I can truly say that I have had quite an experience. My symptoms go back as far as 1990. Fatigue getting up all night to go to the bathroom etc. etc. My GP at he time said I had prostate problems took meds but little or no help. On next visit prostate exam showed no problems but still had symptoms. About a 1991 I was referred to a neurologist who did all kinds of tests MRI, nerve conduction study etc. He said I probably had MS. I did all I was told and no help. Was told by doc that there was nothing further that could be done.  In 1997 was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and put on meds for this.  I had not slept for more than two hrs. At a time at night since all of this started.  Based on previous diagnoses I assumed I had a chronic prostate problem and did nothing more about it.  I knew that I snored but did not think anything of it.  My old GP retired and I had to find a new doc for my diabetes last year, I am so glad this happened.  In April of this year my grandson, whom I live with told me “Poppop you scare me because you stop breathing when you sleep and you snore really loudâ€�.  At my next appointment I told new doc about this and all that had gone before. He immediately said he thought I had a problem with sleep apnea and referred me for a sleep study.  I was only supposed to have a diagnostic study, but my apnea was so severe 76DBEs hr that I had a split study.  I am now a happy hosehead; APAP set at 13 - 18 , and am sleeping through the night for the first time in 17 years. Started on CPAP on 5 June 2007. I am gradually seeing my energy return and have begun to lose some weight, something I was not able to do previously. In addition my GP says the my A1C is the best it has ever been.  All because of CPAP.  It scares me to think about what might have happened if I had gone on like I was going.  I am so glad I have a GP that knew something about OSA and a grandson who cared enough to say something that I’m sure was hard for him to say.   Wow I really rambled, but that is my story.  Hope maybe it can help someone else to be diagnosed and treated, because believe me CPAP works.


_________________
Machine: REMstar M Auto with A-fex
Mask: Resmed Mirage Liberty, Resmed Mirage Quattro
Preasure: 14 - 18

I have a pretty good idea I have had asa since I was a young boy, and I didn't find out about sleep apnea till about 4 years ago.  I was waiting to see my doctor when I fell asleep in the chair and when i woke up he had a pulse oximeter attached to my finger, I guess I was sawing logs.   Well anyway, my doc sent me for a sleep study and 1/2 way into the 1st night the tech told me I had a severe case of sleep apnea and put me on a cpap.   I battled with it for the first 6 months, then it went well for about 2 years, and then I started having trouble with sinuses, I finally realized I needed a full face mask and with it and humidifier I am doing very well with it again.  I can say that cpap does work and dont give up.  thanks Rich

I am still relatively new to being on the machine. It seems with all the time I have spent researching it, and passing along what I have found, I felt like a veteran. In a way, I am. If I find I have a problem I know immediately what the solution is. I have been on the machine for a week now. I have had great results from day one (small setbacks noted). I am still trying to conquer mask leaks... and finding a solution which doesn't present comfort issues is an ongoing challenge. Even with waking up to realize the mask was leaking, or my mouth was ajar, I wake up feeling a lot more energy than I used to.

I used to mope around the shop like a zombie in the morning. Now I walk fairly briskly. I used to have to have that second cup of Java before I could even think about being considered functional, and now I feel I could skip the coffee altogether. I was almost to the point of measuring coffee consumption in pots again, like I did when I was younger and drank it like it was water. I have limited myself to one out of the gate, more out of habit than anything else, and decaf the rest of the day so I don't feel like I am depriving myself... I love the taste of coffee!

My fiancée says it's so strange to sleep beside me and not hear me snoring. No longer does she have to wake up and nudge me for snoring right into her ear.

Today I realized I didn't hate my DME, lol. Aside from a white lie that I saw through immediately, they have done a great job of letting me know what I'd have to do to get what I want without the insurance company saying no. I can't even say the insurance company is the big meanie either. They have yet to deny anything I wanted as long as I jumped through a few hoops. The doctor that signed me up for the sleep studies decided to leave for whatever reason doctors leave, so I had to find a doctor earlier this week to make a new script. He listened, and looked at me with squinty eyes over the whole deal, but he trusted me and wrote it anyway. I get my APAP the first week of September.

I have my heated humidifier as of today. I have been using it all afternoon. I am up to a setting of 5 and no rainout in sight. Incredible that I was able to go for a few days without a humidifier at all.

