first night, hard to get used to cpap

HI all,

I brought home my cpap machine last night. It is the mask style (over nose and mouth). My wife said I didn't snore, and other than my being restless, she thought I slept well. I felt like I spent the whole night moving my mask to stop leaks, and stopping the farting noises that come from between the seal and my face on occasion. I did wake up about 45 minutes earlier than normal, either because I was wanted to stop struggling with the mask, or I got a better sleep.

Is this normal? Will I get used to the mask? Thanks.

It's normal...It's only been 1 night....Washing your face to remove facial oils may help the face farts. Also, clean your mask with baby wipes after use...also to remove face oils. Also, there are mask liners available if all else fails. Please fill in your mask and machine in your profile.

blakesq wrote:HI all,

I brought home my cpap machine last night. It is the mask style (over nose and mouth). My wife said I didn't snore, and other than my being restless, she thought I slept well. I felt like I spent the whole night moving my mask to stop leaks, and stopping the farting noises that come from between the seal and my face on occasion. I did wake up about 45 minutes earlier than normal, either because I was wanted to stop struggling with the mask, or I got a better sleep.

Is this normal? Will I get used to the mask? Thanks.

Sounds like you're actually doing better than most. Based on what I've read, my hunch is that the majority of first time users don't get any sleep the first night. Keep up the good work.

I averaged an hour of sleep a night for the first 10 days, so to me it looks like you're doing fantastic.

You will get some great replies. Please read previous posts and you will find a treasure of articles about masks.

blakesq wrote:HI all,

I brought home my cpap machine last night. It is the mask style (over nose and mouth). My wife said I didn't snore, and other than my being restless, she thought I slept well. I felt like I spent the whole night moving my mask to stop leaks, and stopping the farting noises that come from between the seal and my face on occasion. I did wake up about 45 minutes earlier than normal, either because I was wanted to stop struggling with the mask, or I got a better sleep.

Is this normal? Will I get used to the mask? Thanks.

check out padacheek.com to tame those annoying farting noises and other leak noises.

Thanks for the support all. Its been about 10 days now, and I have been sleeping better. However, I cannot seem to sleep on my stomach or side, without making the mask leak and blow over my eyes. So, I feel a little like a prisoner, having to sleep on my back. Maybe this is something I will get used too. Oh, and I updated my profile to show my equipment. I don't know what the software is though.

Ignore the software selection choice in the menu. That is really something leftover from back in the old days when we could buy the software to view our own reports. Those old versions are sorely out of date now and we don't buy the software anymore as there are free sources. Check out my signature line for information of software options.
You can use SleepyHead (has both Windows and Mac versions available) or you can use ResScan but it is Windows only software....or you can use both and decide which you like the best.
Here's a little video tutorial showing ResScan
http://montfordhouse.com/cpap/resscan_tutorial/ Tutorial

You might look into one of those cpap pillows that have the cut outs on the side so that the mask can rest in the cut out area and not have pressure on it so you can sleep on your side or stomach. It can be done but takes a bit of fiddling to find a spot where the pressure of the bed pillow isn't pushing on the mask so much as to make it leak.
If you want to try one of those cpap pillows with the cut outs...I suggest going to walmart and getting a cheap memory foam pillow and cutting out the sides and see how it works before spending big bucks on something you might not like.

I use a buckwheat hull pillow and sleep on my side and stomach all the time. I just move the hulls a little to make a nest for the mask to rest it so it doesn't have pressure on it. Now I do use a nasal pillow mask which is smaller and much less real estate to deal with but people using full face masks also use buckwheat hull pillows or the cpap cut out pillows with good success. Just have to figure out which one suits your needs the best.

There's also a water based pillow (google Chiroflow or MediFlow) to get an idea as to what those are like.

There's no reason that you can't sleep on your side or stomach if that is what you prefer with your mask but it will take some work to find the right pillow that suits you that doesn't put pressure on the mask and cause it to dislodge and leak.

I wanted to add to what palerider said. I wear a full face mask and Padacheek mask liners have made a huge difference in both comfort and leak issues. I also recommend buying more than one because they need to be washed every couple days (machine wash is fine) and you won't want to be without one.

You want to get the mask liners.. They solve the leak problems.. and they also help to stop the marks
on your face. The other maskliner you could try is the Rem ZZZZ's. They are available on cpap.com.

With the maskliners I am able to use about any mask. They make that much difference.


I wish you well...

blakesq wrote:I cannot seem to sleep on my stomach or side, without making the mask leak and blow over my eyes. So, I feel a little like a prisoner, having to sleep on my back.

It's very important to figure out a way of making your favorite pre-CPAP sleeping positions work in some fashion now that you are wearing a CPAP mask.

For stomach sleeping, you might want to try the so-called "Falcon sleeping position". (See http://www.uarsrelief.com/sleeppositions.html for a lot of detailed information.) Here are pictures of what the Falcon sleeping position looks like when one is wearing a CPAP mask:

One thing that I find helps with the face farts if they happen in the middle of the night is to adjust the mask and make it a little bit tighter on my face and that seems to solve the problem. I generally adjust my mask every couple of days to help it fit better sometimes relaxing the fit and others making it tighter.

Hi there! Welcome to the club. I'm pretty new to this as well. My tip for stomach sleeping is to use a towel along with pillows, folded in a a way that supports the mask (I use a nasal pillow) without knocking anything out of place.

In the beginning, it was recommended that I avoid back sleeping to help adjust to the process. That was great advice, since the supine position gave me the distinct feeling I was choking with the mask and machine on.

The whole thing took several weeks for me to adjust to - you are way ahead of the game! Good luck.

Eve

Thanks to everyone for the support and suggestions!

well its been 2 days shy of a month, and while I don't love sleeping with the mask, it is tolerable. If I sleep on my back, I am generally ok, but when I go to the side or stomach, I invariably cause a loud leaking with the mask, so I have to try to adjust the mask and my body to get the leaking to stop. I am waiting to get my padacheek mask liner to see if that helps--should have it tomorrow.

One thing that worries me is, I do not feel great. I thought once I started getting good sleep, I would be full of energy, happy, back to my college weight (about 80 lbs lighter), and riding a pink unicorn.

When will the benefits start? Or have they been so gradual that I don't notice I am feeling better? My wife says my apnea and snoring has stopped, but that I do get restless while wrestling with my mask.

Once you get the mask leaks resolved and your sleep is consistently less fractured, it's likely you'll see more results. As a side sleeper, I find a few things helpful in not dislodging the mask.
- A very firm flat pillow that dies not allow the face to sink into the pillow
- Sleeping on the edge of a firm pillow allowing the mask to hang over so it doesn't get pushed
- My hand under the side of my face which raises the mask off the pillow a bit

Some masks can benefit from adding an extra strap for stabilization. I've used scarves, sports sweatbands, headbands, even the legs of old tights. If you do attempt to add a strap for support, be very careful to secure it in a way that it cannot slip and block the exhalation vents.