I could not fall asleep as this bla blo bla bla effect woke me up as I was almost falling asleep, so I gave up.

We are in July 2024 and this time I was diagnosed with mid level apnea. So here we go, another CPAP machine and after having been set up with a mask the proper pressures, I am back home and looking forward to this trial. So that was 4 nights ago I installed everything, pre-heat the tube, get myself in bed, set the mask on and press "Go".  

It all goes well… I breathe in and out, everything feels fine. But, about 3 minutes later I feel a little pressure in the back of my mouth. I swallow in the hope of blocking that space and gee! Oh no my mouth fills in with pressured air!!! I try to tighten thr back of my mouth, yawning. I remove the mask, sit down and do some relaxing exercise and deep breathing. To cut things short after 30 minutes of this I remove everything and go to sleep without the CPAP.

This afternoon, 3 days later (ya, I did not pursue right away) I decide to give it a try in the afternoon. I thought why not, it’s just a try, no pressure. So here we go, I push the button on and after about 3 minutes same problem. I remove the mask, relax and think. Special apnea pillow, what’s special about them? I have never seen one of those pillow, but… an idea comes to my mind and I don’t no why?  What if I put my head back! I punch a hole in my pillow, I bunch up the pillow under my neck. I put my head on the pillow and push it into the hole. 

Ok now, mask on, push the button and breathe and relax while thinking to keep my head down. 3 minutes goes by, 5 minutes and a few more. Oh my God I may have solve my problem! I put every thing back and wait for 10 o’clock tonight.

Meanwhile my brain is still working and I remember my first aid course. Before we give mouth to mouth respiration, we first bring the victim’s head back to maximize the airway opening. Oh wow, bingo. I am crossing my finger for tonight, but I know it will work. I might not make 8 hours, but I know I am onto something and I will keep working in improving my technique and eventually get the benefits of the CPAP TREATMENT! ?

LET YOUR SPIRITS SENd ME GOOD VIBES FOR TRIAL,

thank you, 
Andre

[OpalRose]

I think you're on the right track.  Sleep position is important.  A soft cervical may help keep your head and neck properly aligned, or anything you can place under your neck.  

The other thing you might want to practice is keeping your tongue in the correct position so as not to allow air to fill your mouth.  This takes time to perfect, but being aware of it not just at night but during the day helps.

Tongue Suck Technique:
Place your tongue to the roof of your mouth with tip of tongue behind front teeth.  (NOT PUSHING ON TEETH).
Gently suck upwards and back.
This places the tongue in a natural position, with the back of tongue sealing the back of the throat so that if your mouth/jaw drops open while sleeping, no air will escape.

[robbob2112]

And if all else fails there is mouth tape. - cover roll stretch - wear it with a hole cut in the center so I can drink from a straw and breath through it if I try. Otherwise I get claustrophobic from the tape. I wear it because my jaw tends to sit farther back than normal and I have bad mouth leaks.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01F9JFBBY/

[Andre Carignan]

Gee, thanks OpalRose, I had never heard of this explanation as to why the air tries to escape to my mouth. As I write this post, I started this exercise with my tongue. 

About the collar, I had a physiotherapy session yesterday and my therapist is kind of against this. I have an extremely damaged spine full of arthritis with 2 past disk hernias and going through a third one now. So I will work on improving my tongue position.

Thanks for the quick reply,
André

[OpalRose]

About the collar, I had a physiotherapy session yesterday and my therapist is kind of against this. I have an extremely damaged spine full of arthritis with 2 past disk hernias and going through a third one now. So I will work on improving my tongue position.

Thanks for the quick reply,
André

In light of your spine and disk hernias, I side with your therapist and would not use the collar. But practice that tongue technique. It should help.

[americanesku]

I feel like I'm in a AA meeting here   Hello my name is ... and I've been sleeping like a baby, for about a month now! 

Joke aside ... I've been using this wonderful piece of tech called Airsense 11 for about a month ...  It changed my life. I actually, for a long time, had forgotten how it felt to actually sleep well at night. It changed my life this CPAP tech. And it was "love at first sight". The Philips DreamWear Full Face Mask is a marvel of engineering ingenuity (and so is the Airsense 11). I had no issues adjusting to the entire setup. First night I put it on, I slept like the proverbial baby. Now, I cannot see myself nap or go to sleep at night, without it. And it's this amazingly minimal, soft mask, the headgear and its design with the hookup on top of the head, the humidifier and the heated featured tubing, the AI algorithms built in this machine, that does all the magic! I knew, going into this, what I wanted in terms of mask (nasal vs nasal/mouth) as I work with patients who use these CPAP machines and know what SA, OSA and respiratory obstruction means first hand as they wake up from anesthesia. I'm a side-sleeper and this headgear/mask setup worked the best for me.

The last two years have been horrific.  I'd wake up at least twice a night with a dry mouth, unable to speak or breathe and with urgency to urinate (looks as if the latter is related to severe obstructive sleep apnea). I work in the field of medicine but we're not immune to "procrastination and denial". Guilty of it. Once I was up in the morning, I was good to go but waking up and that immediate 1 to 2 hr while I had my coffee and  try to "really" wake up, seemed to be more prolonged and obviously sluggish. Head pressure and sometimes a bit of fogginess. It'd get a lot worse during the winter months or if I had the "sniffles".  

My sleep study showed severe OSA. I has an AHI (REI) average of 44.7! I knew it. I wasn't surprised at all! My snoring over the years, as I got older (and fatter) got worse. It's all fixed sans the ongoing 30 lbs of fat that I need to lose, which once I take care of it and I WILL, my sleep and my happiness will only get better! I went from an AHI of 44.7 to 1.5 the very first few nights I used the CPAP! It's a phenomenal drop and I feel every bit of it! Words cannot describe it!

I'm a new member here. Found this by mistake looking for ways to unlock and read the data written on the SD card by the Airsense11. That's where I found "Oscar". Amazing little freebie (I sent the guys some money as a huge THANK YOU for creating such great thing!). I love dissecting my sleep data   Appeals to my nerdy nature. It all adds up and makes perfect sense using this CPAP tech.

I'm glad to be here and see the many success stories!

All the best!

[Sleeprider]

Well you figured it out on your own, I feel so unwanted Glad you found Osacr and thanks for the donation. Don't be a stranger.