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Re: CPAP Truthful Answer

Posted by Willa-Seattle on November 14, 2001 at 11:44:45:

In Reply to: CPAP Truthful Answer posted by CrankyDad on November 13, 2001 at 19:41:58:

I hate the damn thing and still refer to it as my machine from Hell. Having vented, I will continue to live with it as a necessary evil for the greater good.

I've been enjoying (ha!) its benefits for a year now and am resigned to having to die before I will actually sleep peacefully, but some nights are definitely much better than others. I know my sleep pattern is also affected by old age, menopause as well.

I have had a Gawd-awful time with the leaks and as some have read on this forum, have spent more time with my friendly eye specialist from damaged corneas courtesy of air leaks than with the sleep doc. I became my DME's worst nightmare. Eventually, my daughter saved my life by making little silicone eye "caps"; making molds by using the little eyeguards that the suntanners use. Reno Tom helped with his wonderful instructions for elastic to help the mouth breathing. (I still just use the single band fastened with a safety pin; my headgear with the Ultra-Mirage holds it pretty well in place.)

Thank God for Sandman and this forum; without them, I think I'd have thrown it right through a window. I still fight dry mouth--Biotene mouth rinse helps when I don't run out of it.

I never experienced the daytime symptoms that most do (including my husband who has been on C-PAP about 9 years, now) so it was harder to see the benefits. I did, however, have to get up several times a night to use the bathroom and to drink a glass of water because of continual dry mouth. I rarely have to get up during the night now.

I think I may have caught up with the sleep debt talked about by others on the forum. I hated to get up in the morning as long as I can recall. I'm doing better on that score and must be getting enough restful sleep in a week's time (even though I continually awaken in the night) because I frequently wake before my alarm.

The first several months, I would occasionally nap in the daytime without the C-PAP, but, now, if I am tired enough to lie down in the daytime for more than a few moments, I use it.

I fantasize that there will be a "wonder pill" invented in my lifetime that will replace the machine from Hell, but meanwhile, sigh, I will just have to live with it and be grateful that there is a "fix" and that this forum is here for support and help.

USE YOUR C-PAP!

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