Here is my story...a long time ago (15 years ago maybe?) I asked a doctor in the next town over about sleep apnea. He scoffed at the idea and kind of make fun of me like it was not a real disease/malfunction for anyone, least of all me. Only about five years later that same scoffing doctor began the sleep center there in that same town and he made a mint! However at that point, I refused to see him and worked with the other sleep doctor there.
I was diagnoised with pretty severe SA and given a CPAP which I loved very much. I never ever slept without it after that. Over the years they kept adjusting the pressure up and that was causing a big problem as I seemed to be fighting my exhaling because the pressure was sooo high. My doc decided to do another sleep study on me to see if a Bi-Pap would work better for me. The first half of the night was miserable using just the cpap! I was awake, had a headache and it was an awful night. At about 3 AM, they hooked me up to a bi-pap. Oh my word! The next thing I knew someone was say, "Mrs. Patterson, are you going to wake up today?" I asked what time it was...it was 10 AM. I was out like a light from 3 to 10.. I would have sworn it was only 5 minutes that they put that Bi-pap on me. When I looked at the graph thing, it was spikey up and down until 3. After three it was straight and smooth. I felt great!!
The sleep center there told me to come back in a few days to get the bi-pap machine. I told them that I was not going to go home without it but they told me that they were too busy to get it for me that day. I argued, they looked at the schedule but they were just too busy, could not possibly work me in on that day. I innocently asked them for the phone number of their competetion because I was not going to go home without a bipap. They suddenly found time to get me a machine after that. Go figure.
Just a few months ago I had to get a new one because my old bi-pap broke. My new one is light and quiet. I love it. Some nights, however, I fight with the mask much of the night. Other nights it is good. Of course the mask is always a sexy looking addition! About a week after i got my very first machine, I heard a young beautiful woman doing a story on sleep apnea on the news. AT the end of the story she made a very degrading comment like "I don't care who you are, nobody wants to see someone in one of those masks, not too mention going to bed with them." I wrote a letter to the news station saying that i was having a difficult enough time dealing with my new diagnosis and machinery without hearing something like that. I reminded her that she might not always be that young and pretty either. Secretly I hope that she has to have one of those someday too. haha I hoped for an apology but that was not to be.
Last night I fell asleep in my chair because I had taken pain meds for some dental surgery. I slept great and felt good this morning without the machine but usually I wake up with a sore throat and congestion. In March I had a very big surgery with a tube in my nose for the first day or so. With that nose tube they could not put the mask on me. That was nearly the worst part of the recovery, trying to sleep without my machine.
If you are having trouble with your C-PAP because of high pressure settings, I recommend you try a bi-pap. It breathes with you. It forces air, then backs off for the exhale. Love it, love it love it!
Since I have had my machine, I have not had a cold. If I am congested, the air pressure of the machine clears my air passages. I do love it and fear the day that I absently forget it when I go on a trip.