Sleep apnea and CPAP machine

Hi Brandon,

I myself have comorbid sleep disorders, one was obstructive sleep apnea. But that it is the one beast I slayed on my own. For years I saw doctors and did sleeps studies. Probably poured well over $10k into the endeavor. I was self-pay so the "medical professionals" didn't even bothering masking their indifference. For years the CPAP/sleep apnea plagued me, until I took matters into my own hands.

Now it goes without saying I'm not a medical professional and this is not medical advice. But I discovered I had the wrong kind of machine, a malfunctioning kind of machine, and had been grossly misdiagnosed with the sort of mask I needed.

The first thing I did was research what sort of mask is needed for what sort of breather. I myself was 100 + lbs overweight. It was very clear to me I was a "mouth breather." Yet somehow I had been assured I needed nasal pillows (wrong wrong wrong wrong). A full face mask took some getting used to. I used the AirFit F10 and then upgraded to the 20. Have had almost no issues. The second thing I realized was that the "doctors" were grossly underpressurizing me. 3 or 4.

So I went on EasyBreathe and bought the airsense 10 autocpap. You can buy it on payment plan without credit check (something like 299 down and 50 a month). In theory, it detects what pressure you need throughout the night and adjusts the pressure to meet your needs. In reality, this creates a harmful ping pong effect. But what I did do was download SleepyHead (free program, just google). I would pop my SD card out of my cpap, into my laptop, and study the extraordinary breakdown of data on Sleepyhead. I then saw my pressure needs were vastly higher than I had been told.

I then youtubed the very easy process of how to adjust the pressure settings myself. Many videos available, very easy. Doctors act like its some big secret and only they should do it, but I'd still be languishing if I did. Then, based on my data, I narrowed my pressure to a very specific range. I set the ramp low so it would be easier to fall asleep. Took some mild getting used to but not much.

Now my AHI is 0-1 everynight. I know I am also stating the obvious (and kudos on your losses) but weight plays a significant factor, and the more you lose, the easier it will be. I lost 60 and it helped. But now I have huge success with my machine. There are multiple nights were I have 0 AHI.

i work in the legal feed and I would be reticent to say "lawyers are useless." Doctors are not useless, but I have found sleep doctors to be utterly useless and a giant waste of time and money. Until I took matters into my own hands, I was boned. But now the CPAP part of my disorders is way under control.

im having some issues getting used to my machine. We've gotten the pressure adjusted but I have insomnia issues as well adding the mask just makes it that much more difficult to sleep I wake up constantly and end up taking it off after a couple of hours every night. I was diagnosed with mild sleep apnea so I'm not even totally convinced I need it to begin with... Not really sure where to go with this either.