Newbie with asthma & anxiety; need encouragement

[Julie]

Did you know that 90+% of us never clean the hoses (the heated being a different story)? No need to, so no problem drying them out.

I also wonder about using any humidity if it's raining out - the ambient hum. will be more than enough I would think, and that goes for people like me who live in a relatively humid area not far from the ocean (on a map, tho' long drive otherwise).

[ChicagoGranny]

the tube to dry it out from having washed it a little too late in the day.

I've been using the same hose for several years without washing the inside. Nothing goes through it but filtered room air. Shine a light down my hose - nothing to be cleaned.

[Zhash]

Thank you for your replies. I have no idea why my pressure is set to 8 and not variable. I will ask at my next appointment. I had one at-home sleep study, which showed the low O2 dips, and the in-lab study was purely titration, all with mask. Because of COVID I had to use a full face mask, which I pretty much could not tolerate. The pressure started at 5 and I never got to sleep. I took a mask-off break and begged to sleep without it for a few hours. I was not allowed to. I put it back on twice before I slept at all, and went into REM sleep. I had no apnea events at any pressure but the pressure at which I finally entered REM was 8. Hence that is where I have started, although I don't believe the pressure itself is what led to my REM sleep; I think it was pure exhaustion. Apparently anything from 5-8 kept me from having apneas. And with CPAP support, my O2 levels never dipped.

At any rate, my Ambien prescription hasn't been filled yet. I tried again last night to fall asleep to an audio book and failed this time. I lasted an hour with the mask before taking it off. I had no events, but probably because I never fell asleep.

I'm hoping the Ambien will let me sleep longer than 2 hours, but at the same time, I don't want to become dependent on using it. He's prescribed ten 5 mg pills. I don't know if I should try taking them every night for 10 nights, or try to avoid becoming dependent on them by alternating in some fashion. Any thoughts?

BTW my younger brother has severe apnea, to the point that he was narcoleptic and too sleep-deprived to drive. He has been using CPAP for nearly two decades now and can't sleep without it. But he told me it took him a long time to get used to it, too.

Thanks again for the encouragement. I love data. OSCAR is giving me something to obsess about besides the *feeling* of hating the mask.

Instead of Ambien, ask your doctor to Rx Trazodone. It takes away the anxiety and puts you into REM sleep quite well. They use Trazodone for sleep now for many people. I highly recommend it.

[Julie]

Trazadone gave me respiratory issues within 10 days of using it 30 yrs ago!

[Janknitz]

I think you are doing great!

I didn't mention, but that's how my sleep was. I started out sleeping maybe 1/2 hour at a time. Once I could sleep 1 hour, my next goal was 2, then 4, and then--WOW--8. And you are moving along quickly. It took me about 3 months to finally sleep through the night. I was at 2 hours at a time for a few weeks, although I always made myself put the mask back on.

I'm glad the white noise is helping. My first machine was a Philips Respironics System One. That algorithm made me feel like it was forcing me to breathe in ITS rhythm instead of my own and that was reinforced by the conducted sound*. So when I could eliminate the sound component I felt less like I had to keep up with it. I still like the white noise because I can still hear airflow in the Dreamwear mask, but not as badly as with that old machine I had.

*My favorite book as a child was A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle. There is a scene in that book when children in Camazotz (an alternate world) are forced to jump rope and bounce balls to the same exact rhythm and they are punished if they don't do it exactly. That's what breathing with the PRS1 always reminded me of.

[CPAP_newbie]

I managed to keep the mask on for 3 hours in a row last night, a first. I did rouse once and count to ten a couple of times and listened to my audiobook to fall back asleep. I stirred quite a bit later on but never was able to rouse myself beyond the *thought* of putting the mask back on. I'm tired after being in bed for more than 8 hours. I'm waiting for a script from my doc for trazodone or something.

I changed the setting from CPAP at 8 to APAP 6-9 and ended up with a 95% mean pressure below 7 for two nights in a row. Basically zero events --the one CA is when I roused and managed to keep the mask on.

Do I even have sleep apnea? Feeling frustrated and wondering about getting an overnight O2 monitor, since my problem seems far more linked to low 02 than number of apneas. Any suggestions? They seem to range in price quite a lot.

[Janknitz]

Do I even have sleep apnea? Feeling frustrated and wondering about getting an overnight O2 monitor, since my problem seems far more linked to low 02 than number of apneas. Any suggestions? They seem to range in price quite a lot.

CPAP only treats sleep apnea, it doesn't cure it. Zero events means it's working great. But it is important to see what the O2 is doing, so a good idea to have a recording pulse oximeter.