Hey. I live in NC. I had problems with daytime sleepiness for about 10 years. I did not know until I had sleep studies that my sleepiness had a name, Idiopathic Hypersomnia. I was diagnosed with Central Sleep Apnea in 2012. I also have other sleep disorders. These sleep disorders have changed my life in ways that I never knew existed. I can't work for sleeping all day through work. I haven't given up all hope but the string at the end of this rope is unraveling.
Hi Sleepers,
I only got diagnosed just this year, because I was on a retreat and my colleagues heard me stop breathing. I thought I was tired cause of age, too many jobs and being a single mom of a teen. Turns out, I had moderate sleep apnea. I find my brain is much clearer, I'm less confused and can remember more. Here I thought I was in the early stage of Alzheimer's.
Hello. My name is Diana. I was diagnosed with OSA and have been using a c pap for about a year. I had a hard time getting used to it and almost GAVE up. They worked with me and thank heavens I got used to it and wear it now every night.I had been falling to sleep eating lunch, and using the computer, or watching TV. Really at the drop of a hat. I finally got to the point that I had two traffic accidents and had to quit driving altogether. Now I feel so much better,I finally started driving again.I am thankful that they were patient and help me so much.
This January 5th marks the 25th year of using a CPAP. I began using nasal pillows and abandoned the full mask within the first year of use. My wife is overjoyed with the reduction of noise from the CPAP and now treats it as positive because of the white noise effect. After all these years perhaps I can offer some advice to newbies.
For men, get rid of the idea that by using a CPAP your sex life is over. I have talked about this with a number of other men who have sleep apnea. With one exception, they have all found their partners to be very receptive to the fact that you have a controllable health condition that is going to make their act of sleeping with you far most restful. Enjoy the intimacy, kiss your partner good night, then put on the mask and head off to dream land.
For men and women, the claustrophobic effect of a full mask can be eliminated by the use of nasal pillows. The tossing and turning of restless sleep diminishes with the use of the CPAP. I begin my CPAP sleep with deep cleansing breaths while imagining my lungs filling with clean, filtered air that will work all night to restore my tired body. In your first year of CPAP use - especially if you use a heated humidifier and live on the Prairies - you will notice a dramatic decrease in the number of head colds. I tracked this for four years and experienced a 75% to 90 % drop in the number and severity of head colds. Once the CPAP becomes part of your healthy sleep pattern, you should find that the mouth stays closed at night to a much greater extent and you can shift to nasal pillows. Use a little psychology on yourself.
As one who travels frequently and enjoys tenting and travel, the smaller, lighter and lithium battery powered CPAP machines are a joy to use. On international flights to Europe and Asia, I can switch to battery mode and catch a few hours of rest, although I am a very light sleeper. Going through security, it is now a very rare occurrence to be asked to remove the mask from my carry-on baggage for inspection. Gate personnel now seem to accept CPAP's as common travel object. You do, however, have to be careful of putting the lithium ion or nicad batteries in your checked luggage. The batteries will trip an alarm and you will have to open your bags for inspection - a real pain when you are in a rush to make connections. Carry any spare batteries with you on to the plane and allow the gate security people to examine them directly. Incidentally, the vast majority of CPAPs now switch automatically from 110 V to 220. After blowing fuses on one CPAP and frying the circuitry on another, you can't imagine the relief I have now while traveling!
If you are contemplating the purchase of a CPAP and you are fortunate enough to have a choice of therapists, shop around a bit. Over he years I've run the gamut of therapists. A good therapist will spend a lot of time with you finding the right fit with machine AND mask. To me , they are equally important. A therapist who calls or emails you at home to find out how it is working, keeps you posted on advances in the field and positively reinforces you for the efforts you are making to adjust life as the masked marvel is a therapist you want to keep. The first question I always ask a new practitioner is "Have you spent a night wearing this mask with this machine?" A few have never tried to spend a night with something we will probably use for the rest of our lives.
Well, I could go on , but I hope these tips will be useful to those new to the sleep apnea world. I am absolutely certain that I would not be writing these words to you now if I had not begun i=using a CPAP 25 years ago .
My name is Myron. I have been using a CPAP for several years . I don't remember when I started. I use a full face mask except in very hot weather (I don't have AC). My biggest problem is saliva that leaks from my mouth and wakes me up and I usually take the mask off for the rest of the night. I go to bed at 9:30 pm and am up at 4:30 am getting ready to get to the gym by 5. I don't know if "things" are better, worse and don't know how to tell either way. I think losing weight will help and I goal is to break 200. I have lost 17 lbs. and have 7 to go to break 200.
I had a sleep test five years ago. I felt it was not bad enough to use a cpap until recently. I started October 2015. I use the nose pillow and the resmed smart machine, After ten days I started to get a headache in my forehead and an earache. It has not stopped for a week. Norco says I should see my primary physician but I know it is caused by my cpap. Is it just aggravating a sinus condition and I should see an ENT? It seems like the machine should be adjusted but no one can tell me how to do that. I will see my sleep doc in a week. I hope he can help me, otherwise, I hope I can try other ways to not have apnea. I wake up with my heart racing. I am 64 and want to find out why I am having problems with apnea so maybe I can get rid of it all together! I am not overweight, I eat right and exercise daily.
