Author Topic: CPAP questions (Read 10053 times)

Hawkmoon · « **on:** December 09, 2016, 10:12:48 AM »

I'd like some feedback from any APS members who use a CPAP. I was diagnosed by the VA hospital as having obstructive sleep apnea, and they prescribed a CPAP machine. The two people I know locally who have been using CPAPs for many years both assured me that it would make an instantaneous change in my life.

Well, the machine was delivered yesterday, by a professional who selected and fitted the mask that's supposed to be best suited for my use. The result? The thing kept me awake until 02:00 a.m., at which time I shut it off and removed the mask. Even then, my normal sleep (or lack of sleep) pattern had been so disrupted that I didn't fall asleep until 04:00 a.m. It happens that today I'm supposed to be at a remote project site and I was supposed to get up at 04:00 a.m. That didn't happen. So the machine certainly changed my life -- but, so far, not for the better.

I'd like to hear what others have experienced with a CPAP. Is my experience unique, or did it take awhile for some of you to adapt and adjust to the infernal machine?

41magsnub · « **Reply #1 on:** December 09, 2016, 10:15:34 AM »

It takes time to adjust, it is frustrating and annoying at first. You get used to it... really you will. It took me a couple of weeks.

zxcvbob · « **Reply #2 on:** December 09, 2016, 10:31:32 AM »

Takes a couple of weeks to get used to it. I didn't get much sleep for the first week, although the first week was in a strange bed on a cruise ship so I might not have slept much anyway.

K Frame · « **Reply #3 on:** December 09, 2016, 10:38:29 AM »

Yes, it takes a few days to truly adjust to it. Most people can't adjust to something on their face and the new noise in the room all at once.

You have to be personally committed to it, as well. I was, because my job was in jeopardy, and after the sleep study I found out just how bad my apnea was.

It took me about 3 days to fully acclimate to the CPAP. Now I can't imagine life without it, and I can't believe just how freaking BAD I felt before I got on the machine.

roo_ster · « **Reply #4 on:** December 09, 2016, 01:02:23 PM »

Quote from: Mike Irwin on December 09, 2016, 10:38:29 AM

Yes, it takes a few days to truly adjust to it. Most people can't adjust to something on their face and the new noise in the room all at once.

You have to be personally committed to it, as well. I was, because my job was in jeopardy, and after the sleep study I found out just how bad my apnea was.

It took me about 3 days to fully acclimate to the CPAP. Now I can't imagine life without it, and I can't believe just how freaking BAD I felt before I got on the machine.

Everything MI wrote, with bells on it. Give yourself a chance to adjust. At first I felt like the critter from Alien was taking me for a ride. Now you'll have a fight trying to get it from me.

K Frame · « **Reply #5 on:** December 09, 2016, 02:52:01 PM »

And damn it, I just realized I forgot my machine at home...

I'm house/dog sitting tonight at a friend's place. I have to decide if I want to screw around in Friday traffic to go get it.

T.O.M. · « **Reply #6 on:** December 09, 2016, 09:08:58 PM »

I struggled with the machine for a week or two before I really adjusted. Kept hitting the ramp button to drop the pressure. Didn't realize I had been sleeping better already, as before the machine I was waking to hit the bathroom 3-4 times a night. Now, 6 years later, I find that the bathroom issue o ly occurs when I am camping without the CPAP.

K Frame · « **Reply #7 on:** December 09, 2016, 09:28:55 PM »

You greedy bastard, Chris! Lavishing potentially life-saving medical devices on yourself while your sister-in-law goes without the nose ring she covets...

Boomhauer · « **Reply #8 on:** December 09, 2016, 09:29:44 PM »

I just got mine a couple months ago

You might have to try a few masks...I know I know not cheap at a hundred bucks a pop. BTW buy your stuff online the local medical supply providers are usually a lot higher...

I have used mine for the entire time I've had it with the exception of one night...that one night I was falling asleep the next day at 4 in the afternoon. I can tell it has given me energy...the only night I noticed a dramatic difference was the night I did my sleep study with the cpap...but I am not falling asleep while driving and that is major.

I did not have trouble adjusting...the only thing I had to do was switch masks once.

Hawkmoon · « **Reply #9 on:** December 09, 2016, 09:37:16 PM »

So there is hope. Good.

Thanks.

T.O.M. · « **Reply #10 on:** December 09, 2016, 09:57:04 PM »

Quote from: Mike Irwin on December 09, 2016, 09:28:55 PM

You greedy bastard, Chris! Lavishing potentially life-saving medical devices on yourself while your sister-in-law goes without the nose ring she covets...

Damn you Irwin. Do you know how hard it was to find Maui beer in Ohio? And to waste it shooting out of my nose!

AJ Dual · « **Reply #11 on:** December 10, 2016, 12:07:47 AM »

Stick with it, grudge-match. No quarter.

Within as little as three days, you can acclimate and putting the mask on can help you sleep.