The whole process took from late April to late August. Looking at things from the post-CPAP side is pretty darn great! I've been on Planet Earth for 40 years. I want to enjoy 55 more!

John


_________________
"Death doesn't really worry me that much, I'm not frightened about it... I just don't want to be there when it happens." - Woody Allen
Respironics M Series Auto with A-Flex , Pressure 9-12cmH2O, Mirage Swift II Nasal pillows, and Ace bandages

It all started about a year and a half ago.  I would be setting at my desk at work and find myself nodding of for just a few seconds a few times a day.  I chalked it up to the fact that I was overweight and that I wasn’t getting enough sleep.  So I started going to bed earlier but I continued to nod off while at work.  Usually, I was okay if I was actively doing something.  But when I would get still, all bets were off.  

Things progressed to the point to where I was getting around 8 hours of sleep a night and I would wake up still feeling exhausted.  My wife also noticed that my snoring had gotten worse and that I had what Kramer from Seinfeld calls “the Jimmy legs.”  Basically I would toss and turn all night constantly moving my legs and kicking.  It eventually got to the point to where she couldn’t stand it and would sometimes go to the spare bedroom just so she could sleep.

About six months later I decided that there was something wrong and after talking to a few people I decided to visit the doctor to see about having a sleep study done.  After the initial consultation it was determined that I needed to have the test done and a date was set. A couple days later I received a call from the doctor’s office stating that they had contact my insurance and that my part of the Co-pay was going to be over $1000 just for the first test!  Needless to say, I was very shocked and told them to cancel the test as I couldn’t afford it at the time.  

Several months had come and gone and my apnea and symptoms had gotten worse.  It seemed that I would nod off or fall asleep anywhere and everywhere.  Weather I was a passenger in a vehicle, at work or setting in front of the TV at night I would find myself falling asleep more and more often and for longer periods of time.  I was embarrassed at work because people would walk by my office and see me with my eyes closed.  Some of them even resorted to banging on the wall as they passed by to wake me up.  I know a few complained to my boss but I was lucky in the fact that he understood this to be a medical issue and I think he went easy on me as I never was reprimanded.

The kick in the butt to finally go and get that sleep study done was when I was traveling on business to Baton Rouge, LA.  I had been driving for several hours but hadn’t had any indication of being tired or needing to rest.  I exited off the interstate to get something for lunch and that’s the last thing I remember before waking up to a BIG green road sign right in front of my truck.  I had gone off the road and was heading right toward the sign.  Luckily, I woke up and reacted quickly enough to avoid disaster.  I then proceeded to the nearest truck stop where I laid my seat back and slept for an hour or so and then I was good to go and made it on it to Baton Rouge.  

This was the first time that I had nodded off while driving and really opened my eyes as to how bad my symptoms had become and that it was becoming life threatening.  I had put up with this problem so long that I had convinced myself that this was normal behavior and wasn’t taking it as seriously as I should have been.


After having the experience on the road I decided to have the sleep study done.  Needless to say I was surprised by the test results.  I had almost 500 apnetic episodes in a five hour period.  That’s averaging 100 episodes an hour!  My blood\oxygen level had gotten so low at one point (51%) the tech said that he could see my lips turning blue!  He also mentioned that on more than one occasion I had stopped breathing for two and a half minutes.  Try holding your breath for that long while you’re awake. Can you do it?  I know I can’t but yet I was doing it in my sleep!  Very scary stuff.

I was immediately scheduled for another sleep study where I would be titrated with a CPAP machine.  At first the head harness was a little uncomfortable and we had to change out the nasal pillows for a smaller set.    It took a little bit to get used to but I was finally able to go to sleep.  Half way through the night it was determined that I needed to be on a BIPAP machine rather than a CPAP because the amount of pressure required to keep my blood oxygen levels stable was making it hard for me to exhale with the CPAP machine.  Once I was fitted with the BIPAP machine and the tech got the levels set correctly I finally settled in and went to sleep.  I calculated that I got a good five hours of sleep in that night.  What’s even more amazing is that when I woke up I was in the exact same position that I was in when I went to sleep.  This meant that I hadn’t moved the whole night.

