Say hello to the noob

So tonight is the night, just picked up the loaner CPAP. I am supposed to use it for a month to be sure it is the right model then they give me the permanent one. I'm married with grown kids who have been supportive so far. If references to Darth Vader and Bane is considered "support"

Like many, my fear is getting used to the mask. I travel for business, and have a lake house so getting used to transporting my new toy will be important.

Many friends are experienced users so I have people to ask questions to. I have been reading posts here and all over the web - kind of like drinking from the fire hose.

Wish me luck on night number one.

Cheers!

Welcome.
I agree about the fire hose.
It can be a bit overwhelming.

GL, I prefer to state I am engaging into fighter pilot mode. Bada$$

The key to this will be approach.

May I offer something of possible use?

When you use PAP for the first time, you may find some outright resistance to your sleep time with the mask on.

Many have found success in the following approach.

As you use it at night, let the mask fall of (if it does) and sleep off.

Repeat night after night until you find yourself getting more sleep.

Make it gradual.

For some, this approach simply makes it all worth it.

Staying up all night putting the mask back on and trying again won't give you better sleep, just a bad experience.

Take a gradual approach and reap good sleep.

Hoping this will help.

CanadaVoice wrote:The key to this will be approach.

May I offer something of possible use?

When you use PAP for the first time, you may find some outright resistance to your sleep time with the mask on.

Many have found success in the following approach.

As you use it at night, let the mask fall of (if it does) and sleep off.

Repeat night after night until you find yourself getting more sleep.

Make it gradual.

For some, this approach simply makes it all worth it.

Staying up all night putting the mask back on and trying again won't give you better sleep, just a bad experience.

Take a gradual approach and reap good sleep.

Hoping this will help.

I completely DISAGREE. If you realize that you have taken the mask off during the night...put it back on. If this is a continual problem use tape or a chin strap to hold the mask on.. Use the mask while you watch tv at night so your face gets use to it.

CanadaVoice wrote:The key to this will be approach.

May I offer something of possible use?

When you use PAP for the first time, you may find some outright resistance to your sleep time with the mask on.

Many have found success in the following approach.

As you use it at night, let the mask fall of (if it does) and sleep off.

Repeat night after night until you find yourself getting more sleep.

Make it gradual.

For some, this approach simply makes it all worth it.

Staying up all night putting the mask back on and trying again won't give you better sleep, just a bad experience.

Take a gradual approach and reap good sleep.

Hoping this will help.

I too would have to disagree with this idea. ANY time you're sleeping and not using therapy you're hurting yourself. If you know that you've taken the mask off going right back to sleep is training yourself to not do what you need to do. Using the ever popular diabetes example...If you know your blood sugar is to low (or to high) do you ignore the problem? NO you treat it. Same with sleeping with a mask. If the mask is off and you're sleeping, PUT IT ON. If you're feeling uncomfortable wearing it, watch some TV at night with it on to get acclimatized to your therapy.

If this method worked for you, great! I wouldn't suggest other people try it though.

-Bill

Canada Voice (who answered the OP) is new to this site and claims to be a technician. However, his method of getting used to a mask is absolutely not what experienced, knowledgable people here have been recommending for years and I suggest you ignore it.

In addition to LSAT's comments above (if you know you've taken it off, put it back on *smile*), couple of things that helped me in my first week on cpap was to use Ambien and earplugs *smile*. The Ambien put me right out, cpap equipment went along for the ride *smile*, and the earplugs cut out a lot of the machine sound. I'm a light sleeper, and got virtually no sleep my first night with cpap, so my sleep doctor prescribed the Ambien. Stopped using it after about a week, and found that my body had gotten used to sleeping with cpap at that point. Still sleep with earplugs, though, they've been helpful all along.

The Ambien really helped me. You have a good attitude, so I think that it won't be too long before you're doing fine with it all. The first few days can be a bit difficult for some people, though, especially us light sleepers *smile*.

I'll chime in with my support for what LSAT says.

I too think that if you wake up in the middle of the night and realize the mask is OFF, you need to put the mask back ON before going back to sleep. But I'll also add that the middle of the night is a bad time for trying to figure out when or why you took your mask off. Just put the mask back on and then go back to sleep.

If you wake up in the middle of the night and you feel like you just absolutely can't tolerate having the mask on your nose one minute longer, my advice is to take the mask off and get out of bed and go into a different room. Do something else until you've settled yourself down and are feeling sleepy enough to go back to bed and put the mask back on your nose. Sometimes something as simple as getting up and going to the bathroom (even if you don't need to) and getting a drink of water or reading a few pages or a book or working a crossword puzzle is enough of a break to make it easier to put the mask back on before going back to sleep.

So, I did indeed pull the mask off last night and when I woke up to find it off I got up and went to the bathroom and forced myself to try again. I'm 52 and just taught myself to swallow a pill this year (never needed many meds before, I can chew Tylenol but that is a different story), so why not this?

