anxiouslady

Hi Mim,
Sorry to hear about your apnea diagnosis. Its important to find out whether you have central, obstructive or mixed apnea.
Both myself and my 10y.o. have obstructive sleep apnea. I use a c-pap. There are many pros and cons to using it but the benefits greatly outweigh any of the cons.
Its a big adjustment to learn how to sleep with a mask strapped to your face. It can be uncomfortable but you learn to live with it once you start to feel the benefits. The right pressure setting is very important. They will figure out what it is when you have your next study. Most c-pap users need to go in for titration within 6 months to a year after beginning c-pap. Titration is a sleep study where your pressure is adjusted. Usually the first setting is not completely accurate because they expect to strap this thing on your face and fall soundly asleep with it the first time you use it. I had a very hard time sleeping during the study with it on. Only got 2 hours of sleep.
You need to make sure you monitor your symptoms and if you feel that they do not improve or slowly start to return, then thats a signal that pressure needs to be adjusted.
Next part comes choosing a mask. Some use nasal and others full face. I have a nasal for my own personal reasons. I never liked the idea of having my whole face covered. There are different styles to choose from. With all masks, you will have to deal with pressure points. After sleeping 8 hours with it, your face will be sore sometimes and occassionally numb depending on how you sleep with it. I was always a stomach sleeper which is very hard to do now.
The only pain about the c-pap is the need to clean it every day. You have to be careful because bacteria can build up inside the hose/mask/reservoir which can cause sinus infections and stuff like that. Its best that you use a heated c-pap unit with a reservoir because you will definitely need water for humidity and it works better with a heater. If you use the c-pap without water you will wake up with very dry airways and sore throats. Ramp is another good feature that you can ask about. Depending on what your pressure is set at, the ramp feature allows you to cut the setting in half for 45 minutes to give you enough time to fall asleep before it kicks up to full speed. Ramp was a life saver for me when I first got my c-pap. It helped me get used to the whole thing.
Anyways, hope this gives you the info you need. Let me know if you have any other questions about apnea/c-pap that I can help with. Take care.
anxiouslady