New User, have a question.

Good morning,

I am a brand new CPAP user and have a question. The first night of using my machine actually wasnt that bad (2nd night was actually worse) but I did wake up a few times. I noticed sometimes I am waking up because I breathe in and then for some reason my body doesnt want to breathe out against the pressure. Is this a normal? It did kind of scare me at first because it happened a couple of times but then again this is something I have never had to use before. Any info would be greatly appreciated!

What machine do you have?
Do you have EPR set? (Expiratory Pressure Relief) It drops the pressure some when you breath out.
Maybe it's not set or set incorrectly?

bigmachine wrote:Good morning,

I am a brand new CPAP user and have a question. The first night of using my machine actually wasnt that bad (2nd night was actually worse) but I did wake up a few times. I noticed sometimes I am waking up because I breathe in and then for some reason my body doesnt want to breathe out against the pressure. Is this a normal? It did kind of scare me at first because it happened a couple of times but then again this is something I have never had to use before. Any info would be greatly appreciated!

welcome to hoseheadland.

it will take your body a while to get used to the new conditions, as long as it's a once in a while thing, I wouldn't worry about it. the most important thing is not to let it bother you, just think "well, this is new, I'll just get used to it" and pretty soon, you will... you're certainly not the only person who's felt that the pressure is a lot, but after a while, you'll not even notice it.

positive attitude helps

like most things, it's different and takes a bit of getting used to.

What machine do you have? Most have exhalation relief now. It usually helps with exhaling because it lowers the machine pressure by some to help with breathing against the pressure when exhaling. Some people don't like it. It is a comfort feature but sounds like it would help you.

It may not be enabled so we need to know which machine you have to let you know how to set it.

Yes definitely check out EPR or C-Flex or whatever you have for your machine.

But it also is just kind of training your brain and body to breathe a little differently - it'll become natural after a while but in the meantime it'll probably help to use your machine while you're awake for a time before you're ready to sleep.