CPAP - Awww, Crap!
So, I've been using my CPAP machine for about a month now - minus the few days that I've fallen asleep before putting it on, or have just been unable to wear it. It's not all that pleasant when you've got a cold.
It's made a number of differences:
1) Snoring
Not anymore. I used to sound sort of like a chainsaw as those who have slept in the same room as me, will attest. I'm sure The Singer would have suffered permenant hearing damage if this had continued. Since the airway is kept open through air pressure forced in through my nose, a vacuum is essentially created in my mouth. This makes it impossible to snore and very difficult to talk when I'm wearing the mask.
For the first little bit, I had to fight a real sense of claustrophobia and I really hated putting it on. Apparently, I had a very determined look on my face when I was first wearing it. Still, I managed not to rip it out during the first few nights.
2) Alertness and Concentration
This one, I've noticed more when I haven't worn the mask. During the day, I would get really run down and tired after lunch and generally be unable to concentrate. On days that I did wear the mask I was generally able to focus and be much more effective (as effective as I can be in my current job situation anyways).
I've also been taking courses over the past few weeks, I've not run into the heavy eyelids that I normally suffer from. It used to be that any meeting/classroom work would send me straight to sleep.
3) Energy
I feel better, and am more upbeat after work.
All this is the apparent result of fewer apneas/hypopneas experienced through the night. I've gone from 31 incidents an hour to 0.5, which is below the normal average of 5. This means I'm getting more sleep, and for longer periods. Now, the only thing causing me to lose sleep is getting the insurance company to cover all this.
It's made a number of differences:
1) Snoring
Not anymore. I used to sound sort of like a chainsaw as those who have slept in the same room as me, will attest. I'm sure The Singer would have suffered permenant hearing damage if this had continued. Since the airway is kept open through air pressure forced in through my nose, a vacuum is essentially created in my mouth. This makes it impossible to snore and very difficult to talk when I'm wearing the mask.For the first little bit, I had to fight a real sense of claustrophobia and I really hated putting it on. Apparently, I had a very determined look on my face when I was first wearing it. Still, I managed not to rip it out during the first few nights.
2) Alertness and Concentration
This one, I've noticed more when I haven't worn the mask. During the day, I would get really run down and tired after lunch and generally be unable to concentrate. On days that I did wear the mask I was generally able to focus and be much more effective (as effective as I can be in my current job situation anyways).
I've also been taking courses over the past few weeks, I've not run into the heavy eyelids that I normally suffer from. It used to be that any meeting/classroom work would send me straight to sleep.
3) Energy
I feel better, and am more upbeat after work.
All this is the apparent result of fewer apneas/hypopneas experienced through the night. I've gone from 31 incidents an hour to 0.5, which is below the normal average of 5. This means I'm getting more sleep, and for longer periods. Now, the only thing causing me to lose sleep is getting the insurance company to cover all this.
posted by Serdic at 22:30
6 Comments:
well serdic i am so glad to hear that the cpap is going well, like i said before that sounds alot like mil he would be standing at work and would start to dose off, so it can be very dangerous and yes life threating it took a while to get used to having no snoring but was not too bad as you get used to it just keep going we've even gotten 2 ups' so if the power goes off at night he can still sleep just an idea /hugs and feel free to come and cook for us anytime :)
Well, it seems the one I have will automatically restart once the power comes back on. However, I am going to look into a UPS, if only to deal with brownouts.
The Singer, oddly enough, had a few problems adjusting to the no snoring. She'd wake up and wouldn't be sure if I was breathing, since all she could hear was the machine.
She quickly got used to it though. =)
Yeah, I was surprised that the "no snoring" was something I had to get used to, just as I had gotten used to the snoring. But it wasn't an issue for very long. ;-)
I don't know if I'd describe it as a chainsaw. It's more of an explosive decompression kind of sound.
If you've seen the part at the end of Aliens when Ripley flushes the Queen out into space? It's kinda like that, but with fewer sirens.
Glad to hear this thing is working out.
Yay! I'm glad that it's working for you. A good night's sleep is so important. I always took it for granted until I got pregnant. I think a UPS would be a good idea.
glad to hear it working great for the both of you and yes for the first few nights i kept waking up to see if he was breathing, was very nerve racking ! was as bad as when we had the kids : ) and yes if the machine was on when the power went out it will come back on when the power comes back on. so yes a ups is a great backup though we arent that happy with the length they run... so beware when purchasing it (so we have 2 of them) well /hugs and happy shopping
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