I'm a light sleeper and my boyfriend needs CPAP

by **Kairosgrammy** on Mon Mar 26, 2012 12:59 pm

I doubt that if could sleep at all with his snoring that the cpap noise will bother you. Mine is pretty quiet. But a fan or white noise machine, music might help.

mystiohmy wrote:I'm very much in love with my boyfriend and we are even talking marriage. Over the months we've been together, I noticed he would stop breathing during the night and suggested he be tested for sleep apnea. His tests came back today and he has severe sleep apnea and was told he needs the CPAP machine. I'm so afraid I won't be able to sleep next to him anymore due to the noise the machine makes. I'm such a light sleeper, even sleeping with his snoring etc thus far has been somewhat of a struggle. I realize he needs to use the machine for his health and it's going to be a part of my life now. Possibly forever.

Any advice on sleeping next to a CPAP user if you're a light sleeper? Thank you!

by **NightMonkey** on Mon Mar 26, 2012 11:36 am

DreamLady wrote:
mystiohmy wrote:I'm such a light sleeper

I always thought I was a light sleeper -- until I got on cpap. Now I realize I've probably had apnea most of my adult (or even earlier) life. Used to be if the cat moved or jumped on or off the bed I was instantly wide awake. Now I sleep through summer thunderstorms; the kind that rattle the windows and shake the foundation!

Excellent point!

When I first started reading in the forum one of the oldtimers would say "light sleeper" is a euphemism for "I have untreated sleep apnea". I quickly came to believe there is much truth in this statement.

by **DreamLady** on Mon Mar 26, 2012 11:21 am

mystiohmy wrote:I'm such a light sleeper

I always thought I was a light sleeper -- until I got on cpap. Now I realize I've probably had apnea most of my adult (or even earlier) life. Used to be if the cat moved or jumped on or off the bed I was instantly wide awake. Now I sleep through summer thunderstorms; the kind that rattle the windows and shake the foundation!

by **ekubaskie** on Sun Mar 25, 2012 9:41 pm

As for noise, you've heard the same answer I'd give twenty or thirty times now.

But something else you mentioned - insurance won't cover the machine? If you end up going out of pocket for the gear, do your relationship another favor and SHOP AROUND. I checked at cpap.com (our hosts here at cpaptalk.com) and I was shocked to find that the cpap.com price was less than half what the sleep clinic billed my insurance. Then Pugsy told me about a cpap.com discount code that took the price down even further.

The price difference in my case, for the system shown in my sig, is enough money to cover a 7-day Caribbean cruise for two. Or a week in Hawaii.

by **codinqueen** on Sun Mar 25, 2012 8:07 pm

Don't worry. You won't hear it, Sounds like he is just breathing correctly. My hubby is a very light sleeper too, and my S9 Auto never kept him awake even a minute. I don't think you will need a white-noise machine. Just use a fan on low while he is using the loaner if it is noisy. Most CPAPs today are very quiet.

by **kgresgott** on Sun Mar 25, 2012 6:18 pm

MY machine is very quiet. Can't even tell it's on.

-Kathryn

by **Janknitz** on Sun Mar 25, 2012 5:41 pm

Phonedude,

The CPAP sounds that bother me are the conducted noises, not the sound of the machine itself. This is the sound of my own breathing and it's conducted in the tubing, through the pillow and mattress, and in the bones of my own head.

A few things help:
1. Make sure your hose isn't lying on your bed or pillow. I use a hose hanger and that helps a lot.
2. A hose wrap helps decrease the noise (and also decreases the sound of the tubing dragging against other surfaces).
3. Make sure your mask's air vent isn't blowing on something solid and making noise.

You mentioned dead silence, so I'm not sure it will work for you, but white noise helps me. During the summer I run a fan. In the winter I have one ear bud in and listen to white noise on my iPod (you can download actual white noise, or something you find soothing--for me it's talking in podcasts).

I find ear plugs or using two ear buds MAGNIFY the sounds (because of bone conduction in my head) so that does NOT work for me.

I hope these help. In the morning when I wake, I can't hear it at all--strange!

by **phonedude** on Sun Mar 25, 2012 4:14 pm

My husband is also a light sleeper and he finds the machine sound quite pleasant - it's his white noise - he thinks it sounds like the ocean - go figure. It's me that needs total silence, so no matter what I do it still sounds like a freight train coming through the bedroom. Much as I thought I would never adjust I have to some degree... I get 50% more sleep, which is better than the close to none before, so it has helped my husband sleep better. Good luck - He will lead a longer, much better life as then will you - maybe this will turn the noise into a "life living sound" of the ocean for you too. :wink:

mystiohmy wrote:I'm very much in love with my boyfriend and we are even talking marriage. Over the months we've been together, I noticed he would stop breathing during the night and suggested he be tested for sleep apnea. His tests came back today and he has severe sleep apnea and was told he needs the CPAP machine. I'm so afraid I won't be able to sleep next to him anymore due to the noise the machine makes. I'm such a light sleeper, even sleeping with his snoring etc thus far has been somewhat of a struggle. I realize he needs to use the machine for his health and it's going to be a part of my life now. Possibly forever.

