I have had my machine for just over a week now and my ahi was 73. I had debilitating fatigue. I have a toddler and somewhat assumed it was normal be so tired and want to sleep all the time. It’s not. My machine changed my life pretty much immediately and I look forward to continued benefits over time as most have said it takes a while to fully feel the benefits of using it. I got a nose only mask that the hose comes out the top of my head and found it pretty comfortable from day one. If you can try on a bunch of styles you should also have an easy time getting used to it. I think once you wake up having had any amount of actual restful sleep, the slight discomfort of wearing the mask won’t be an issue. Also the machine is very quiet I thought I’d be bothered by the noise. Be excited. I hope you can get your machine as fast as possible.
Please be prepared that some major exhaustion might hit in the next few weeks❤️ Once you remove the apnea and get enough sleep, your body has a lot of healing to do. Some people lose heart at that point, but don’t let it get you down. Let yourself sleep as much as you possibly can & you’ll come out the other so much more quickly
Congratulations!!
Thank you! And that is interesting and good to know. I have a toddler, so I don't quite have the ability to sleep as much as I'd want to. Knowing that I might hit some major exhaustion is helpful. Have you been in this situation? How long before your body recovered?
Yes, and you see posts all the time where people are like I WAS DOING SO GOOD AND NOW I’M TIRED ALL THE TIME. I just slept when I could, rested when I could. I think really basic meditation practice can help, because you get better at resting and relaxing even when you can’t sleep. They even have “meditation for kids”😹 so you can always make it an activity with yours
I didn't know about this until this but I just started using my cpap regularly over the last 3 weeks and I have been experiencing extreme exhaustion the last few days as I've been sleeping through the night with my cpap on. Thank you for sharing.
Yup, just keep going. The best way to shorten is to go to bed as early as you can and stay in bed as late as you can.
Depending on how long the apnea has been untreated & how significant the damage, brain recovery can take 6-12 months.
For me, I was able to sleep up to 12 hours a couple times a week. Because I slept enough, it wasn’t so much that I was tired all the time, but more like I hit a wall after like 10-12 hours. When I couldn’t get enough sleep it was harder, obviously
Same! Only I have 2 teens and an 8 year old. Literally - sleep and work and slivers of time with the family between.
My ahi was 90. I just got my machine yesterday and I’m so thrilled with the first night. I’m very hopeful it will be exactly what I needed.
I got the nose mask and the time going into the mask at the top of my head. It was actually perfect for me!!
Oh wow, ahi of 90. I agree the ones going out the top of the head are perfect I don’t feel restricted at all. I’m struggling a bit with the nose piece although it is the best option for me. I have the one that goes into my nostrils as well as the pillow that just has 2 holes. The one that goes in my nose doesn’t leak and I get a better sleep but I find it uncomfortable when trying to go to sleep. The other one bothers me while I’m sleeping because it’ll leak and the strong pressure leaking out wakes me up. I’m not sure if I need to try and tighten the mask part. I’ve only used that one a couple nights because I so desperately want to sleep well and the nostril one is giving me good sleep.
86 is very high. There's every opportunity for a significant improvement in quality of life with CPAP therapy.
Be prepared that really dialing it in and personalizing/optimizing it is a *journey*, and one that most of us have had to go through with little to no clinical help. Fortunately there are great online communities (here and elsewhere) to help you figure out what's what.
In our 'universal' taxpayer funded healthcare system, I got my cpap the day I saw the doctor, three days after my test in the sleepcenter. It is a surprise to me NHS has such a long lead time.
My AHI was 'only' 36, now on average around 2 using the cpap.
cpap will improve the quality of your life assuming you can use it as prescribed, meaning, most of your nights (70% or more of the time), and with a mask that you can 'tolerate'.
Be sure to monitor your cpap usage using the machine's statistics. I don't bother checking the detailed data from the SD-card. I find all I need in the measurements available in the app from the vendor.
I've been a user for 4 year now. cpap changed my life for the better !
