Well, I had my sleep study (horrible night, could not get to sleep for the longest!!) and just heard that the diagnosis is mild to moderate obstructive sleep apnea.
So I’m reading about the treatments (the doc wants me to come back to be fitted for the CPAP mask and I don’t look forward to another night there) which include losing weight, mask, dental appliances, surgery.
I am leaning toward trying to lose weight since webmd says even a 10% weight loss is significant, and I know that I am more uncomfortable than when I was lighter.
For those who have used a mask, did it make a big difference? How uncomfortable is it? Is it loud? What is the upkeep as far as sterilizing, cleaning, etc.? Once you have the unit do you have to regularly replace anything?
Any other input is appreciated. Please note: I will decide on my own with the doc what to pursue and am not looking for official medical advice. I am just curious about others’ experiences.
I had sleep apnea since I was a child. I wasn’t overweight or unfit, it was just a design flaw. The first time I went for a sleep study, the CPAP they made me wear scared the crap out of me. I felt like I was suffocating. I know, they are a lifesaver (literally) for many people and I hear that you get used to them but I didn’t want any part of that.
I opted for the quadruple surgery instead: uvulaplasty, tonsils and adenoids removed and a deviated septum corrected. The surgeon told me it was one of the most painful surgeries so I was very prepared but it wasn’t god-awful. I did have to stay home for 2 weeks and I couldn’t really eat anything for 5 days but I was functional pretty quickly.
The surgery mostly worked (it doesn’t for all people sadly) and I don’t have sleep apnea anymore although I still snore loudly. I don’t regret that choice and I was fairly young (30 at the time) and would rather just go through one big surgery than have to wear a mask for the rest of my life.
My first night on a CPAP machine was like heaven on earth. Even though it took me weeks until I kept it on all night (I tended to yank it off in my sleep & find it on the floor beside the bed), the improvement in my sleep was tremendous.
I had gastric bypass surgery in November of 2004 & was off the machine in about 30 days (about a 40 pound loss).
FWIW: I haven’t used one myself, but I’ve got a friend who does. He’s quite a large guy, about 6’5" and 375 pounds (and dropping), and he claims his CPAP machine literally changed his life. He says he sleeps through the night, doesn’t get tired during the day, feels rested and refreshed in the mornings, etc.
I’m wrestling with the whole CPAP thing myself. In my case, like Shagnasty’s, it’s a design-flaw issue, rather than a weight issue, so the weight-loss avenue is out for me. I think the real problem with the CPAP machine is to get good advice about masks and the proper pressure – never a given, unfortunately. I was given the machine and a mask, but I never felt it worked well for me. I brought the issue up with my doctor, and finally, after about six months, I got to see a specialist and try a different set-up – namely, an APAP machine with a nasal-pillow mask. This I felt did help – not 100%, but it was a definite improvement over my previous setup in terms of symptomatic relief.
So I’ll try the APAP for a month or two just to see how it goes, but I’m not writing off surgery. As Shagnasty said, a little agony may be worth it if you can free yourself from the mask. I might at some point start a thread eliciting opinions on the effectiveness of the surgery (though I note there’s a thread going now about tonsillectomy). By the way, Shagnasty, where did you have your surgery done?
I need to lose weight, and I’m working on it, but the CPAP really did change my life for the better. I feel so good in the morning, like I’m actually getting a good night’s rest. Best of all, my wife doesn’t go sleep in the guest room anymore due to my snoring.
I got used to wearing the mask pretty quickly, and the noise is about like having a small fan running - it’s there, but it’s a low, steady white noise that (for us) actually makes it easier to sleep than utter silence. I can also run mine off a 12v battery which is handy when we go camping.
If you can lose weight and fix it that way, that’s the best and healthiest way to go. But if the choice is between tolerating your sleep apnea and using a CPAP, by all means get the CPAP – you’ll be much happier.
BTW, my apnea was rated ‘severe’ which probably explains why getting it treated was so dramatic.
Also, I did get surgery for a deviated septum, but it didn’t really help much. My doctor said I shouldn’t consider additional surgery (tonsils/adenoids etc) unless I lose most of my excess weight first.
I’ve found that there seem to be differing definitions of severe. My doctor told me I was borderline severe with 35 episodes per hour, but I’ve seen numbers from other folks in previous apnea threads that are well into the hundreds of episodes, so YMMV.
Regardless, I have found that the mask makes a tremendous difference for me. I’ve had one for about five months now. I feel decently well-rested in the mornings, but the biggest difference I noticed is that I no longer am crashing in the middle of the day the way I used to. On the weekends, one of the things I used to look forward to more than anything was the opportunity for an afternoon nap, but that habit seems to be slowly fading. During the work days, I find myself fairly energetic through the afternoon, even if I’ve had big lunches.
