CPAP machines for Sleep Apnea

[mike099]

After having a sleep study, the doctor suggested trying a CPAP machine.  Just wondering if anyone that has tried the machines have any comments, etc. about the experience.

Thanks!

[King Postwhore]

I've been wearing one since 2004.  I wear a full mask and it has helped immensely. It does take a bit to get used to it and to figure out positions to sleep but once you've figured that out, it's smooth sailing.  It made the wife very happy and not hear me snore and sometimes stop breathing at night.

[cramx3]

One of my best friends started using one.  We used to always joke that he died every night.  You couldnt sleep anywhere near him because his snoring (if you could even call it that) was so loud and odd sounding.  He is also really overweight, so we would always say he needs to get that checked up.  He finally did and he is as bad as we all thought he was. 

Anyway, he uses the machine and while he said it's uncomfortable, he is now getting the best sleep of his life and said he feels much different waking up now.

[KevShmev]

I started using one about 3-4 months ago, after being diagnosed with mild sleep apnea (I barely reached the minimum level of disturbances per hour to need it).  It's still a process. It was tough getting used to it, and then I had about a month or so where it was great, and then the last month or so, it has been a pain again, as I never keep it on the whole night (I often wake up having taken it off in the middle of the night).  Even still, I still feel more rested than I had before using it, but still more tired than I should be given how many hours I slept. Regardless of my ups and downs, I definitely recommend it; feeling tired all the time freaking sucks. 

[TempusVox]

Six years ago I started having mild chest pains, and a "flutter". I like most guys decided to ignore it. It didn't go away for about 3 weeks. My wife and I were vacationing in the Italian Alps, and on a short hike I couldn't catch my breath. When we got back to the hotel they had to give me oxygen for about an hour. It was then that I decided to come clean with her. I downplayed it, but I was scared. I lost my mother at the exact same age due to a massive, unexpected heart attack. Random (my publisher) was sending me on a book tour a couple of months later, so I was due a physical; so I promised my wife as soon as we got stateside, I'd get it sorted out. I was terrified. In my overactive imagination I was convinced that they were going to have to crack my chest. I asked my doc who the best cardiologist in the city was and made the appointment.

Straight away, I was prepared for the worst news. He scheduled me to have an EKG and a nuclear stress test, but asked a ton of questions about my energy levels and sleep. Then he told me something I had a hard time believing. He claimed sleep apnea was the primary cause of angina (chest pain), and atrial fibrillation (the flutter). I thought he was nuts.

My tests revealed that my heart was in excellent shape, so he sent me for a sleep study. Reluctantly, and still not convinced, I went. I mean I rarely even snored. Surely this was a waste of time.

My results showed on average I stopped breathing 90 times an hour!!!

I was given a ResMed sleep machine. I read every night, and write most nights, from bed. So I opted for nasal cannulas, so I can wear my reading glasses unencumbered. It was a bitch getting used to it for the first week. I slept on my stomach most of my life, which I can no longer do. And anytime I opened my mouth it sounded like a jet engine, so I had to learn to breathe only through my nose when I sleep; but after a week or so I remember waking one morning and being so refreshed. The pains and flutter totally disappeared after the second week too.

Every year I take my machine in and they hook it up to the computer and run diagnostics on it. Since I've started using it I haven't stopped breathing even once. Something else I noticed about a month after using it was I started dreaming again. I had not realized that I hadn't been in REM long enough to dream for about three years prior. I also thought I was always so exhausted from writing at odd hours all the time. That also changed. I'm convinced this little machine saved my life.

[KevShmev]

That's a heckuva story. Glad it was such a help.

It's funny that you mention REM sleep, because us guys often wake up, um, "ready to go" first thing in the morning , and that somehow stems from REM sleep.  And the crazy thing is since having these sleep issues, I had never thought about how I never was waking up like that anymore, but once the morning wood started kicking in again on a regular basis, I realized that the machine was helping, since I was clearly getting REM sleep again. 

Also, I don't use the full mask; I use a mask that basically just has the nose pillows. And I only have the machine set to 5 or 6 (my cousin has apnea so bad, he has to have it in the teens every night or he will not sleep without snoring so loud, it wakes his entire family).

[TempusVox]

My machine is set to 9.

I've done a ton of research on apnea since I was diagnosed, and it is amazing the myriad of serious health problems it causes. Getting proper and adequate sleep is so vital to your life. We take for granted that there is an absolute necessity for us to sleep as much as we do each night.

I can't recall the comedian I think who said if you tried to explain to a space alien that we need to lie down and become unconscious for eight hours everyday, they would be freaked out.

Sleep apnea...deadly shit.

[bout to crash]

I've been thinking about getting tested for this because I read that it's probably the main cause of grinding your teeth..  which I do, and it's driving me crazy. I usually sleep alone so nobody is witnessing my breathing. I snore sometimes, but not badly. My fitbit says I'm restless a lot while I sleep, but I have no idea what that means. *shrug*

[mike099]

Thanks for the stories and information! 

[black_biff_stadler]

sleep apnea

[orcus116]

I seriously need to get a sleep study because a) I know I snore badly (I've been told), b) I wake up feeling groggy all the time, c) my dad has the same issues, and d) like Tempus mentioned I've been getting chest flutters recently which my grandfather has a history of so it runs in the family. I'm so lazy and it's a terrible excuse since I know I just need to get off my ass and schedule one. I'll need to see what my insurance will cover though.

[King Postwhore]

Going for the test is really weird.  You bring your pillow.  They attach like 200 wires to you.  Then when you are tired you let them know and the lights go out.  Then they turn on this red light in the room for their cameras.

It's like being on red alert on a damn ship.  But the outcome outweighs this small bit of inconvenience.

[orcus116]

There's a sleep center really close to my house so I'd most likely go there. Someone else that had one years back told me he told them right away "you're going to need to put the mask on me" and they said "we'll see, we'll see". Two hours into it they woke him up and hooked up him to the mask. I feel I'd be the same way.

[King Postwhore]

You have to go back a second time after they figure out if you have sleep apnea.   The second time you get to try on masks to see what works.  I'm a mouth breather so I needed a full mask.

[orcus116]

I'm worried I am too because I would much rather have the nose one.

[King Postwhore]

You have to go through it to find out.

[KevShmev]

Going for the test is really weird.  You bring your pillow.  They attach like 200 wires to you.  Then when you are tired you let them know and the lights go out.  Then they turn on this red light in the room for their cameras.

It's like being on red alert on a damn ship.  But the outcome outweighs this small bit of inconvenience.

Hmmm, I didn't think it was bad at all.  Perhaps advances have been made since you did the test, because I did it five months ago, and the red light was some tinny tiny dot in the far corner of the room that wasn't even noticeable once the lights were out and I was ready to go to sleep. 

[King Postwhore]

I am old and it was 2004.

[TempusVox]

They did my study and fitting on the same night. It sucked because once hooked up to all the shit, it's tough to fall asleep. There are no clocks in the room. Then they woke me up and kept putting on and changing the pressure of various masks. But it was over soon enough, and I opted for the nasal cannula mask.

[Orbert]

sleep apnea

I noticed that.  I also came up with "CPAPnea Machine" which I thought was kinda clever, but didn't have anyone to share it with.  Good thing this thread happened.

[black_biff_stadler]

 

[Dublagent66]

My dad has one and he says that he can't imagine sleeping without it.  I guess you get used to it after a while.  I don't see how anyone can sleep with one of those things on.