Hi @shadowfx78. Mask leaks can be difficult to manage, but congratulations on your treatment progress! Have you considered contacting your equipment supplier to see if there may be a mask with a better fit? What type of mask are you wearing--nasal pillow, nasal, full face? Sometimes practicing and trying various mask adjustments while awake and in your normal sleeping position can be helpful.
Hi, I'm Carol, been on CPAP since March 2015. I was diagnosed with moderate to severe OSA. Still waiting to feel less sleepy and have more energy, but at least the therapy has eliminated my snoring. I have a love/hate relationship with CPAP. I alternate between looking forward to going to bed and dreading it. I've gained about 18 lbs. since beginning CPAP and that has me really disappointed, especially as my doctor had promised weight loss and energy as side effects of therapy. But I know I have to stick with using it. Am glad to have found this Forum and look forward to learning and sharing with all of you.
Welcome, Carol (@laurvan)! Welcome to MyApnea.Org, and I'm happy that you are persisting with your CPAP treatment! Some people feel the effects of treatment more rapidly than others, and some find the change more drastic than others. Hopefully, you will find that you are less sleep and that your energy level improves a bit with time. Weight loss is not always associated with CPAP treatment. Some people do lose weight because they feel better after having more consolidated sleep, so they have more energy and feel like they can exercise, take a walk, or do something that helps promote weight loss. There has been research that shows some patients actually gain weight while using CPAP. The APPLES study found no association between weight loss and CPAP and found some evidence of weight gain. Here is a link to the paper: http://www.aasmnet.org/jcsm/ViewAbstract.aspx?pid=29161. Weight loss or gain is more commonly associated with other issues--lifestyle changes, medication, other medical diagnoses. I encourage you to talk to your physician about other factors that may potentially be contributing to your change in weight if you are disappointed by the change. Please feel free to share your experiences and progress here on the forum!
I'm Trace, been using a ResMed CPAP w/Opus nasal pillow for close to 10 years now. I have severe sleep apnea diagnosed by an overnight sleep lab. I've had the same machine and setting for the entire time, ramping up to 5.0 over 10 minutes. Does this need to be re-evaluated after a certain amount of time–I mean do things change physiologically that would make it necessary to check to see if adjustments need to the settings? The model that I have is older so it doesn't have any type of memory or way to track anything...it's just the basic knob and buttons model M with a heater and reservoir.
I tried a newer model ResMed CPAP about 2 years ago but couldn't use it because it was too loud. I tried to return it to the vendor but they wouldn't take it back because it was two days beyond the 30 day return period. Basically I can't get a new one for a few years with my insurance having paid for that one which I couldn't even use.
I am asking because I don't have the energy level I had (and yes I do realize I'm getting older), and I feel sleepy and a bit lethargic throughout the day. I would like to account for any factor that might be causing that.
Thanks for any help. I appreciate it.
Hi Trace (@robot906), and welcome to MyApnea.Org. The symptom of not having the energy level you once had is an indicator that your CPAP pressure should be re-evaluated. It is not uncommon for pressure needs to change with time, age and weight change. Also, if you are now taking any medications or have other medical conditions that were not present when you were initially diagnosed and started using CPAP, those things may impact the amount of air pressure required to keep your sleep apnea controlled. I was diagnosed a few year prior to you and have had 2 in-lab overnight titration studies. My pressure changed slightly, but that slight adjustment made a big difference in how I felt day-to-day. I am now on APAP, which is the auto-adjusting version of CPAP, and my pressure varies slightly over time. I would encourage you to talk to you sleep physician about how you are feeling and see it may be time for a new evaluation. Best wishes, and keep us posted!
Hi, I was diagnosed w/ apnea several years ago. I had no trouble using the CPAP machine but it did NOTHING for me -- felt just as tired when I woke up as when I went to bed. I have friends who say they never felt so great after using the machine, but I never had that experience. Am now researching the mouthpiece, which I am hoping will help.. Has anyone had any experience with these? Would be very interested in knowing about it, as my sleeping has been dreadful. Thanks!
My sister uses a mouthpiece and is very happy with it. The only problem with using them is that your bite will be changed. By pulling your jaw forward all night it becomes the new normal position of your jaw. This can lead to problems chewing food has your jaw is in a different position and your molars no longer make good contact.
Hi. Hello everyone; I'm new to sleep apnea... I just got this mask that whistles everytime that I take an exhale breathe. Its the airfit P10. Does anyone else have this problem? I have checked my filters and the machine is set to the correct mask. It wakes me and drives me crazy that I'm trying to adjust all night but nothing is helping. I did have a full face mask but it kept leaking into my eye, nevermind the yucky scar it was going to leave (every morning I had the red line right on my nose). The sleep center let me exchange once and this nasal pillow mask would be perfect except for that durn whistle. Anyone have any ideas/advice? I would greatly appreciate. *Whistling :)
