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From: flossie on 16 Jul 2008 17:50
Dear Friends,
I've been a member of this usergroup since I began to seek help for
excessive snoring.(I can be heard 3 floors away)
Since then I've gone through sleep studies, been diagnosed with 'a
significant apnea index' and given dates eventually for a CPAP trial
beginning the 24th July when I spend a couple of weeks with a
diagnostic machine before going back to hopefully get my own & enjoy a
decent nights sleep for both me & my family.
What should I as a newbie expect and what can I do to maximise the
trial, & any hints or tips that anyone could suggest?

Warm Regards
Flossie (Andy)

PS Thanks to ALL of you incidentally for being one of the most
important bits in my inbox, and with all the stress & frustration it's
like friends you haven't yet met.
From: tension_on_the_wire on 17 Jul 2008 04:42
On Jul 16, 2:50 pm, flossie <araisb...(a)hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
> Dear Friends,
> I've been a member of this usergroup since I began to seek help for
> excessive snoring.(I can be heard 3 floors away)
> Since then I've gone through sleep studies, been diagnosed with 'a
> significant apnea index' and given dates eventually for a CPAP trial
> beginning the 24th July when I spend a couple of weeks with a
> diagnostic machine before going back to hopefully get my own & enjoy a
> decent nights sleep for both me & my family.
> What should I as a newbie expect and what can I do to maximise the
> trial, & any hints or tips that anyone could suggest?
>
> Warm Regards
> Flossie (Andy)
>
> PS Thanks to ALL of you incidentally for being one of the most
> important bits in my inbox, and with all the stress & frustration it's
> like friends you haven't yet met.

Hi Flossie, and congrats on getting yourself sorted out. I won't
speak about the mechanical issues of CPAP, there are others here much
better than I for that. I will tell you to be aware of some massive
changes in the nature and quality of your sleep at first. Don't be
alarmed if it seems to get worse before it gets better, that is par
for the course. You will sleep too deeply, and wake up tired and
aching even, perhaps. When your body starts to make up the enormous
sleep-debt you have accumulated, you'll wake up feeling as if you were
the intern on call the last three nights in a row. After a few weeks,
this will reduce and you will be able to appreciate the true sleep you
have been missing all this time. Just don't be alarmed about those
first few weeks, or be under the impression that this indicates the
CPAP is not working. If the CPAP is not working for you, your sleep
patterns will be much the same as they are now.

--tension
From: Pope Pie (Sy Lehrman) on 17 Jul 2008 13:26
tension_on_the_wire wrote:
> On Jul 16, 2:50 pm, flossie <araisb...(a)hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
>> Dear Friends,
>> I've been a member of this usergroup since I began to seek help for
>> excessive snoring.(I can be heard 3 floors away)
>> Since then I've gone through sleep studies, been diagnosed with 'a
>> significant apnea index' and given dates eventually for a CPAP trial
>> beginning the 24th July when I spend a couple of weeks with a
>> diagnostic machine before going back to hopefully get my own & enjoy a
>> decent nights sleep for both me & my family.
>> What should I as a newbie expect and what can I do to maximise the
>> trial, & any hints or tips that anyone could suggest?
>>
>> Warm Regards
>> Flossie (Andy)
>>
>> PS Thanks to ALL of you incidentally for being one of the most
>> important bits in my inbox, and with all the stress & frustration it's
>> like friends you haven't yet met.
>
> Hi Flossie, and congrats on getting yourself sorted out. I won't
> speak about the mechanical issues of CPAP, there are others here much
> better than I for that. I will tell you to be aware of some massive
> changes in the nature and quality of your sleep at first. Don't be
> alarmed if it seems to get worse before it gets better, that is par
> for the course. You will sleep too deeply, and wake up tired and
> aching even, perhaps. When your body starts to make up the enormous
> sleep-debt you have accumulated, you'll wake up feeling as if you were
> the intern on call the last three nights in a row. After a few weeks,
> this will reduce and you will be able to appreciate the true sleep you
> have been missing all this time. Just don't be alarmed about those
> first few weeks, or be under the impression that this indicates the
> CPAP is not working. If the CPAP is not working for you, your sleep
> patterns will be much the same as they are now.
>
> --tension
This sounds trivial, but you mention family. If you don't sleep alone
get a mask with a vent that blows up, as opposed to directly out the
front. Most masks have vent holes and some of them blow in the
direction of your partner which they are likely to find annoying
eventually. Some masks are intelligently made with vents that blow in
the general direction of your forehead, which is much more sociable.
This may not be your first concern, but it will be at some point. Of
course t you sleep along and plan to continue to do so don't worry about
it.
From: Chuck on 17 Jul 2008 14:12
flossie wrote:
> Dear Friends,
> I've been a member of this usergroup since I began to seek help for
> excessive snoring.(I can be heard 3 floors away)
> Since then I've gone through sleep studies, been diagnosed with 'a
> significant apnea index' and given dates eventually for a CPAP trial
> beginning the 24th July when I spend a couple of weeks with a
> diagnostic machine before going back to hopefully get my own & enjoy a
> decent nights sleep for both me & my family.
> What should I as a newbie expect and what can I do to maximise the
> trial, & any hints or tips that anyone could suggest?
>
> Warm Regards
> Flossie (Andy)
>
> PS Thanks to ALL of you incidentally for being one of the most
> important bits in my inbox, and with all the stress & frustration it's
> like friends you haven't yet met.

Give it some time to get used to it. After my first night (at the sleep
study center) I thought I'd never get used to a CPAP. I was constantly
feeling like I was fighting against the machine to exhale. It was not
comfortable but I did get to sleep and my snoring and apnea completely
disappeared.

The doc prescribed a machine for me with something called c/flex which
reduces the pressure when you exhale making it much more tolerable. I
was used to the machine by the 2nd night and now both me *and* my wife
can get a good night's sleep.

Also if you're not a mouth breather, try to use a nasal pillow instead
of full mask. They're more comfortable. For mouth breathers the nasal
pillow is useless.
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