having difficulty getting used to and using cpap

This is Bellalin, I set up my machine information as suggested and included more information but made a mistake and posted as guest....another learning curve for me. Thank you for responding to my initial post.

I have severe apnea and hypountilation (not sure what that is, my doctor wrote it out), bottom line per my doctor, I stop breathing without the machine 47 times an hour and with the machine it is only 4 times an hour. But I am having trouble adjusting and having severe anxiety even with the minimal headgear and nasal pillows. As of last week, I have had the cpap for 90 days and with the exception of a try here and there for the first 60 days did not use it as I should have, I allowed my fear and anxiety to get the best of me and kept avoiding it and avoided dealing with it. I would try it out and then choke up pulling the mask off feeling like I could not breath. I had never experienced claustophobia in small places but when I put the mask on my throat and chest tightens and I feel like cant breath. Actually the thought of using the machine makes my chest tighten. I have some back and neck issues and on occasion have gone for a massage, I noticed on the couple occasions when I was relaxed from the massage it was easier for me to talk my way through not pulling the mask off the second I could not get a good breath. But I still could not keep it on for more than a few hours at a time. At the time I was using a small mask just over my nose and mouth with minimal headgear, even minimal is too much.

I also have allergies and sinus issues and had a sinus infection. That made it more difficult to breath and use the cpap. I tried but only used it for a few hours at a time never sleeping just forcing myself to keep the machine on trying to last a half hour or an hour longer than the time before. I also had a bit of difficulty with the machine and the settings and noticed that the water would not go down even after one night of using it for almost 6 hours. After a visit to my doctor last month, almost 60 days in, I called the company where I got the machine. The humidifier was set to manual so it was not being used. The man who came was wonderful and he explained the machine and all the features to me and my husband. We also tried all the masks that I was given (3), one of them was the pillows and I decided to give that a try. I like the pillows much better than the nasal. The machine was set to ramp after 20 minutes, I felt that was too long, we changed it to 5 minutes and since then I removed the ramp up time. It is set auto cpap 8 to 16. The technician also suggested I read or watch tv to get used to wearing it. We brought it downstairs for few nights and I wore it while relaxing with my husband the couch watching tv ( we don't have a tv in our bedroom) and I actually fell asleep. We then brought it upstairs and I slept with it for most of the night.

I did not feel any different in the morning, but one full night I am sure will not do it. My mother in law has been using a CPAP for years she loves hers, will not travel without it says she gets a great sleep every night and is up and refreshed in the morning and loves it. She also, like my husband falls asleep the second her head hits the pillow. Not so much for me. I need to relax, read and get sleepy to fall asleep or be exhausted and even then it does not come that easy, unless I am relaxing on the couch with my husband then more often than not I will doze if I am tired. But my anxiety gets the best of me. I have difficulty breathing through my nose and catching my breath, once I get a breath I am okay but everything distracts me, air comes out sometimes on the sides and the headgear rides up close to my eyes, and the hose tugs the mask away from my face if I am not holding it. And if my nose is stuffed and it is often I don't want to use the machine or I use it as an excuse to take it off. And it all causes my anxiety level to increase and that affects the tightness in my chest and my breathing, a vicious cycle! I do not consider myself someone who makes a lot of excuses but I feel like that is all I am doing because I don't want to use the machine. BUT I know that I need to. I stop breathing a lot during the night and that is not good. I have leg cramps and other issues because I know that my body is not getting the oxygen it needs and I need to woman up and do this. I have been blessed with a wonderful doctor and he led me here, three weeks ago and I am just logging on today! I thought I could tough it out on my own. I have failed miserably and the day before yesterday I got a message from the insurance company that they are denying the machine and will be sending me a letter and will notify my doctor. My doctor told me that this is not a machine I need because of snoring its not about that for me, it is about my breathing and that I stop breathing too many times without it, it is not a choice. So I go back to the doctor on Tuesday and I await the letter from the insurance company and I pray that they will give me a second chance and moreso that I can get past my fears and find a way to use the machine every night without this overwhelming anxiety. Thank you for being here and providing this forum, I am grateful and appreciative for any suggestions that you may have.

I have a ResMed S9 Series

Your machine choice isn't showing up in your profile. Some of the links to machines no longer sold by cpap.com are broken. You may need to add it to your comments section in your profile.

Which model name exactly do you see on the blower up by the on/off button?

Don't worry about mentioning the software in the comments section or choosing the software choice from the menu at this time.
The menu choice points to old software that cpap.com used to sell and those links are broken anyway.

If you have a ResMed S9 machine then the software we are referring to is the software used to evaluate the therapy and you can use SleepyHead or ResScan.

I have a ResMed S9 series

There's a large number of various named models in the S9 series so that doesn't really tell us much.
I see that you have added the S9 Autoset to your profile. "AutoSet" is the model name. It is a full efficacy data machine and you can use either Sleepyhead or ResScan to monitor your therapy.

I had serious claustrophobia problems with a nasal mask, and switching to a full face mask reduced my claustrophobia greatly. I found this counterintuitive... I thought, less is better, less stuff making me feel trapped. But it turns out having something so close to my nose and having to keep my mouth shut was much worse, and that the full face mask feels "roomy."

Could you try out a full face mask at your DME? (Durable medical equipment provider.) Not to buy, just see how it feels?

As for anxiety... an anti-anxiety medication might help.

I urge you to persist in finding what is comfortable. You can't sleep if you're not comfortable. It sounds like watching TV with it on helped you, and relaxation from massage helped you. So repeat what helps. You might try learning some meditation exercises to calm your mind and body before bed, when you can't get a massage. Yoga is good for relaxation too.

Just keep at it. Persistence is key.

I think the doctor's handwriting was meant to read "hypoventilation".

