Brncos4Lyfe

I have read the same thing about people who have left it untreated for a long time. If that is the case, like you said, I can't wait to see how I feel in a month or longer because after a week, I am utterly amazed at the results. I told my wife that I would fight someone if they tried to take my machine away!

ElvisChrist, awesome post, great to hear of people taking to therapy so well/soon. You and I share very similar paths that led us to seeking help. We are similar in age (I'm 46), and have lived/dealt with the gradual decline in our ability to perform tasks we used to take for granted when we could do them well. I have been a contractor for 23 years now, and when I was younger, I had no problem putting in 12, 15, even the occasional 18 hour days to do what it took to get the job done. I've also been married for 23 years and about 10 or so years ago my wife started telling me she would see me stop breathing and then gasp for air during the night. I was also snoring heavily. Over the years it gradually got worse to the point one of us was sleeping in another room half the time. My ability to handle my normal work load continued to decrease even though I tried to counteract that through the use of high caffeine sodas and energy drinks (Diet Mt. Dew and Monster were my preferences), drinking at least half a dozen a day in some combination. At first it worked and I thought I was good. Gradually the effectiveness decreased until it had no effect at all and I was back in the same boat as before - tired, grumpy, unable to perform at a level I was used to in all aspects of life, and to top it off, I was packing on the pounds. A little over a year ago my wife did some research into OSA and insisted I get checked. Now, I wasn't one to go to any type of doctor for most of my adult life, so when I called our family doc to schedule an appointment to get a referral to the sleep doc, they said since it had been over 5 years (it was actually 7) since my last visit, I was considered a new patient and they weren't taking new patients at the time. Thus, I had to find a new primary doctor, which took some doing, and then had to wait even longer to get into a sleep doctor. Finally got in for a consult April 9, did sleep study (split study) on April 13 ( yes, a Friday lol), and had a follow up with sleep doc set for June 18 to go over the results of the study. Got a call the next Monday that they needed me to come in on Tuesday to go over the test results, so I figured it was bad. Found out my AHI for 2 hours was 105 and 106 with O2 hovering around 60. They ordered a CPAP machine which I got on April 27 and began using with no issues to this point. Even though it's only been a week, I feel like a new person. I can't believe the difference and regret taking so long to get checked. Now I have been telling everyone I talk to about it to get checked. I'm having my wife and kids checked too. It's like I'm becoming a sleep study advocate, but it has made such a difference for me already that I want others to take advantage of the therapy if it will help them, too. ElvisChrist, thanks for sharing your experience. Hopefully it will encourage others to seek treatment if they are undecided or don't know they need it.

If you are having issues with your full mask, and aren't a mouth breather, you could try a nasal mask instead. They had me use a nasal mask during my sleep study and a chin strap to keep my mouth shut (I am a severe mouth breather when I sleep). They started me with a medium and it pinched my nose to the point that it hurt. After an hour of adjusting and messing with it I asked if I could try the large. With that I fell right asleep with no discomfort. From what I've read and been told by my doc and the RT that set me up with my machine, it seems mask fit is a large part of the journey to successful CPAP use. Keep trying different ones until you find what works for you. I believe most insurance will let you try as many different masks in the first 30 days as it takes to find what works. Don't be afraid to try different ones until you find what works. Its worth figuring out. I'm only a week into using CPAP and the difference is amazing for me. I hope you can find your way to successful therapy soon.

I have only been using CPAP for almost a week now and have taken to it really well. I have the ResMed Airsense10 with the F&P Simplus full face mask. Pressure is set at 9 - 18. Wondering if anyone else has issues when they go to yawn after putting mask on and starting machine. When I do, it feels like the air pressure doesn't let me complete the yawn so I stop mid-yawn. I know it sounds odd, and not a big deal, but it is frustrating. I was just wondering if anyone else experienced the same thing.

NiceSilverBison1316 is correct. Sleepyhead software I believe is geared toward apnea patients. Idk what kind of machine you have, but I just got my first one yesterday. Resmed Air10 I believe and they have an app you can install on your phone that receives all the data from the machine each morning and gives you a score of how well you slept/did with your machine each night. Probably not as in depth as sleepyhead but useful nonetheless. It's called MyAir. Sorry for the incorrect info at first. Cheers!

I don't think it's an app. I may be wrong, but I think its software you install on a computer or laptop and you take the SD card from your cpap machine and download the data to the computer/laptop and the software analyzes the data for you. I searched Google play and the sleepytime app I found is one that plays sounds/music to help you fall asleep. I believe they are 2 different things from 2 different companies.

Thanks!

Thanks for the info. My O2 saturation levels were in the high 60's during the diagnostic portion of the study and in the high 80's-low 90's during the treatment with cpap. Do they sell Pulse Oxymeters for home use? I should probably monitor that since it was so low and could be the root of the fatigue I have been experiencing. I have a copy of my study results and have been researching all the info on it. I had no idea the negative effects poor sleep could have on a person until starting this process. I'm sure it will take a while to get me straightened out to where I feel normal after a night of sleep! Thanks again!

Hello! I recently had a sleep study done after years of not being able to rid myself of a feeling of tiredness/fatigue regardless of how much sleep I got each night. In fact, it seemed that the more sleep I got, the more tired I would feel. Married for 23 years and my wife has spent countless sleepless nights waking me whenever I would stop breathing (can you say "strain on a relationship"?) I have come to call the condition "Slapnea" rather than Apnea due to the fact that she has oftentimes had to physically (I'm being kind here) wake me because just yelling at me wouldn't work. In any event, finally got into sleep DR and had study ordered. They did a split study and had me sleep 2 hrs 16 mins for diagnosis and about 6 hrs under treatment after confirming diagnosis of Obstructive Sleep Apnea. AHI for the diagnosis portion was 105.0 (238 total, 188 apnea, 50 hypopneas) and for the treatment portion it was 23.9 (95 total, 18 apnea, 77 hypopneas). During treatment they started pressure at 5 and got it up to 12. After reviewing these results, my DR has ordered a cpap machine and is starting pressure at 8 and ramping up to 15 to start out. She says it may ultimately end up higher depending on how effective these settings are. I will get my machine at the end of this week. I'm hoping to achieve life changing results after finally getting this process started. I didn't feel any different after using the machine for the sleep study. In fact, I went home the morning after and slept for 5 more hours. Can anyone give me an idea of reasonable expectations as to how long it will take to notice results? TIA for any input/info. Looking forward to being a part of this community.