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Newbie post: help with expectations over time please - DanPrado - 12-18-2015
Hi folks, apologies in advance if this is a tired topic I've been reading for a while some things are hard to search for and there is a sea of information out there.
I can track my mental fog concerns to 2005, since then many Dr's tons of tests etc without help but it was only recently that my dentist recommended a sleep study, which I did and here I am on my 8th day of CPAP.
Mechanical and comfort issues aside I've been disciplined enough to use the device for all 8 nights for at least 6 hours.
I know I am sleeping less because of the dealing with the hoses, sometimes experimenting with masks, etc. but net I am feeling incredibly well - mental fog tangibly improved.
So hoping that as I deal with the hose and mask issues and log more sleep things can only improve.
BUT very curious: are the benefits for proper OSA therapy pretty much what you get short term (and then continue therapy to retain) or is there a chance that over a greater time there are further improvement opportunities?
I understand that all our cases are unique just wondering about average experiences.
RE: Newbie post: help with expectations over time please - Ghost1958 - 12-18-2015
My first morning after using cpap was my best morning.
Understand I was basically a zombie by then. No memory, barely knew where or who I was for a couple of hours after waking due to rapid desats into the 60s.
So my first morning was a total new world. I felt 20 yrs younger.
Over time that became my "new normal" so it doesnt feel as drastic a change as it did to start.
Others take time to feel better.
I took to therapy easily and slept soundly 8 hours from the start.
You will hit your "new normal" become accustomed to that feeling, and youll also know how fast it can go away uf you miss a night in the machine lol.
RE: Newbie post: help with expectations over time please - Terry - 12-18-2015
(12-18-2015, 10:04 PM)DanPrado Wrote: BUT very curious: are the benefits for proper OSA therapy pretty much what you get short term (and then continue therapy to retain) or is there a chance that over a greater time there are further improvement opportunities?
It gets better as you get your settings "dialed in". It also gets better gradually, as you use it. I'm pretty sure that I'm sharper than I was 20+ years ago.
On the bad side, if you skip a night, everything goes to hell very quickly.
On the good side, once you get everything tuned, you would rather be on the losing side of a bar fight than to skip a night, so it's not really an issue. 8-)
Terry
RE: Newbie post: help with expectations over time please - Sleeprider - 12-18-2015
Dan, it's going to help if you can list your specific model of Respironics you use and the pressure settings. The best way to figure out what is going on in your therapy is to become an active participant in it. The first step to accomplish that is to use software to see AHI events, leaks and other important information. That assumes you have a machine capable of efficacy data.
Things will get better, but only if you understand your own needs and how to meet them.
RE: Newbie post: help with expectations over time please - player - 12-19-2015
I have been at it 10 months or so. I have the Resmed A10 mask. I feel "cured-ish".
RE: Newbie post: help with expectations over time please - trish6hundred - 12-19-2015
Hi DanPrado,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
Some people take to the mask and machine right away and others, it takes quite a while to notice improvement.
I encourage you to just stick with it; it does get better over time, patience is required.
Hang in there for more responses to your post and much success to you with your CPAP therapy.
RE: Newbie post: help with expectations over time please - eseedhouse - 12-19-2015
(12-18-2015, 10:04 PM)DanPrado Wrote: I know I am sleeping less because of the dealing with the hoses, sometimes experimenting with masks, etc. but net I am feeling incredibly well - mental fog tangibly improved.
BUT very curious: are the benefits for proper OSA therapy pretty much what you get short term (and then continue therapy to retain) or is there a chance that over a greater time there are further improvement opportunities?
The only answer is "it depends". It depends on things like how old you are, how long you have had sleep apnea, how much damage the apnea has done to you, and many other things. As we age our ability to recover decreases and the longer we have apnea the effect is the same. Even if all you do is stop getting worse, that's a successful outcome, but only rarely will it not be better.
I was 70 when I started CPAP therapy and had probably had it for 20 years or so. So I was not an overnight success and got no miracles. But now after more than a year on it I am feeling about five years younger, although it took added oxygen therapy at night for me to achieve that.
RE: Newbie post: help with expectations over time please - PoolQ - 12-19-2015
I always had the machine going from day one, because I had no choice, I was not sleeping at all. I was close to the end of my rope.
I fought every setting except the therapy pressure. I fought masks. I fought the hose. I fought exhaling.
I learned a lot about my sleep and my equipment, thanks ONLY to the good people on the forums. My Doctor tried, but in all honesty, not really-just no time in a short visit. Started just after my forum join date in July
This month I hit the sweet spot for me. Sleep is wonderful for the first time in my memory. Sometimes when I wake up I just lie there breathing with the machine going and enjoying the feeling. Many times I have to put my hand to my face to make sure the mask is on and I turned the machine on (other times I have to adjust them mask 10 or more times to get it fitting correctly).
RE: Newbie post: help with expectations over time please - DanPrado - 12-19-2015
Thanks for the replies folks!
I just received my order to enable Bluetooth on the REMstar device so got some visibility (actually not sure if the purchase was worth it now that I know about the sleepy-head app, but that is a separate topic).
So it sounds like I am at the lucky end of the scale - as crappy as the last 10 years have been trying to find a reason for my fog-head my sleep study was only 24 AHI and since day 1 on the APAP device (meaning 9 days now) I've been below 2. Huge mental relieve.
I guess my question was more along the lines of long-term recovery - if years of oxygen deprivation damaged cells or prevented healthy cycles, now that things are being oxygenated, less stressed, etc. does that open the door to over a longer term (months?) gains beyond just being more rested?
Balancing the negative long-term effects of OSA to the "miss a day and back to square one" thinking.
RE: Newbie post: help with expectations over time please - Napmeister - 12-19-2015
Treatment took care of my sleep problems immediately. I did have some issues with the skin on my shins and surprisingly, the issue dissipated. Took about 6 months but I attribute that cure directly to improved health from PAP. My fingernails grow faster now and if these are things that can be seen with the eyes, one can only imagine how much our organs appreciate the added time to repair cells.
At the least, I'd bet our organs will deteriorate at a slower pace, cell repair happens during sleep. I'd also bet there is some damage that can't be undone but we are slowing the aging process. Your on the right track ... merry xmas