I sleep better without CPAP than with

I received a CPAP machine a few weeks ago. I started using it but was usually unable to go to sleep with the machine on. On a few occasions I fell asleep with the machine on and slept for an hour or two, and then woke up and was unable to go back to sleep. So I stopped using the machine. I called the DME (Sleep Circle) and they just said to soldier on. I am seeing the sleep doc in 3 days. Does anyone have any advice? I tried posting this a few weeks ago - the screen says I have zero posts so it appears I did something wrong and did not actually post. I would like to see any responses to my posts but have no idea how to do this.

I'm only a little over three months of use now, thus no expert but the approach I used was sort of a do or die sort of thing and I don't give myself the option of not using the mask. While you end up awfully tired sometimes, having sleep apnea for decades means I can function well enough when tired. It just isn't pleasant.

Hang in there, try not to stress over it, and I think you'll find you adapt to it over time. For me, the way I feel when I use the machine more than makes up for the awkwardness. Of course the wife benefits as much or more than me because I don't snore anymore with the machine, thus she insists I wear the mask for her health as much as mine.

The usual tricks I hear about are:

1) Go to bed with it. When you decide you can't deal with it any more that night, take it off. Don't stress about it. That'll just make you hyper-aware of it and make things harder. Often this approach lets people sleep longer and longer stretches until they're sleeping most of the night with it.

2) While you're awake, put it on and read a book or watch TV. Get your body and face used to it in a setting where it won't keep you awake.

For me the big thing was to stop paying attention to every new little sensation. And knowing that if I had a bad night I could just take it off was very liberating. (Day 3 I woke up with awful aerophagia. So I took it off and went back to sleep. It's never been as bad since.)

davidinNJ wrote:I received a CPAP machine a few weeks ago. I started using it but was usually unable to go to sleep with the machine on. On a few occasions I fell asleep with the machine on and slept for an hour or two, and then woke up and was unable to go back to sleep. So I stopped using the machine. I called the DME (Sleep Circle) and they just said to soldier on. I am seeing the sleep doc in 3 days. Does anyone have any advice? I tried posting this a few weeks ago - the screen says I have zero posts so it appears I did something wrong and did not actually post. I would like to see any responses to my posts but have no idea how to do this.

This is like saying to an automobile mechanic: "My car doesn't seem to be running right.......what's the problem?"

It would help immensely if you would provide the pressure (and any other) settings of your machine.

I see you have an APAP/Auto in your profile. If your machine is set up in a range of pressures, that could be one of the problems.
Humidity levels could also be a problem.
Mouth leaking/breathing, too. (I see you have a nasal mask in your profile)

Stick with it. It takes time to learn this new way of sleeping. After awhile, most of us can't sleep without it.


Den

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I've been on the hose since late March, and it takes time to get used to the machine. I am now averaging about 6 hours a night without a sleep aid and 8 hours with. Your DME is right, just keep at it. It won't happen overnight, but it will happen.

I really struggled in the beginning, but got a post suggesting that I stop focusing on all the things that are wrong--air blowing up nose, apparatus strapped on face, exhaust blowing on arms and/or in eyes, leaks, etc., etc.--and try focusing on how great it would be to awaken refreshed. That attitude adjustment helped me, as did finding advice on this forum for all the things I could fix. I got a hose hanger, changed pillows until I found one that worked, used Lansinoh for leaks, and more.

I have been on CPAP for three months, but I am still not as rested as I want to be. However, every week is better than the last, and one hypopnea a night is light years away from 54 an hour. While there are a few people who adapt immediately, I think most people struggle awhile. But I'm with SeekSleep: not using CPAP is not an option for me.

Keep trying. And come back here. There are so many knowledgeable people here who can offer terrific advice and will provide unbelievable support.

I have a similar problem. I just can't get used to contact with my face. Pressure's fine, machine noise is fine, hose is fine, humidity is fine, but something strapped to my head and touching my face sucks.

