Sleep apnea is a complicated thing, and there's more to it than just the CPAP. For instance, there's the air pressure -- too much or too little can keep you from getting the benefit that the CPAP is supposed to provide. You also want to make your mask fit as comfortably as possible, and may need a different size from the one your friend loaned you. I find that if I try to use a nose-only mask, it doesn't work as well as the full-face one I usually use
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there's the air pressure -- too much or too little can keep you from getting the benefit that the CPAP is supposed to provide.Indeed. Mine is an "auto-adjusting" (or "auto-titrating") CPAP, which means that it automatically senses how much pressure I need and gives me that much. CD, if yours isn't, could your friend possibly listen to you sleep with the CPAP and increase the air pressure until you're no longer snoring with it? This would be a best-guess way of doing a sleep study without, you know, the usual equipment
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CD, if yours isn't, could your friend possibly listen to you sleep with the CPAP and increase the air pressure until you're no longer snoring with it? This would be a best-guess way of doing a sleep study without, you know, the usual equipment.
That's if the CPAP is user-adjustable. Mine isn't. It has a smart card that I have to take to the clinic to have my pressure adjusted. The smart card also stores information on how much sleep I get every night, whether my mask is leaking, that sort of thing.
The idea of just wearing the mask before you go to sleep is a good one, IMO.
Oh yeah . . . cooking more of your own food will help. You have to watch what you cook, though. Two packets of Top Ramen per meal just doesn't cut it. (I tell you this from experience. :) )
I don't know if you ever watch "Good Eats," but a while back Alton Brown said he lost 50 pounds by setting up four lists of foods. Foods to eat daily; foods to eat 3x per week; foods to limit to 1x per week; and food to just plain avoid. The last group included fast food and anything labeled as "diet"; I'd have trouble giving up my diet soda even though I know I probably should. If this sounds like something you'd like to follow up on I'll dig up the four lists.
Honestly though so far the only consistent way I've found to lose weight has been to walk a bit more. I've dropped a few pounds since they moved me to a different building where I have to walk about a quarter mile to get to my office when I get off the bus.
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That's if the CPAP is user-adjustable. Mine isn't. It has a smart card that I have to take to the clinic to have my pressure adjusted. The smart card also stores information on how much sleep I get every night, whether my mask is leaking, that sort of thing.
The idea of just wearing the mask before you go to sleep is a good one, IMO.
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I don't know if you ever watch "Good Eats," but a while back Alton Brown said he lost 50 pounds by setting up four lists of foods. Foods to eat daily; foods to eat 3x per week; foods to limit to 1x per week; and food to just plain avoid. The last group included fast food and anything labeled as "diet"; I'd have trouble giving up my diet soda even though I know I probably should. If this sounds like something you'd like to follow up on I'll dig up the four lists.
Honestly though so far the only consistent way I've found to lose weight has been to walk a bit more. I've dropped a few pounds since they moved me to a different building where I have to walk about a quarter mile to get to my office when I get off the bus.
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I think that's a good suggestion about having a friend adjust the pressure for you; I hope there's someone you could ask to do that for you.
I'll try to make it to one of the blues jams at the Oxford. Best of luck to them in keeping the doors open!
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