Taking mask off in middle of night

The last three nights I've woken up and my mask was off even tho I have absolutely no recollection of removing it. I saw a thread a while back with tips and tricks to keep it on. But now I can't find it. Can you pls help? TIA!

Oh gosh Jen, I've done that three times lately, the latest being last night! I was so surprised to find the mask off and on the floor. Yes, I saw the thread you are referring to but can't recall what subject it was related to. Tonight I am going to put my chinstrap over the headgear. Not the most comfortable but it should help. You could also use an ACE bandage or Vetwrap. If that doesn't work, I'm moving on to oven mitts. It also occurs to me that if I taped the headgear to my face in a couple of places, the discomfort of pulling the headgear off might awaken me. Time to get creative!

Suz

Bobby pins can help. If your hair is long, you can try weaving your hair through the mask straps and putting it in a pony tail. Anything that makes it harder to remove, so that there is a chance that you will wake up in the process until your body realizes that it gets better sleep and you can leave it on all night.

Bons - that's the weird thing. I've been sleeping with it all night no prob (since April 20). It's just been the last three nights that I've taken it off. Nothing else has changed.

My 'sleep personality' is very devious.
She finds her way around many full face masks, and I wake up with my mouth wide open,
spanning the bottom edge of the mask, air blowing out. (This is why I switch masks a lot)
Sometimes she manages to ruin my tape, so I can only wear the FX for a few days at a time.
Part of my evening routine is deciding which mask to wear in order to confuse her.

chunkyfrog wrote:My 'sleep personality' is very devious.
She finds her way around many full face masks, and I wake up with my mouth wide open,
spanning the bottom edge of the mask, air blowing out. (This is why I switch masks a lot)
Sometimes she manages to ruin my tape, so I can only wear the FX for a few days at a time.
Part of my evening routine is deciding which mask to wear in order to confuse her.

LOL!! On the two previous nights I guess I had undone both clips on the sides of the mask - when i take it off deliberately I only do one side). Last night I found it with the velcro undone and the strap pulled out - clip still in place. ...I wonder what else I do in my sleep...

jen4700 wrote:

chunkyfrog wrote:My 'sleep personality' is very devious.
She finds her way around many full face masks, and I wake up with my mouth wide open,
spanning the bottom edge of the mask, air blowing out. (This is why I switch masks a lot)
Sometimes she manages to ruin my tape, so I can only wear the FX for a few days at a time.
Part of my evening routine is deciding which mask to wear in order to confuse her.

Good thought! Now all I need is another mask to attempt the same scheme.

LOL!! On the two previous nights I guess I had undone both clips on the sides of the mask - when i take it off deliberately I only do one side). Last night I found it with the velcro undone and the strap pulled out - clip still in place. ...I wonder what else I do in my sleep...

Wow, you would think the sound of undoing velcro would have awakened you! Scarey! Better put a lock on the fridge!

Suz

My first year and a half, I tried masks when my insurance would (finally) cover them.
I even kept the first 2 turkeys--as I didn't know I could exchange until it was too late.

sleep with oven mitts

I believe everyone has woke up at one point or another and not had their mask on. Perhaps you just took it off. Maybe you got up to use the washroom and being half asleep didn't put it back on. I have done the second one a few times. My wife has woke me up several times and told me to put my mask on.

Use my mask from way back when... they never fell off.. comes with a nice neck strap..

Jen--

I still struggle with waking up without my mask on some nights. The thing that's worked best for me is just setting the alarm to go off when it detects that the mask has been removed. It doesn't prevent you from taking your mask off, but it stops you from waking up 3 hours later with no recollection of why you aren't wearing your mask. I tried the oven mitt thing.... and I had such high hopes for it as a solution. Honestly, I felt kind of demoralized that night when I woke up without my mask on and one oven mitt off with no idea of how it got off.

Good luck!

I think it fits into the profile of the classic osa patient: we have a tendency toward various night disorders including deep paralysis in certain
sleep modes.

REM sleep apparently is the deepest level of paralysis, your central nervous system automatically "paralyzes" various body system in order to repair them, but keeps your respiration going automatically.

But some people have a deep level of unawareness or paralysis in which they do things like walking in sleep or talk, or even feel like theyre awake but cant move. This is a specific brain condition that is probably inherited.

Im from this group, because sleepwalking and talking and other various bizarre behaviors (gettting up and doing something totally inexplicable and then having no memory of it later) is common in my family. It could be caused by brain/body chemical imbalances so its important to avoid chemicals as much as possible such as MSG, environmental pollutions, caffeine, sugars, whatever trigggers you have.

But pulling off a mask and forgetting it is classic behavior for someone like that. Ive done it lots of times. The problem is, it also makes it easier
to drift off to sleep without hosing up and having no memory of it. Its like a narcoleptic light is switched off and from that point all bets are off.

If you have a partner to help you or an alarm system built into your system for the mask then it helps. Have them nudge you gently awake to restore your gear. Its one of the burdens of being the mate of a OSA but theyre a life saver. My own wife knows to wake me unhosed, but still sometimes "lets me sleep" ------non OSA sufferers almost never "get" the extreme importance of ritual and consistency it takes.

There isnt a lot of sympathy out there for OSA suffererrs. Its not like we have been diagnosed with some more known disease such as MS. Therefore, people tend to dismiss it. They dont realize that you HAVE to be hosed up, EVERY time you sleep.

Id follow my instincts and common sense. The thread about oven mitts was good. You have to become your own practitioner. Do what works. Ive talked before about rigging up various systems to prevent backsleeping which is my primary issue.

Would handcuffs work?

Joke apart, like David said, every case is different and you have to find the best solution for yours.
It was a fine tuning process in my case. However, after almost a year, I still sometimes wake up without mask and wonder why...

replying to an old thread.

Oven mitts are helping me get through the night with less chance of me getting my mask off. But I usually end up with one oven mitt removed. So I guess the added obstacle is helpful. I tape one mitt on to my skin, its painful to remove. I might make a "suit" of a long sleeved shirt or robe with oven mitts affixed to the sleeve ends.

Whether or not working to keep on something that I want to remove in my sleep will end up improving sleep quality remains to be seen.