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Re: Re: Re: CPAP? I'm not old enough!

Posted by RC on August 23, 2002 at 16:55:19:

In Reply to: Re: Re: CPAP? I'm not old enough! posted by sawzredwoods on August 21, 2002 at 19:29:58:

I feel for you and would encourage you to communicate with others on the Non-CPAP forum.

I believe there is a lot of good feedback on this string of messages, but I, like Rebecca, relate to much of what you are saying. There is understandably a lot of emotion at stake behind many of the responses you have received—keep in mind, that this is a “CPAP” forum, and most of the participants have been through hell and have found CPAP as their source of salvation. This being the case, I have come to expect the “use it or die” response that you have received. Even though I’m not a spring chicken—I’m 40—I am otherwise very healthy, physically fit, and active. I also relate to your issues of the CPAP intruding on romance—let’s face it, with a mask, you lose some of the spontaneity and environment that you seek with your partner. I have been on the CPAP for 3 months and both my wife and I are just getting acclimated to the new situation. Right now, she hates it, but is growing used to it. It is definitely an adjustment to sleep next to a hose head--doesn’t exactly help get the juices flowing. I am finally starting to look at it as a disability and when I consider some of the other types of disabilities—those that confine people to wheel chairs—I am extremely thankful that I am able to run up and down a basketball court, hike and ski in the mountains, swim in the ocean, and move from place to place at will.

Even though the tone of some of the advice you have received is “fire and brimstone” and patronizing, keep in mind CPAP has literally saved lives or given people new lives. That doesn’t mean that CPAP is the ONLY way for everyone—there are alternative treatments that work for some. That’s why I encourage you to seek broader feedback, talk to other doctors and those with Anpea who have found other effective alternatives. If CPAP ends up being your only alternative, you will find a way to adapt to it.

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