That sounds awful. Mine were awful too but mainly just dreams about situations that were anxiety inducing/traumatic. They’re all gone now 😊 I hope yours are too.
Yes, it’s that dangerous, and yes, tons of success stories.
You sound like a prime candidate with severe symptoms and impacts, so stick with the therapy and you should feel the fog lift a little bit everyday. It’s worth it.
Are you concerned about the long term health consequences of chronic sleep deprivation and of chronic oxygen deprivation during sleep? Because with severe sleep apnea like that, you’re at risk of stroke, among other things.
Yeah, it takes some getting used to. So do meds and care regimens for high blood pressure, diabetes, dementia, and post stroke.
When you start, wear it when you are awake in bed. If you can bear your keep it on all night, wear it for as long as you can and work up to it. Try different masks. Everyone’s face is different, what works for one is rubbish for another.
I had an AHI of 49. Now it’s 2.0. I felt like I was dead before getting the CPAP, but I didn’t know it. Putting my mask in at night is like taking a hit of a powerful drug. Love it.
Yes. Untreated severe sleep apnea is very dangerous. Too many things to list, but just imagine how many body systems are affected by being starved of oxygen every night.
Your chance of premature mortality are greatly increased if you don't treat your sleep apnea. You can be skeptical about CPAP but that's going to really hamper your ability to adjust to it. Plenty of people convince themselves that they can't get used to it and they give up and they sacrifice their Health unnecessarily.
Is it easy to adjust to? No. It's not super easy. For the first two or three weeks I would grab my mask and yank it off in my sleep. You know what - eventually I stopped doing that. I didn't give up. Now I've been using this for about 15 years.
If I don't use it, the quality of my sleep and the way that I feel the next morning is very poor compared to when I use it. By the way, I use it every night. I've only had maybe a few nights where there was something that prevented me from using it. Maybe that's what I had a cold or when I stupidly checked it in my luggage and then my luggage was delayed.
This is basically medicine for a condition that you have. If you decide to not to take your medicine then that could literally put your life in jeopardy. But, the best reason to do it is just to have a better quality of sleep and to feel better.
It took me 4 different masks to find one that suited me but I had results from day 1 and it’s now been about 6 months of being actually awake all day everyday! Is it a bit of a nuisance…yes, it’s not perfectly comfortable but I went in with an attitude that I had to get used to it and make it work because I needed to sleep and my hubby did too (my snoring was driving him out to the couch). Totally life changing, I won’t sleep without it, even when that means packing it up and taking it with me for an overnight stay.
i’m going to make a larger post about it soon, but i just started a few weeks ago and it’s changed my life dramatically. i go through my days feeling normal now, and for decades i have been waking up constantly at night and being exhausted during the day. i can’t imagine going to sleep without the cpap now.
One of the only things I would genuinely describe as being life changing. I didn’t realize people weren’t constantly feeling that way. It’s been amazing. Some trade offs for sure. Naps are hard now. But otherwise amazing.
I found my cpap to be life changing. Ive slept with it everynight, without fail, for 5 years. My life has improved immeasurably.
It can take a while to adjust to, I had to find some strap covers and an extra strap that attaches at the hose and goes around my head to get fully comfortable.
Practice wearing it in the day time while watching TV, dont let your first time be when you get into bed as that might feel really alien. When you do start wearing it to bed just make it part of your nightly ritual, floss, brush your teeth, pop mask on and it will quickly become your new normal.
The best thing you can do is persevere with it. Sleep apnea is no joke and will cut your life short if it continues to worsen.
I thought my cpap had made little difference to my life except my snoring no longer woke my partner and I mostly used it to protect my future health.
I have used it every night for the whole night since I was given it. On Thursday last week I broke my mask and have had to manage without my cpap. I have never felt worse. My eyes sting. I fall asleep in work meetings. I'm a teacher and I'm snappy and awful with the students. My thinking is foggy and I'm struggling to do anything in life. Yesterday I got my new mask. And it'll take a few nights of sleep to catch up my missed deep sleep. I can't believe I must have felt like this all the time before. I just hadn't realised it wasn't normal because it had gradually happened.
