I went on CPAP in April of 2008.  I had "mild" sleep apnea.  However my symptoms of excessive daytime sleepiness had to be treated.  My EDS was treated by my psychiatrist with Provigil as a stop gap measure as I was really suffering.  My PCP immediately sent me for a sleep study. You have all heard me say this before.  First it started out with mandatory afternoon naps of four to five hours during that time nothing short of being shaken would wake me.  I was depressed and loved those naps as that time went by  pleasantly. Then I started falling asleep on my feet first thing in the morning and falling asleep walking to the dining room with my breakfast in my hands.  I had to go lay down and take a nap in the early AM, was unsafe to drive, had to get rides to appointments and reschedule appointments in order to get rides, fell asleep in my therapists office, and went to bed very early, then did not want to get up,  I would have done anything to improve my quality of life. During my sleep test and titration my sleep apnea was so mild I was given the choice of a trial of CPAP or wait and see.  Wait and see wasn't an option for me.  I started CPAP at a pressure of seven as soon as the DME got to me. I have been compliant except for about 15 days in which my sore nose had to heal or it would have gotten necrotic and I would have no nose.  My sleep apnea over the past several years has worsened a bit and is now mild- moderate.  Interestingly enough my numbers at the sleep Lab- AHI and AI were much better than my nightly data from the machine (once I learned on this forum how to access that data).  My numbers are now 18/22 and I still take Nuvigil for daytime sleepiness.

The health implications were interesting, I read the pamphlets that detailed the risks of untreated sleep apnea in the doctor's waiting room.  The possible health complications drive me now, but in the beginning it was the pure misery of living sleepy.

Mary Z.