The mask does not bother me as much as the sensation of the airflow, so watching TV with the mask on won't help in my opinion. I mean, how am I supposed to know if my wife is putting a pillow over my face?

Allowing myself to change routines and following the rules as I travel will be the next challenge.

I will continue to read and learn as I go along.

Using it while watching tv will get you used to the airflow as well, not just the mask.

Also, are you using exhalation relief? This reduces the pressure when you breathe out and many people consider that to be more comfortable. By default this is considered a "comfort feature" and can be adjusted by the cpaper without going into the clinician's menu or anything. The settings are 1, 2, or 3 with 3 being the most exhalation relief.

yaconsult wrote:Using it while watching tv will get you used to the airflow as well, not just the mask.

Also, are you using exhalation relief? This reduces the pressure when you breathe out and many people consider that to be more comfortable. By default this is considered a "comfort feature" and can be adjusted by the cpaper without going into the clinician's menu or anything. The settings are 1, 2, or 3 with 3 being the most exhalation relief.

Good question. I will have to revisit the settings. Thanks for the suggestion.

**edited** Looks like ERP is set to 3 cmH2O

Outlander wrote:Like many, my fear is getting used to the mask. I travel for business, and have a lake house so getting used to transporting my new toy will be important.

Welcome!

This forum has been a hugely important piece of my successful use of CPAP. At least in the US, the TSA and airlines are pretty familiar with CPAP machines. In the US, you used to have to remove the CPAP machine from its bag to send it through the security X-ray scanner. You no longer have to do this. I believe all North American airlines allow the CPAP machine in its own bag to be exempt from the carry-on bag limits.

I'm curious to know if you need a full-face mask, or if that was just the mask suggested for you? I started with a nasal mask during the sleep study, and as I didn't really do much mouth breathing, switched to a nasal pillow mask. It is so much smaller and lighter, with less surface area to leak, that even if I did a little mouth breathing, I think something like the Airfit P-10 mask with a chin strap would be more comfortable and take up less room in your CPAP gear for traveling.

https://www.cpap.com/productpage/resmed ... dgear.html

With maybe something like this if you need it:

https://www.cpap.com/productpage/breath ... strap.html

Some folks have been able to train themselves to keep their mouth shut and only breath through their noses. I find that CPAP actually helps me to breath through my nose, and I don't have the need to breath through my mouth as I sometimes did before therapy.

Good Luck!

John

Welcome! It sounds like you are off to a good start with some good support. The folks here are great and will really help you work out the early wrinkles.

You have some good advice about getting used to things. I say do whatever works for you as long you are increasing the time you are on therapy. You will find that with almost "everything" xPap that there is rarily universal agreement. It's a very individualized process in most aspects. Many say the clincal is the science, using it is an art.

Once you get comfortable with using the equipment, self-monitoring the therapy with software like Sleepyhead will really allow you to adjust to feel the best and get the best advice from the folks here. However, take it one step at a time unless you are one of those folks that is all about the details right from the start. Again, the important first step is getting used to things and being able to use therapy all times you sleep.

I think you will find traveling a plus. It's one of the areas I can see a real improvement in how I feel. After starting treatment, I always feel much better away from home than I did before. I also notice that longer drives aren't nearly as fatiguing to me as they used to be. Hopefully, after adjustment, you will feel the same.

Your EPR setting was mentiond in an earlier post. This is "exhale pressure relief" on Resmed machines. It can be set to 1, 2, or 3. It means that your exhale pressure will be lower than your set inhale pressure on each breath by the number selected. For instance, if you are set at 10cm inhale pressure, your exhale pressure will be 9cm with EPR 1, 8cm with EPR 2, and 7cm with EPR 3. Some folks find that exhale pressure relief is really comfortable. Others not so much. You can always change this setting to see what is more comfortable to you. If you find that you like the 3 setting that you are currently using, pressure adjustments may be neccesary to optimize therapy unless EPR was taken into account in your set-up by your medical team.

Wish you much success,

Mike

Thanks for the words of encouragement. Nights 2 & 3 I kept the mask on - progress!

JohnO asks about the full face mask. When I did the sleep study at the hospital I did not like the sensation when opening my mouth and I ended up yanking it off. The tech replaced it with one that covered nose and mouth and Dr told me that when I went to sleep events all but disappeared. I have been trying to consciously not allow myself any mouth-breathing (when conscious enough).

So perhaps that hurdle is jumped. I do have leakage, although the tech told me I could keep the beard I may shave it off to see. I feel like I did not sleep as long last night (more awake lying still time), but the mask stayed on. AHI was way down from night 1 but maybe I did not spend as much time sleeping so events did not occur.

I enjoy technology, and I am determined to feel better so I am fired up to see my results in the morning, and figure out how it mall works. Kind of like watching your stocks go up in value, only I have more control over this. I am using SleepyHead and ResScan just to compare.

Tried the "fighter pilot" reference with Mrs Outlander last night. Not sure she bought it but she did say the machine did not bother her. The Boston Terrior has paid less attention than I thought too.

I remain optimistic.

Thanks folks!