I'm still new at this (tonight makes 14 nights).

One thing that really surprises me is the differences in sensation when I go to bed compared to when I wake up.

I use the Ramp feature on my Series M (I've shortened the Ramp period from 45 min to 20 min and stepped up the starting pressure from 4 to 6). It's very comfortable--doesn't seem like extreme pressure--and it's easy for me to fall asleep.

In the morning I'm always startled because it feels like the machine isn't on anymore. It's hard to believe that I'm just acclimating to it that much overnight. The difference between bedtime and morning is so extreme that I actually told my DME that it wasn't working and exchanged it for another unit. (Oops - My bad)

Is this normal or is a sign that maybe I'm leaking so much and just don't know it, so I don't feel any pressure because there there really isn't much? I play around with the mask in the morning to see if it's a bad seal, but the seal is fine.

It feels like the CPAP ran out of gas overnight--like I need to feed a few more quarters into it.

I've ordered a data-capable machine and should receive it tomorrow, so I'll be able to look at my reports and see if I'm sabotaging myself somehow overnight.

I don't use the ramp feature. I don't feel any difference in terms of pressure between when I go to bed and when I wake up, but I do notice one thing. When I first put on the unit at night I distinctly hear my breath cycling in and out and the machine cranking up and down when the Cflex kicks in (to me it's kind of a "spinning" sound, faster, then slower). If I awake in the middle of the night my brain no longer makes that distinction--it seems almost silent. Unless it's really true that the sounds alter as everything warms up.

My first few days on cpap, I pulled my mask away because I thought the air was "clogged" and not getting through. Of course, I have a nasal mask and nearly blew my eyes out!

desert rider wrote:I'm still new at this (tonight makes 14 nights).

One thing that really surprises me is the differences in sensation when I go to bed compared to when I wake up.

It's hard to believe that I'm just acclimating to it that much overnight.

I've ordered a data-capable machine and should receive it tomorrow, so I'll be able to look at my reports and see if I'm sabotaging myself somehow overnight.

..or it could be that YOU are acclimating to cpap....that fast.
If you don't have leak problems.....run with it.....
...enjoy.....sleep....
..be well....

I enjoy the weekends so much....to wake up and just lay there and feel the
security of my mask and feel my body and that machine breathing as one.
It is a feeling..sensation that can not be explained......you have to live it.

I experienced the same disbelief in the morning (as Desert Rider states). You can lift the cover and look at the display in the morning, and it will tell you what the pressure is running at. I wake up and it doesn't feel so extreme! My pressure level is 16cm. I too upped my beginning ramp- I was given the machine set at 6cm starting pressure- and I increased it to 7, just because it started to feel a little constricting.

Glad you're feeling better. Just like to say though that most of us seem to not bother at all with the ramp after a short time, and I think most also are not trying to manage on a pressure of 6, which would definitely suffocate me. Just a thought for you .

Wow Desertrider, I have the same feeling. When I go to bed, I can definitely tell the air is blowing and I can feel the pressure on the mask on my face. But in the morning, it feels kind of slack against my face -- like all of the force has gone out of the machine. But when I wiggle my mask, there's definitely suction and air blowing. I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who has experienced this. I'll be curious to see what the data read out is when I pull some reports.

desert rider wrote:In the morning I'm always startled because it feels like the machine isn't on anymore. It's hard to believe that I'm just acclimating to it that much overnight. The difference between bedtime and morning is so extreme that I actually told my DME that it wasn't working and exchanged it for another unit.

Hi,

I am glad that you are getting a data capable machine. Now that you are getting settled in, this would be a good time to be looking at AHI numbers.

Here is a small experiment you can try. Start your machine with just the hose connected, and feel the air coming out of the hose and notice the sound. Now, when you wake up, disconnect the hose from your mask, and do the same thing--feel the air coming out and notice the sound. I think that you will find that they are about the same in both cases, and you really have gotten use to the airflow.

I am on a fairly high pressure, and found that it was noticeably harder to breathe when I first started and used a full face mask. I later switched to a nasal pillow mask. Using this new mask, I don't feel the air pressure at all. For me, I have no sensation of air pressure when breathing through my nose. I had the same question that you did...is this thing actually working? All I had to do was open my mouth to answer that question, and a tornado of air came out. Yes, it was working.

-john-

Thanks everyone. Sometimes you have to ask the "is it just me?" questions.

carbonman wrote:..or it could be that YOU are acclimating to cpap....that fast.

It's ironic that acclimating to something feels strange.

It still surprises me if I happen to lift the mask from my face when it is in full force. That all that air is blowing in that mask and it doesn't bother me a bit. But that is the whole point of it, isn't it! I found that if I don't use the ramp I have more problems with aerophagia.

I have done the same thing. "Is the machine on?" Yep!

YawnGirl wrote:My first few days on cpap, I pulled my mask away because I thought the air was "clogged" and not getting through. Of course, I have a nasal mask and nearly blew my eyes out!

YawnGirl, you had me rolling with that one. I have totally done that! LOL.

Listen to Carbonman. He is the shaman of this board.

I've been convinced that the machine was off (or even that I had taken the mask off) upon waking. My face sometimes completely acclimates to the pressure and I feel nothing. A quick check of the mask and a gentle pull to lift it away from my face, followed by the woosh of air, let me know that all is well.

desert rider wrote:In the morning I'm always startled because it feels like the machine isn't on anymore. It's hard to believe that I'm just acclimating to it that much overnight. The difference between bedtime and morning is so extreme that I actually told my DME that it wasn't working and exchanged it for another unit. (Oops - My bad)

LOL. Totally normal. I still find myself sticking my hand up to the exhaust vents in the morning "just to check" now and then. After a couple of years a pressure of 14 doesn't feel that high at the beginning of the night either but that morning feeling that the machine wasn't on started at the very beginning. Kind of amazing, really.