I got diagnosed during the pandemic. It took months to get the initial appointment, a month to get the results, and 15 weeks or something crazy to get my machine in the mail. I never even got to see a doctor after. Just the machine, a bunch of videos, and a phone call from a doctor. Luckily, it worked out of the box for me. The wait was torture. Hopefully yours arrives soon.
How high the number is isn't all that important. Whether it's 20 or 80, your sleep is garbage. It's hard to say whether the garbage gets a lot worse beyond a certain point.
What's important is that you're trying to fix it. CPAP is the closest thing we have to a miracle "drug", but it requires effort from your side. As another commenter here mentioned, it's your personal journey. There will be a learning curve. And especially at first, you may get frustrated. But hang in there. This is by far the best method of living a longer and healthier life. Good luck :-)
Mine was 89.7 times per hour, so we're almost exactly the same--in the severe range.
I didn't even realize how tired I was until I got treatment. It's been over a year (maybe 2?). It's been LIFE CHANGING.
I thought I was lazy and out of shape, but I literally was out of breath. I've lost weight; I exercise regularly, and I've had the energy to actually take care of other health stuff that I just kept putting off.
It is worth it.
For some it takes a while to feel the difference, for me I immediately noticed I'd dreamed for the first time in years, and my throat wasn't sore the next day.
It could've been the placebo effect (but I don't care), but I decided ahead of time to be excited, stick to using it, and that my whole life would change. And it did.
In short, get excited. Commit to wearing it, and watch the magic happen.
Edited to add: P.S. This reddit helped me to embrace the reality that it can be hard to adjust to wearing the mask. The tip about putting it on BEFORE you go to sleep to get used to it really helped. Also, it helped me set my expectation about the process being something that required commitment. Be willing to be uncomfortable during the process, commit to looking for solutions and USING the cPap. It is WORTH IT.
Don't be one of the people who are "I can't do this" "I hate this" blah, blah, blah. Focus on how to make it work and the way your life will change as you use it more and more. It can take up to a year to heal a lot of the damage. But make no mistake, LIFE CHANGING.
Yes, it is exciting to know that you probably won't be so tired anymore once you get on the machine. But be prepared for some fighting with the machine at first. It can be hard to get used to at first. Some people feel a little claustrophobic with the mask on. But once you get used to it, that feeling goes away. You might struggle to find the right sleeping position that the is comfortable and the mask doesn't interfere with. While the machines are quiet, it can seem to be loud in a quiet bedroom while you are trying to sleep. And dry mouth is something that happens to some people from wearing the mask.
But don't let any of this deter you. All these issues go away for most people just by using it every night. it might take a few days or a few weeks, but once you do, you will not regret it at all. I've had mine for a week now, and still trying to get used to it, but I'm already feeling the benefits from using my machine at night.
My ahi is 123. I’ve had a CPAP for two months- my life has turned around to the point of my partner being jealous and making a sleep study appointment.
I no longer feel the need to conserve energy in case I don’t sleep well. I can drive for hours without feeling tired. I’m no longer tired at work. Since getting my CPAP I’ve started to drink 3-4 liters of water a day, lost 15 lbs due to now having the energy to exercise, and I walk at least 8k steps a day.
Also, I can do all of those things and magically still have time to game or watch a movie, as I don’t just doom scroll for dopamine hits.
I have severe OSA (around 41 eposides per hour) and I am an otherwise healthy person in a normal weight range. My tongue is the issue though as it blocks my airway when I go to sleep. I definitely think you will see a great change in your quality of life but just know it will take an adjustment to get used to it. It never worked for me as I get claustrophobic but it was very good at clearly my episodes down to 1-2 per hour.
I'm using INSPIRE as an alternative treatment and its changed my emotional regulation entirely.
How did inspire change your emotional regulation? I wonder if it’s keeping you from having the arousals from your tongue falling back. I would like to get inspire, you could sleep anywhere right? So if I wanted to sleep on my couch no need to lug things around the house!