I've got a tap pap on the way since it'll only touch my nose and teeth (and I happen to like biting things). Otherwise I started same as you, could fall asleep for a little while, wake up and had to take it off. However, rather than getting used to it I'm developing a sensitivity to it. I haven't been able to sleep with it at all last few nights and I will try for 2 hours before I give up.

I'd suggest asking your sleep doctor to prescribe a sleep aid like Ambien (as long as you're not on any other drugs that it would interact with), and use if for a short period to get used to sleeping with all the gear. Took me about a week, and then I stopped using it and everything was fine. Earplugs also help me, since I hear mostly my own breathing, which is actually kind of soothing *smile*. Now, the only question is whether I can get back to sleep when I wake after about 6 hours sleep. Sometimes I take off the mask at that point if I can't get back to sleep with it on, and go back to sleep. Sometimes it works to just leave it on and go back to sleep. But it does take a while to be comfortable with it, the other recommendation of wearing the mask when you're not sleeping to get used to having it on can help, too,

The message from me is that you need to work on having an overall positive attitude, and not stress about it, stress and anxiety will just make it more difficult to adjust and to get to sleep. This is a process, things generally aren't suddenly good overnight, it takes some time, as you've seen. "Soldier on" isn't really how I'd put it, you want to focus on the positives that will come as you do adjust to it.

Wulfman... wrote:

davidinNJ wrote:I received a CPAP machine a few weeks ago. I started using it but was usually unable to go to sleep with the machine on. On a few occasions I fell asleep with the machine on and slept for an hour or two, and then woke up and was unable to go back to sleep. So I stopped using the machine. I called the DME (Sleep Circle) and they just said to soldier on. I am seeing the sleep doc in 3 days. Does anyone have any advice? I tried posting this a few weeks ago - the screen says I have zero posts so it appears I did something wrong and did not actually post. I would like to see any responses to my posts but have no idea how to do this.

This is like saying to an automobile mechanic: "My car doesn't seem to be running right.......what's the problem?"

It would help immensely if you would provide the pressure (and any other) settings of your machine.

I see you have an APAP/Auto in your profile. If your machine is set up in a range of pressures, that could be one of the problems.
Humidity levels could also be a problem.
Mouth leaking/breathing, too. (I see you have a nasal mask in your profile)

Stick with it. It takes time to learn this new way of sleeping. After awhile, most of us can't sleep without it.


Den

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I greatly second this advice. And hopefully, you have a data capable machine that will allow you to access software that could let people on this board assist you in pointing out other potential problems.

49er

Fizzled wrote:I have a similar problem. I just can't get used to contact with my face. Pressure's fine, machine noise is fine, hose is fine, humidity is fine, but something strapped to my head and touching my face sucks.

If you haven't already, look into mask liners. They made a world of difference for me. It went from the feeling of something creepy stuck to my face to just a piece of soft cloth.

sawinglogz wrote:

Fizzled wrote:I have a similar problem. I just can't get used to contact with my face. Pressure's fine, machine noise is fine, hose is fine, humidity is fine, but something strapped to my head and touching my face sucks.

If you haven't already, look into mask liners. They made a world of difference for me. It went from the feeling of something creepy stuck to my face to just a piece of soft cloth.

Boy do I second that one! I just got a simple little thing like a barrel cozy from Pad a Cheek and it has made such a difference in my sensation with the mask. Wonderful suggestion someone here had!!!

