New CPAP User Struggling in First Week

[SnuggleMonkey]

Hi All,

I've been seeing a sleep specialist or pulmonologist for about 6 years but I was only recently diagnosed with a mild sleep apnea. They told me I had an average of 13 blockages an hour, which seems very high to me but they tell me that this is mild. I guess there are others who have over 100 blockages per hour and I can't imagine that!

I just got my CPAP machine about 6 days ago. I've used it for 5 out of the past 6 nights and I feel like I'm sleeping FAR worse than I ever did before using this machine. I promised myself that I would give it a minimum of 3 weeks to see if I can get used to it but a friend of mine said it took him longer than that. How was it for y'all? Did it take longer than 3 week for you too?

I'm using the ResMed S9 with Humidifier attachment and a ResMed Mirage Quattro full face mask with a 6ft hose.

I think that I'm waking up multiple times during the night and I can't really sleep on my stomach any more. I use the "Sleep as Android" app and it's detecting tons of movement throughout the night, so I have no doubt that I'm shifting around a lot.

I'm used to sleeping with an eye-mask and headphones on my head, so the CPAP mask is just one more thing covering my head. I'm pretty sensitive to noise and vibration so I do my best to shield this out. I live in an apartment near a pretty noisy road and my neighbors tend to jar me awake with a slamming door or foot stomp on occasion.

In any case, my Dr. said that the CPAP machine would "change my life" but so far, it's seems far worse than before. I'm wondering how long it will take before I see an improvement. It's impacting my performance and attitude at work, so that concerns me a lot.

I've read a few posts already and I'll keep reading more. Thanks for supporting each other!

[Wulfman...]

Hi All,

I've been seeing a sleep specialist or pulmonologist for about 6 years but I was only recently diagnosed with a mild sleep apnea. They told me I had an average of 13 blockages an hour, which seems very high to me but they tell me that this is mild. I guess there are others who have over 100 blockages per hour and I can't imagine that!

I just got my CPAP machine about 6 days ago. I've used it for 5 out of the past 6 nights and I feel like I'm sleeping FAR worse than I ever did before using this machine. I promised myself that I would give it a minimum of 3 weeks to see if I can get used to it but a friend of mine said it took him longer than that. How was it for y'all? Did it take longer than 3 week for you too?

I'm using the ResMed S9 with Humidifier attachment and a ResMed Mirage Quattro full face mask with a 6ft hose.

I think that I'm waking up multiple times during the night and I can't really sleep on my stomach any more. I use the "Sleep as Android" app and it's detecting tons of movement throughout the night, so I have no doubt that I'm shifting around a lot.

I'm used to sleeping with an eye-mask and headphones on my head, so the CPAP mask is just one more thing covering my head. I'm pretty sensitive to noise and vibration so I do my best to shield this out. I live in an apartment near a pretty noisy road and my neighbors tend to jar me awake with a slamming door or foot stomp on occasion.

In any case, my Dr. said that the CPAP machine would "change my life" but so far, it's seems far worse than before. I'm wondering how long it will take before I see an improvement. It's impacting my performance and attitude at work, so that concerns me a lot.

I've read a few posts already and I'll keep reading more. Thanks for supporting each other!

Welcome to the forum.

Please fill in your profile as to the specific machine (there are a number of "S9" machines)......along with pressure, EPR, humidifier settings, etc.


Den

.

[library lady]

I'm a relative newbie; I started CPAP on Feb. 3, so I'm 6.5 months into it. It took several months for me to feel completely rested in the morning... I was able to gradually get adjusted to most aspects of the therapy after about a month, and it took just a couple of weeks to be able to sleep through the night. However, for a while I would occasionally wake in the morning to find that sometime in the night I had taken the mask off - sometimes it would be sitting on the nightstand, at other times somewhere in my bed or in my hand... and no recollection of taking it off. These things are all part of the adjustment, but come back here with your problems and questions and you will get the hang of all this much sooner than if you try to go it alone.