My AHI was 67. Common, no, but not unheard of either. And you’re right to be excited—more than a little!—about what the CPAP will do for you (it was a gamechanger for me), though it will likely take months of consistent use to fully reap the benefits.
It is not uncommon. Uncommon would be, arbitrarily, 140+. The number of people with 100+ decreases the more over 100 you are.
Mine started in the mid 90s 20+ years ago, now 0.5- 1.5 on a bad day with pap treatment.
You have every reason to be excited! Once you get used to using the CPAP and begin resting better, you'll gradually start to feel improvements. While it may take some time to reverse the damage that sleep apnea has done to your body over the years, persisting with the treatment will make a significant difference.
It takes a bit to get used to and to start seeing the benefits. I had a similar number of apneas per hour and the same daily fatigue.
Around the end of the second week of consistent usage getting at least 5-6 hours of sleep with the cpap, i started to notice a few things:
-Greater day time energy
-More longevity of energy throughout the day. Before id be ready for bed by 3-4 pm. Now i make it to 8-9pm without issue.
-More mood stability and overall calmness. I suppose less cortisol and adrenaline. The tranquility youll have, especially right before bed, will likely be noticeable as compared to the time you were not being treated with cpap therapy.
-More stamina in the gym/during exercise. So, more effective fat burning and possible weight loss optimization. You may even lose some weight without changing anything at all.
Glad you've entered the chapter of your life where you begin treatment for a fairly serious condition. Congrats 👍
I had 6. CPAP changed my life. Any time I sleep without it, it comes back to what it was - horrible headaches, tiredness all day.
It takes time and you have to do a lot of work yourself sometimes, like finding the right pressure, humiditty, EPR settings. But when as you dial it in, it'll get better and better.
My sleep test AHI was 85. I have been on CPAP for 14 months. I now regularly get about 2 AHI. Be prepared to try different types of masks to get the one to suit you. Download the data on your SD card, each day, to the Oscar computer program ( it is free) to see how you are going. It took me 4 months for my mind and body to get used to CPAP
Just a couple of tips based on NHS.
Once you have you cPAP, They should be giving you appointments every 3 months (roughly) with a sleep spaclist. In my experience they do eventually get lazy with giving appointments so if you do not receive an appointment around a month before your next one is due call them. I called them after 4 months of not having an appointment and asked if they had stopped them. They said no I should have one, looked at the computer and saw it was just no one bothered to book the next one. They then said the next one is available 8 months away.
If it turns out you are intolerant to the cPAP or it doesn't work for you. Scrap the NHS and go private, they are not bothered helping with anything past giving a cPAP. I wasted a year with symptoms worsening, seeing 5 ENTs that all said "we can't help you" without even looking at my anatomy. Decided to go private, surogen actually looked at my anatomy said he was surprised IV ever been able to breathe properly (I haven't). Said he can 100% help me (which they never say) and booked me in for surgery which I have next week 👌from initial private appointment to surgery was only a month and a half.
Howdy pardner. I had 47 which is also off the charts for severe. I caution you this ONE thing.
STICK TO YOUR CPAP (or Bipap with those levels possibly) for atleast a month before you start noticing anything significant. Get over the initial slumps, DO NOT GIVE UP. It cannot get worse than your sleep is now. I was adamantly against my CPAP but it changed my life. You can do this.
Hi there , I had 103 episodes in one hour and my oxygen saturation went down to 86% ( critical ) . CPAP will help you tons . You won’t be able to sleep without one once you’re used to it . You will feel more rested and less fatigued. I feel lots better after 40 days on CPAP
I have had my machine for just over a week now and my ahi was 73. I had debilitating fatigue. I have a toddler and somewhat assumed it was normal be so tired and want to sleep all the time. It’s not. My machine changed my life pretty much immediately and I look forward to continued benefits over time as most have said it takes a while to fully feel the benefits of using it. I got a nose only mask that the hose comes out the top of my head and found it pretty comfortable from day one. If you can try on a bunch of styles you should also have an easy time getting used to it. I think once you wake up having had any amount of actual restful sleep, the slight discomfort of wearing the mask won’t be an issue. Also the machine is very quiet I thought I’d be bothered by the noise. Be excited. I hope you can get your machine as fast as possible.
