About 70 percent of people who use CPAP find it very effective

[ChicagoGranny]

About 70 percent of people who use CPAP find it very effective, said Dr. Kryger. But some people find the mask so uncomfortable that they simply cannot tolerate it. “For most patients it works really well,” he said. “But a lot of people have trouble with it.”

Full article: https://www.nytimes.com/guides/well/sleep-apnea-guide

[old dude]

" But some people find the mask so uncomfortable that they simply cannot tolerate it."

I'll stipulate to being neither overly sympathetic nor empathetic, so there's that. But I see PAP therapy as a choice that one makes. Everybody finds it uncomfortable. Everybody. I'm a long standing anxiety sufferer and nothing triggers it like even the smallest breathing irregularity, so you can imagine how the mask affected me. But I decided early on that I didn't want to die from sleep apnea and though I've had my share of troubles I haven't missed a night in the six years since diagnosis. It helped me to imagine myself at a wake looking into the casket of the dearly departed only to see that it was me.

So I see it as a binary decision: do it or don't, but don't whine about how hard it is. Well, OK, you can whine but get help here or somewhere else and slog on. Yeah, it can be hard but with some good and ongoing help one can persevere. I had a lot of ongoing help here but only I can decide to keep going or not. You just have to to make the commitment.

[ChicagoGranny]

Old Dude, You took the article as negative. Coming from the viewpoint of having seen "50% compliance" quoted almost universally, I took the article as positive. "70% very effective" is a big improvement.

Of course, who knows how these statistics were obtained? Maybe pulled out of ahole in the ground.

[jnk...]

Of course, who knows how these statistics were obtained? Maybe pulled out of ahole in the ground.

The doc may have mentally combined and then rounded the loose figures from a couple of studies on adherence and success that were referenced in another article in which the doc shared:

In recent work, Kim et al. defined CPAP treatment success as reducing AHI to <10 in patients (n Z 151) with moderate and severe OSAS. By this definition, 92% of non-obese patients (BMI <25) and 79% of obese patients received successful treatment with CPAP. Furthermore, among non-obese patients, 82% of patients with moderate OSAS and 94% of patients with severe OSAS patients were adherent to CPAP for more than four hours per day for more than 70% of days. In obese patients, adherence by this definition was 94% in moderate OSAS and 76% in severe OSAS. In a contrasting study, Kuna et al. showed a lower adherence to CPAP patients with moderate to severe apnea. In their study, adherence was 52% in the 105 patients who underwent home sleep testing and 49% in the 96 who underwent in-laboratory polysomnogram. -- https://www.inspiresleep.com/wp-content ... f-OSA1.pdf

My personal definitions of "success" and "adherence" and "effective" differ greatly from those often used by research docs.

Imagine a study of a drug in which the participants were considered users of the drug if they used it at a half dose for two thirds of the days and then didn't use it all on the others.

[Captain_Midnight]

Interesting article, thanks for posting.

I suspect that many of the folks who can't tolerate pappian therapy are given either the wrong pressures or the wrong mask at the outset. I also think that many are poorly motivated and do not understand the consequences of untreated OSA.

From my own experience, I was motivated to succeed by learning what xpap therapy might do for me, and what might happen if I did not. Like many, I persevered through some uncomfy times and incorrect equipment and incorrectly prescribed pressures at first, and I'm more than glad that I worked through the issues. I also think that online support groups such as this fine forum are keys to success. (One of the reasons that I occasionally return hereabouts is to give something back for the super info that I got from the veteran posters here, most of whom no longer post.)

The "success stories" thread is one of the most important ones that this site offers. It's where the newly diagnosed should begin, as the posts offer the prospect of future health improvements.

.

[chunkyfrog]

Just a hint for those yet to find the "one perfect mask"--find your closest second and third--and alternate.
It ain't always easy; but it is well worth it.

[ZZFlop04!]

Hey guys. Rookie here. Forgive if I'm in the wrong place but I have a CPAP question. It seems as though I have lost my sense of smell. Is that a thing? Should I be worried? Can I get it back? Has anyone else had a similar issue?

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[jnk...]

Hey guys. Rookie here. Forgive if I'm in the wrong place but I have a CPAP question. It seems as though I have lost my sense of smell. Is that a thing? Should I be worried? Can I get it back? Has anyone else had a similar issue?

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

We're all rookies compared to someone.

Starting a thread of its own generally gets the best response.

I don't see CPAP on the list for smell loss. But I do see a lot of other stuff that is:

https://www.mayoclinic.org/symptoms/los ... m-20050804

[katestyles]

Hey guys. Rookie here. Forgive if I'm in the wrong place but I have a CPAP question. It seems as though I have lost my sense of smell. Is that a thing? Should I be worried? Can I get it back? Has anyone else had a similar issue?

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

There is an article about that in the latest magazine from the AAST - Not sure if this link will work

https://www.aastweb.org/a2zzz?utm_campa ... i=22938226

[ZZFlop04!]

THANKS!!

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[jnk...]

https://www.aastweb.org/blog/osa-and-smell

[ZZFlop04!]

THANKS!!

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