I am trying. But this is hard to get use to...

[ju-ju]

How long does this take to get use to ? Or even to use all night ????
I started in June and I still only get about 4 hours of use.

I did ask for my pressure to be moved up from 8 to 10.
I was feeling very tired during the day.
And that helped alittle bit.

Atleast I am not giving up.

[SelfSeeker]

Ju-Ju,

I am glad you are not giving up.

It must have been a long 6 months for you.

What machine and mask do you have.

Why are you using "only" 4 hours?

What are the problems that are keeping you from using it longer?

What changes have you made to make it better etc?

Have you had any other follow up since the pressure changed. What did the Dr say.

Hopefully with giving us more inforamation. We can brain storm and give you things to try, to get you sleeping all night with the CPAP working for you.

Do you have other medical conditions either lung, or heart etc which are giving you problems.


[quote=


"ju-ju"]How long does this take to get use to ? Or even to use all night ????
I started in June and I still only get about 4 hours of use.

I did ask for my pressure to be moved up from 8 to 10.
I was feeling very tired during the day.
And that helped alittle bit.

Atleast I am not giving up.[/quote]

[Wulfman]

If you're using a "nasal" type of mask and waking up with dry mouth, there's a good possibility that you're leaking air out you mouth during the night.....and consequently your therapy isn't doing what it should. Best way to test is to tape your mouth shut or use Polident adhesive strips.

Best wishes,

Den

[JuJu]

I sleep with it on for about 4 hours and take it off and go back to sleep.
At first I was doing this in my sleep.
No leaks I breath through my nose.

trying to cope using it .
Pressure is at 10.
I did get the pap pillow and the heated hose to make it better.
No other health issue to keep me from using it.

[Wulfman]

How long does this take to get use to ? Or even to use all night ????

When you start wearing it ALL night.

Den

[JuJu]

I understand that, but I have not done this yet.

Get alittle tired of it all. But not giving up!

Thanks

[kteague]

Hi. Glad you're not giving up. Don't know if you are using the same mask you started with or not, but something's not working for you and IMHO half of a year is more than enough time, and your doc needs to find out whether it's mask, pressure, or machine giving you difficulty. You're doing the right thing by doing what you can for yourself, but you could spend quite a bit of time trying this and that. If you have a doc that wants you to succeed, tell him you want to bypass guessing or lots of trial and error. A trial on an autopap would determine if your pressure is correct. Double check all your settings to be sure there wasn't an error on setup (It does happen). It may not be the same machine, but some people on here have mentioned a mistake in their settings indicating it was a split night study so the machine wasn't even working as expected the whole night. I had issues at first with my pressure being too low as well as my ramp. Then it was mask issues. I'm using my 4th mask and finally, getting 5-6 straight hours is no issue, and it's usually something external that wakes me up then. So who knows, but there's gotta be an answer. Keeps on pushing.
Kathy

[JuJu]

Kteague,

I have 4 mask and ended up with the one I started out with which is the swift. I have had 3 sleep studies. I am at my right pressure.

I guess it's just trying to get use to it and not giving up.


Thanks

[cinderella]

I found compliance really difficult until I switched to an auto-pap machine with a heated humidifier. I think that made a difference for me. I also had to try a few masks before settling on the dream seal. I just couldn't get used to a nasal mask and a full face mask was not an option. My auto-pap machine is quiet and starts off at a pretty gentle pressure so I am usually asleep before it really kicks in. Now if I could just get a handle on that rainout. Good luck.

[Wulfman]

Kteague and cinderella,

JuJu's profile shows that she's already using an M Series Auto.

Den

[JuJu]

sorry wulfman had the wrong information in my profile

[ltd123]

I think the truth of getting used to this therapy is that you must be your own detective and try to find a specific reason you are not able to keep the mask on all night. Then - you may get help solving that one little specific problem. That won't make everything perfect but you will then start noticing another specific problem to inquire about, etc etc. I have found even the most sincere medical help staff is not set up to do this detective work for you (seems like they could/should but - as many people report on this forum - that doesn't happen for lots of us).
You will also learn that a lot of what you think is going on may be wrong. I have never been a mouth breather. It took me a long time to realize the truth of what people on the forum said - that lots of problems were caused by letting air out your mouth during the night and bypassing all the benefit of the machine. I finally figured out I was doing that and am still in the process of finding just the right solution.
For me, these insights come just as I am falling asleep and something wakes me right then. I sometimes have an opinion as to what happened : eg- when my mouth is taped I find that falling asleep relaxes something and lets air puff out my cheeks and that sensation wakes me. From that, I am guessing that while the tape keeps the air from escaping, the feeling of puffed out cheeks wakes me during the night.
The point of all this is that you are probably the only person who can do this detective work on your own case. You will learn a little more each time you solve a piece of this complex puzzle. good luck.
Laura
My own experience is that:
1. changing from c-pap auto to bipap allowed me to sleep many more hours a night because I could never get enough relief from the pressure to exhale normally no matter how many settings they changed on my c-pap

2. using low dose ambien cr for over a month helped me get used to the system enough to leave the mask on 8 hours a night