my first night

[slrpro02]

My first night using my machine at home didn't go as good as at the sleep study. I woke up with my mask laying next to me. I don't remember taking it off. My wife said I went to sleep quickly. I woke up but did not feel as good as when I woke up at the sleep study. This might not be as easy as I was hoping.
What should I set the humidifier at???
What is this I read about aromatherapy? I ask the rep. at veterans hospital about it she said not to use it. Can it cause some-type of problem??

[Hunter1]

I am in my first week with a cpap machine. Like you, I have taken my mask off a couple of nights. Why? I do not know.

I have heard from others that it takes a while to get adjusted. Have noticed when my mask stays on all night, I really feel good.

Keep trying. Find what works for you and do it.

Hunter1

[cflame1]

First of all... what kind of a machine did you get? That'll make a difference in how high to put the humidity as the humidifiers work differently on different machines.

[RAINSUX]

This is fairly common. It sometimes takes a while to get used to the mask. Not everybody is like my sister, who just strapped it on the first night and never looked back. Don't worry about it, and just keep at it. Before I got the software I kept a chart of my compliance. It was a couple of months before I was wearing it all night. Try to remember what was bothering you (not easy) and make adjustments the next night. Maybe "practice" using the machine while you're watching TV.

Use the ramp feature which will make it easier to fall asleep.

My humidity is set at 3 out of 5, and I've never changed it. I can't help with the aroma, but I would advise against making too many changes at once. I make one change and track my progress for five nights before making another one. There's no magic solution. You just have to figure out what works for you. We're all different, and there are good nights and bad nights for no apparent reason. It's way too early to do anything but get used to the mask.

Keep us posted!

Sam

[JZ]

Other considerations for what setting to use on your humidifier are where you live (high or low humidity), the season (e.g., winter is usually dryer than summer) and your personal determination of what is comfortable for you. Some humidifiers heat the air in the hose a little, while others don't so much. Experiment. Perhaps start with a mid-range setting and go up or down from there. Another common practice of many is to put water in the humidifier tank, but leave the humidifier setting at 0 or off. This provides what is called passover humidification -- the least amount of humidification you can get with the humidifier.

Waking up with one's mask off is not uncommon when first adjusting to cpap. I have read many posts from people who swear by the power of self suggestion. In other words, tell youself before going to sleep, "My mask and cpap are my best friends and will help me breathe. I will keep my mask on all night. I will not remove my mask," or words to that effect. With some time, you will probably make it all night long with the mask. If your wife wakes up and your mask is off, I would suggest she wake you enough to put it back on.

Do some research about aromatherapy so you can decide for yourself. There is scientific proof that lavender aids in relaxation and sleep. There is no such proof for other scents, but some people find them enjoyable and thus relaxing. There is a member of this forum who sells an essential oil system to be used with cpap. His website is http://www.pur-sleep.com. I don't know why the Veteran's Hospital rep said not to use aromatherapy, but I'm sure there are a lot of useless (and maybe harmful?) aromatherapy products out there. Be cautious, do research and ask questions.

Good luck to you and welcome to the forum.

Janna

[slrpro02]

to cflame1
I have REMstarPro M series C-Flex with heated humidifier.
I live near DETROIT MI.

[JZ]

The humidifier on your RemStar will not really heat the air in your hose, but it will certainly provide differing levels of humidification based on the setting. I have a RemStar M Series. I started at a 3 on the humidifier and over time went down to 2, then 1, then passover humidification. However, when I travel to a drier climate, I go back to a setting of 2 or 3 to help keep my nose from drying out.

Janna

[sharon1965]

I live near DETROIT MI.

slrpro02
i live across the detroit river in windsor...i imagine it's just as humid and sticky where you are if you're close to detroit...i had a lot of problems with excess humidity (rainout) when i first started back in january due to the room temp. being low and the heat from the humidifier...in the winter i run it as low as i can tolerate (no higher than 2.5 and as low as 1) and use a nasal moisturizer; since around may i've been running the humidifier at zero and just using it as a passover, since it's been so steamy and humid here this year

i used to take my mask of regularly in the beginning, until i read the same suggestion made above about mind over matter...i had to tell myself every night that i would NOT take it off and after about a week of that i stopped doing it...every now and then i still wake up without it, but not very often, and i think those times it has come off on it's own from moving around

there are a lot of differing opinions about the pur-sleep system and a couple of pretty long threads on the subject...i use it myself, and i like it a lot, but there are lots of people who don't use it and some people who are opposed to it; you could search for the threads and do some reading to decide for yourself

best of luck getting started, you've come to the right place for support and info

take care
sharon1965

p.s we happen to be heading over to the beautiful detroit zoo tomorrow

[bdp522]

Give it time. It can take 4-6 weeks for your body to adjust to all of this. Every time you sleep without the mask, it undoes all the good you got from wearing it. Once you get to where you can use it all night you will start to feel better. You can try taping the headgear to your face, the discomfort when you try to remove it may remind you to leave it on. I've been using the pur-sleep since the beginning of march and I love it. I have had no ill effects from it at all.

Brenda

[SleepGuy]

What is this I read about aromatherapy? I ask the rep. at veterans hospital about it she said not to use it. Can it cause some-type of problem??

The pur-sleep products are new to the market and it's likely your rep doesn't know about them. The pur-sleep system introduces a very small amount of an aromatic that you enjoy into the air before it's drawn into your equipment. No essential oils touch the equipment. Many people try to introduce aromatics directly into their equipment (like putting Vicks into the water chamber), which will likely damage the equipment and void manufacturer warranties. That's likely what your rep. was referring to--the fact that manufacturers don't want people putting aromatics directly onto the equipment. The pur-sleep products do not touch the equipment.

I also agree that you should do some research about aromatherapy generally. Pur-Sleep uses only the essential oils that are generally recognized as being safe for human consumption by the FDA. Not that the oils should be ingested, but that from a human health risk standpoint, ingestion presents the highest practical risks: if they're safe to eat they should be safe to inhale (again, we're talking about 1 or 2 drops).

Hope that helps answer your questions.