Just in case it matters to anyone, I use a BiPAP machine with 12/6 pressure.
For those of you who have the masks, a mild hijack (with apologies to the OP). How often have you had to change your actual masks? I seem to be having trouble getting a good seal lately, and the last two nights, I’ve actually abandoned the mask altogether because I couldn’t deal with air blowing up into my eyes. I think my insurance allows me to replace my mask every three months, so I need to look into that. I recall not liking the nasal pillows when I tested them during my sleep study, but they may be worth experimenting with.
Been using the CPAP for over a year now. Awesome stuff, wouldn’t want to be without it.
The only maintenance I’ve done is to wash the mask every few weeks or so, and to keep the water tank for the humidifier filled. Other than that, it’s a non-issue – I adapted to sleeping with the mask inside of a week, and now find it odd to sleep without it.
That’s cool. I had heard something about sterilizing it, etc., and I am super-lazy about routines like that. Of course getting good rest could change all that.
The sleep-study is a bitch. I don’t know how anybody actually gets any sleeping done in that place. I was diagnosed with mild sleep apnea, but who knows if that was accurate because I only slept about 45 minutes over the course of the whole night. Anyway, when I went back for the sleep-study with CPAP, I slept a lot better, but I was super-tired. But I hated the mask- it made me feel like a fist was continuously being driven into my face, so the technician tried the nasal pillows, which are awesome, I love them. You do have to make sure that you wash the pillow parts every day, since they do sit directly in your nostrils, which doesn’t feel as awkward as one might think.
My machine is one of the simplest ones you can get, none of the accompanying humidifiers or anything like that, and you have to clean the hose every week or so. The noise, I agree, is like a quiet fan. My fiance was very glad to trade the sound of my snoring in for the sound of the machine. Though he does make fun of how I look with the headpiece on!
Very few people I know personally were able to have much improvement with just weight-loss and not the CPAP.
My husband has been struggling with the CPAP for over a month now. He hasn’t slept through the night once with it on and hasn’t noticed any improvement.
It seems it can be so variable. Some people improve right away. Others never do. What an annoying disorder apnea is.
It was the most horrible night in recent memory. I could not get to sleep and when I finally did it was to these vivid dreams about the sleep study. The elctrodes weren’t horrible (although I like to switch my face position a lot when getting to sleep and repositioning the pigtail of wires was no fun), it was that nasal cannula with the hook into the mouth that really bugged me. And the idea that they could tell when I was thinking :rolleyes:
My husband has been using a CPAP for about a year and a half now (he would have been a good candidate for surgery, but our insurance would only pay for it if other methods failed), and it’s been a godsend. It took him only a night or two to get used to it and he doesn’t snore at all and gets much more restful sleep with it. He did have a problem with the type of mask–he was originally given the nasal mask, but had to tighten the straps so much to keep air from leaking that it aggravated his TMJ, so he got a snorkel type instead, and that works great.
The machine is pretty quiet–it’s about equivalent to having a fan running, and might even help you sleep if you benefit from white noise. He recently replaced the hose and chin strap (a separate piece from the mask; his mouth would come open from the airflow and end up really dried out, so they gave him this elastic strap to go over his head and under the chin)–the hose probably would have lasted longer, but our idiot cat chewed on it several times, so it was all over duct tape. He has to refill the water (distilled) and clean the in-the-nose parts from time to time, but other than that, there’s no maintenance.
I just had my second study (for mild apnea and snoring) two days ago and was fitted for cpap mask. It was pretty uncomfortable and I still can’t figure out how people sleep through the night with the mask on, since the very first thing I wanted to do when it was on me was to open my mouth. I figured that as soon I fell asleep, I’d start snoring. And according to the technician, that’s exactly what happened, so he said he played with the pressure a few times throughout the night. I’m not sure if that resulted in me snoring any less, but I am sure that I woke up feeling like I usually do.
The mask itself wasn’t really uncomfortable–it was having this huge thing hanging on my face that got to me. But I probably shouldn’t be talking since I’ve only used it that one night and haven’t given myself a chance to get used to it yet.
My condition is due to design flaw, and I’m a bit peeved right now that the doctors haven’t really looked into the ENT aspect of treatment. I think I’d rather have surgery than deal with that mask again.
I use a CPAP machine and have so for over two years. I love it. I had be slowly getting worse and worse over the course of years. It was really nice to sleep well and actually dream again.
It does work a lot better if your sinus is clear. I sometimes use some AFRIN just befor going to bed