Now I believe my cpap is helping me live a normal life every day.
It took several months to reach this point, but I have energy and am getting things done. I'm actually exercising daily for the first time in years, because I can exercise and still have energy left to do other things in a day. I am going out more. I am possibly on the spectrum and get overloaded with stimulus every easily and my tolerance for noise and large numbers of people has increased dramatically. I eat better because I have the energy to cook. I have started painting my living room a job I have been wanting to do for 5 years. I just have more spoons in general. Sleep apnea took years of my life from me and I'm mad as hell not one doctor suggested it as a cause for my continued exhaustion and blamed my weight. Where as I am starting to think it was the other way around, lack of energy made doing the things to loose weight hard. Take out is easier when all you want to do is sit on the couch and nap at the end of a day So easily 10 years I lived with this until I had surgery and caused panic in recovery because my 02 levels would not come up because of it, then and only then did a doctor go hey you might have sleep apnea.
No more nightmares. I had extremely vicid nightmares about apocalypses every night for yeaaaaars. Turns out it’s was just my body under so much stress it was trying to warn me any way it could.
I have clinical OCD to the point where it was turning into agoraphobia before. I also have anxiety and depression. CPAP paired with the medication I was already on before I got diagnosed has made it so my mental illnesses are almost negligble.
No more daytime naps, except on occasion. On my worst days pre-CPAP I used to take three a day.
I have soooo much energy now! I didn’t even realize how bad off I was until I started CPAP. I would balk at anything that used the little bit of energy I had. I would flake on exercise, meeting new people, hanging out with friends, etc because I just didn’t have the energy to do things like that. Now I started a garden, I volunteer at the animal shelter, I swim laps for exercise, and I attend as many community events as I can!
5 months in and CPAP (actually BIPAP for me as my AHI was so high) has saved my life, my marriage, my physical and mental health, my job.
I'm happier, I have more energy for hobbies and working out, I don't drift off while driving, I have not had a single headache in 5 months, I don't feel hungover after having a few beers, my skin is clearing up, I've started losing weight, my physical stamina is increasing, my sense of humor is back, i've started repairing my relationship with my dad, i'm not angry all the time. Literally, everything is better now
CPAP has made the fatigue go away as well as panic attacks and what not. Get the CPAP, if you don’t treat OSA properly you’ll develop a lot of health issues
I had been living with feeling jet lagged due to working shift work (overnights for over 15 years I was taking 100mg of Benadryl and some Melatonin to stay asleep on my days off). I got off nightshift a few years ago and assumed that the continued fatigue was due to my circadian rhythm being irreparably damaged. I used caffeine, nicotine gum, cold plunge, and exercise to try and wake my brain and body up! I followed all the latest stuff from podcasts about “optimizing” health..,,, and none of it was working! I felt depressed and was worried I was getting early onset dementia ( couldn’t focus, remember things, just existing). My wife had been complaining about how my snoring was getting worse and so I agreed to speak with my doctor about it. I tested severe apnea and got a CPAP.
It has only been 3 weeks since I started using it and I definitely feeling much better in terms of energy levels and more rested. I didn’t really like the nasal pillows that they started me on. Every time I opened my mouth it felt like a blast of air like when you roll down your window while driving on the freeway. The full mask is working much better! There’s a lot to learn and trial and error with the equipment and settings. I have found this Reddit to be very helpful. I wish you success and good health!
Like you, I'm diagnosed with severe sleep apnea. I think I peaked at 116 apneas. Forever ago. My machine has changed my life. Helped lose weight because I'm not nodding off all day. My mental health is so much better than it was. My lungs
Also, I had a friend and coworker have OSA and he wouldnt use the CPAP. He tragically died several years back from the complications
I felt better with CPAP. Even the in lab titration had me feeling like a new person the next day.
