Very new to CPAP. Still no sleep with it. Looking for help.

[sleepwanted]

Hello,

I should first note I've been going through some very difficult health troubles that tied into hypertension, and now GI issues.
I was diagnosed with "mild to moderate" apnea based off a home apnea test that some cardio doctor ref'd me to.
I am not sure how the test I took was accurate, as the heart rate sensor fell off early in the night because it couldn't stick to my chest.

I really do believe I may have sleep trouble, as daytime fatigue along with much difficulty falling asleep has been the biggest problem lately, as it seems to trigger hypertension.

I have had the resmed cpap machine for over a week now, but the guy who set it up in my home mistakenly gave me a WIDE fitting f30i mask, and it does not seem to seal or work well.
Later, they sent me the n30i nasal mask. I tried that, but don't seem to be a nose only sleeper. I've also been having lots of trouble with burping, so the nasal mask only makes that worse.
I'm really looking for the best possible mask out there for someone new. Having lots of trouble adjusting to the pressure. When the home setup guy put the flow to 14, i felt chest pains and worse. Since then I haven't set the machine to do that, but did turn off the ramp. It still sets at a range of 6 to much higher, I guess when I actually fall asleep.
I don't want to be worries about the cpap somehow choking me as this is the only problem I've noticed most with my sleeping. The moment I fall asleep, I seem to sort of forget to break sometimes, and wake back up panicked. Strangely, I think the same thing happened with the f30i mask when I was close to falling asleep.

Between my hypertension problems and all the misery it's caused me, I feel overwhelmed at times. I hope to actually use this cpap someday soon. THanks much for any help or advice.

[Trivium91]

What machine do you have? Im a week into therapy on the airsense 11 and im doing pretty good with it so far but im still waking up between sleep cycles, mostly outside of the apnea events that I still have. 14 is a huge amount of starting pressure even if you need it, it will take time to get used to that pressure so they should start you much lower than that. With the nasal pillow mask, try wearing a chin strap and only tighten it enough to where it just seals otherwise it will be painful at night. For anxiety and sleep issues I have a sleep stack L-theanine, magnesium L-Threonate, zinc pilate, 3MG slow release melatonin, and when my sleep apnea was really bad in the months leading up to getting my sleep study and now using the machine I cycling in and out valerian and passionflower. I have never tried a benzo but refuse to do so. I find focusing on my breathing while trying to fall asleep works really well.

Also 14 is pretty high pressure to wear a nasal pillow, though it's worth a try. Best advice is to wear it during the day, and start out low and slow and night. I was lucky enough to be using the machine all night on the first night but everyone is different. Most people I talked to say it took months to really get used to the machine.

[Miss Emerita]

Trivium's right; it *does* take time to get used to using the mask and machine. You can speed up the process by setting your machine up outside your bedroom and using it during the day or evening while you do something mildly diverting, like watching TV, reading, or using your devices.

It's important for you to find the right mask. Everyone's face and sleep habits are different, so this can be a trial-and-error process. If the first mask was too wide, how about a narrower one? Be sure to watch mask-fitting videos, and be sure to try out your strap adjustments lying down in bed with the machine on, turning from one or your sleep positions to another.

My view, not universally shared, is that in the first couple of weeks, learning to sleep while using the machine is the top priority. This may mean using settings that are less than optimal for controlling apnea. Do you know what your pressure range is (or fixed pressure, if that's what you have)?

[zonker]

Hello,

sorry you are having so much trouble. the forum can help, but we need more information.

when you get the chance, please fill in your equipment profile. that way, it'll show up on the bottom of each of your posts as mine does below.

next, please download the free software, oscar. it will show us just exactly what goes on while you have your cpap on, all through the night. this data is important, because we don't all have exactly the same sleep apnea journey. once we see what's going on with yours, we can offer suggestions.

please see this thread-
viewtopic/t172378/Sticky--Newbies-PLEAS ... STING.html

good luck!
(it does get easier)

[zonker]

Also 14 is pretty high pressure to wear a nasal pillow, though it's worth a try.

why do you say that? i've used a nasal pillow for 8 years and much higher pressure than that with no problems.

[MikeekiM]

@sleepwanted - My advice to you is to stay the course and don't give up. Be patient and learn from this community here.

I posted this just a few moments ago in a thread that you will unlikely click into, so I'll repost it here for you.

I started my CPAP/APAP "journey" in June 2022. I BATTLED with my CPAP/APAP machine for a full 18 months before I was able to wear my mask consistently through the night. I battled:

- Mask preference issues
- Air starvation due to low initial air pressure settings
- Air blasting into my face due to high maximum pressure settings
- Rainout/excess humidity issues
- Air/mask leakage issues

I was only able to start consistently wearing my mask in December 2023 (again, a full 18 months after I started CPAP/APAP therapy).

Here is a graph of my usage statistics from OSCAR (another tool that you will want to use in your own personal journey):



The middle chart shows usage hours over the course of my 20 months of usage. The red lines indicate usage under four (4) hours. As you can see, I struggled to keep my mask on throughout the night, which is why there is so much red on 80% of my chart. But as you can also see, there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow when you see the long blue lines over the last two months.

The top chart is my AHI levels, and the bottom chart shows my usage/sessions.

I am not saying it will take you 18 months to get used to therapy. Everyone's journey is different. I believe my experience is on the longer side of getting used to therapy, but I actually have no data to back that up.

Good luck!

[Trivium91]

Also 14 is pretty high pressure to wear a nasal pillow, though it's worth a try.

why do you say that? i've used a nasal pillow for 8 years and much higher pressure than that with no problems.

Just what I've read, my very limited experience is that it's hard to tolerate higher pressure on the nasal pillow than the nasal cushion. Perhaps it's all in my head though, but the pressure feels more direct when it's right in the nostril. The cushion provides a bit more room to exhale.

[galeforcewinds]

The moment I fall asleep, I seem to sort of forget to breathe sometimes, and wake back up panicked.

FWIW, I experienced this when I first started using CPAP. I might go through several episodes of this in a night before I was finally able to get past it and fall asleep.

The good news is that I don't do that anymore. Apparently, I've adjusted now to CPAP and it is no longer an issue. (The issue went away probably a month or two after starting.)

The other good news is that even though it can make you feel a little panicked when you wake up feeling like you forgot to breathe, you are at no risk of suffocating yourself. Remind yourself that your body will breathe on its own before you get to that point.

[Trivium91]

The moment I fall asleep, I seem to sort of forget to breathe sometimes, and wake back up panicked.

FWIW, I experienced this when I first started using CPAP. I might go through several episodes of this in a night before I was finally able to get past it and fall asleep.

The good news is that I don't do that anymore. Apparently, I've adjusted now to CPAP and it is no longer an issue. (The issue went away probably a month or two after starting.)

The other good news is that even though it can make you feel a little panicked when you wake up feeling like you forgot to breathe, you are at no risk of suffocating yourself. Remind yourself that your body will breathe on its own before you get to that point.

I believe those central apneas, no? I seem to get alot of them when falling asleep with a higher pressure. So now when I wakeup I reset the auto ramp feature and dont have issues anymore with those.