Your Personal CPAP Success Story - Post Here

[CHanlon]

These benefits greatly outweigh the minor inconvenience of using a CPAP machine. I will continue to use my CPAP machine every night.

Welcome to the forum, and congrats on your success!

[b360155]

Alan:
Thanks for taking the time to share your success story!

[sailor4you]

Alan,

Great story. I'll be 66 years old in June and also live on the East Coast. Take my BiPap every place I go.

Bill

[cqfd93]

Hi All,

Just wanted to share my CPAP success story

I'm 58, I've been diagnosed with severe OSA after a sleep study done in home (by far the worst night I had in years!) that showed lots of obstructive apneas and hypopneas, no central apneas and very loud snoring (averaging 90 dB) The only sympton of sleep apnea I had, besides snorings, was my tendency to fall asleep while watching TV or at the theater.

As my sister and her husband have been on CPAP for many years, I knew that it was the most effective therapy for OSA and I was not worried about having to sleep with a mask.

I couldn't choose my machine and mask, but I'm pleased with what my provider gave me (Respironics System One Auto with A-Flex + humidifier + F&P Flexifit 407 nasal mask) and my first night was great (7.5 hours, AHI 2.5) Prescribed pressure is 11 and the machine is set to 6-18.

I've been on CPAP for about 4 weeks now, and my average AHI is down to 1.21. No need to say that I really love sleeping with my mask, and my BF loves it even more: he no longer needs to use earplugs

[SuperSleeper]

I've been on CPAP for about 4 weeks now, and my average AHI is down to 1.21. No need to say that I really love sleeping with my mask, and my BF loves it even more: he no longer needs to use earplugs

Wow, 1.21 average AHI is REALLY GOOD. Thanks for posting, cqfd93.

Welcome to Apnea Board.... glad you've got a good solid data-reporting CPAP machine... and an Auto also! That's super.

[Ulrika]

1. How is CPAP therapy making a positive difference in your life? What impact has it made upon your health & happiness?

2. Have you had any problems with CPAP that you solved with a positive outcome? If so, what did you do to solve the problem?

2 weeks into my CPAP journey... I can say I have been so relieved to know that I am getting some positive results and it is much easier than I initially thought it would be! I have felt much more refreshed from my sleep, I am not getting up several times a night either with reflux, snoring or thinking I need to go to the toilet! I have a full face mask as I breathe through my mouth.

On my first night I thought the pressure was so hard I would hyperventilate but by the second night it was barely noticeable until after a few nights I thought my machine wasn't working! Two weeks on I look forward to putting on my mask to go to sleep. I had a few issues with mask leaks on the first couple of nights until I worked out where it "felt" right and if it does leak I can quickly adjust it now. I also had a bit of a sore throat feeling but after some advice I increased my humidity and immediately the next morning I felt great.

With my initial sleep test my longest recorded apnea was 91.1 sec and on my data yesterday for the 2 weeks the apneas were only 5 - 10 seconds at the most. My AHI was 2.1.

I am looking forward to seeing the long term benefits - I still can't believe how quickly it has begun changing my life.

[Slimdoll23]

Wow, so many experiences shared.

I guess I'm very fortunate in that my doctor arranged for a sleep study to be done at home. Reason, it's cheaper, gets better results as you are on your own bed and can be done immediately. No waiting for bed availabilites in sleep centers. The technician came at my bed time and came back the next morning at my wake time. How convenient. Then came out with a very detailed report sent t my doctor and showed up at my home within a week with an APAP machine (never heard of brand Apex) with the Comfort Blue Gel nasal mask from PR. Used it for a month as a loaner and went back to the doc who then recommended I continue the therapy as it brought down my AHI from 20.2 to 0.2.

The technician wanted to sell me the Apex for USD 1200. The same machine but rebadged as the ZZ APAP in supplier 5 was retailing at USD 399. The Resmed S9 auto set was going for USD 2000 in Singapore. Can you imagine that. So I ordered my own via supplier 5 for a PR Remstar Auto A Flex as by US regulations, Resmed is not allowed to be shipped overseas.

Using the PR nasal mask blue comfort gel was very noisy during exhalation with the Remstar and i just couldnt get used to it. Not sure why. But using this same mask on the Apexi was ok. I had a few days before i had to return the loaner Apexi. So I ordered a Resmed nasal pillow and it was much quieter.

Managed to get a Resmed Autoset when I went to the US and now happily using it with the PR as a spare. The strange thing is that the PR nasal mask blue comfort gel is very quiet with the Resmed Autoset, all settings equal.

So different masks works differently with different APAP machines even though settings were set the same. I alternate between nasal pillows and nasal masks as the results were the same.

[bige94]

Well I had my study done in 2006. I just pulled it out and had forgotten how bad it was. It was interesting reading for me and definitly speaks to my success with cpap therapy. Thought someone else may find it interesting as well.