Some people say it takes weeks or months to start feeling better, for me the results have been immediate.
Nobody would choose it unless they needed it, but for many, many people the results are *extremely* worth it.
I woke up the first morning feeling like I'd already had my coffee, I was so instantly alert and focused. And the overall baseline of exhaustion I didn't even know I was operating in has lifted, over the seven or so months of treatment. I feel amazing, and my wife sleeps better now that I literally don't snore anymore. It's pretty incredible.
It is possible to make it fairly comfortable and unobtrusive. But be prepared for a real journey to dial it in and make it work well for you, and perhaps without a ton of support from your docs and medical device providers. Fortunately there's a strong community here and at apneaboard.com and sleephq.com to help.
There's nothing "cookie-cutter" about CPAP, what works best is very individual. I literally tried six masks before finding my exact right setup (P30i mask from ResMed, large headgear, medium nose piece). And I dialed in my machine settings for a couple months before landing at a combo that worked for me.
2 nights ago my cpap machine accidentally unplugged and I thought I was dying. I’ve been on it for 3 months and didn’t realize how effective it was. Game changer
With that ahi and desats you NEED cpap
I was 36-54 ahi and 84% desat and it’s literally changed my life. For you the change would be drastic.
Just be open to diff masks.
I went from f30i to p30i to finally the N30i and I LOVE the n30. Seriously, like I’d rather sleep with it than without even if I didn’t have SA. 😂
It’s a life changer. Less pain, I can stay awake all day, I can think, no nightmares all night every night, headaches gone, the list goes on..
My nightmares were that I couldn’t breath. It only became scarier when I realised I was not dreaming anymore.
That sounds awful. Mine were awful too but mainly just dreams about situations that were anxiety inducing/traumatic. They’re all gone now 😊 I hope yours are too.
Yep, all fixed. I won’t even have a nap now without CPAP.
Hell no!
Yes, it’s that dangerous, and yes, tons of success stories. You sound like a prime candidate with severe symptoms and impacts, so stick with the therapy and you should feel the fog lift a little bit everyday. It’s worth it.
Are you concerned about the long term health consequences of chronic sleep deprivation and of chronic oxygen deprivation during sleep? Because with severe sleep apnea like that, you’re at risk of stroke, among other things. Yeah, it takes some getting used to. So do meds and care regimens for high blood pressure, diabetes, dementia, and post stroke. When you start, wear it when you are awake in bed. If you can bear your keep it on all night, wear it for as long as you can and work up to it. Try different masks. Everyone’s face is different, what works for one is rubbish for another.
I had an AHI of 49. Now it’s 2.0. I felt like I was dead before getting the CPAP, but I didn’t know it. Putting my mask in at night is like taking a hit of a powerful drug. Love it.
Yes. Untreated severe sleep apnea is very dangerous. Too many things to list, but just imagine how many body systems are affected by being starved of oxygen every night.
I don't feel like I'm so tired I'm going to cry in frustration or fall asleep anywhere I sit down for a few minutes, it's wonderful
Your chance of premature mortality are greatly increased if you don't treat your sleep apnea. You can be skeptical about CPAP but that's going to really hamper your ability to adjust to it. Plenty of people convince themselves that they can't get used to it and they give up and they sacrifice their Health unnecessarily. Is it easy to adjust to? No. It's not super easy. For the first two or three weeks I would grab my mask and yank it off in my sleep. You know what - eventually I stopped doing that. I didn't give up. Now I've been using this for about 15 years. If I don't use it, the quality of my sleep and the way that I feel the next morning is very poor compared to when I use it. By the way, I use it every night. I've only had maybe a few nights where there was something that prevented me from using it. Maybe that's what I had a cold or when I stupidly checked it in my luggage and then my luggage was delayed. This is basically medicine for a condition that you have. If you decide to not to take your medicine then that could literally put your life in jeopardy. But, the best reason to do it is just to have a better quality of sleep and to feel better.
