For what it's worth

[Noluck]

Well as requested I submitted user profile. As I have mentioned in the past I have been diagnosed with "severe" apnea. Fortunately or unfortunately however you look at it I do not display the normal daily affects one would see with severe apnea. I do not fall asleep at meetings or while driving to and from work (30 minute commute each way). I do not have trouble waking in the morning. I am not overweight (though I would not mind dropping 10 lbs.). I am physically fit. I sleep fine as far as I am concerned during the night. I am not in disagreement with my sleep study findings due to my wife telling me that I snore like a "banjy bear" and do stop breathing (44 times/hour per sleep study). My biggest problem is that I have not yet had a successful night on the machine. This is my 3rd different machine since I started last September. I have tried nasal pillows, a full mask and now the Sleepweaver cloth mask. Problem is if I can get to sleep I awake within 1 - 1 1/2 hrs. and that is it. Can not get back to sleep. I have rather high setting of 18 or 19. I recently turned unit down to 14 (I know, I know) to see if I could build up to the required pressure. No luck (get it?). At times I feel like I have hit a wall and stay away from trying for several weeks. Even though it may not sound it I do have a pretty good attitude and would really like to make it work. I had my Dr. give me Lunesta. Did not help at all. One problem is just having a mask on my face. As I said earlier I fall to sleep with no problem until I plug-in. I am not sure what I am looking for by stating my case. Maybe a little sympathy? Anyways that's my story and I'm sticking too it. Hope I did not bore you.
Thanks... Noluck

[who]

When you wake up after an hour and a half on the machine, get up for 20 minutes or so and do something boring, like maybe reading the warranty on your refrigerator. Then try to get another sleep cycle in. Eventually, after a few weeks or so, your brain should learn to let you sleep so that several good sleep cycles can happen end to end at night. The problem now is that your brain is not used to getting even one good uninterrupted sleep cycle in, so when it is successfully getting one, it wakes you up. Slowly train your brain to allow several full, successful sleep cycles in at night. Don't expect it to happen all at once. It took you years to learn how to sleep the wrong way (44 interruptions per hour). Take the time now to learn how to get GOOD sleep.

If that doesn't happen, don't just give up and put the machine away. There are other things to try. Make it clear to your sleep doc and DME that you need help to keep from "failing" CPAP therapy. If there is no solution found for making any form of PAP therapy work, eventually it may be time to look at other, second-best, forms of treatment for your problem. But be sure to give PAP therapy all the effort it deserves first.

[elena88]

Dear Noluck,

Im going to give you a little "self serving " sympathy, as I understand what you are going through.
We have about the same ahi, severe apena, and I was never tired before cpap either, but now Im exhausted on it.

I dont have a high pressure, and Im still struggling. Yours is high, and I can see that would be pretty tough to get used to, and
you have been working at this for sometime now..

But dont give up just yet, there is most likely an answer or several answers you just havent discovered yet.

I truly hope there is an "aha' moment waiting for you. Keep looking under every rock and crevice for an answer to get your therapy
to work, because you need it.. as do I.

hang in there buddy!

[KC5cychris]

Another idea

When you are sitting around watching TV or other relaxing activity where you are stationary for a bit put the mask and unit on and just relax at what ever you may be doing at the time, awake or napping. 20 -30 minutes at a time this will help you get used to wearing the mask before you know it you won't even notice when you are getting ready for bed off to dream land.

sleep on

[kteague]

Seems to me using a pressure that you know will allow apneas could be counterproductive, but I had a friend who did that and he has worked his way back up to 25. Hopefully you will make sure your data shows your treatment to be effective. I don't know your work situation or personal responsibilities, just wondering if you can take a few days to play hardball with yourself. Using full effective pressure, no mask = no sleep - no exceptions. So far you've trained your brain that it can get its way. Not that you don't have my sympathy. I'm advising from a pressure of 12 vantage point and might throw all my advice out the window if I had a pressure nearing 20. And I'm not bored. Those early days of misery are serious business. I remember them well.

[alnhwrd]

Well as requested I submitted user profile. As I have mentioned in the past I have been diagnosed with "severe" apnea. Fortunately or unfortunately however you look at it I do not display the normal daily affects one would see with severe apnea. I do not fall asleep at meetings or while driving to and from work (30 minute commute each way). I do not have trouble waking in the morning. I am not overweight (though I would not mind dropping 10 lbs.). I am physically fit. I sleep fine as far as I am concerned during the night. I am not in disagreement with my sleep study findings due to my wife telling me that I snore like a "banjy bear" and do stop breathing (44 times/hour per sleep study). My biggest problem is that I have not yet had a successful night on the machine. This is my 3rd different machine since I started last September. I have tried nasal pillows, a full mask and now the Sleepweaver cloth mask. Problem is if I can get to sleep I awake within 1 - 1 1/2 hrs. and that is it. Can not get back to sleep. I have rather high setting of 18 or 19. I recently turned unit down to 14 (I know, I know) to see if I could build up to the required pressure. No luck (get it?). At times I feel like I have hit a wall and stay away from trying for several weeks. Even though it may not sound it I do have a pretty good attitude and would really like to make it work. I had my Dr. give me Lunesta. Did not help at all. One problem is just having a mask on my face. As I said earlier I fall to sleep with no problem until I plug-in. I am not sure what I am looking for by stating my case. Maybe a little sympathy? Anyways that's my story and I'm sticking too it. Hope I did not bore you.
Thanks... Noluck

