CPAP Compliance

I'm not at the surgical part yet, but as I prepare for my second sleep study tonight (not looking forward to it) I was wondering about CPAP compliance.

My understanding from reading other post is that you have to get your provider to show that you are using it when you enter the surgical class. After that do they check your compliance?

I've been on my CPAP trial for about three weeks.  I was told I have to use it 4 hours a night at least for my Sleep doctor to fill out forms for ADP coverage (I'm using it 8 hours plus a day).

I just wonder if they have the same  criteria? Does anybody know?

I just worry if one night I didn't use it cause I had a cold and coughing fits,  I can see not wanting to use it. It's not that I plan not to use it, but I worry about every little thing and if I felt like I couldn't use it for a day here or there cause of sickness or valid reason that it could become problematic for my going forward into surgery.

If anyone has any advice/information it would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

I have had my CPAP for over 2 years..and I will tell you.. when you are sick (coughing..sniffles anything like that) it doesn't affect my CPAP use... in fact.. I find that it helps with my cold.   Ever since I've gotten it.. I find I'm not sick as much and since it pushes air into your airway... when you have the cold.. you don't feel the effects of it as much as when you don't use it.

Hope this makes sense..lol  Not sure what the surgeons look for with it's use.. but know that they want your titration level... so it's to be sure that the cpap is helping you with not stopping breathing when sleeping

As the phrase goes..."Just Do It".  Use your CPAP - it is your best friend and will save your life.  We are so fortunate in this provience because OHIP pays for studies.  If your sleep doc says you need it, then embrace it... hell call it a pet name.  Don't come up with excuses as to why you can't use it.

You might get over your sleep apena after you have lost sufficent weight but at this point it is an important tool in your road to improved health so you will be in good shape for surgery and everyday living.All Hail the CPAP!

If you have apnea and don't use your cpap you are increasing risk for heart attack, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, decreased energy etc... cpap can and will save your life. My blood preesure was climbing so went for sleep study and found out had pnea. Used my cpap and bp came down along with improvements. 6 months post rny went for another study and no longer need it. Found it hard to give up as the quality of sleep was great using it.

Please don't get me wrong, I'm really not looking at excuses not to use it. I'm still getting use to it.

The first few days I felt like I was choking sometimes...took forever to fall asleep the first couples times. But I will say sleep quality much better, but my energy level is really hit in miss day to day. Probably still getting accustom to it. I never considered it might help colds. I'm prone to a lot of sinus infections, so it was a worry, that the mask (I use a full one, I'm a mouth breather) might be an issue getting sick like that. Perhaps it won't be an issue!

Trust me I know the health risks not treating sleep apnea, I had a sleep study done beginning of May. Found out the end of May that I had severe sleep apnea. It took til the end of August to get an appointment with the Sleep Specialist, and have since started the CPAP trial and sleep study tonight. I've been waiting over three months to get treated, I've know for close to a year something was off, my energy and napping and sleeping all the time was getting worse and worse. So again, its not me not wanting to comply. But thank you for the encourage to keep on using it.

So, is it pretty much at the Surgical Class that you have to give your compliance to them?

Thanks for the advice and support.

I have been on a cpap machine for months now but stopped using it for 2 weeks when I went camping without hydro.  It didn't affect my process at all, they just asked me if I was using it, I told them about the camping trip in June and they just told me to use it every night from that point on. I am going through Kingston and TEGH, may be different for every hospital.

I was never asked to prove I was using it.  Nobody ever checked my machine's memory, they just believed me.  I have really bad allergies and it is one of the causes of my apnea and like others have said, I sleep better when stuffed up with my mask on.  I hardly ever get colds since starting cpap therapy 14 years ago.  I got off mine after weight loss but then needed it again due to severe allergies that are causing breathing issues as the years go on.  When you go for your 2nd study, they will titrate the pressure if needed.  The first one is usually just a guess based on how many times you stopped breathing and for how long but the 2nd test you use the machine and they adjust it up or down while you sleep.  I wouldn't worry if you missed a day here and there, what if you had insomnia, you'd not be using it that night anyway.  If you weren't using it most of the time then they may consider you non-compliant but a missed day here and there shouldn't affect anything.

I've had times when I didn't use my machine. I didn't take it to the US with me. There were a couple times I didn't use it when I just wanted to sleep on my face. I wouldn't worry if you miss a night here or there. Just use it as much as possible for surgery so they have good data for your surgery. 

I don't mean to sound snarky but what you just posted is total BS!! OSA is a real, life threatening problem.  If you don't want to take it and its treatment seriously that's up to you.  But please don't tell others it's okay to be non-compliant with their xpap machine. 

To be sparky, I'll tell anyone my experiences, anytime I want. That's what a forum is. I wasn't giving medical advice nor was I telling her not to use her machine. I was telling her that if she doesn't use it 100% of the time she doesn't need to panic, they won't cancel her surgery. I know because I didn't use mine at times and they were aware and didn't have a problem with it. If you had a different experience, kudos to you! But don't try to call my experience BS and get on me for telling her about what I did. I think with all the crap we go through, panic is one emotion we can use less of.