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Marysville, WA
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Well after feeling like hell for the last year and a half and 50+ doctors visits they finally figured out i have this. Do any of you guys have this at all. If so im interested in how things changed after you got on the machine. Next weds im going to get one and am hoping things might get back to what they once were.
It does take a bit to get used to, I felt like I was drowning from to much air at first but have adjusted the air flow and everything is good.
Your body does alot of recovery while in rem sleep so not sleeping properly for years will make a huge negitive impact.. Life changer fosho (after you get used to it)
The Shop
I never thought I had sleep apnea because other than snoring I didn't really have any symptoms, but it would keep my wife up all night. I never really felt tired or unrested in the mornings (or at least didn't think I did)
I went and got tested and I had mild sleep apnea but my father had heart issues and that always worried me seeing that I have three children under 10, and long term it's hard on your heart.
So I reluctantly got a CPAP machine, once I got use to sleeping with it though it's been amazing. I get 8hrs a night of deep rested sleep and now I realize how bad of sleep I was getting before having one.
At first I was almost embarrassed to tell people that I had a CPAP machine, but one of my buddies is a firefighter and he was saying half of the guys he works with use though. Now anytime one of my buddy's wives complaining about their husbands snoring the first thing I tell them is to go get checked.
I think the biggest win is my wife is well rested too and is less likely to want to kill me in my sleep now because of snoring....lol
Get a mask you feel comfortable with.
When I first started they gave me "nose pillows". God they were aweful. I had to wear them so tight I woke up feeling like I had been hanging on a,meat hook. Switched to a nose mask, but I have a mustache and never could get it to seal, finally got a full face mask and it was bliss as long as I kept a fairly fresh strap.
Once you get used to it, go without it one night and you will wake up feeling like absolute crap. I get terrible headaches.
If you have good insurance, get setup somewhere to get new supplies regularly (hoses, filters, masks, straps) even if you don't actually need them. Stock pile them in case your insurance changes.
The only bad thing about the machines is that you have to have a prescription for them so everything is ridiculously overpriced. It borders on a scam.
when you sleep and you’re snoring, you’re essentially starving your body of oxygen. many people who have OSA feel tired during the day and don’t sleep well at night. this is because while they are “sleeping” and lacking their body of oxygen, every organ in the body is being starved of oxygen and each organ has to work extra hard to do it’s job. so while you think you’re sleeping, your body at a physiological level is actually working harder to do it’s job then while you’re awake. this in turn essentially keeps your body from getting the rest it needs, the rest you THINK you’re getting at night. hence, why people are so tired during the day when they’re awake. i’d say 95% of my patients after using cpap/bipap for ONE month consistently, after experiencing the positive effects such as better nights rest and energy during the day, wouldn’t sleep another night of their life without the machine. the results far outweigh the uncomfortable mask. keep in mind their are different masks to try out. many people don’t realize how serious it is to starve your organs of oxygen, they just think the problem is how loud they snore at night. most actually think it’s like a joke...or funny, how they keep their significant other up at night.
there’s another aspect that many don’t know, and that is the ventilation aspect to your breathing. breathing not only brings in oxygen, but it also releases carbon dioxide. many OSA pts stop breathing essentially, and they don’t release the C02 adequately. many times people are very hard to wake up at night and this is due to hypercarbia, high C02 levels. this is also dangerous.
so when you’re tired during the day, that’s because last night when you thought you were sleeping, your body was actually in overdrive trying to compensate for the lack of oxygen it was getting, and stressing every major organ. this can take years off of your life, your body needs to oxygenate and ventilate adequately, especially at night so the body can rest. sleeping at night without CPAP/BIPAP with osa is like running a marathon with no oxygen.
cpap stands for continuous positive airway pressure. regardless of when you breathe, there is a consistent pressure being pushed into your airways, stenting at the very least, your tongue from the back of your throat. this keeps your airways open so you can oxygenate and ventilate. there’s a bit more to it but that’s the gist. there’s also bipap, two separate pressures. the first pressure is your cpap pressure that’s always being pushed into you regardless of when you breathe. the other pressure level is for when you take a breathe. this pressure is given when the machine senses negative pressure from you “sucking in” to breathe. this pressure is over top of the bottom cpap pressure. for example. 10/5 bipap is 10 of pressure support over top of the constant 5 pressure. total airway pressure of 15. this is measured in centimeters of water (cmH2O). the breath is a pressure supported breathe. this helps you to create a larger tidal volume breath, a breathe that is large enough to open and distribute the oxygen to your lungs. most people are given cpap over bipap because they don’t need that pressure supported breathe that bipap gives to create a large, or rather, adequate breath. most can do it on their own.
if you have osa, wear your mask, it will change your life!
sorry if this info has already been explained, i didn’t read all comments.
A fan or white noise machine will negate any noise. If a spouse can't deal with that small amount of noise to extend the partners life I would be concerned about that lol!
Now with a CPAP machine I just turn up the humidity and the air temp and it kind of just powers through being stuffed up and I still get a solid nights sleep and colds last only a day or two.
I don’t know if this is the same for anyone else?
Ghost
Pit Row
I used to be so fucking tired all the time. Could fall a sleep anywhere. I’d just be sitting there and pass out, soon as the car turned off if I didn’t get out I’d fall asleep.
I remember one time trail riding and was so tired I couldnt ride, pulled off side of trail and took a nap in the bushes?
I can tell you it would suck to have if single... explain that one to the new girl. And if you ask around seems like 50% of people I know use them... just not talked about.
Bottom line though, if you've been diagnosed with sleep apnea, use it! Otherwise You risk serious permanent damage to your heart.
Thanks for the explanation.
I'm going to look into getting the sleep study done.
Think this could be the reason I have major tendinopathy issues?
Lack of oxygen to heal?
But I know a couple of people who are fairly competitive runners with about size 15 necks who have apnea too, so neck size isn't an automatic determiner. Anyone who has ever mentioned to me that they are being referred for a sleep study has been diagnosed with apnea, and I suspect that's close to the norm. By the time you've suffered from it enough to get tested, it's probably pretty obvious to the docs.
As the previous poster mentioned about the excess CO2 levels, sometimes you'll see an apnea sufferer with a grey skin tone, and when they go on cpap therapy they actually begin to look human again. My wife's uncle was that way, looked like cement before he was diagnosed. Didn't see him for the first 2 months after he started using his cpap, almost didn't recognize him the first time we were together afterwards.
I need to use mine more diligently. I just have a terrible time getting to sleep with anything near my nose, so in order to use it I often have to take ambien, and that sucks too.
This thread just convinced me to do another 30 nights straight, to try to get back in the habit.
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