Also, your brain and reflexes will catch on that the mask means AIR and ventilation.

K Frame · « **Reply #12 on:** December 10, 2016, 07:41:27 AM »

Quote from: Chris on December 09, 2016, 09:57:04 PM

Damn you Irwin. Do you know how hard it was to find Maui beer in Ohio? And to waste it shooting out of my nose!

Had you been wearing your CPAP as you're supposed to that wouldn't have happened now, would it? The air would have shot it right back in.

K Frame · « **Reply #13 on:** December 10, 2016, 07:50:15 AM »

I didn't get my machine last night, and I'm regretting it.

I slept, but I didn't sleep well.

I think I've mentioned my one coworker who was also nailed for falling asleep on the job around the same time I was.

I went the medical route, found out how bad my problem was, got the CPAP, and am no longer struggling all day to stay awake.

He no longer works with my company because he adamantly refused to do anything, despite my begging him to take the medical route. He continued to fall asleep on the job, and was finally given the choice... resign or be fired.

Hawkmoon · « **Reply #14 on:** December 10, 2016, 01:17:12 PM »

Second night went a bit better than the first. At least I was able to fall asleep. But I can't lie in any of the positions in which I usually sleep, because they put enough lateral pressure on the mask that it leaks. I guess I'll have to adapt to sleeping on my back.

Progress ...

zxcvbob · « **Reply #15 on:** December 10, 2016, 01:37:16 PM »

Quote from: Hawkmoon on December 10, 2016, 01:17:12 PM

Second night went a bit better than the first. At least I was able to fall asleep. But I can't lie in any of the positions in which I usually sleep, because they put enough lateral pressure on the mask that it leaks. I guess I'll have to adapt to sleeping on my back.

Progress ...

Depending on the mask, you should get to where you can roll around and it only leaks a little sometimes.

lupinus · « **Reply #16 on:** December 10, 2016, 01:57:52 PM »

Wifey likes the nasal pillows for exactly that reason.

Check with whomever you're dealing with. Often you can exchange a mask within a certain period of time if it's not working for you. Can takes I effort to find what works

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Doggy Daddy · « **Reply #17 on:** December 10, 2016, 07:12:31 PM »

You don't need me to echo what everyone else is saying, but I will. I depend on my CPAP. I fall asleep faster with my CPAP on, and sleep better. My one suggestion is that you may want to look in to getting a second hose and a swivel connector to extend your hose. It gives me much more freedom to adjust my position as I sleep.

T.O.M. · « **Reply #18 on:** December 10, 2016, 07:46:23 PM »

Only issues I have with sleeping positions is I can't lay on my stomach, because of the mask. And I can't sleep on my left side because the vent holes in the mask blow on SWMBO.

K Frame · « **Reply #19 on:** December 11, 2016, 05:44:43 AM »

I woke up this morning in pain.

Sometime in the night I rolled over onto the hose. It's amazing how painful those corrugations are.

roo_ster · « **Reply #20 on:** December 11, 2016, 01:09:29 PM »

Quote from: Mike Irwin on December 11, 2016, 05:44:43 AM

I woke up this morning in pain.

Sometime in the night I rolled over onto the hose. It's amazing how painful those corrugations are.

Stop using a 2in diameter jury rigged pool vac hose and it wont hurt so much.

Hawkmoon · « **Reply #21 on:** December 11, 2016, 02:01:22 PM »

Second and third nights weren't as bad as the first. At least I got some sleep. But after about six or seven hours of sleep with the mask (with interruptions caused by noisy air leaks when my position shifted), both nights I finally gave up, took the mask off, and slept another three or four hours without it. I was NOT feeling at all rested at the end of seven hours with the mask.

My CPAP came courtesy of the VA hospital, so I'll head over to their sleep lab during the week and see what they have to say. To say that I'm "disappointed" would be massive understatement.

K Frame · « **Reply #22 on:** December 11, 2016, 02:59:20 PM »

No you are not feeling g rested yet because you are still waking up, only this time because you are not yet acclimated to the device.

The sum effect is,the same.

Give it at least a week.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

K Frame · « **Reply #23 on:** August 08, 2017, 01:55:35 PM »

Hey Hawk, how have you made out with your CPAP?

I hope well.

Hawkmoon · « **Reply #24 on:** August 08, 2017, 04:03:14 PM »

Not well at all. I quit trying after they "fitted" me with a third, different type mask and fiddled with the settings on the machine for the fourth time. I haven't used it for about three months. I look at it every third or fourth night and say, 'I should really try this thing again ... yeah, maybe tomorrow." And then I never do.

I reckon I'm subconsciously trying to protect myself against yet another disappointment. As long as I don't try it, there's still a faint hope that they might have accidentally gotten it right this time. Once I try it and it doesn't work, I'll feel even worse about it.

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Author Topic: CPAP questions (Read 10053 times)