How Has CPAP Changed You and Your Life?

[Max250]

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[t-bone]

How many ways?

I started using CPAP in October or so of 2006. Since then, I:

1) go to sleep within minutes of hosing up
2) sleep most of the night most nights
3) awake able to breathe (getting filtered air all night is wonderful for those of us allergic to pollen)
4) DON'T wake up sweating my behind off due to adrenaline over-load
5) have much more ability to focus more of the time during the day
6) yawn far less (I'm in retail--yawning in front of customers gets embarrassing)
7) have more power when I'm on my bicycles
have far less trouble with my allergies during the day


When I met Jenn--on our first date, no less--I mentioned being a hose-head, just to get it out there. I figured that if it was going to be a litmus-test issue (it wasn't for me, but I didn't know about her views at the time), I might as well save trouble down the road. She was mildly surprised that I would mention it, but clearly relieved. You see, she is also a CPAP user, and was apprehensive of how >I< would deal with the machine should we find ourselves getting more involved.

Jenn and I married in July of 2009. We are in the process of buying a house. Being able to sleep has helped enormously in dealing with the stresses of the home-buying process.

[jazzer4]

C-pap is unbelievable for me. I go to bed at 11:00 and get up at 7:00. I rarely wake up. I was always a happy go lucky person until I couldn't sleep. Now I'am back to my old self. Once you get everything figured out (that took me about 6 months, but might not have ever happened if not for this forum) you can really smell the roses.

[ZQuest]

Hello: And life is GOOD!!!!!!!


Ever since i have been on Cpap the Energy level has increased greatly and i'm not a young man any more,next week it would be about a month on the hose and 6 month's WITHOUT a SMOKE yes !!! After being a smoker for more than 25 years and try numerous time on quiting the habit i really think that this time i've done it.It was my new years resolution like all way's trying but after just about a couple of month's i allways ended loosing that battle and going back to smoke but (NOT THIS TIME) and i believed that me having been diagnosed with sleep apnea and having to go on the hose has most definatly been a great part of my success in quiting smoking ......... I sleep better
breathed better
feel a whole lot better ( i do not fall asleep at the wheel any more ) BOY! that was a wake up call
the wife is sooooooooooo much happier And you know what they say happy wife happy husband. no more cravings for smoke's , and i have lost 8 lbs. in a month, and i though that i would gain weight everything in going so much better i could go on and on trying to explain how good it has been.. CPAP has change my life in more way's than one,and i'm Happier for it and feeling good in general thank you all for your support without this forum i really dont think my story would have been so succesfull. and just to think it has been only a month all that i can say is that i've been BLESSED given a second chance...and i do not intent in wasted it,
Thanking You ! Phil M.

[Rycharde]

I started on CPAP Jan 5th, 2010, and took to it like duck to water. My previous employment dictated that I had to wear a fresh air pack and mask to be safe at my job, so I had no problem adapting to the cpap mask.
Since Jan, I have now lost 50 pounds, (yes, 50#, and have dropped 5 pants sizes) my diabetes is now at 80 to 130 instead of at 300+, my blood pressure is down to 110/60 instead of 165/95, my energy level is better than it has been in 50 years, and my wife is so much happier now that she can sleep undisturbed by my gasping, snoring and leg thrashing. My morning headaches stopped immediatly after the first night on cpap. I now sleep right at 8.5 hours per night without ever having to get out of bed until the morning. Yupper, no more hitting the head 4-5 times a night now.
I really don't know how much better it can get for the future, except that after 5 years of "retirement", I will be starting a new job on Tuesday morning. Just in time, as there always seems to be too much month left at the end of our money!
My experience with cpap is not the norm for most people, but most of the same results can be achieved by others with patience, perserverance and time.
Hope this helps y'all,

[Goofproof]

While I have many health problems still, thanks to sucessful XPAP treatment I am still here. I'm sure life would be much shorter, and less rewarding without using my XPAP. Jim

[elena88]

I have been on apap for a little over three months.
I have not been an over night success.. its been a struggle, especially since I never had day time sleepiness before this..
and always had too much energy during the day and all night.. (too much adrenalin!)

However this is what has happened so far:

No more trips to the bathroom every two hours from nocturia

No more heart pounding into the mattress and waking me up (unless Im mouth breathing)

No more abdomen pulsating from aeorta buzzing, trying to get oxygen

I actually YAWN now, and I never did that before because I was so pumped up with adrenalin and cortisol.