The next day I could tell an immediate improvement.  I went back to work and didn’t nod off at all and even my co-workers noticed and commented on how good I looked and felt.  The change was so drastic that it is hard to explain.  I can now finally sleep through the night and not wake up every hour and my wife has commented on how still I am while asleep and that my snoring has all but stopped.  I am such a deep sleeper now that she has to wake me up in the morning when she gets up.  I used to be such a light sleeper that anything would wake me.  This simple change has improved my life so much that I can’t even begin to describe.  For the first time in a LONG time, I FEEL ALIVE!

Who knows, with all this newfound energy, maybe I’ll get off my butt and do something about my weight!

Hello all!
   Took some time off to get down to business. Now that I got my life back, the life has been keeping me away, LOL. I have been noticing very good improvments in my ability to think. I can now do one of the very challenging sudokus in roughly half an hour to just a tad more than an hour with not too much difficulty. My memory is improving still. I can actually tell myself to remember something with a better than 2/3rds chance of actually being able to do just that. As a result of all this going on, I have decided to go back to college to begin a new career. I am taking a Paralegal program at UNLV. An intensive (their description) course of study that will take just 4 months to finish. I have high expectations for myself, and I really believe I can finish it will excellent marks. This, of course, would never have been possible if I were still in the white knuckle grip of sleep apnea. I really love my machine. I just got a snugglehose cover for it last night; it works wonderfully!

Dune  


_________________
"Death doesn't really worry me that much, I'm not frightened about it... I just don't want to be there when it happens." - Woody Allen
Respironics M Series Auto with A-Flex , Pressure 9-12cmH2O, Mirage Swift II Nasal pillows, and Ace bandages

Added from another post with background added:
 
I have been a snorer for as long as I can remember, not all the time, but always very loud.  About 6 years ago I started not sleeping as well, but it was so gradual that by the time my apneas became apparent I was probably well down the road.  I remember falling asleep constantly at work if for just a few seconds.  I had even master the hand on mouse, hand on chin technique to avoid detection.  Not realizing it was sleep related because I always went to bed with enough time to get in 8 hours of sleep I continued on.  My girlfriend at the time reported that I stopped breathing occasionally but said it was infrequent like my snoring.  Things changed rapidly and in the last 6 months my now wife had not stayed in the same room with me 1 night during that time, driven to the sofa or extra bedroom to get sleep.  I finally went to the doctor 2 months ago.
 
I was diagnosed almost 30 days ago and did a 2 night study.  After the second study when i tried the mask I was refreshed for the first time in years but for the next 3 weeks until I got my CPAP device it was hell.  Nothing like finding out why your tired, realizing SA causes all of these secondary problems, and having to sleep only coming fully awake with each apnea and dreading falling back asleep to notice the next one and so on.
 
I'm a different person almost immediately, probably because I wasn't expecting dramatic results with the stories I have read on here but i have been completely compliant and toughing out the mask.  At first I felt a little claustrophobic but I learned to focus on something other than my breathing and it's been easier.  With an 11 pressure I do like the ramp feature but after it's fully on i hardly notice that I am being force fed air.  One thing, I'm much calmer at work and on the road, which I didn't even realize until I got better.  I don't wake up waiting to seize the day, but I know that I feel better about going to bed, and I am not falling asleep after lunch anymore.
 
Big change for me from 3 years ago when I started waking myself up.  Then my wife telling me I stopped breathing.  Then high blood pressure, weight gain, the list goes on.  Three months ago I went to the doc and demanded surgery that I wasn't going to wear a mask.  LOL.  Now I'm paranoid that I might drift off for a nap and forget to wear it.
 
Sam

I recived my CPAP 2 nights ago and it is completly amazing how good it works.  The only thing that stinks is I'm a teenager and have all my friends over during the night.  The thing is now I feel like i can't have them over becuase with a full face mask on for the full night is quite as attractive as you think.  Yeah my CPAP can get annoying but already i can feel myself getting a fuller sleep.  Can i please have some advise on how to deal with the pressure of having my friends over for the night with out being harased?

I recived my CPAP 2 nights ago and it is completly amazing how good it works.  The only thing that stinks is I'm a teenager and have all my friends over during the night.  The thing is now I feel like i can't have them over becuase with a full face mask on for the full night is quite as attractive as you think.  Yeah my CPAP can get annoying but already i can feel myself getting a fuller sleep.  Can i please have some advise on how to deal with the pressure of having my friends over for the night with out being harased?

