Newbie can't seem to sleep more than 4-5 hours

[mouser]

Hi all,
New to all this, but have been so appreciative of this forum, which has been incredibly helpful in walking me through steps of getting diagnosis, sleep study, DME, picking machine, etc. I was diagnosed with AHI of 30, and have been sleeping for a week on Airsense 10 auto with Dreamwear mask. I've been sleeping with the machine on every night, and adjusting okay to the feeling of mask. Sleepyhead is showing my AHI has been around 2.5 - 3 for last few nights.
I am grateful for that, but I can't seem to sleep more than 4-5 hours! I wake up at 4am, lay in bed for another hour until 5am and just get up after that. The machine says it's on for about 6 hours, but I know only about 4 hours of it are with me actually sleeping. I feel slightly less tired during the day, and am having a bit less problems with daytime sleepiness, but really wish I could sleep more. (I've also had a cold & runny nose during these first few days on the machine. Not sure if that's affecting things.) Wondering what I can do to get more sleep? Should I take melatonin? Sleep hygiene? (Have had pretty good sleep habits already.) Would be grateful for any suggestions!

[russatore]

It happened to me as well, for the first couple of months I couldn't sleep more the 2-3 hrs at the time and would get up after approx. 5 hrs of sleep. A couple of months later and after having found the right adjustment with my mask I managed to log in 5-6 hrs in a go and I would say after 4 months everything got back to normal.
I would not worry so much about it as your body adjust to having air blown up your nostrils while you sleep, which is not the most natural thing, but will eventually adjust.
Cheers

[ChicagoGranny]

Should I take melatonin?

No.

- Practice good sleep hygiene (Google it and read several sources)
- Eat a good diet
- Have a regular, moderate exercise program
- Try to avoid daytime naps.
- Practice total abstinence of caffeine including sources like chocolate (sigh)
- Review all medicines, vitamins and supplements you are taking to make sure none are interfering with sleep
- Use the bedroom for sleeping (and sex) only, and make sure the bedroom and bed are comfortable.
- Optimize emotional stress in your life
- Use CPAP software, such as the free SleepyHead, to make sure your therapy is optimized
- If you still don't feel or sleep well, make sure you have regular medical checkups to confirm there are no other medical problems.

CG

[ChicagoGranny]

air blown up your nostrils

A properly operating CPAP system does not "blow air up your nostrils". It only creates a pressure. The pressure splints the airway open.

[Mudrock63]

Give yourself time to adjust. It is a big change, but beneficial if you can hang in there. Yes, a cold and runny nose certainly don't help matters. But you may find you get even better numbers when that clears up. It just takes a little time. After a couple of weeks on therapy it was so routine to me that I just strap on the mask, roll over, and go right to sleep.

[mouser]

Thanks so much, everyone for your advice/encouragement. Really helpful hearing your experience, Russatore!
And appreciate the sleep hygiene tips.

[Wulfman...]

Hi all,
New to all this, but have been so appreciative of this forum, which has been incredibly helpful in walking me through steps of getting diagnosis, sleep study, DME, picking machine, etc. I was diagnosed with AHI of 30, and have been sleeping for a week on Airsense 10 auto with Dreamwear mask. I've been sleeping with the machine on every night, and adjusting okay to the feeling of mask. Sleepyhead is showing my AHI has been around 2.5 - 3 for last few nights.
I am grateful for that, but I can't seem to sleep more than 4-5 hours! I wake up at 4am, lay in bed for another hour until 5am and just get up after that. The machine says it's on for about 6 hours, but I know only about 4 hours of it are with me actually sleeping. I feel slightly less tired during the day, and am having a bit less problems with daytime sleepiness, but really wish I could sleep more. (I've also had a cold & runny nose during these first few days on the machine. Not sure if that's affecting things.) Wondering what I can do to get more sleep? Should I take melatonin? Sleep hygiene? (Have had pretty good sleep habits already.) Would be grateful for any suggestions!

That's pretty normal in the beginning. You're getting better, oxygenated sleep in shorter periods of time than you used to.
You don't have your settings in your profile, but depending on whether you're using a straight pressure or a range, that MAY make a difference, too.


Den

.