Acclimatization

Hello. I just received my first CPAP machine five days ago. I have read through a lot of these postings and they have answered most of my questions. There is one question I wanted to throw out there to see people's opinions. I have tried using my nasal pillow with the humidifier four nights in a row now. I go to bed at my regular time. After about 2-3 hours of laying there unable to relax I eventually have to take off the mask. I then fall asleep with twenty minutes. Keep in mind, it is horrible sleep. At my test, the doctor said I had 78 events in just one hour. My question is this: how do I acclimate myself to the mask as quickly as possible? Is continuing to use it for a few hours a night acclimating me or do I need to simply refuse to lay in bed without in on even if that means getting no sleep at all for a night?

My biggest problem I think is that I cannot relax with the thing on my face. I am just unsure of whether depriving my self of sleep for an entire night and keeping the thing on will move me along faster. I found a few threads on this topic, but it seemed like different people had different answers. I am not looking to be 100% with this on my first week, but I do need to get to the point where I can at least fall asleep with the nasal pillow on. I am sure this goes without saying, but it is EXTREMELY frustrating when I am going through this at 2:00 a.m. and I do not know if I am doing the right thing now or if I need to power through it.

Any advice or information on how anyone else acclimated to this would be appreciated. Thanks.

many beginners are told to put the mask (only) on during daytimes to get used to it.

Watch TV while wearing the mask

Hi,
I am a fellow newbie, three weeks of it tomorrow. I tried wearing it during the day and it seemed to help a bit. I also take a prescription trazadone about an hour before bed time.
I have found it kinda tough to get used to also, some nights being better then others. Whats helps it that i try to think of the mask as more of a security blanket than an uncomfortable hindrance.
There is a lot to get used to, a buddy at work has been on CPAP for over 15 years but said it took 3 years to really get used to it.
Anyway, Good Luck and Hang in There

GeorgeCleveland wrote:Any advice or information on how anyone else acclimated to this would be appreciated.

George,
sleep as long as you can with the mask on if you wake up and it bothers you take it off and go back to sleep. If/when you get up to use the bathroom put the mask back on when returning to bed and repeat.

Keep a journal in a notebook. Track things like how long you slept with it (from the software), any problems or things you need to fix before bed, and things that improved for you.

By tracking these things you can see your improvement as time goes on.

Also write in the notebook things like the make & model of your cpap, your mask make & model , your pressure, and expected leak rate for your mask at your pressure. These are things you should have memorized.

You can also track your AHI, leak rate, etc. Certainly write down your machine settings before you make any changes and then what was changed, why, and the results.

GeorgeCleveland,

Welcome to the forum. As someone who wound up with a nasty case of CPAP-induced insomnia when I was starting out 6 years ago, I understand what you are going through.

Some ideas that may help:

1) Give yourself about 20-30 minutes to fall asleep with the mask at the beginning of the night. If you are not yet asleep at the end of what you think is about 30 minutes, get up and leave the bedroom for at least 10-20 minutes. You want to give yourself a small break from the machine and you want to give your brain a chance to relax and get sleepy again. So when you are out of bed, do something that is relaxing for you and that will encourage you to start feeling sleepy again. Once you are feeling sleepy again, go back to the bedroom and put the mask back on and try again. Repeat as long as you can stand getting out of bed when you are not yet asleep after 30 minutes or so in bed.

2) Get all the CPAP stuff put together well before bedtime. This will let you just pull the mask on when you go to bed. I had to put everything together around supper time so that putting the CPAP stuff together didn't key me up.

3) Don't go to bed until you are actually feeling super sleepy---as in you can't keep your eyes open sleepy. Learn the difference between feeling tired and feeling sleepy and make sure you are sleepy when you go to bed.

4) If you are willing to take a prescription sleeping pill for a couple of weeks, contact your sleep doc's office and see if the doc is willing to prescribe a short term sleep aid. It really helps some people get over the initial hump of learning how to sleep with the machine on their face.

5) If you choose to try to acclimate yourself by wearing the mask while awake, I would suggest doing several hours before bedtime rather than just before you go to bed.

6) Figure out a way to sleep in your preferred position with the mask on your face. As long as you are trying to force yourself to sleep in a position that is not natural for you, your brain may fight going to sleep.

robysue wrote:... 6) Figure out a way to sleep in your preferred position with the mask on your face. ...

My solution to this problem was the acquisition of a buckwheat hull pillow. For side sleeping, it is easy to form a depression to accommodate my nasal pillow. Good luck, Earl

I have used a buckwheat hull pillow to keep my on my side. So it can be used to help a person stay off their back.
I used it because regular pillows behind my back would slide right out from under me.
So the weight of the buckwheat hulls can be an advantage if someone is trying to "build a wall" to prevent rolling over onto one's back. If someone wants to use it that way....it needs to be over filled and not less filled like we use for a head pillow where we move the hulls around to make a little "nest" for the mask.

When you get your buckwheat pillow it will be over stuffed and you will have instructions to remove some of the hulls to make it more to your liking. Save those hulls just in case you ever want to try using the pillow as a back stop....and a little plastic bag will be included so you can save those extra hulls.

I no longer worry about staying on my side so I just use the buckwheat hull pillow as a normal "head" pillow and each night I just make a little "nest" for my mask to rest in so that the pillow doesn't put extra pressure on the mask.

GeorgeCleveland wrote:I cannot relax

What's the most pleasant and relaxing activity you enjoy? When you lie down, think of that. Don't think about the mask, the machine or the need to fall asleep.

Here is a checklist of other items for relaxation/sleep:

- Practice good sleep hygiene (Google it and read several sources)
- Eat a good diet
- Have a regular, moderate exercise program
- Try to avoid daytime naps
- Practice total abstinence of caffeine including sources like chocolate (sigh)
- Review all medicines, vitamins and supplements you are taking to make sure none are interfering with sleep
- Use the bedroom for sleeping (and sex) only, and make sure the bedroom and bed are comfortable.
- Learn to appropriately handle emotional stress in your life
- Do not listen to your breathing or the sound of the machine as you are falling asleep.
- Distract your mind by thinking of a pleasant, relaxing activity that you enjoy. Thinking of sitting under an umbrella on a quiet beach with a warm gentle breeze works for me.
- Use CPAP software, such as the free SleepyHead, to make sure your therapy is optimized
- If you still don't feel or sleep well, make sure you have regular medical checkups to confirm there are no other medical problems

CG