Study Perlormed: Nocturnal Polysomnography, split night study, diagnostic/CPAP Titration
HISTORY: This is a 30 year old mala who presents with complaints of excessive daytime sleepiness,
loud snoring, nocturnal choking, restless sleep, and witnessed apnea. He has a history of allergies and
hypercholesterolemia. His Epworth Sleepiness Scale score is 16.
PROCEDURE: This was a nocturnal technician attended overnight polysomnography wilh conlinuous
simultaneous recording with a digital sleep system using the international 1 0-20 electrode placement for
recording EEG, eye movement, chin EMG, nasal and oral airflow, EGG, respiratory effort, oximetry, body
position, snoring sound, pulse rate and limb movement. The Inttial portion at the study was undertaken to
evaluate the severity of the suspected obstructive sleep apnea and the second portion for initiation of
treatment with Nasal CPAP.
SUMMARY:
PART I
1. Sleep Architecture: Total recording time was 163.6 minules. with a total sleep time of 139.5
minutes and a sleep efficiency of 88.0%. The patient's sleep latency was 3.5. Latency to REM was
112.5 minutes. There was 8.2% of Stage 1 sleep, 72.0% Stage 2 sleep, 0.0% Stage 3 sleep, 0.0% Stage
4 sleep and 19.7% Rem sleep. Total number of arousals was 225. Arousal index was 3.9.
2. Respiratory Data: During the study the palient had 236 episodes of apnealhypopnea with 2 percent
oxygen desaturation or greater making respiratory index 101.5 events per sleep hour. Mean length of the
apnea/hypopnea was 23.3 seconds and the longest was 26.8 seconds. Respiratory disturb<lnce index
during sleeping in the supine position was 103.0 events per sleep hour and the patient slept 92.0 minutes
in the supine position. Respiratory disturbance index while sleeping on both sides was 98.5 events per
sleep hour and the patient slept for 47.5 minutes on both sides.
Total respiratory disturbance index was 101.9 episodes per sleep hour. The events Included 28 episodes
of hypopnea, 9 episodes of mixed apnea, 0 episodes of central apnea, 199 episodes of obstructive apnea
and 1 episodes of hypopnea with arousal but not necessarily oxygen desaturation. During non Rem
sleep 105.5 events per sleep hour, and during REM sleep 87.3 events per sleep hour. Respiratory
arousal index was 101.9.
3. Oxygen Data: The patient spent 26.9 percent of sleep time with oxygen saturation above 90
percent, the patient spent 69.4 percent of sleep time with oxygen saturation less than 89 percent and the
lowest oxygen saturation was 63%.
4, EKG Data: Frequent unifocal PVG"s were noted during the sleep study.
5. Other Data: No periodic leg movements were noted.

SUMMARY:
PART II
NARRATIVE REPORT
1. Sleep Architecture: The sleep architecture improved with nasal CPAP with periods of REM and
Non REM sleep recorded. Total recording time was 271.1 minutes. with a total sleep time of 263.5
minutes and a sleep efficiency of 98.7 %. The patient's sleep latency was 2.5. Latency to REM was 26.0
minutes. There was 1.5% of Stage 1 sleep. 48.8% Stage 2 sleep, 2.1 % Stage 3 sleep. B.O% Stage 4
sleep and 39.7% REM sleep. Total number of arousals was 11. Arousal indexw8s 0.7 per hour.
2. Respiratory Data: The best controlled events were achieved with CPAP at a setting of 15 em H20.
The duration of sleep at the setting of 15 em H20 was 1 hour and 10 minutes. The patient slept in the
supine position at this setting.
3. Oxygen Data: The patient spent 99.4 percent of sleep time with oxygen saturation above 90
percent, the patient spent 0.2 percent of sleep time with oxygen saturation less than 89 percent and the
lowest oxygen saturation was 85%.
4. EKG Data; Rare unifocal PVC's were noted during the study.
5. Other Data: No periodioc leg movements were noted.

CONCLUSION:
DIAGNOSIS:
1 . The first portion of this study showed evidence suggestive of underlying
obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. This is based on increase of the
respiratory disturbance index to 101.9 events per sleep hour as compared to
a normal of 5 or less.
2. The first portion of this study showed significant evidence suggestive of
hypoxia, with the lowest saturation of 63%. The patient spent 69.4 percent
of sleep time with oxygen saturation less than 89 percent, and 26.9
percent of sleep time with oxygen saturation above 90 percent. The
lowest oxygen desaturation during this study while on 15 em H20, was 93%.
3. This study showed improvement of the respiratory events and
hypoxia with positive airway pressure and the best improvement has been
noticed at a pressure of 15 cm H20, which was helpful 10 decrease
respiratory eVents to 6.0 per hour.
1. Obstructive Sleep Apnea 327.23
2. Hypoxemia 799.02

I have no issues sleeping to this day. I love my cpap.


