annieca wrote:
The op is, according to many studies, in the majority of people; more people abandon cpap than stick with it.
And most of the ones who quit never find a support group. And they don't get proper support from their DME or sleep doc when they hit troubles during the adjustment period. And they're typically stuck with a machine that records no efficacy data, so neither the sleep doc nor the DME has any real idea of whether the person is leaking like a sieve all night or whether the person's pressure is too low to properly prevent the obstructive events or whether the person is in the unlucky 15% of PAPers who develop pressure-induced central apneas and is now experiencing enough CAs to indicate that an ASV machine might be called for.
I don't understand why I can't adjust. I don't understand why I rip off my mask while I'm unconscious.
It's the truth.
Why would anyone lie about that?
It's infuriating. I can leave it on for, at most, 2-3 hours.
I'd encourage you to start your own thread.
But for now, I'll write this:
1) Can you tell us what machine you are using? And if it is a machine that records efficacy data, have you had a chance to look at the data? Has the DME or sleep doc looked at any of the data beyond how many hours you are using the machine?
2) What mask are you using?
3) You say you rip your mask off while you are unconscious. Does that mean that you can get to sleep at the start of the night with the mask on? And then you wake up several hours later with the mask off and with no memory of taking it off? Or are you having trouble at the beginning of the night as well?
We're not responsible for what we do in our sleep. But we are responsible for what we do when we are awake.
If you are able to get to sleep at the beginning of the night with the mask on, then the question you need to grapple with is:
What should I do when I wake up and the mask is off?
And my advice on that is to put the mask back on and go back to sleep. And NOT worry (at all!) about why you took the mask off in your sleep. Just calmly put the mask back on your nose and settle back into bed and try to get back to sleep as best you can.
If you are consciously putting the mask back on whenever you find you've taken it off in your sleep before you turn over to try to get back to sleep, then eventually your brain will sort it out and you'll probably quit taking it off in your sleep.
But if you start worrying excessively about it every time you wake up with the mask off OR if you
consciously allow yourself to just go back to sleep without putting the mask back on, then you'll probably continue ripping it off in your sleep.