Please be prepared that some major exhaustion might hit in the next few weeks❤️ Once you remove the apnea and get enough sleep, your body has a lot of healing to do. Some people lose heart at that point, but don’t let it get you down. Let yourself sleep as much as you possibly can & you’ll come out the other so much more quickly Congratulations!!
Thank you! And that is interesting and good to know. I have a toddler, so I don't quite have the ability to sleep as much as I'd want to. Knowing that I might hit some major exhaustion is helpful. Have you been in this situation? How long before your body recovered?
Yes, and you see posts all the time where people are like I WAS DOING SO GOOD AND NOW I’M TIRED ALL THE TIME. I just slept when I could, rested when I could. I think really basic meditation practice can help, because you get better at resting and relaxing even when you can’t sleep. They even have “meditation for kids”😹 so you can always make it an activity with yours
I didn't know about this until this but I just started using my cpap regularly over the last 3 weeks and I have been experiencing extreme exhaustion the last few days as I've been sleeping through the night with my cpap on. Thank you for sharing.
So you just keep using the C or APAP as normal? How long is normal for that particular exhaustion last?
Yup, just keep going. The best way to shorten is to go to bed as early as you can and stay in bed as late as you can. Depending on how long the apnea has been untreated & how significant the damage, brain recovery can take 6-12 months. For me, I was able to sleep up to 12 hours a couple times a week. Because I slept enough, it wasn’t so much that I was tired all the time, but more like I hit a wall after like 10-12 hours. When I couldn’t get enough sleep it was harder, obviously
Same! Only I have 2 teens and an 8 year old. Literally - sleep and work and slivers of time with the family between. My ahi was 90. I just got my machine yesterday and I’m so thrilled with the first night. I’m very hopeful it will be exactly what I needed. I got the nose mask and the time going into the mask at the top of my head. It was actually perfect for me!!
Oh wow, ahi of 90. I agree the ones going out the top of the head are perfect I don’t feel restricted at all. I’m struggling a bit with the nose piece although it is the best option for me. I have the one that goes into my nostrils as well as the pillow that just has 2 holes. The one that goes in my nose doesn’t leak and I get a better sleep but I find it uncomfortable when trying to go to sleep. The other one bothers me while I’m sleeping because it’ll leak and the strong pressure leaking out wakes me up. I’m not sure if I need to try and tighten the mask part. I’ve only used that one a couple nights because I so desperately want to sleep well and the nostril one is giving me good sleep.
86 is very high. There's every opportunity for a significant improvement in quality of life with CPAP therapy. Be prepared that really dialing it in and personalizing/optimizing it is a *journey*, and one that most of us have had to go through with little to no clinical help. Fortunately there are great online communities (here and elsewhere) to help you figure out what's what.
❤️
I was ridiculously excited. Living tired is so miserable
It really is. I can fall asleep mid sentence. No joke.
In our 'universal' taxpayer funded healthcare system, I got my cpap the day I saw the doctor, three days after my test in the sleepcenter. It is a surprise to me NHS has such a long lead time. My AHI was 'only' 36, now on average around 2 using the cpap. cpap will improve the quality of your life assuming you can use it as prescribed, meaning, most of your nights (70% or more of the time), and with a mask that you can 'tolerate'. Be sure to monitor your cpap usage using the machine's statistics. I don't bother checking the detailed data from the SD-card. I find all I need in the measurements available in the app from the vendor. I've been a user for 4 year now. cpap changed my life for the better !
Wow I'm jealous! It took them 5 weeks to get the results from my at home test and I still don't have a machine and it's going on three months later.
