CPAP Trial - one week in

[Kaz747]

It’s interesting that there has been a lot of discussion here lately around sleep apnea. I’m one quarter of the way through my 4 week CPAP trial. Being claustrophobic I’m struggling but getting used to it. I’m determined to complete the trial and see if it helps my heart.

This is the mask so it’s the most unobtrusive one they had. The hose comes off the top rather than the front so it’s easy enough to turn over and the tubing just sits below the nose so there’s nothing in the line of sight. I saw the sleep technician today who downloaded my results from last week and he said I’d done exceptionally well. I wore the mask for an average of 8 1/2 hours per night and all the markers were in the normal range.

So far there’s no improvement with the AF, in fact Friday was one of my worst days for a while with about 8 hours of it (that may also be associated with the Amiodarone getting out of my system as I stopped that 3 weeks ago).

On another note, today marks 150 days since my last ablation and I’ve had AF episodes every day. Crazy as it seems, when I’m feeling good, I often think “it’s all in my mind” and there’s nothing really wrong with me but then my heart let’s me know that it’s fact rather than fiction 🤪🤪

[Ianp66]

In for my ablation tomorrow Kaz, I'm going to have to get a sleep test organised when am home and hopefully sorted, as I'm sure I get overnight rude wakeup due to this. Looks like a catapult 😂, good thing though at least the afib isn't affecting you too much.

Ian.

[Kaz747 in reply to Ianp66]

All the best for tomorrow Ian. I think I’d rather have a catapult than a Darth Vader mask 😝

[Ianp66 in reply to Kaz747]

Thanks Kaz, haha yea true, I've seen some of the masks they look like dodgy Sci fi costume props. Must be uncomfortable to try and sleep is it Kaz? They look archaic.

[Kaz747 in reply to Ianp66]

This one isn’t too bad. I always fall asleep on my stomach and I can still do that - I doubt that I could with the sci-fi mask.

[pottypete1]

Looks like torture to me.

Pete

[CDreamer in reply to pottypete1]

You really do get used to it - if my ex can cope with it and now find it really helpful - anyone can. Mind you - The ultimatum of losing his liscence after falling asleep at the wheel & crashing 3 times, thankfully without hurting anyone, may have been the incentive.

[Kaz747 in reply to pottypete1]

It’s not too bad. Some of the other masks I tried on are more torturous 💀

[wilsond]

Well done for completing the test! My husband has sleep apnoea,Im sure, but wont go for testing because of the mask therapy......

Sorry to hear you are still riding the storm....its damn annoying isnt it?

Sending love xx

[CDreamer]

Oh well done with the CPAP - it took me much longer and I only managed 4 hours in 6 weeks - but I got there eventually. The main advantage for me was that it really helped with my energy levels. 4 years on and I still have some nights when I take it off half way through the night - getting the right mask to suit you is the hard part.

[Kaz747 in reply to CDreamer]

I wasn’t tired before but I am now 😃. I didn’t have any of the classical symptoms. I was sleeping pretty well except for in my REM sleep apparently (and I only had 35 minutes of that in the study). If I didn’t have AF the sleep specialist said there’d be no need to rush into any treatment and that I could see if it was better when I lose a few more kilos and get to my target weight. My mother has sleep apnea and dementia so that’s inspiration enough to try the CPAP and see if it makes a difference.

[Aus19]

It doesn’t look at all fashionable, Kaz747, and I doubt if there are shoes or accessories to match! But if it does the job, that’s the main thing. Sorry to hear of the frequency of your episodes.

[Kaz747 in reply to Aus19]

It’s certainly not conducive to non sleeping nocturnal activities 😆

[diggercase]

10 years I’ve been on cpap never missed a night useing it , great when u get used to a full face mask , would never b without it ‘ it’s been every where as far as Thailand .