It could be that the "problem" is that when you sleep for 1-1/2 hours with the mask at the proper pressure you are actually getting proper, restful, apnea free sleep and that is why you cannot fall back to sleep. Your body has gotten the equivalent of 3-6 hours or more of non-cpap sleep. My advice would be to pick the mask of the three that you have that has given you the best result so far and sleep for as long as you can with it every night for a couple of weeks. Your brain does have to adjust to the fact that you have a hunk of rubber and plastic strapped to your face while you are trying to sleep, and it will only do so if you keep on using it. I would also track my data each night to see how well I was doing. Remember, sleeping without cpap damages your body every night you do so, whether you feel it or not. Keep at it and stick with it.

[Noluck]

Thank you all who gave me advice. Very much appreciated. It's amazing how a little support from people I don't even know can boost my spirits when struggling with my therapy issues. I have learned more from this site than from my sleep ap professionals. My new mantra: I will succeed! It may take a little more time but with the help from this site I can't fail
Thanks again to all!
Noluck

PS. Hopefully in the coming months my user name will change...

[Nord]

Well as requested I submitted user profile. As I have mentioned in the past I have been diagnosed with "severe" apnea. Fortunately or unfortunately however you look at it I do not display the normal daily affects one would see with severe apnea. I do not fall asleep at meetings or while driving to and from work (30 minute commute each way). I do not have trouble waking in the morning. I am not overweight (though I would not mind dropping 10 lbs.). I am physically fit. I sleep fine as far as I am concerned during the night. I am not in disagreement with my sleep study findings due to my wife telling me that I snore like a "banjy bear" and do stop breathing (44 times/hour per sleep study). My biggest problem is that I have not yet had a successful night on the machine. This is my 3rd different machine since I started last September. I have tried nasal pillows, a full mask and now the Sleepweaver cloth mask. Problem is if I can get to sleep I awake within 1 - 1 1/2 hrs. and that is it. Can not get back to sleep. I have rather high setting of 18 or 19. I recently turned unit down to 14 (I know, I know) to see if I could build up to the required pressure. No luck (get it?). At times I feel like I have hit a wall and stay away from trying for several weeks. Even though it may not sound it I do have a pretty good attitude and would really like to make it work. I had my Dr. give me Lunesta. Did not help at all. One problem is just having a mask on my face. As I said earlier I fall to sleep with no problem until I plug-in. I am not sure what I am looking for by stating my case. Maybe a little sympathy? Anyways that's my story and I'm sticking too it. Hope I did not bore you.
Thanks... Noluck

Hi Noluck...

I had similar issues with waking after short periods of time. Seems that your sub-conscious will wake you for a variety of reasons.
Two things have helped.
Time on CPAP...
and Melatonin 3mg... 1 hour before sleep. I get between 5 to 7 hours of continuous sleep most nights now...

Sleep issues can be very complex and very different for everybody. I deal with one issue at a time.
Since you don't seem to have many issues... you don't have many clues to investigate which makes it more difficult in some ways.
Just a thought...

Nord

[SleeplessInNyack]

Thanks for posting this noluck. I go through a similar cycle where I wake up after about 1-1/2 hours. At that point I feel that the mask and pressure are annoying me and keeping me up, and if I want to get any sleep at all I have to throw the mask to the side. I know that's not the right choice, but between the anxiety I normally have, plus my natural inability to fall asleep, I feel that's the only way I might get a little sleep.

[Janknitz]

No Luck,

With untreated sleep apnea you were probably on that same sleep wake cycle every 1.5 hours or so, but the difference was you didn't have this chunk of plastic stuck to your face and a machine blowing air into it, so you could fall right back to sleep. Before CPAP, you would not come fully awake in those cycles. Now you are dealing with these new sensations, and that brings you to a more awake state so that it's harder to fall back to sleep again.

It's going to take some time for your body to adjust to no longer needing to wake so often in order to get enough oxygen. It's very important to keep the mask on, but you can do some things to take your focus off trying to sleep (which almost always makes me anxious and makes it more difficult to sleep) like some soothing music or sounds from an MP3 player. Give yourself permission not to sleep, just relax and use that time to get used to the apparatus. If you fall asleep, that's great, but not important in the short term. Eventually your body will let you fall back to sleep and then stay asleep longer when it trusts that the oxygen supply is going to be more steady and you are more used to the apparatus so you don't have to wake and obsess about it. You will gradually start finding you sleep for longer periods before waking, and eventually you'll be able to sleep through the night again.