CPAP Anxiety clausterophobia etc

[sleepcrapnea]

@Julie - thanks for this suggestion. There is a function called "expiratory relief" on my device. The clinic turned that on remotely for me which has helped. It is currently on 2/3 which it was last night, and I still had the problem. But maybe tonight I can try turning it up to 3/3 to its full setting and see how that goes.

[sleepcrapnea]

God its so hard to get used to using a CPAP.

Last night had anotehr shocking lack of sleep. Im finding it really hard getting used to having this on my face all night and needing to force close my mouth all night which being a mouth breather (the main problem I have) is something I am not used to. I had such little sleep again last night. Maybe 30 minutes to one hour in total.

I am needing to do night on night off alternating on the CPAP otherwise I will run myself into the ground on sleep loss.

Does this get easier? Am I having a normal experience? I really hope this gets better soon. I only have 30 days trial on the CPAP and if it stays this way I will be sending it back before the time is up as I cant afford to pay $1800 for something that doesnt help.

[Julie]

First of all, why do you think you have to force your mouth closed - it will open anyhow when you sleep, so it doesn't seem to be a great idea. There are ways to deal with it besides what you're doing, the right full face mask, tape, etc. etc. And I think your awareness of the mask is making you nuts... what about some soft music (that you set up from iTunes) to play when you want to drift off... and possibly a favorite 'fantasy' place you go into then... rather than tensing up feeling you're going into war. You might also ask your MD about short term fixes like an Ambien on night one, a half the next night... they're used one at a time for many people when they go for testing so they can relax. The alternating thing is self defeating and pointless... just drags it all out longer. But stop trying to keep your mouth closed - waste of time.

[sleepcrapnea]

@Julie the music thing is a good idea. I actually have some sleeping pills so maybe I could try those. I dont have Ambien but I have Zopiclone. Probably the same sort of thing. maybe I will try that to get used to it.
I think somehow I need to stop thinking about the thing on my face

[chunkyfrog]

. . . stop thinking about the thing on my face

Yes, that!
Distract yourself, by reading, watching TV, etc. while wearing the mask.

[Janknitz]

Can you tell us what your pressures are and whether your machine is set to ramp up the pressure over a period of time?

Often the initial pressure is set low to help you get used to it, but the problem is after a day or two it can make you feel like you are suffocating. Same with the ramp because ramp typically starts out very low pressure. A bump in the starting pressure may relieve some of the panic and anxiety you are feeling.

I had terrible claustrophobia in the beginning. I would rip off the mask. My rule is that I always had to put it back on. And then I started to count slowly to 10 with slow, deep breathing, before I could take the mask off. When I had counted to 10, I would ask myself if I REALLY needed to take the mask off or could I try it a little longer. This is how I gradually built up my time.

It helps to recognize that you are going to have good nights and bad nights. Your first goal should be to sleep a few hours with the machine. One night I slept through the entire night and woke up peaceful and calm like I'd had the best drug in the world. That drug was AIR because for the first time in decades I'd slept through the night with minimal airway obstruction. It reminded me of when I was a toddler and I'd wake so calmly and peacefully and enjoy the feeling of waking up. Almost since that time I'd woken up tense and stressed because I'm sure my apnea started when I was very young and bathed me in stress hormones all night long trying to breathe.

My next goal was to then to have more good nights than bad nights, and eventually, the bad nights went away entirely. Now I wake up and I don't want to take the mask off because it feels so good.

Surgery is rarely the answer. Ask how many people here have had turbinate surgery (painful recovery) and STILL need CPAP. The doctor's idea of success for surgery is not the same as yours. Your idea might be not to need CPAP, but most doctors define success as "requires only 50% of the initial CPAP pressure". In other words, most still need CPAP.

Don't give up on yourself. Make this work. Your life depends on it.

[sleepcrapnea]

@janktnitz - thanks very much for your feedback. Its so reassuring to hear someone who went through what Im going through but came out the other side. It would be dreamy if I fell asleep with it on quickly and then woke up 8 hours later. I hope I can experience that some time soon.

The pressure is on at 8 at the moment so at the low end of the scale. Honestly the pressure is great for me. Especially now that I have put the breathe out function on full. Its enough pressure for me. Before when it was a bit higher without the breathe out assistance on my anxiety was so much worse. Its just getting used to the mask on my face. And the feeling of opening your mouth is awful. But the feeling of suffocating when I open my mouth is much less now that i have the breathe out assistance on full an the pressure is on 8. Still its a weird feeling I need to get used to.

[sleepcrapnea]

Ok I took half a sleeping pill last night and got better results. I did manage to get and stay asleep on he CPAP for about 4/5 hours. I think I am over all of my anxiety about using it.

