The Miracle of my CPAP Machine
As I told you before I was recently diagnosed with severe sleep apnea. My doctor ordered me to use a CPAP machine&mdasha Continuous Positive Airway Pressure machine&mdashthat blows air into my nose and improves the quality of overnight breathing.
I was elated, hoping for a miracle. I haven’t had a good night’s sleep in 20 years. I was so looking forward to waking up rested.
When I went to bed, I put on my nose mask and turned on the machine. The mask was uncomfortable. It gave me headaches and I had to sleep on my back which I do not like. It also had this annoying plastic smell. It took me some time to fall asleep, but eventually I did.
To my disappointment I didn’t wake up rested; I woke up tired as usual. Still, I decided not to give up and continued trying the machine.
Several days passed and I found myself mopping the kitchen floor. I never ever mop floors. I have my cleaning crew do that. That mopping was my first positive sign. Then my relatives started telling me that my voice had changed and had become more energetic. A week later I invited my son and his family for my weekly family dinner, which I have been canceling every previous week for several months.
A month after I began sleeping with the machine, I started having night dreams, something I forgot even existed. After two months, I would wake up and my first thought would be, “What day is it today?” Prior to using the machine, my first waking thought was, “My alarm clock must be broken. It’s impossible that I have to get up now. I feel too weak to stand up.”
My machine is very smart. It records the data from my sleep and uploads it to a website, which my doctor and I can access. Instead of the 37 apnea episodes per hour I had during my sleep study, now I have 1 episode per hour. The quality of my life has changed gradually. I am not yet ready to conquer the world, but I have so much more energy. I’ve even accepted two more job offers, and now I have six part-time jobs. (I’ll tell you all about this some other time.)
There have been some side effects. For some reason I gained 10 pounds during the first two weeks of using the machine. And I feel like an elephant. Not because of my heavy frame, but because my nose mask with its pipe looks like a trunk.
But I prefer feeling like an elephant to feeling like a zombie. This indeed was a miracle, though a very slow-acting miracle.
Share:
Dodik:
Compared to 20 years, it was pretty fast…
17 May 2015, 7:51 amDiana:
My 4 year old has severe sleep apnea. We and her tonsils and adenoids removed, but she still suffers from it. It’s likely the result of her hypotonia. We are getting her the CPAP machine and its reassuring to hear that it does work over time. I probably need one too, I haven’t slept since she was born 🙂
23 May 2015, 5:50 pmI’m glad it’s working for you and great site!
George:
Thanks for your story – I tried it a few times but it was uncomfortable and I ended up pulling off the mask in the middle of the night.
My nose was itchy and I just can’t scratch it with my mask on.
I tried it for a few weeks with different masks and it all had to be pulled out in the middle of the night.
But your story made me wanna give it another try.
Thanks again and God Bless!
24 May 2015, 9:02 pm