Light at the end of the Tunnel!!

[AmandaT]

Hiya All,

Just thought I would write a few lines about my experience so far. In the time before collecting my CPAP machine I read loads of messages on this site and they've been really useful so mayb jotting a few lines might be useful to someone else.

I had a sleep study as part of the preperation for a gastric bypass and it showed 12 dips an hour !! OSA and nocturnal hypoventilation (never heard of it!) and now I know why I am so tired all the time!!! SO.. picked up my CPAP machine last Thursday, slightly claustrophobic so knew I would find this difficult. Had a small freak out at hosp when testing it, so that didn't bode well!! Accepted that it would take time to get used to, but figure the end result will be worth it. thursday was tough!!! Had awful trouble breathing through my nose, couldn't get comfortable and couldn't get to sleep so gave up as a bad job! Fri was better, got top tip of putting tongue in the roof of your mouth to stop mouth breathing and that works!! Altho I dozed I didn't really sleep properly Fri, but was step closer!! Last night was great!! Kinda chilled about it now and thats helping! Last night after a night out I came home got rigged up and fell asleep!!! Was brill! Woke up at 4am!! one step closer to sleeping through the night! Can't remember the last time I did that! And even tho I slept after that without the CPAP gizmo I still felt refreshed today! So.. thats my experience so far!! Actually looking forward to tonight!! (oh yea, and my 17 year son finds it hilarious but hey hes actually laughing and 17yr olds aren't know for joviality so taking that as a plus!!)

If anyone fancies writing with tips, or just to compare experiences then feel free!

Amanda x

[leswaller]

Well done Amanda, you are doing all the right things. Just keep it up and ask if you have any questions or difficulties. We have all been through the same experience so can empathise with you

[SteveM]

Glad to hear you've almost cracked it, sounds like we're at about the same stage in treatment, by the way, I understand sleep apnea is hereditary, lets hope your 17 yr old doesn't suffer in the years to come.... I'm sure he won't find it so hilarious if he does!

[AmandaT]

Thanks!!

Hiya Steve and Leswaller!!

Thanks for your messages!! Its great to be able to get feedback from other people in the same situation!! I slept from 10.30 to 3am last night!! Was great, that has to be the longest I have slept for a very long time!!

Still hanging out for the elusive whole nights sleep but it feels like its within reach now!!! And I actually made it through a very looooonnnngggg day at work today without wanting to put my head on the desk and have a snooze!!!

Result!!!! Wishing you both a good nights sleep!!! xxxx

[leswaller]

Hi Amanda,
It should keep getting better, but if you are not getting a full night's sleep after a couple of weeks it may be that you need the pressure increasing slightly. The hospital should do that for you, or alternatively there are some of us who know the way into the clinical settings and can tell you how to do it yourself

[AmandaT]

Thanks, I will give it a wee bit longer, can't seem to get past 4 hours !!! After that I wake and I have to take it off!!! But definitely getting more used to it so you never know!! Watch this space!!!!

[AmandaT]

At Last!!!

Hiya All!!!

Just a quick update!! I have just slept 7 hours, right through with my mask on!!!! At last!! I was on the brink of giving up!!! I feel great!!!

For anyone who reads this PERSEVERE!!! Its worth it!! xxxx

[Tigers Fan]

Yippeee!!!

Well done, AmandaT!!

I so admire your perseverance, resulting in a well deserved success!

Tigers Fan

[leswaller]

Hiya All!!!

Just a quick update!! I have just slept 7 hours, right through with my mask on!!!! At last!! I was on the brink of giving up!!! I feel great!!!

For anyone who reads this PERSEVERE!!! Its worth it!! xxxx

It should carry on getting better, but dont get depressed if you have an occasional bad night, but if they are regular you may need a tweak on your settings to get it exact

[AmandaT]

My good night proved to be a one off!!! I can't get past two hours now!! Its the most frustrating thing ever. Its the mask, i wake up and it freaks me out! I get really panicky, but have appt on 13th Jan so will go through options! Can't go on like this! I am worse than before because I am awake for ages after because I wake up in such a state!!

Very close to giving up and beginning to dread going to bed, but maybe I will just hit a turning point?? God I hope so!!

Thanks for all the messages, everyone on here is so supportive and lovely to know that other people totally understand!!

Very comforting! xxx

Happy New Year everyone! xx

[Tigers Fan]

A-Flex or C-Flex

Hi AmandaT

Just a thought, but ...... When you go to your appointment on 13th Jan, ask them if you can try an APAP for a while. I wonder if your mask freaking you out is about a sense of suffocation. If it is, it could be about breathing out against your full CPAP pressure. An APAP relieves the exhale pressure so the mask ceases to be a problem - till it starts to leak, anyway.

They may loan you one or just let you try one out at the clinic, either way - if the mask stops freaking you out, you have a clue about what you need.

Tigers Fan

[leswaller]

Dont give up !! It sounds as if you might need the pressure adjusting. Now that you have had a couple of good nights you are not as tired as you were, so you are more sensitive to what is happening to your body. Just hang in there until you go back to the hospital and explain it all to them.
Here's to a better new year for you

[daveuk]

Hints

Hi, You don't say if you have a humidifier for your CPAP. If not it may be worth getting one. If you do have one, experiment with the setting.

I find setting the humidifier level correctly makes a difference to my sleep. For example in winter when the room is colder at night I need a higher setting. However, too high results in condensation in the tube and mask. When its really cold I heat the bedroom at night to prevent the condensation and achieve more humidity actually delivered to my nose.

If you sometimes breathe through your mouth when using a nasal mask, that can wake you up. A chin strap solves that.

Don't give up. You have experienced the difference that CPAP can make.

[HENRI HIGHGATE]

hi amanda,

please dont give up - ive been 5 years of trying to get it right but this time i really think i have cracked it?

(please read my post today under "MASKS" in forum or search through "henri highgate").

amanda, could i just ask what pressure your set at? as if its a very high pressure, leaks are common but still worth struggling on.

regards - henri

[AmandaT]

thanks Guys for all your advice!!! To answer some of your questions.... No I don't have a humidifier, and I don't know what the pressure is set at, but I think the problem is that I am claustrophobic, when I am awake I can get used to the mask and settle my breathing and drop off but when I wake up in the night I'm not with it enough to realise that I have the mask on and I panic, then my breathing goes haywire and thats the end of that!!

I haven't given up yet but the amount of time its staying on is getting less and less, only an hour last night!!! I am going to persevere but I don't how to keep calm when I am only half awake but mayb that will come!!!

Its been three weeks now so early days I guess but as I have had a taste of what good it can do its very frustrating at the moment!!!

Thanks again for all your support , it's keeping me going!!!! I am soooo tired all the time at the moment, I would even go so far as to say that it is worse than it was pre-CPAP but that could be pyschological!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL, wishing you all many good nights sleeps!!!!

A xxxx