No more waking up like a ran a marathon, or feeling like someone was chasing me all night.

blood pressure now normal, (it would be high right after I woke up before)
My LPR (larynx reflux is almost healed)

My skin is looking softer, smoother and more vibrant, just got a compliment yesterday about that.
Three months ago it was looking like I was a dried up chicken!

I DREAM NOW..

third month..
I get tired at night, I can go to sleep in half hour instead of it taking two or three.
When I wake up at night, I go back to sleep!
I dont feel like a train ran over me in the morning.
The apap is helping the rhythm of my breathing, I am learning to breath from my abdomen
instead of thoracic breathing.
I dont sleep so lightly that Im aware of every little thing that goes on all night
I dont go grocery shopping at eleven pm anymore..
My husband doesnt ask" why arent you asleep" if he wakes up in the middle of the night.
At night I sit down and relax, instead of zipping around doing chores until midnight.
Before I couldnt sit still for a minute. I HAD to be moving, I could never relax.
Now, Im not wired all day long like a hummingbird on speed..
Im slowing down to a normal pace


Its weird.. is this what its like to feel normal?

[bailachel]

I have been on CPAP since Nov. A number of things have changed for me. I no longer wake up multiple times during the night to go to the bathroom. I can drive my car for more than 2 hours without having to pull over and nap. I wake up clear-headed instead of in a fog. My sinuses are much clearer. (no longer breathing cat fur and pollen all night) and, much to my surprise, my fingernails are now growing without breaking. Like they used to do when I was younger. Guess they would have been low on the oxygen priority list while I was undiagnosed and oxygen deprived.

[donnafowler]

After 18 months of CPAP

No more crashing on the sofa as soon as I get home from work.

No more falling asleep during meetings, conferences, at the movies, or during my daughters' theater productions. I had not seen an entire move in about 5 years pre-CPAP.

No more driving to work with one eye shut because I couldn't hold them both open.

No more sleeping all day on the weekends.

I have time and energy to go out with friends, take a walk, or watch a movie. I can get on the treadmill, cook a healthy dinner, and I am no longer depressed. I used to stay sick constantly and I have not even had a cold in the last 18 months--of course I have just been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, but I can't imagine having to cope with the RA without the benefits of CPAP. My blood pressure returned to normal, and life is good. CPAP is my best friend.

[KatieW]

After 7 months on cpap, I am:

- waking up feeling rested and refreshed
- smarter, funnier, enjoying life more
- more tolerant, less cranky
- more creative
- healthier--have had only 1 short cold and no flu this winter, and very little spring allergies
- able to move pain free--in spite of significant osteoarthritis and back issues

And I have found a cpap community that understands. Life is good, rather than a struggle.

[Muse-Inc]

I'm alive! I doubt I would be if my new primary hadn't caught OSA on my first visit (Apr '07) as my BP at that time was 215/110...I was not going in the right direction. If I hadn't aleady survived a BP that high in the past (OD'd on Cytomel trying to find the right dosage and during a migraine when they mentioned my systolic was 225) he would have hospitalized me directly from his office. First night on CPAP (Aug 20, '07), the 8-10 pee trips every night stopped never to return. Took me 18 months to get my BP averaging 128/65-70. Changes in every single area of my life: behavior, sleep quality, mood, cheerfulness & optimism, weight, cognition, long-term memory, short-term memory much improved but still not as it was, stress resilance, patience, energy level, learning to say "no" to demands on my time that affected my taking care of me, making sleep a priority.

[newname]

Started cpap over 3 yearsago. All its done for me so far is give me more stuff to carry if I take a trip.

[racefan]

I'm a truck Driver. I've been a hose head for 5 years. It's AMAZING what it's done for my life. I had gotten so bad that I could not drive 40 miles in the morning with nodding off.Not a good thing when your driving a gasoline tanker with 11,500 gallons of gas. I stay awake & alert ALL DAY now,my blood PSI has dropped, I just all around feel soooo much better. I truly feel like it has saved my life because I'm sure the way I was going I was going to fall asleep behind the wheel & crash & burn.

[bradleyjoe]

I have been using for 19 mounths now and I can not live with out my cpap. I cant wait till I go to bed and put on the hose. I breath so much better with it on at night. I sleep about 9 hours at night. I cant not see the time I will never use my cpap. Brad

[Patrick A]

I have been on Cpap for almost 5 years now. Since 6/21/2005, I don't sit at the dinning room table and fall asleep while "She Who Must be Obeyed" is talking to me any more. Come to think about it, I don't know if that's good or bad?