A year after my diagnosis and treatment for sleep apnea, Ive found myself, suddenly, a minor authority on the topic. I answer questions about it all the time and even wrote a very brief book detailing my experience. Despite all that, close friends of mine, even relatives, refuse to get their sleep apnea treated even though theyve been told by qualified medical professionals that they need help. Thats right: people close to me are slowly dying in their sleep, and even I cannot persuade them to get help.
I would therefore like to share with you 10 things I have learned about CPAP since beginning CPAP therapy. This is a medical treatment born of technology, a means of saving lives and improving health through machines. Those machines improve every day, growing smaller, quieter and easier to use. CPAP therapy is nothing short of life support, and to learn to live on life support, there are 10 things you need to know.
1. Sleep studies are unpleasant but necessary. There are multiple methods for treating sleep apnea, such as surgery to open up your airway. Some patients are fitted with a mouthpiece that keeps their airway open at night. The most common method of treating sleep apnea, though, is the constant pressure created by a CPAP machine. The ideal pressure level varies from person to person, so a sleep study not only determines that you need CPAP therapy, but also helps determine what the pressure level should be. You wont like spending a night in what is essentially a hotel room, with wires and sensors connected to your face, head and body, but if youre as exhausted as I was by your sleep apnea, you will sleep. Its a necessary step in learning how best to treat your apnea.
2. You will feel humiliated. Even if you sleep alone, there is nothing less sexy than sleeping with a mask and headgear connected to tubing and a breathing machine. You will get used to it. Your partner, if you have one, will also get used to it because for many couples, a CPAP machine is the only reason either one of them gets any sleep. CPAP therapy cured my snoring. Before the machine, I used to snore like a rusty chainsaw being dragged behind a motorcycle on a gravel road. Needless to say, nobody within three rooms of me got any sleep when I snored.
3. Dont accept the first mask they give you. There are different types of masks, from nasal-only to full face masks. In my case, I needed to be able to breathe out of my mouth to be comfortable. Try different masks and headgear arrangements until you find what works for you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Up8Ciyyfzg
4. You will go to the sleep clinic multiple times. The first week you have CPAP, be prepared to go back to your sleep clinic every day for adjustments and changes. I got no sleep the first week and almost came unraveled, but my sleep technicians (bless their hearts) stuck with me even when I became hostile. Finally, we found the right combination of mask and machine settings, and I got my first good nights sleep in years.
5. You probably wont feel different overnight. If youve suffered from sleep deprivation for years, you cant undo that damage overnight. Dont expect to wake up after your first night of CPAP therapy feeling better. It will take time. Stick with it and use your machine consistently.
6. Your family and friends will see a difference. Eventually, if you continue your CPAP therapy, your friends and family will see a difference before you do. Before CPAP, my brother thought I was narcoleptic. I would fall asleep, quite literally, whenever I stopped moving. I once fell asleep in the middle of a conversation while I was talking. After a few months of therapy, those around me began to comment that I was more alert. I stopped feeling like I would fall asleep when driving. I started feeling more rested. It took time, but it did happen.
7. You probably owe some people an apology. CPAP therapy, combined with blood pressure medication, immediately changed my mood. I was so grumpy from sleep deprivation before the therapy that I was angry and miserable to everyone around me. CPAP therapy changed that, and I realized I owed a lot of friends and family members an apology for my behavior.
8. There are people who jailbreak the machine. Some people get very involved in their machines settings. You can learn from them if you check out their discussion sites online. From these super-users I learned, for example, that sleeping without my machine for a night caused my uvula to swell temporarily and that others had experienced this as well.
9. You will become dependent on the machine. My bout with uvulitis taught me that I cant be without the machine. Now, sleeping without it doesnt feel normal to me. You will become dependent on your CPAP machine, and thats a good thing, because
10. Its saving your life. CPAP therapy is saving my life. It can save yours, but it cant do that if you resist the treatment. If your doctor tells you that you need a sleep study, or if you snore badly and feel drowsy all the time, you need to consider this treatment as an option. If you have a CPAP machine, you need to use it every night. The alternative is a slow death from lack of sleep. We have the technology to prevent that fate. It is a waste of the gift of your life not to take advantage of it.
Check out Phil Elmores e-book, Ten Things Doctors Wont Tell You About Your CPAP Machine.
Media wishing to interview Phil Elmore, please contact media@wnd.com.
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