Hello WGfreak123 and welcome!

Peer pressure and cajoling, no matter how innocent, can be VERY uncomfortable as you know.  Please remember that anyone who might make fun of you is not understanding you have a medical condition requiring this treatment, it is as simple as that, and there is no need to dwell on it.

Do consider telling them candidly you really value their friendship and ask them to support and stand by you in this.  Tell them you're embarrased to have them see you rigged up, but it is not by choice and their making fun of you isn't helping you to feel less embarassed and more comfortable around them.  Be honest and open and I think most or all of your friends will understand, or at least back off if they aren't mature enough to take this seriously.  In time the joking will likely return, but it will be in a good-natured way instead of ridicule and you will probably like to join in the fun.

Be comfortable with yourself, and others in turn will be comfortable around you too.

Good luck, Blessings,
--pseudonym

Well, I hope I am not counting my chickens before they hatch - but last night was night 6 on my cpap.  On Sunday (yesterday) I felt the best I have in three years!!!  Today, I am little groggy - but that is my own fault since I stayed up past midnight (because I could!).
Anyway, yesterday I:
took my 2 young daughters (4 & 6) to a birthday party
came home and cleaned their bedrooms (disaster areas!)
put away about 7 loads of laundry
did my BIG grocery shopping
cooked dinner
gave the kids their baths
read a few pages of a book (without nodding out!)
finally, tucked myself in with my husband and my cpap.
Pre-cpap, those things would have taken my over a week to accomplish!  Those things may not seem out of the ordinary for the mom of 2 kids - but they were for me!  I did not even lose my temper with my kids!
Today is Monday and I am back to work - we shall see how a complete work week pans out.  I don't expect to be 100% so soon - but this 50% is feeling REALLY good.  
I am sure once I start losing some of this excess weight I will feel even better.  As luck would have it I sprained my ankle (a painful high sprain) and can't go walking just yet.  Thankfully, I live in Florida and it is still in the high 80's and swimming is an option!

sands wrote:

Added from another post with background added:
 
I have been a snorer for as long as I can remember, not all the time, but always very loud.  About 6 years ago I started not sleeping as well, but it was so gradual that by the time my apneas became apparent I was probably well down the road.  I remember falling asleep constantly at work if for just a few seconds.  I had even master the hand on mouse, hand on chin technique to avoid detection.  Not realizing it was sleep related because I always went to bed with enough time to get in 8 hours of sleep I continued on.

WOW! that sounds painfully familiar. I thought I was the only one who woke up highlighting text at work!  
hopefully I will be getting my osa mitigated soon!

I may cover some issues that have already been touched upon, but it is well worth every minute of it. I have been snoring for years. My wife and I thought it was just one of those things, and we lived with it. Well, my wife was losing sleep, so were the kids down the hall and on the other side of the house!  I was living in remote Alaska when I was referred during a sleep study from Havard. I was taking an on line college program, completing my BS in CJA and the instructor put me on to this study. I am so glad that he did that. It will add years to my life, my family's as well. I have been instrumental in advising my friends in my profession to get checked out. To date there are two friends that are seeing the effects of the CPAP.

I have been in law enforcement for over 14 years. The stress involved with this profession is not your normal 8-4 stress. I am not ill and am not overweight, one could say a healthy male without issues; except those lrking with OSA. I did not realize this. I returned to the lower 48 and got referred into a sleep study. That study revealed that I was having hundreds of episodes per hour, my O2 saturation was in the low 80% and I would stop breathing in my sleep. YOU DON'T KNOW HOW SCAREY THIS IS UNTIL YOU SEE IT FOR YOURSELF, AND YOUR SPOUSE IS FRIEGHTENED TO GO TO BED AT NIGHT FOR FEAR OF LOSING HER HUSBAND! Take this seriously, if you are reading this you are most likely a portion of the way there. If you are new to this medical condition, do not be afraid, be thankful. If you have had success, then you can understand the excitement to help others.