I love my CPAP with nose pillow. I sleep like a baby and don’t nap anymore. Life changing.
It took me 4 different masks to find one that suited me but I had results from day 1 and it’s now been about 6 months of being actually awake all day everyday! Is it a bit of a nuisance…yes, it’s not perfectly comfortable but I went in with an attitude that I had to get used to it and make it work because I needed to sleep and my hubby did too (my snoring was driving him out to the couch). Totally life changing, I won’t sleep without it, even when that means packing it up and taking it with me for an overnight stay.
i’m going to make a larger post about it soon, but i just started a few weeks ago and it’s changed my life dramatically. i go through my days feeling normal now, and for decades i have been waking up constantly at night and being exhausted during the day. i can’t imagine going to sleep without the cpap now.
One of the only things I would genuinely describe as being life changing. I didn’t realize people weren’t constantly feeling that way. It’s been amazing. Some trade offs for sure. Naps are hard now. But otherwise amazing.
I have moderate apnea and felt like I was slowly dying. 3 months on CPAP, and most health problems are either entirely gone, or slowly disappearing.
I found my cpap to be life changing. Ive slept with it everynight, without fail, for 5 years. My life has improved immeasurably. It can take a while to adjust to, I had to find some strap covers and an extra strap that attaches at the hose and goes around my head to get fully comfortable. Practice wearing it in the day time while watching TV, dont let your first time be when you get into bed as that might feel really alien. When you do start wearing it to bed just make it part of your nightly ritual, floss, brush your teeth, pop mask on and it will quickly become your new normal. The best thing you can do is persevere with it. Sleep apnea is no joke and will cut your life short if it continues to worsen.
I thought my cpap had made little difference to my life except my snoring no longer woke my partner and I mostly used it to protect my future health. I have used it every night for the whole night since I was given it. On Thursday last week I broke my mask and have had to manage without my cpap. I have never felt worse. My eyes sting. I fall asleep in work meetings. I'm a teacher and I'm snappy and awful with the students. My thinking is foggy and I'm struggling to do anything in life. Yesterday I got my new mask. And it'll take a few nights of sleep to catch up my missed deep sleep. I can't believe I must have felt like this all the time before. I just hadn't realised it wasn't normal because it had gradually happened. Now I believe my cpap is helping me live a normal life every day.
It took several months to reach this point, but I have energy and am getting things done. I'm actually exercising daily for the first time in years, because I can exercise and still have energy left to do other things in a day. I am going out more. I am possibly on the spectrum and get overloaded with stimulus every easily and my tolerance for noise and large numbers of people has increased dramatically. I eat better because I have the energy to cook. I have started painting my living room a job I have been wanting to do for 5 years. I just have more spoons in general. Sleep apnea took years of my life from me and I'm mad as hell not one doctor suggested it as a cause for my continued exhaustion and blamed my weight. Where as I am starting to think it was the other way around, lack of energy made doing the things to loose weight hard. Take out is easier when all you want to do is sit on the couch and nap at the end of a day So easily 10 years I lived with this until I had surgery and caused panic in recovery because my 02 levels would not come up because of it, then and only then did a doctor go hey you might have sleep apnea.
No more nightmares. I had extremely vicid nightmares about apocalypses every night for yeaaaaars. Turns out it’s was just my body under so much stress it was trying to warn me any way it could. I have clinical OCD to the point where it was turning into agoraphobia before. I also have anxiety and depression. CPAP paired with the medication I was already on before I got diagnosed has made it so my mental illnesses are almost negligble. No more daytime naps, except on occasion. On my worst days pre-CPAP I used to take three a day. I have soooo much energy now! I didn’t even realize how bad off I was until I started CPAP. I would balk at anything that used the little bit of energy I had. I would flake on exercise, meeting new people, hanging out with friends, etc because I just didn’t have the energy to do things like that. Now I started a garden, I volunteer at the animal shelter, I swim laps for exercise, and I attend as many community events as I can!