Thanks to all for your suggestions and encouragement. I went back to the sleep doc (as the DME insisted). I told him just what I posted here, that I sleep better without CPAP than with. The sleep doc reviewed the sleep study results and my symptoms and changed his mind. "Your symptom is insomnia and CPAP will not address insomnia. CPAP deals with sleep apnea but not insomnia." He then launched into a discussion of insomnia vs "sleepiness" and the risk factors associated with sleep apnea (which I mostly did not follow) -- he said sleep apnea increases the risk of diabetes, stroke, and cardiovascular complications by about 1 percentage point. He concluded that I should discontinue CPAP because (1) my sleep study showed only mild to moderate sleep apnea, (2) my sleep apnea adds only a negligible risk to my health, (3) CPAP makes my insomnia worse, and (4) I am sleeping all right since I discontinued CPAP. Note that (1) and (2) were known from the outset. He did not tell me what other CPAP users have told me on this forum, namely that there is an inevitable period of adjustment and that I just need to tough it out. On my visit to the sleep doc I gave him no new information regarding symptoms beyond the fact that I had trouble going to sleep and staying asleep with CPAP. In the interim my insomnia had lessened. Now I am sleeping all right and the only things I have really done different are (1) going to bed a little earlier and at a consistent time,(2) keeping track of how long i sleep and nap,and (3) mental focus on sleeping. So in the end the doc prescribed CPAP but did not seem to have any conviction that this therapy is needed. So the only advice I would offer to CPAP users who are have difficulty adjusting to the machine is to ask your sleep doctor, "how serious is my sleep apnea and how important is it that I use the CPAP machine. So if your symptoms are serious and life threatening and directly attributable to sleep apnea, by all means keep at it. However, just because the technology exists this does not mean that we should all be using it. Doctors each have a few tools available and some may feel that when a patient comes to them they are obliged to present a solution. In my case the problem turned out in the end not to be so serious and the cure was worse than the disease. Best of luck to all who are dealing with this condition.

davidinNJ wrote:Thanks to all for your suggestions and encouragement. I went back to the sleep doc (as the DME insisted). I told him just what I posted here, that I sleep better without CPAP than with. The sleep doc reviewed the sleep study results and my symptoms and changed his mind. "Your symptom is insomnia and CPAP will not address insomnia. CPAP deals with sleep apnea but not insomnia." He then launched into a discussion of insomnia vs "sleepiness" and the risk factors associated with sleep apnea (which I mostly did not follow) -- he said sleep apnea increases the risk of diabetes, stroke, and cardiovascular complications by about 1 percentage point. He concluded that I should discontinue CPAP because (1) my sleep study showed only mild to moderate sleep apnea, (2) my sleep apnea adds only a negligible risk to my health, (3) CPAP makes my insomnia worse, and (4) I am sleeping all right since I discontinued CPAP. Note that (1) and (2) were known from the outset. He did not tell me what other CPAP users have told me on this forum, namely that there is an inevitable period of adjustment and that I just need to tough it out. On my visit to the sleep doc I gave him no new information regarding symptoms beyond the fact that I had trouble going to sleep and staying asleep with CPAP. In the interim my insomnia had lessened. Now I am sleeping all right and the only things I have really done different are (1) going to bed a little earlier and at a consistent time,(2) keeping track of how long i sleep and nap,and (3) mental focus on sleeping. So in the end the doc prescribed CPAP but did not seem to have any conviction that this therapy is needed. So the only advice I would offer to CPAP users who are have difficulty adjusting to the machine is to ask your sleep doctor, "how serious is my sleep apnea and how important is it that I use the CPAP machine. So if your symptoms are serious and life threatening and directly attributable to sleep apnea, by all means keep at it. However, just because the technology exists this does not mean that we should all be using it. Doctors each have a few tools available and some may feel that when a patient comes to them they are obliged to present a solution. In my case the problem turned out in the end not to be so serious and the cure was worse than the disease. Best of luck to all who are dealing with this condition.

I really would appreciate it if you would tell us how your machine was configured.......straight pressure (CPAP mode, range of pressures (APAP mode), etc. What settings?

Also, keep in mind that this "condition" is progressive and they could have detected yours in the beginning stages before it became severe. None of us started out with "severe" apnea......it snuck up on us over the years. I would advise keeping the equipment for possible future use.


Den

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I have heard that insomnia can be related to sleep apnea.

I agree with Den, I wouldn't get rid of the equipment just yet.

sleepycarol wrote:I have heard that insomnia can be related to sleep apnea.

I agree with Den, I wouldn't get rid of the equipment just yet.

Hi Carol. It's so good to "see" you.

Hope everything is well with you.


Den

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