The first few nights with the CPAP were uncomfortable, to say the least. I have been sleeping without a mask for about 41 years, now this thing is on my nose and blowing air. Yeah kinda apprehensive. The end of the first week was the beginning of my new life. Thoughts of having to wear this for the rest of my life....I got up one morning after only 6 hours of sleep and was actually bouncing around the bedroom like Tigger on Winnie the Pooh; my wife had about enough of that!  I was finally sleeping!  Sleeping so well that I noticed a 100% difference in my life. I was not more tired when I woke than before I went to bed, I did not wake up with that "hangover type" headache, I did not need to have coffee in my hand all day long, no over the counter sleeping aids, most appreciative of all---> I was not grumpy with the family any more! Yes, you heard it correctly, I am a more happy person now, and my family knows it. they told me it was as if they had to walk on eggshells all day long because I would get very grouchy, then on top of that they would be forced to listen to my incessive snoring all night long.  

I am not sure if this is the reason I HAVE NOT BEEN SICK SINCE I HAVE STARTED CPAP (Feb 07). No colds, bugs etc.

I now have a very good friend that I told this part of my life to and he stated some symptoms parallel with OSA.  He is on CPAP and his life has improved and he is doing very well. His medical condition with his heart was showing and now he is imroving very well. Another friend of ours is now in the sleep study process after looking at the same symptoms.  I am glad to spred this ord to others that may need it.

Look, don't worry about the looks, etc.....I take the CPAP on trips, training etc and I will not sleep without it. There are times I do fll asleep due to my hard days work and then family of 6 time in the evenings....sheer exhaustion. But I wake and the mask goes on.  My health is great, I feel that this was cought prior to any damages done to my health as I am still young. My wife and family are benefitting from this as they can now sleep without the "train" coming through the house.

I could go on and on, but you get the point.  Take care.

I am now 54 years old, increasingly overweight, have been under medical treatment for high blood pressure, high cholesterol and depression. The high cholesterol is under control and the edge was taken off the rage part of depression but recently my blood pressure continued to climb.  I woke up in the morning with headaches 2 – 3 days a week. I thought I was sleeping enough, I was in bed around 10:30 PM and didn’t get up until 7:30 AM or later most mornings but I was still tired.  Not only was I tired in the morning but afternoons at work. I found it hard to stay awake on conference calls and at meetings or training sessions. I lacked the energy and motivation to resume any activities from my favorite hobbies and sports which helped the weight pack on. I spent weekends struggling to recover from my exhausting week.  

In short I was sad and pitiful.  

Sometimes my wife would wake me in the middle of the night to tell me to breathe and once or twice I woke up to see her sitting up staring at me looking to see if I was breathing. That can be scary…  

I attributed all of these symptoms to getting older and increased stress over the past two years from changes in my job responsibilities and facing the shock of my wife being diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer. It is now 1 ½ years since her diagnosis and 13 months since her last treatment. Her quarterly follow ups show no trace of cancer and we continue to think positively. We just celebrate our 33rd wedding anniversary and look forward to each and every future day together.

I started experiencing nosebleeds for the first time in my life, mostly in the morning. I took my blood pressure and noticed that it was elevated so I went to my primary care physician who increased my BP meds and referred me to an ENT. In the two weeks while I was waiting for my ENT appointment and was on the increased BP med I had no more nosebleeds.

The ENT took my medical history, looked up my nose with an endoscope and found a spot where my nostril had been bleeding from. I opted not to have him cauterize it because in my way of thinking this was an early warning signal that I did not want to lose.  While waiting for the ENT I read some brochure about the effects of sleep apnea and asked him about the possibility of getting a prescription for a sleep study which he immediately scheduled.

Results of the first test:

in bed for 388 minutes
TST 307 minutes for a sleep efficiency of 79%
Overall RDI was 104.7 events/hour
total AHI was 104.7 events/hour
Total NREM sleep time 300 minutes with NREM RDI of 104.6 events/hour
Total REM sleep time was 6.5 Minutes with a REM RDI of 110.8 events/hour
REspiratory events were associated with arousals, awakenings and oxygen desaturations.
SaO2 nadir was 77.8% with 32.9% of TST @ SaO2 <90%
Patient slept in supine position for 91.1 minutes with a supine RDI of 115.2 events/hour
Cardiac analysis - mean HR 84.0 and minimum HR of 69.0
Total of 161 periodic limb movements for an index of 31.5 movements/hour and an associated PLM arousal index of 20.2 arousals/hour
Apneas were as follows: 282 obstructive apneas; 4 central apneas and 10 mixed
The longest obstructive apnea was 38.4 seconds
There were 3375 episodes of snoring equaling 122.7 minutes or 40% of TST


I went back about 2 weeks later for another test, this time with titration.