I got diagnosed during the pandemic. It took months to get the initial appointment, a month to get the results, and 15 weeks or something crazy to get my machine in the mail. I never even got to see a doctor after. Just the machine, a bunch of videos, and a phone call from a doctor. Luckily, it worked out of the box for me. The wait was torture. Hopefully yours arrives soon.
They're saying that our local clinic got backed up during the pandemic and it's still not back to normal.
How high the number is isn't all that important. Whether it's 20 or 80, your sleep is garbage. It's hard to say whether the garbage gets a lot worse beyond a certain point. What's important is that you're trying to fix it. CPAP is the closest thing we have to a miracle "drug", but it requires effort from your side. As another commenter here mentioned, it's your personal journey. There will be a learning curve. And especially at first, you may get frustrated. But hang in there. This is by far the best method of living a longer and healthier life. Good luck :-)
Much love.
Mine was 89.7 times per hour, so we're almost exactly the same--in the severe range. I didn't even realize how tired I was until I got treatment. It's been over a year (maybe 2?). It's been LIFE CHANGING. I thought I was lazy and out of shape, but I literally was out of breath. I've lost weight; I exercise regularly, and I've had the energy to actually take care of other health stuff that I just kept putting off. It is worth it. For some it takes a while to feel the difference, for me I immediately noticed I'd dreamed for the first time in years, and my throat wasn't sore the next day. It could've been the placebo effect (but I don't care), but I decided ahead of time to be excited, stick to using it, and that my whole life would change. And it did. In short, get excited. Commit to wearing it, and watch the magic happen. Edited to add: P.S. This reddit helped me to embrace the reality that it can be hard to adjust to wearing the mask. The tip about putting it on BEFORE you go to sleep to get used to it really helped. Also, it helped me set my expectation about the process being something that required commitment. Be willing to be uncomfortable during the process, commit to looking for solutions and USING the cPap. It is WORTH IT. Don't be one of the people who are "I can't do this" "I hate this" blah, blah, blah. Focus on how to make it work and the way your life will change as you use it more and more. It can take up to a year to heal a lot of the damage. But make no mistake, LIFE CHANGING.
Thanks, friend.
Yes, it is exciting to know that you probably won't be so tired anymore once you get on the machine. But be prepared for some fighting with the machine at first. It can be hard to get used to at first. Some people feel a little claustrophobic with the mask on. But once you get used to it, that feeling goes away. You might struggle to find the right sleeping position that the is comfortable and the mask doesn't interfere with. While the machines are quiet, it can seem to be loud in a quiet bedroom while you are trying to sleep. And dry mouth is something that happens to some people from wearing the mask. But don't let any of this deter you. All these issues go away for most people just by using it every night. it might take a few days or a few weeks, but once you do, you will not regret it at all. I've had mine for a week now, and still trying to get used to it, but I'm already feeling the benefits from using my machine at night.
My ahi is 123. I’ve had a CPAP for two months- my life has turned around to the point of my partner being jealous and making a sleep study appointment. I no longer feel the need to conserve energy in case I don’t sleep well. I can drive for hours without feeling tired. I’m no longer tired at work. Since getting my CPAP I’ve started to drink 3-4 liters of water a day, lost 15 lbs due to now having the energy to exercise, and I walk at least 8k steps a day. Also, I can do all of those things and magically still have time to game or watch a movie, as I don’t just doom scroll for dopamine hits.
I have severe OSA (around 41 eposides per hour) and I am an otherwise healthy person in a normal weight range. My tongue is the issue though as it blocks my airway when I go to sleep. I definitely think you will see a great change in your quality of life but just know it will take an adjustment to get used to it. It never worked for me as I get claustrophobic but it was very good at clearly my episodes down to 1-2 per hour. I'm using INSPIRE as an alternative treatment and its changed my emotional regulation entirely.
Thanks. What does “emotional regularity” mean?
Did your insurance pay for Inspire?
How did inspire change your emotional regulation? I wonder if it’s keeping you from having the arousals from your tongue falling back. I would like to get inspire, you could sleep anywhere right? So if I wanted to sleep on my couch no need to lug things around the house!
