I had two instances of A-fib. They couldn't find any reason for it so they sent me to sleep study. Of course, the study says I need cpap.

I've been on it for over a year and really don't feel any better or more energy, etc. BUT - I haven't had another instance of A-fib. So, I guess it's working and I guess I'll keep doing it. But I never did have that miraculous feeling I kept hearing people talk about....

I felt like it was a while and really never felt a huge benefit. Then I fell asleep in my lazyboy one night. When I work up - throat dry, not well rested, etc.

It took a number of months but finally noticed I wasn't getting up during the night to go to the bathroom. Doc said it was because I was sleeping deeper. I also starting have dreams again - hand had dreams in a number of years before the CPAP. So I now carry it where every I go/when ever I travel.

Let me know if you plan to travel. I can share what I learned from my internet search.

The benefits may come slowly and some of the benefits are rather subtle. You may not feel them directly, but they are having a positive effect.

For example, my blood sugar went down, and my blood pressure also went down. Neither were terrible before the cpap, but they did improve with the cpap.

I also lost weight after about 6 weeks. Somehow, the sleep apnea increases your appetite, and you eat more when you have untreated sleep apnea.

For me , it was about ten days or so before I noticed a significant difference. Apnea can definitely cause some weird and negative effects: mine caused me to develop secondary polycythemia, which cleared up completely after about two months of CPAP use.

Something that helped me - might sound crazy - was getting a special pillow for CPAP use. It has a concave middle, if that makes sense, so that when you turn over (I sleep on my side a lot) the mask has room and doesn't get uncomfortable or slip off.