I had serious claustrophobia problems with a nasal mask, and switching to a full face mask reduced my claustrophobia greatly. I found this counterintuitive... I thought, less is better, less stuff making me feel trapped. But it turns out having something so close to my nose and having to keep my mouth shut was much worse, and that the full face mask feels "roomy."

Very interesting snuginarug. I have the exact reverse sensations. None of the full face masks I tried felt roomy to me and seemed extremely confining. The only one that didn't was the Fit Life but I could never control the leaks no matter what I did with the large size. And the small size was too small.

Now I do remember experiencing what you did when I tried on a regular nasal mask after starting pap therapy. But I now realize it was because my minimum pressure was set too low.

It just goes to show how different we all are.

49er

I am edified by the encouragement I have received since visiting this site, grateful that my doctor recommended it and reminded that my procrastination and fears are my worst enemy.

Thank you for the suggestions and encouragement. I have three masks one is the pillows, the other a nasal and one is the full face. I started out with the nasal and it was too restrictive, for me and I have tried the full mask and felt so confined I could not get it off fast enough. I don't like the pillows because I just don't like anything on my face but I am learning to tolerate them. I have been reading some of the posts and the responses and in doing so am learning more about OSA and how it is affecting me and the consequences of not taking this diagnosis seriously. I was diagnosed with diabetes in December and was initially in denial about that too until I learned more and gratefully have lost some weight, made some lifestyle changes and have been managing it well bringing g my numbers down and keeping them down. Coming to this site was the jump start I needed with the cpap to "just use it". I know my allergies and stuffy nose plays a role in my hard time breathing so I have been more diligent with the Flonase which I hate but which helps. I was determined last night in large part because of the encouragement and enlightenment that I have received here to use my machine. My husband is wonderfully supportive and helped me relax with a massage and then I read for a bit on my iPad with the mask on to get comfortable and until I was sleepy. I woke up several times and a couple of times my mouth was very dry, but I fought the urge to take off the mask and returned to sleep. I used the machine for 5.7 hours, the contact was good no leaks and I had an AHI of 2.2 which I googled this morning to learn what it meant. I have no choice I have to do this and I will. I also took two alleve before bed which helps my other aches and pains and is the most I am comfortable with. My doctor offered something g to help me sleep but I don't like swallowing pills and how they make me feel, it's bad enough taking the singular and pills for the diabeties, so I take alleve when I feel I need it. Consistency is not my strong suit and so that is what I need to work on, I did it last night. Now I have to do it again tonight and the next and the next. But my procrastination in dealing with this has caused me to be non compliant with my insurance company's mandate of using the machine for 30 days and it has been denied. They have been very difficult through this whole process taking almost 2 years to approve the sleep study. Initially denying it then allowing a home sleep study then when my pcp sent me to a specialist they approved the home study and after the results he sent me for oxygen tests and fought to get an in lab sleep study that they after letters back and forth finally approved that then took on another set of delays to get the approval for the machine. And then there is me and my issues with acceptance of the diagnosis, reality of having to do this and getting used to the machine and so I have wasted all this time and now I finally realize that I need this and have no choice but to do it and they will be taking it away because I have not been compliant in their time frame. So I have had the machine for 90 days with an average of 3 hours use per night over the last 30. I see my doctor tomorrow and will ask him what options I have. I am certain I cannot afford to purchase a machine outright I am also certain that my insurance company will not be understanding, helpful or willing to give me a second chance to go another month and show them my compliance. But I am hoping the doctor can help with this. It is my own fault for taking so long to get in the game.
Thank you so much for your encouragement and guidance. It is helping me to hold myself accountable for my health, recognize the consequences if I don't and that encourages me to try and get the insurance company to let me use and keep the machine for at least another 30 days to show them a much better compliance. All of my issues are not going to miraculously go away but now I am earnestly working on them.

Keeping the mask on for 5.7 hours is excellent!

It's good you have all three types of masks so you can choose the best for your own comfort. Most of us did not have that opportunity, so that's one thing going for you.

Another is that you've found two things that help, relaxing with the mask on while awake and getting massage.

It's not easy getting used to wearing a mask, but you can do it. It sounds like you have the motivation needed, now that you understand the health consequences of not complying with therapy. As getting oxygen to every part of your body consistently through the night benefits every single system in the body, I wouldn't be surprised if your diabetes improved with CPAP use. CPAP also makes losing weight easier for a good number of people. Being tired makes you crave carbs, among other things.

I hope you can get this worked out with your insurance company. Usually companies aren't too too terrible because they know it helps many conditions improve and prevents other conditions from developing. So it's weird yours is being so recalcitrant. Keep banging away at them.

Good luck!

I found the big knowledge gap was in how to treat congestion and get away from mouth breathing and full face masks. Lots of nasal rinsing plus steroids and now I use a tiny pillow mask and sleep like a baby. Much less stress - I sleep 8 hrs at sub 2 AHI.

Three hours a night doesn't make the compliance requirement.
Do whatever you have to do to get the number up past 4 hours.
Work on sleep hygiene so that you don't do counter productive stuff before bed time.
Go to bed at about the same time each night.
No late night snacks.

Your night with 5.7 hours was great!!
Keep on trying to get to that goal and things will get better.

Anybody having trouble getting used to or using their CPAP all night, that's exactly what happened to me years ago. I totally solved that problem using aromatics and developed the Pur-Sleep products for CPAP.

I am happy to send anybody who contacts me (PM) with a mailing address a free sample. I really enjoy helping out fellow CPAP patients as much as I can.

The product has overwhelmingly positive feedback with many thousands of happy patients.

Here's a little YouTube video explaining how and why it works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_7qgoF ... zje3Thhbgf

Bret aka Sleepguy