BigE

[Dawei]

My first night on CPAP was back in early December, 2006, not long after the initial 2-nights at a local hospital's sleep lab.
Although I had been feeling sleepy during many afternoons starting about 3 p.m. (like so many others describe that witching hour), my more vocal wake up call came from my wife who was telling me that she could hear my breathing stop and see my physical struggles in my sleep as I was being hit by apneas. Since she's a physician, I knew this was for real and not just my having bad dreams or some such.
Later, at the doc appointment following the titration sleep study, the pulmonologist announced to me that I would be using a Remstar M-series with humidifier similar to the one sitting on his desk (a pre-data machine), and that the sleep study showed a correct pressure for me was 7 cm.
Back then, there was no requirement or even strong suggestion for patients to return to see the doc on any semi-regular basis. I was compliant in continuing to hook up every night for nearly five years.
Since my wife was working some distance from home during the week, I slept alone most of that time, but before the end of my 5th year as a hosehead I learned that I was doing some serious snoring despite wearing a nasal mask plus chin strap. To try to deal with the snoring, I decided to try a full face mask instead of the nasal one (having been a mouth breather since childhood). I contacted my DME and learned that it was now required for a pt. to have seen a sleep doc within the year in order to get something like a different mask.
That's what brought me back to the sleep center. At first, the pulmonologist tried increasing my CPAP pressure from 7 up to 10 in steps without much change in my snoring or battles with apnea. Having done five years on the hose, I now qualified for a new machine and got a ResMed S9 Elite (straight CPAP). The doc suggested I undergo another sleep study, which I did. The results showed I needed a pressure of 13 cm. to get me to zero apneas, and so my new Elite was set to 13, but the snoring and apneas continued as I met the sleep doc again and again over a several week period. He indicated that he didn't know why the sleep study pressure was not helping me and didn't know what to do other than another sleep study. After having learned about the differences between machine models on Apnea Board.com, I suggested the idea of him putting me on an AutoSet loaner, and he agreed to do so with him setting the range. The AutoSet brought my apneas down to an average of near AHI 5 (down from 20plus) by using pressures that were higher than the 13 cm results indicated from the recent sleep study. The doc admitted that my OSA had been difficult to get under control.
The final chapter, thus far, is that I obtained an Rx to exchange the Elite CPAP for an AutoSet on a permanent basis, which has recently been accomplished. So, I feel back on track with my treatment.
I am delighted to have a machine that tells me in detail what's going on, along with the Apnea Board which has provided everything from how to access "hidden" info on the S9 to software allowing one to download and view machine data plus lots and lots of information, help and encouragement from board members.
Mask-wise, I have gone from a nasal mask (Mirage Activa) plus chin strap to a full face (Mirage Quattro) and am now using a FitLife full face by Respironics. While the first two are fine masks in my opinion, I was constantly battling the sore nose bridge problem. The FitLife avoids any contact with the nose whatsoever.

[mjbearit]

This is a strange story and I'm not sure it goes under success as much as maybe a cautionary tale. So I just found this site, so if I say the wrong thing, feel free to smack me! I was DX with Sleep Apnea back in 2003. I have had it as long as I could remember. I took the home sleep study as that is what my HMO offered at that time. After all these years I could not tell you anything about equipment used or anything, but it was a complex set of stuff with chest band, oximeter, machine, some sort of brain wave thingy, I felt like I was in the lab from some Boris Karloff movie! They decided I was to have a machine and sent me off to the supplier. I was issued the machine at that time, it is an older ResMed and without looking at it I have no idea what anymore! I started out with a nasal mask and hated it! I never could get that thing to seal and was constantly awakened by a blast of cold air in my eyeball! I worked with it and worked with it. Finally I qualified for a new mask and went to what was called an Adam Circuit. I'm told they don't make those anymore. Still I fought this thing. It seemed that while I had resolved my leak issues by going to a different style of mask, it just didn't seem to be helping. That was when I discovered that I just needed the right combination of buttons to reset the pressure. From then on, life was good! It was just through trial and error that I found my "happy place". My wife still hated that big ol boat anchor though. She said it made too much noise! Well over time I just got out of the habit of using it and years slipped by before I knew it. Along with the time, my health has been taking a beating, and then recently, within the past month or so, I have been going through the same issues of exhaustion, falling asleep while typing (it can have interesting results!), and of course the tell take, waking myself up several times a night gasping for air. So I sent an email to my doc to see if I could call the DME folks (I needed the phone number) or if I had to go through him again since it had been so long, and the nurse told me to call them and if they needed a new RX they would say so! To make a long story short, I now have an appointment for tomorrow afternoon to go for a fitting, and maybe I can talk my way into a machine from this century! Bottom line, I never should have quit using the machine. But I am back onboard with the program and I am hoping that getting some good sleep soon will alleviate some of these issues I am having!
Mike