Dear Vigor8

I am a 54-year-old male and I would like to tell you how I came to use a CPAP [device].
Two years ago I was scheduled to have surgery. The surgeon wanted me to see a specialist on respiratory problems first. My wife accompanied me to this visit. He asked me how I was sleeping and I told him that I was not doing very good. My wife told him that I was awake about five times at night, snoring so loud that she had to wear earplugs. She also informed him that she now sleeps in a spare bedroom because of my arms and legs flailing all over the bed. The surgeon was also informed by my wife that I quit breathing and on different occasions she had to poke me to get me breathing. The other point of this is because of my inability to sleep restfully, I was getting very depressed. I was so depressed that I was becoming suicidal. My wife feared for me.

The specialist set up an appointment to go to the sleep clinic and be tested. I went twice and both times I was told that I quit breathing about 90 times an hour. That was pretty significant. I was then set up with a CPAP [machine]. The very same day I received my unit I went home and decided to try it out. I slept about four hours with the unit on me. My wife was amazed that I did not snore or move and I slept the entire four hours. When I awakened, I felt refreshed and revitalized. It felt like I had slept a whole 10 hours.

Since using CPAP [therapy], I have been sleeping wonderfully. I am not tired anymore and my wife has moved back into our bed with me. I am not depressed anymore and have a greater outlook on life in general.

To me, the CPAP unit is a life-saver because I do believe it has saved my life. I am so thankful that this was diagnosed. I am a very happy fellow once again. My family and friends had noticed a gigantic change in me right away. I now have the energy I once had to do extra things again. My wife had to tell me to take it easy with working on different things, I was wearing her out.

Whenever a friend or someone I just meet tells me that they are tired and depressed all the time, I ask them how they think that they are sleeping. I suggest that they go to a sleep clinic because maybe they have sleep apnea. I tell them my story on how tired and depressed I was and on the point of thinking about suicide and now that I am sleeping with CPAP, how much better I feel. I tell them that it is a life-saver because that is what I believe. I am so thankful to the person who invented this.
I cannot and will not sleep without my machine. It goes everywhere with me. My wife and I take motorcycle trips in the summer and that is this first thing that gets packed. If we have to go without something, so be it. My machine is so very important to me.

On a lighter note, my wife tells her friends that she sleeps with a spaceman, but she is also very grateful for the CPAP [machine].
Thanks again forCPAP [therapy] which is a life-saver.

Douglas Kerr
Ontario
Canada