Title: CPAP teaching me to breathe?
Davidvs - July 6, 2007 12:55 PM (GMT)
Ok, so I don't know if this is a normal thing or not but, for the past few days I've been having somewhat restless nights sleep. (Tossing and turning) and my nasal pillows have been getting knocked off sometime during the night. The first night my girlfriend woke me up and made me put them back on, but the past two nights she noticed that I was breathing normally without them so she didn't wake me up.
Is it possible that using the CPAP for a few hours is getting my body used to breathing correctly for the rest of the night? And if so, is there a possibility that I may be able to stop using the machine sometime in the future?
supersleeper - July 10, 2007 10:27 PM (GMT)
David - I would think that this is indeed possible. It takes some time to get used to CPAP and/or nasal pillows and your system needs adjustment time. Studies have indicated that our breathing patterns can be "trained" - somewhat.
But as for you not needing CPAP at all in the future, I think this depends upon what caused the Sleep Apnea in the first place. Much of my sleep apnea, for instance, is due to me being overweight.
If I reduce weight, I'm sure that I will not need as high of a pressure setting, and I'm hopeful that if I get down to my target weight (about 100 lbs to go), that I will not need CPAP at all at that point. But if you have Central Sleep Apnea (CSA), this may not be the case, since CSA is a type of brain disfunction, that is not caused primarily by weight gain.
Davidvs - July 16, 2007 12:57 PM (GMT)
Thanks for the reply. Yeah, I don't have CSA, mine is basically due to weight/smoking. (btw, haven't had a cigarette in 5 days so far!!!)
supersleeper - July 16, 2007 03:13 PM (GMT)
| QUOTE (Davidvs @ Jul 16 2007, 07:57 AM) |
| Thanks for the reply. Yeah, I don't have CSA, mine is basically due to weight/smoking. (btw, haven't had a cigarette in 5 days so far!!!) |
5 days so far... SUPER!!! Stay with it. My dad quit smoking and it seemed that the first week was the toughest.... you're just about over that hump.
He kept telling himself, "Don't ever take the first one... don't ever take the first one"...
Good luck, David!
NHSkiGirl - August 12, 2007 08:45 AM (GMT)
Keep up the good work with staying off the cigs - congrats and I hope you are feelign stonger as time goes on!
You will find that your sense of smell starts improving as well - another benefit of quitting the cigs!
Davidvs - August 12, 2007 02:41 PM (GMT)
Thanks! I'm past a month now and I feel sooo much better :D