Linus (and everybody), thanks for your reply(s)! It's just what I needed. I'm still stuffed up and coughing, and finally just gave up and got up at 4:45 this morning. At least my husband will be able to get a little sleep without me getting up to snuffle, cough, and reseat the mask repeatedly. I did...

I'm sure a lot of you have some ideas concerning how to sleep with a mask and a cold. My nose is runny *and* I'm coughing. I have both nasal and full-face masks available. The FF mask is a Mirage Quattro--which blows out if I cough while wearing it. I get rainout if I set the humidifier above 3, so ...

One symptom I had was difficulty swallowing if I tipped my head back (like drinking from a soda can). It felt like I had a lump in my throat. Synthroid (levothyroxine) corrected that, although it took a few months to find the right dosage.

I don't think it's possible to tell you when (or if) your memory and mental acuity will improve. It's a very individual thing. For me, it took about four month before I started noticing improvement. Some people see improvement after a year or so. Some never really do. I think it depends on the degre...

Re: the pregnancy question. You might want to keep an eye on your AHI. Pregnancy hormones relax muscles, so it's certainly possible that having more relaxation in your throat would worsen (or start) apnea symptoms. Weight gain can do the same thing. If you get pregnant and you see your AHI starting ...

It took me 8 months to get used to CPAP therapy after many years of undiagnosed sleep apnea. It's been about 4 months since then, and I just noticed a couple of weeks ago that my memory is much better than it was. I'm in my mid-50s and had attributed my memory problems to age, but now I'm thinking t...

Thanks for the help everybody! I like the stapler version of things, and will give it a try tonight. If that works, maybe I'll get ambitious and sew it down. Also, it's possibly time to replace the headgear. It's a little over 6 months old. I didn't think it needed to be replaced yet, though, becaus...

First, I want to thank all the people who helped me learn how to manage being a hose head. You guys are the best! I'm coming up on my 1 year anniversary, and I'm finally sleeping through the night in relative comfort (most of the time), dreaming (pretty much always), and usually waking refreshed. Th...

Hang in there! It took me more than 10 months to work out the kinks and get used to therapy. You're already a couple of steps ahead of many newbies in that your mask already fits, and you can fall asleep with it on. Those things can be major challenges. It took me ages to find a mask that works (and...

Worst advice? Don't let anyone except a trained professional change your pressure because you might damage your lungs (or whatever).

Tape the headgear to your face to discourage yourself from taking the mask off in the middle of the night.

I've been using CPAP (and then BiPAP) for nearly a year now and also kept pulling my mask off in my sleep. People here gave me good advice about various ways to deal with that bad habit. The solution for me turned out to be a roll of medical paper tape. I put a short length (about 2") across the sid...

I taped my mask to my face last night (using surgical tape), and I think it worked. Thanks Emilia! I woke up to find myself pulling at the tape (which had a bit of hair stuck to it), decided not to do that, and went back to sleep for the rest of the night. I can't say I feel great, because I'm still...

Thanks for the great ideas! I'm going to try taping the mask down. If that doesn't work, I'll add mittens. If that doesn't work, I'll get a chin strap. And if that doesn't work, I'll get a used PC so I can download the necessary software. (I have a Mac, which is great--except that it's incompatible ...

I'm still having a tough time keeping my mask on--I've been at this since November and, while my compliance is excellent, I keep removing my mask during the night. I wake up after a short time and put it back on, but to do that, I have to wake up pretty thoroughly. I do go back to sleep easily, but ...