help with takeing my mask off by early morning why

[deebra]

i have a problem with keeping my mask on at night, im fine with it when i go to bed and thru the night, until around 4 or 5 in the morning i wake up feeling like i am smothering and i fight to get it off, i never have woken up in my reg time of the morning yet with my mask on, anyone ever experience this ? i have been on c-pap for a month now .i also have an oxygen port on it so i get oxygen and the c-pap air. i have a full face mask which fits very well, so thats not a problem, my machine is set on level two of the c-flex and my heated humidity on 4 ia have tried diff levels at the humidity and much the same, higher level sort of makes me hot. anyone know how i might be able to keep my mask on in the early morning hours, and why i wake up feeling like i am smothering? my pressure is set at 9

_________________

CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): C-FLEX

[sleepycarol]

Can you tell us what your pressure is?

For some it takes a while to sleep all night with your machine.

Others will probably have some good suggestions.

[deebra]

pressure set as 9 been that way since i started

[RosemaryB]

Many people go through this from what I see. If you are consistent with your treatment and use the mask every night after a while it should change, or at least has for lots of other people.

I think that there's something natural about the urge to take the mask off. We are sleeping and something is covering our face/nose/mouth. But after while we get so used to it that this no longer happens.

[lking]

Try increasing your flex to 3.

[JeffH]

And maybe set the humidity lower. I start getting stopped up anything over 2.

[sleepie]

same here have to put humidity on--1--otherwise nose runs all day --pat

[ozij]

Another possibilitly is that now, that you're sleeping well, you're slipping into REM sleep, and getting heavier apneas than at your titiration.

Do you know if, and how much REM you had during the titration night?

On another track: could you by any chance by covering your exhaust port when you're in deep sleep in the early morning? Jiggling some lose electric connection?

O.

[krousseau]

People who have conditions requiring O2 often have a greater sensitivy to things covering the face/nose/mouth.

After you make sure there are no PAP problems like not enough pressure, humidity issues, low O2, etc---try making it harder to take your mask off in your sleep-maybe by adding a nylon stocking around your head and mask. Don't cover your exhalation ports.

[ozij]

[quote="deebra"] i have a problem with keeping my mask on at night, im fine with it when i go to bed and thru the night, until around 4 or 5 in the morning i wake up feeling like i am smothering and i fight to get it off, i never have woken up in my reg time of the morning yet with my mask on, anyone ever experience this ? i have been on c-pap for a month now .i also have an oxygen port on it so i get oxygen and the c-pap air. i have a full face mask which fits very well, so thats not a problem, my machine is set on level two of the c-flex and my heated humidity on 4 ia have tried diff levels at the humidity and much the same, higher level sort of makes me hot. anyone know how i might be able to keep my mask on in the early morning hours, and why i wake up feeling like i am smothering? my pressure is set at 9

[sthnreb]

I've done that myself. But, now I do believe some of it is a mental block, making you feel like smothering. Keep in mind, the machine is constantly blowing air into your nose/mouth, which it is not doing if you take the mask off. For me if I panic, I try to relax and inhale deeply on the incoming air and set a rhythm in my breathing and usually I have no further problem. Remember, you are getting more air with the machine than without unless it is broken.

[Guest]

thanks everyone for all your advice i guess i just got to give more time, and maybe it will get better as i go.

[sthnreb]

I was reading back to the original post. Do you add oxygen to your mask? Most masks do have a port to add oxygen. I added oxygen to mine when I was in the hospital with pneumonia. Do you use oxygen during the day? It could be your oxygen levels are dropping low. Maybe you need an oximeter to test your oxygen levels? It may need turning up if it is dropping down at night. It probably should be 90 or better saturation. I guess I missed that you were taking oxygen earlier. The oxygen port is there in case you need to add oxygen as I did in the hospital.

[RosemaryB]

thanks everyone for all your advice i guess i just got to give more time, and maybe it will get better as i go.

But if it doesn't come back here for help. There are a lot of smart, experienced, and caring people on this forum.

[gasp]

I agree with mask off means out of bed. Having said that, it took me time to not feel like ripping it off. It wasn't the air pressure etc, it was just having a mask on my face. I agree with RosemaryB (that rhymes : ) anyway, it's natural to want the mask off our face at first. Perhaps there are those that put it on and never look back. It took me several months to want it more that not want it. Hang in there.