I did notice though that when I woke up one of my nostrils was mostly blocked, same as what happens whien I sleep with no CPAP. This is dissappointing. The lack of blocked nose using a CPAP over the preceding nights must have been more to do with me not being asleep than the CPAP. For some reason my nose blocks when sleeping. So I am not sure how well the CPAP will go ultimately. I guess I could try the full face mask. But that will give me more clausterophobia and will still result in a sore dry mouth and throat from mouth breathing so wont fix the problem.

[khauser]

I did notice though that when I woke up one of my nostrils was mostly blocked, same as what happens whien I sleep with no CPAP. This is dissappointing. The lack of blocked nose using a CPAP over the preceding nights must have been more to do with me not being asleep than the CPAP. For some reason my nose blocks when sleeping. So I am not sure how well the CPAP will go ultimately. I guess I could try the full face mask. But that will give me more clausterophobia and will still result in a sore dry mouth and throat from mouth breathing so wont fix the problem.

I don't think that has anything to do with sleep apnea or CPAP use (as you noticed). That fact that one nostril is more clogged than another is normal ... for instance: https://health.clevelandclinic.org/why- ... e-nostril/.

I don't know where you are and whether you typically have allergy issues, but I can tell you that two of us in my house are having rather bad allergy symptoms this year...

[Pugsy]

The one nostril being congested thing and no apparent reason for it. I get it fairly often myself.
There's a known medical condition called nasal cycle
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasal_cycle

It will usually clear up fairly quickly once I get up in the mornings and am up and around for a bit but when I first wake up...one side is like totally blocked.
I don't have any of the other normal causes for this sort of congestion....no allergies, no deviation, nothing like that...nothing else to blame it on but the normal nasal cycle. Highly annoying for a brief time but I don't need to do anything to resolve it. Usually being up and moving around for 10 or 15 minutes makes it go away.

[1.41]

Been there. I understand completely. One thing I experienced was a choking feeling. That I figured out was because the pressure of the air in my throat was mis-interpreted by my brain as a lack of air. That caused me a very high level of anxiety. I persevered, and it got better and better. Once I figured out that all was well and I wasn't choking, it got easier and easier. I've managed to have 100% compliance since early 2012. The difference it made to my health really astonishes me.

Hang in. It will get easier and you will soon not be able to imagine sleeping with CPAP.

[1.41]

Can you tell us what your pressures are and whether your machine is set to ramp up the pressure over a period of time?

Often the initial pressure is set low to help you get used to it, but the problem is after a day or two it can make you feel like you are suffocating. Same with the ramp because ramp typically starts out very low pressure. A bump in the starting pressure may relieve some of the panic and anxiety you are feeling.

I had terrible claustrophobia in the beginning. I would rip off the mask. My rule is that I always had to put it back on. And then I started to count slowly to 10 with slow, deep breathing, before I could take the mask off. When I had counted to 10, I would ask myself if I REALLY needed to take the mask off or could I try it a little longer. This is how I gradually built up my time.

It helps to recognize that you are going to have good nights and bad nights. Your first goal should be to sleep a few hours with the machine. One night I slept through the entire night and woke up peaceful and calm like I'd had the best drug in the world. That drug was AIR because for the first time in decades I'd slept through the night with minimal airway obstruction. It reminded me of when I was a toddler and I'd wake so calmly and peacefully and enjoy the feeling of waking up. Almost since that time I'd woken up tense and stressed because I'm sure my apnea started when I was very young and bathed me in stress hormones all night long trying to breathe.

My next goal was to then to have more good nights than bad nights, and eventually, the bad nights went away entirely. Now I wake up and I don't want to take the mask off because it feels so good.

Surgery is rarely the answer. Ask how many people here have had turbinate surgery (painful recovery) and STILL need CPAP. The doctor's idea of success for surgery is not the same as yours. Your idea might be not to need CPAP, but most doctors define success as "requires only 50% of the initial CPAP pressure". In other words, most still need CPAP.

Don't give up on yourself. Make this work. Your life depends on it.

I found that by turning the ramp off completely and turning off all the exhale assist I was able to overcome my issues. Yes, I absolutely agree, that a low pressure on the ramp start up was one of the triggers, maybe the biggest trigger to me feeling like I was suffocating.

[bombayone]

If you are in US, $1,800 is far too much to pay. Check out this forum’s sponsor or Second Wind for a much better deal. Under $1,000 for a ResMed Auto. Good luck. You will suceed.

[Julie]

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[sleepcrapnea]

@pugsy - I have been diagnosed with enlarged turbinates in my nostrils. So its probably more than the nasal cycle. Its been the main issue causing me sleep problems I suspect - prior to starting the CPAP.

@bombayone - Im in New Zealand. So its $1,800 NZ dollars which is less if you convert it to USD.