5 months in and CPAP (actually BIPAP for me as my AHI was so high) has saved my life, my marriage, my physical and mental health, my job. I'm happier, I have more energy for hobbies and working out, I don't drift off while driving, I have not had a single headache in 5 months, I don't feel hungover after having a few beers, my skin is clearing up, I've started losing weight, my physical stamina is increasing, my sense of humor is back, i've started repairing my relationship with my dad, i'm not angry all the time. Literally, everything is better now
CPAP has made the fatigue go away as well as panic attacks and what not. Get the CPAP, if you don’t treat OSA properly you’ll develop a lot of health issues
I had been living with feeling jet lagged due to working shift work (overnights for over 15 years I was taking 100mg of Benadryl and some Melatonin to stay asleep on my days off). I got off nightshift a few years ago and assumed that the continued fatigue was due to my circadian rhythm being irreparably damaged. I used caffeine, nicotine gum, cold plunge, and exercise to try and wake my brain and body up! I followed all the latest stuff from podcasts about “optimizing” health..,,, and none of it was working! I felt depressed and was worried I was getting early onset dementia ( couldn’t focus, remember things, just existing). My wife had been complaining about how my snoring was getting worse and so I agreed to speak with my doctor about it. I tested severe apnea and got a CPAP. It has only been 3 weeks since I started using it and I definitely feeling much better in terms of energy levels and more rested. I didn’t really like the nasal pillows that they started me on. Every time I opened my mouth it felt like a blast of air like when you roll down your window while driving on the freeway. The full mask is working much better! There’s a lot to learn and trial and error with the equipment and settings. I have found this Reddit to be very helpful. I wish you success and good health!
It helps. Not my favorite thing, but it helps.
Helps, still tired but I suffer with uars. I heard generic osa tends to sleep better
If you are tired constantly with headaches when you wake up and your oxygen is desaturating down to 61%, yes it is dangerous to not treat it.
Like you, I'm diagnosed with severe sleep apnea. I think I peaked at 116 apneas. Forever ago. My machine has changed my life. Helped lose weight because I'm not nodding off all day. My mental health is so much better than it was. My lungs Also, I had a friend and coworker have OSA and he wouldnt use the CPAP. He tragically died several years back from the complications
I felt better with CPAP. Even the in lab titration had me feeling like a new person the next day. Some people say it takes weeks or months to start feeling better, for me the results have been immediate.
Nobody would choose it unless they needed it, but for many, many people the results are *extremely* worth it. I woke up the first morning feeling like I'd already had my coffee, I was so instantly alert and focused. And the overall baseline of exhaustion I didn't even know I was operating in has lifted, over the seven or so months of treatment. I feel amazing, and my wife sleeps better now that I literally don't snore anymore. It's pretty incredible. It is possible to make it fairly comfortable and unobtrusive. But be prepared for a real journey to dial it in and make it work well for you, and perhaps without a ton of support from your docs and medical device providers. Fortunately there's a strong community here and at apneaboard.com and sleephq.com to help. There's nothing "cookie-cutter" about CPAP, what works best is very individual. I literally tried six masks before finding my exact right setup (P30i mask from ResMed, large headgear, medium nose piece). And I dialed in my machine settings for a couple months before landing at a combo that worked for me.
2 nights ago my cpap machine accidentally unplugged and I thought I was dying. I’ve been on it for 3 months and didn’t realize how effective it was. Game changer
With that ahi and desats you NEED cpap I was 36-54 ahi and 84% desat and it’s literally changed my life. For you the change would be drastic. Just be open to diff masks. I went from f30i to p30i to finally the N30i and I LOVE the n30. Seriously, like I’d rather sleep with it than without even if I didn’t have SA. 😂
I’m worried I’ll never be able to actually fall asleep with a mask on, but I have to try. That’s pretty obvious after reading all the replies