CANNOT get used to nasal pillow

One month in and hate this. Have ResMed N30 mask with headgear. VERY claustrophobic. Longest I’ve slept with mask is 2 hours. Had mask company rep come to house for recommendations. Very anxious any time mask is on. Suggestions appreciated. TIA.

alm751 wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 13, 2024 2:26 pm

One month in and hate this. Have ResMed N30 mask with headgear. VERY claustrophobic. Longest I’ve slept with mask is 2 hours. Had mask company rep come to house for recommendations. Very anxious any time mask is on. Suggestions appreciated. TIA.

this is a more common reaction than you would think. it's your brain telling you that there is an alien on your face and it's trying to kill you! get it off!! it screams. and it takes some time to convince your brain that everything is okay.

what you might want to do is wear that mask when not in bed and not connected to the machine. wear it while doing things around the house. puttering around the house. watching TV. or if you're a reader, wear it then.

the whole idea is to normalize the experience to get your brain to calm down.

good luck!

One thing that worked for me was breathing in through the nose mask then out through the mouth... after a while you get calmed down and can go back to full nasal breathing. Low O2 can exacerbate panic attacks... not fun... and what they don't tell you is that the faster you breathe the worse it gets, it takes time to blow your CO2 out the exhaust ports on the mask (all masks have to have exhaust ports, never block them!). Breathing out your mouth takes the CO2 out of the equation, you're getting 100% fresh air all the time. Pretty soon you'll get acclimated, we all go through this, welcome and good luck!

Thank you! Will definitely try your suggestions!

I'm sorry this is so hard for you. It was exactly the same for me. Instead of getting more and more used to it, my brain got more and more mad about the thing on my face. I had my machine taken away twice by insurance before I figured out how to desensitize. When the usual desensitizing techniques (that work for most) didn't work for me, I started going to bed with the light on (dimmed a bit) listening to an audiobook. I told myself, "I'm not even going to try to sleep. I'm just going to listen to this book." Eventually I fell asleep with the mask on. Gradually I lasted longer and longer with it on. I lost a lot of sleep at first, but eventually it worked and I kept it on through the night.

Thanks. Great idea. At this point, I will try almost ANYTHING! A mojito would def put me to sleep but I'm sober so that's not an option!

alm751 wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 14, 2024 8:12 am

Thanks. Great idea. At this point, I will try almost ANYTHING! A mojito would def put me to sleep but I'm sober so that's not an option!

Be careful what book you choose!

The narrator matters, too. Some are dreadful. I like any Agatha Christie book narrated by Hugh Fraser.

BTW, I know another person who desensitized like this, too.

alm751 wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 14, 2024 8:12 am

Thanks. Great idea. At this point, I will try almost ANYTHING! A mojito would def put me to sleep but I'm sober so that's not an option!

please let us know which solution worked for you.

good luck!

this WILL get easier.

onward60 wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 14, 2024 8:57 am

Be careful what book you choose!

The narrator matters, too. Some are dreadful.

I listen to a podcast by a terrible guy. It could be that I sleep to avoid listening to him.

alm751 wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 14, 2024 8:12 am

I'm sober

Why??