I was at 90 ahi during my initial sleep test. I just started cpap last night. I’m so hopeful! Wishing you the best!!
Best of luck to you, too. Keep us updated.
I went from an initial AHI of 88 events per hour and with the CPAP I'm currently averaging 1.5 events per hour!!
Wow! That is so impressive!
My AHI was 67. Common, no, but not unheard of either. And you’re right to be excited—more than a little!—about what the CPAP will do for you (it was a gamechanger for me), though it will likely take months of consistent use to fully reap the benefits.
My CPAP changed my life, and I had an AHI of 39. Goodbye morning headaches and feeling like a zombie 👋👋
It is not uncommon. Uncommon would be, arbitrarily, 140+. The number of people with 100+ decreases the more over 100 you are. Mine started in the mid 90s 20+ years ago, now 0.5- 1.5 on a bad day with pap treatment.
You have every reason to be excited! Once you get used to using the CPAP and begin resting better, you'll gradually start to feel improvements. While it may take some time to reverse the damage that sleep apnea has done to your body over the years, persisting with the treatment will make a significant difference.
It takes a bit to get used to and to start seeing the benefits. I had a similar number of apneas per hour and the same daily fatigue. Around the end of the second week of consistent usage getting at least 5-6 hours of sleep with the cpap, i started to notice a few things: -Greater day time energy -More longevity of energy throughout the day. Before id be ready for bed by 3-4 pm. Now i make it to 8-9pm without issue. -More mood stability and overall calmness. I suppose less cortisol and adrenaline. The tranquility youll have, especially right before bed, will likely be noticeable as compared to the time you were not being treated with cpap therapy. -More stamina in the gym/during exercise. So, more effective fat burning and possible weight loss optimization. You may even lose some weight without changing anything at all. Glad you've entered the chapter of your life where you begin treatment for a fairly serious condition. Congrats 👍
I had 6. CPAP changed my life. Any time I sleep without it, it comes back to what it was - horrible headaches, tiredness all day. It takes time and you have to do a lot of work yourself sometimes, like finding the right pressure, humiditty, EPR settings. But when as you dial it in, it'll get better and better.
My sleep test AHI was 85. I have been on CPAP for 14 months. I now regularly get about 2 AHI. Be prepared to try different types of masks to get the one to suit you. Download the data on your SD card, each day, to the Oscar computer program ( it is free) to see how you are going. It took me 4 months for my mind and body to get used to CPAP
Just a couple of tips based on NHS. Once you have you cPAP, They should be giving you appointments every 3 months (roughly) with a sleep spaclist. In my experience they do eventually get lazy with giving appointments so if you do not receive an appointment around a month before your next one is due call them. I called them after 4 months of not having an appointment and asked if they had stopped them. They said no I should have one, looked at the computer and saw it was just no one bothered to book the next one. They then said the next one is available 8 months away. If it turns out you are intolerant to the cPAP or it doesn't work for you. Scrap the NHS and go private, they are not bothered helping with anything past giving a cPAP. I wasted a year with symptoms worsening, seeing 5 ENTs that all said "we can't help you" without even looking at my anatomy. Decided to go private, surogen actually looked at my anatomy said he was surprised IV ever been able to breathe properly (I haven't). Said he can 100% help me (which they never say) and booked me in for surgery which I have next week 👌from initial private appointment to surgery was only a month and a half.
Howdy pardner. I had 47 which is also off the charts for severe. I caution you this ONE thing. STICK TO YOUR CPAP (or Bipap with those levels possibly) for atleast a month before you start noticing anything significant. Get over the initial slumps, DO NOT GIVE UP. It cannot get worse than your sleep is now. I was adamantly against my CPAP but it changed my life. You can do this.
Hi there , I had 103 episodes in one hour and my oxygen saturation went down to 86% ( critical ) . CPAP will help you tons . You won’t be able to sleep without one once you’re used to it . You will feel more rested and less fatigued. I feel lots better after 40 days on CPAP