[Wulfman...]

Additional Comments: Pressure: 6cm

Thanks for the additional information.
That's a pretty low pressure. If you're not already, I'd suggest using some software (ResScan or Sleepyhead) to monitor your therapy. That will give you some idea of what's happening during the night.

One week is a pretty short time to see much if any improvements, but the software will definitely help chart and document your course.


Den

.

[Pugsy]

If you are waking up a lot of times each night for whatever reason then it is going to totally trash the restorative powers of sleep because your normal (and much needed) sleep architecture gets totally messed up.

So...are you waking up a lot more often..maybe finding yourself in an uncomfortable position or fiddling with the mask or maybe having leaks?
How many hours of sleep are you getting? Be truthful. Often people tell me 7 or 8 and then show me their reports and maybe they got 7 one night and the others they are lucky to get 5 hours and those 5 hours are chocked full of wake ups fiddling with the mask.

Sleeping on your stomach is a bit difficult with a cpap mask and especially with a full face mask but it can be done if that is your preferred position.
Or maybe try a different mask.
Sometimes we have to change bed pillows to accommodate the mask.
So tell us more specifics as to what issues you are having and maybe we have some ideas to try to help.

[SnuggleMonkey]

I'm a relative newbie; I started CPAP on Feb. 3, so I'm 6.5 months into it. It took several months for me to feel completely rested in the morning... I was able to gradually get adjusted to most aspects of the therapy after about a month, and it took just a couple of weeks to be able to sleep through the night. However, for a while I would occasionally wake in the morning to find that sometime in the night I had taken the mask off - sometimes it would be sitting on the nightstand, at other times somewhere in my bed or in my hand... and no recollection of taking it off. These things are all part of the adjustment, but come back here with your problems and questions and you will get the hang of all this much sooner than if you try to go it alone.

Thanks for your support!

I was hoping that the adjustment would be a little easier for me since I've already gotten used to sleeping with full over-the-ear headphones and an eyemask on. What's one more thing attached to my head?

I don't know if I have the patience to go several months, though. We'll see.

I forgot that an acquaintance of mine just started using a CPAP mask a few months ago and he suggested that I remove the mask when I wake up in the middle of the night, so I did that last night. I also took a sleeping pill for the first time while using the mask, last night. I felt better when I woke up this morning, but at 2pm, I'm fading fast at work. I try not to drink more than one diet Coke a day for my caffeine intake but it's been difficult this past week.

Thanks again!

[englandsf]

Expect to spend 30 days and try 5 or more masks to find your right fit/type. Then expect another 30-60 days adjusting exhale relief, humidity and hose temp etc.

If you have the money you can buy masks instead of rotating them via your DME's return program - or use cpap.com's return insurance.

You'll get 100 more help here than from your doc and your DME combined... but you'll get there and when you do, you'll feel awesome...

[SnuggleMonkey]

Additional Comments: Pressure: 6cm

Thanks for the additional information.
That's a pretty low pressure. If you're not already, I'd suggest using some software (ResScan or Sleepyhead) to monitor your therapy. That will give you some idea of what's happening during the night.

One week is a pretty short time to see much if any improvements, but the software will definitely help chart and document your course.


Den

.

Thanks Den,

I'm a bit of a software geek, so I'll check out the SleepyHead software to see what it tells me. Hopefully, I see fewer breathing interruptions.

Cheers!

[SnuggleMonkey]

If you are waking up a lot of times each night for whatever reason then it is going to totally trash the restorative powers of sleep because your normal (and much needed) sleep architecture gets totally messed up.

So...are you waking up a lot more often..maybe finding yourself in an uncomfortable position or fiddling with the mask or maybe having leaks?
How many hours of sleep are you getting? Be truthful. Often people tell me 7 or 8 and then show me their reports and maybe they got 7 one night and the others they are lucky to get 5 hours and those 5 hours are chocked full of wake ups fiddling with the mask.