Any advice on sleeping next to a CPAP user if you're a light sleeper? Thank you!

by **shahuraosable** on Mon Feb 20, 2012 5:34 am

mystiohmy wrote:I'm very much in love with my boyfriend and we are even talking marriage. Over the months we've been together, I noticed he would stop breathing during the night and suggested he be tested for sleep apnea. His tests came back today and he has severe sleep apnea and was told he needs the CPAP machine. I'm so afraid I won't be able to sleep next to him anymore due to the noise the machine makes. I'm such a light sleeper, even sleeping with his snoring etc thus far has been somewhat of a struggle. I realize he needs to use the machine for his health and it's going to be a part of my life now. Possibly forever.

Any advice on sleeping next to a CPAP user if you're a light sleeper? Thank you!

no need to worry after some days it will be habit for you .

by **tetragon** on Sun Feb 19, 2012 2:41 pm

Janknitz wrote:BTW, My PRS1 auto, "built" in 2010, makes one annoying &^%$#@ beep when you turn it on. So if your DBF goes to sleep after you THAT might be a problem. It can't be turned off without "going in" and voiding the warranty. I *think* the later builds allow you to turn the beep off, but I'm not 100% positive. If not, go for the ResMed--no beep.

The later builds have "silent mode", which, when enabled, does turn off the "I'm turning on now" beep. My v2.50 firmware machine (obtained in October 2011) also lets me preheat the humidifier.

by **kteague** on Sat Feb 18, 2012 12:25 am

A little story to give you hope...

A friend's husband left her, ending their oft troubled long marriage. Shortly after the breakup I asked her how she was doing, and she replied that she was having trouble sleeping. Surprised, I asked, "You mean you miss him?" Humored by my question, she told me there are two things she had to have to sleep well - a fan blowing on her, and the sounds from her husband's CPAP machine. :lol:

Things are new only till we get used to them. Hopefully any sounds you hear will be minimal and that your mind quickly learns to disregard and sleep through those sounds. I once lived in an apartment in a small town where the train tracks ran alongside our tiny back yard, literally shaking the walls every couple hours, blaring their warning sounds all the way. I surprised myself by soon sleeping through the passing trains. But then again, until the days of sleep disorders, I was not a "light sleeper".

Good luck.

by **Mr Bill** on Fri Feb 17, 2012 11:52 pm

-tim wrote:A CPAP machine makes white noise. Well pink noise with rhythms if you want to get technical but whatever. I would hold off on the noise generator until you know you need it.

I have a cat that is a true light sleeper and thinks its her job to watch after me while I'm sleeping as well as absorbing any spare heat if its cold. She doesn't like the cpap machine but its because of the tubes and airflow. It took her a few days to get used to it and she still looks at it like it might bite her.

You will get better sleep in the long run but the first few weeks will take and adjustment, just like moving into a new house with a different heating system sounds will also keep you awake.

If it gets too much, sleep in a different room for a night. If your sleep deprived, your adjustment time will be longer.

About two years before my sleeping became a crisis, I got to kittens to replace one lost to an owl. I made the mistake of letting them sleep in my room, their constant prowling kept me up; I thought. Because I thought they were waking me but actually looking back on it; I think I was sleeping very poorly and lightly enough that I was aware of them moving about. In my youth I never heard either the family dog or the cat once I fell asleep and both slept in my room or not as it pleased them. Anyhoo, after about 4 weeks, I was near exhaustion (doctors opinion, after I complained about it, he blamed the cats) and put a slatted door on my room (to let in air from the swamp cooler) to keep out the kittens. I thought that solved it. It took me a long time to "make up" that sleep loss. Its appropriate that they talk about sleep efficiency. When it get compromised, we log the hours but they do not pay off. I consider myself fortunate that my sleep apnea finally came on like gangbusters, or I might never have realized I had a problem till there was too much damage.

by **LinkC** on Fri Feb 17, 2012 7:03 pm

Placing the machine on a rubber mousepad will often damp a lot of the noise. And is cheap!!

If a light sleeper sleeps with a light on; how does a hard sleeper sleep?

by **Janknitz** on Fri Feb 17, 2012 6:34 pm

If you know your boyfriend would stop breathing during the night, more than likely your sleep was disturbed by it. Now there will be a very low, rhytmic sound--you may not even hear it at all. If you do, a little white noise, as already suggested will easily cover it.

BTW, My PRS1 auto, "built" in 2010, makes one annoying &^%$#@ beep when you turn it on. So if your DBF goes to sleep after you THAT might be a problem. It can't be turned off without "going in" and voiding the warranty. I *think* the later builds allow you to turn the beep off, but I'm not 100% positive. If not, go for the ResMed--no beep.

by **Mary Z** on Fri Feb 17, 2012 12:39 pm

My machine, a ResMed S8, is so quiet I cannot hear it, nor can my lover. Maybe it won't even be a problem.
Good luck.

I'm a light sleeper and my boyfriend needs CPAP

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