Removing mask asleep

[Katz6863]

Hi there
I’m hoping someone can help me. I just got my cpap machine about a month ago and I don’t seem to keep it on at night. My granddaughter said she watched me do it ( and didn’t wake me ) Im claustrophobic as well. I’m on my 2nd mask now, one that goes under the nose. I started with a full face mask.
Thank you in advance

[chunkyfrog]

Practice while awake.
Run the cpap, masked up, while watching TV.
If you are distracted, getting used to it will be easier.
If you need more help, you might want to ask your doctor for a
temporary prescription to help with your anxiety

[GrumpyHere]

It's a common problem. Try Pugsy's suggestion from another thread.

Yeah, taking the mask off and not realizing it is a fairly common problem. Seems especially to affect new cpap users fairly often.
I did it a few times myself when I first started therapy and even had a few nights where it looked like I took it off for a couple of hours and then put it back on and I never remembered doing either event.

The general thinking is if you eliminate mask discomfort itself as being a reason for taking it off and what is left is just that the brain doesn't want the alien thing on its human's face because it's "new" then eventually the brain will come to accept this new alien as its best friend and quit prompting the body to remove it.
Until that happens we usually suggest that the person maybe apply a little bit of tape in a couple of places (like the strap area on the cheek) so that the discomfort associated with the pulling off of the tape will wake the person up enough so they stop the unwanted behavior.

So if you aren't having any real comfort issues that you can associate the removal with then maybe just tape it down in a couple of places. Now if the mask is uncomfortable then obviously you need to try to fix the comfort side of the problem first.

With time and experience the "removing the mask and not realizing it" thing usually fades away and happens less and less as the brain comes to realize that the alien plastered on the face is a good thing and not a bad thing.