Sleeping on your stomach is a bit difficult with a cpap mask and especially with a full face mask but it can be done if that is your preferred position.
Or maybe try a different mask.
Sometimes we have to change bed pillows to accommodate the mask.
So tell us more specifics as to what issues you are having and maybe we have some ideas to try to help.

Thank you, Pugsy.

I think that I'm waking up much more frequently than I was before. Unfortunately, I live in an apartment building shared with college students who have just returned to school, so that's another variable that could be impacting my sleep.

I took a sleeping pill last night and I only remember waking up two or three times during the night (instead of 6 or 7 times previously.)

According to my "Sleep as Android" app, I have averaged about 7 hrs and 18 minutes of sleep over the past 2 weeks. This seems about right to me. I did stay in bed for almost 10 hours on Saturday, though. The first few nights, I was definitely fiddling with the mask. I hate it when my nose itches and I have to undo the mask to scratch it. The seal seems pretty good but the eye-shade mask could be letting air in.

I usually shift to sleeping on my side in the middle of the night, anyway. I don't feel like I *have* to fall asleep on my stomach but that's what I'm used to. We'll take it one night at a time!

Thanks!

[englandsf]

Side sleeping with a full face mask is tough, face down is tougher (with any mask). Have you tried nasal pillows like the P10 or Pillairo?

[palerider]

I hate it when my nose itches and I have to undo the mask to scratch it. The seal seems pretty good but the eye-shade mask could be letting air in.

what I finally figured out, while wearing the mirage quattro, was that all my nose itches were caused by the air coming and blowing my nose hair around. even though things looked fine, outwardly, the ones near the opening were getting ruffled... as it were, and making my nose itch, all over... never right at my nostrils!

but, getting one of those trimmers, and clipping things back, no more itches... it's happened enough times that I've moved it from "half baked theory" to "fact" (at least for me)

[SnuggleMonkey]

Expect to spend 30 days and try 5 or more masks to find your right fit/type. Then expect another 30-60 days adjusting exhale relief, humidity and hose temp etc.

If you have the money you can buy masks instead of rotating them via your DME's return program - or use cpap.com's return insurance.

You'll get 100 more help here than from your doc and your DME combined... but you'll get there and when you do, you'll feel awesome...

Thanks!

When I did my sleep study, the technician had me try on some different masks to see which one I liked the best. I definitely didn't like the nose-only mask. I'm sure that I'd open my mouth in the middle of the night. I think I tried the large mask and a medium mask too. I chose the medium one to test during the night if the tech thought that I should. In the middle of my study, the tech woke me up and said that he thought I should try the mask for the remainder of the night, so I did. I remember that I woke up a bunch of times with that mask too but during a sleep study in a strange place I wasn't surprised that I woke up a lot.

The way that I've been feeling today and the past few days, I don't see how I can make it 30 to 60 days, though. I'm hoping that I'll adjust to this sooner than that. Ugh.

Thanks again for the support!

[SnuggleMonkey]

Side sleeping with a full face mask is tough, face down is tougher (with any mask). Have you tried nasal pillows like the P10 or Pillairo?

I'll have to ask about nasal pillows! Thanks for the suggestion.

[SnuggleMonkey]

I hate it when my nose itches and I have to undo the mask to scratch it. The seal seems pretty good but the eye-shade mask could be letting air in.

what I finally figured out, while wearing the mirage quattro, was that all my nose itches were caused by the air coming and blowing my nose hair around. even though things looked fine, outwardly, the ones near the opening were getting ruffled... as it were, and making my nose itch, all over... never right at my nostrils!

but, getting one of those trimmers, and clipping things back, no more itches... it's happened enough times that I've moved it from "half baked theory" to "fact" (at least for me)

Haha! That is so true about nose hairs! I know that well!

I'll double-check that tonight! Thanks for the suggestion!

[chunkyfrog]

Thank you for mentioning nose itch this evening.
I will be thinking about you later tonight.