I tried using the CPAP machine for three months. I made use of the version with heated tubes and humidifier, with the lowest possible setting. As a start, I felt like I was suffocating. Adjusting the settings gradually higher did not help at all. It made everything worse.
By not seeing any positive results and not feeling good, I could not keep going with the machine anymore. Still, I made the effort to keep trying, as this could be my only solution. But after a while of unsuccessful trials, I had to quit.
The relationship with my doctor had been wonderful until the moment I went to discuss an alternative treatment.
His reaction was not as good as I expected. He just didn’t accept my request, insisting to keep trying again. But for me, keeping trying, after all the adjustments we applied but feeling disappointed as I felt, was not worth the effort.
That meeting was one of the worst I have ever had with a medical professional. I didn’t feel listened, and my doctor ended the conversation suggesting me to take the CPAP home and see the nurse at the counter to pay for my visit and schedule the next follow up appointment within a month.
I left the doctor determined to drop the CPAP machine. I told the nurse I couldn’t keep spending on a treatment that was doing no good for me. She asked me if I was serious. I was so serious that I just left, feeling mortified and disappointed.