The results of titration:
In bed for 414.9 minutes and slept for 369.4 minutes for a sleep efficiency of 89.0%
SaO3 nadir was 85.5% with <1% of TST <90%
Patient slept in supine position for 129.8 minutes
Cardiac analysis - mean HR 86.4 and minimum HR of 71.5
Total of 35 PLM for an index of 5.7 mobements/hour and an associated PLM arousal index of 1.6 arousals/hour
During the studay the CPAP was started at 4cm/H2O and increased to 8cm/H2O.
With the CPAP @ 8cm/H2O the AHI was 1.4 events/hour with a sleep efficiency of 96.1% and a SaO2 nadir of 89.9%

About 2 weeks later I received my CPAP after chasing my primary care physician for the prescription.
Well I received my machine, a REMstarPro M series with a heated humidifier and a Fisher & Paykel FlexiFit 407 nasal mask.  The mask was the same type I used in the second sleep study at the clinic and seems to work well for me.  I had a little trouble falling asleep and needed to use the ramp feature (4-8 over 20 minutes) because the 8cm/H2O although low was still more than I am used to.  The mask was comfortable enough but I did have to concentrate on keeping my mouth closed and consciously think about breathing through my nose while trying to relax so my jaws were not clenched.

It must have worked because I kept the mask on all night (11:30 PM until 9:00 AM). My wife said it was the most restful night’s sleep she has seen me have in a long time. I did not even get up to go to the bathroom whereas previously I would have been up 2-3 times over the course of the night. She said I have not snored at all in the last three nights! So now she doesn’t need to race me to bed so she can fall asleep first before the racket begins.

I have been using the CPAP for 3 nights now with no problems. I feel more energy than I have in years and am looking forward to resuming some of my favorite activities in the evening after work and on weekends, things as simple as reading a book or watching a movie without falling asleep. I am also looking forward to reducing my weight with increased activity (which should also keep me away from snacking) and lowering my blood pressure with an ultimate goal of reducing or eliminating my BP med and tapering off anti-depressants.

As I said, I am one of the lucky ones who have taken to the mask and CPAP without many of the troubles that others experience and for that I am truly thankful. I want to offer a word of encouragement to anyone who may be going through trials and tribulations. Stick with it. The end results will be worth it. You owe it to yourself and your loved ones.

I noticed that most of the postings were about CPAP treatment and many divided their lives into pre- and post-machine.  My story is different.  Several years ago, when my mother came to visit, my daughter slept in an extra bed in our bedroom and couldn't stand my snoring, which my wife had adapted to (?) though it could be heard through the wall.

I first took a machine home, then had a sleep lab study, during which it seemed I hardly slept.  After the CPAP was put on, I slept even less, then went home exhausted.  My incidence level was not high, but my oxygen levels were bouncing dangerously.

Since my insurance would not pay for a CPAP machine, I borrowed one to test but did not have a good experience.  I then had surgery - uvulopalatopharyngeal (U3P) and lower nasal turbinate resection.  Although the overall success rate wasn't listed as more than about 60%, my surgeon had a higher success rate, and I turned out to be one of the success stories.  The nasal surgery also relieved a nearly life-long feeling of stuffiness as a vaso-motor reactor.

I later had a middle turbinate resection to relieve pressure causing headaches similar to sinus/migraine.  I changed careers about five years after my initial surgery, something I wouldn't have been capable of previously.  At 57, I have been free of apnea symptoms for about nine years now, though I still need to get more sleep and occasionally have RLS symptoms.

Yesterday I went in for a 9 month follow up on getting my Bipap Auto.  My doctor has been tracking my progress and presented me with a graph showing my progress.  AHI 3.2!  Averaging only one apnea a night and averaging 7.9 hours per night with the mask on.  I haven't slept like this since grade school.

She also showed me why she likes auto machines.  Last May I was averaging pressures of 7 and 10.  For the last month it's been 5 and 7.  I'm a happy camper!


_________________
SidecarMike

BiPAP Auto M Series & a Respironics OptiLife mask