Can't fall asleep

[Ron8624]

I have been trying to use cpap for several weeks now and my problem is that I can't fall asleep. I get to a stage where I'm really close to sleeping but I never quite fall completely asleep. I get frustrated that I can't fall asleep and think about my breathing even though I'm trying to concentrate on other things. Is this normal?

My mask doesn't leak when I first lay down but tends to develop leaks if I lay down for several hours. This is what normally makes me give up trying to sleep wit the mask for the night.

[Wulfman]

It would help us alot if you would register and list your equipment and pressure(s) so we could possibly give you some ideas as to how to deal with your problem.

Den

[SharkBait]

Might try reading. I have a tough time getting to sleep without a book as I can't turn my mind off. I grab a book and force myself to concentrate on that and that turns off everything else. I'm usually out in 5 to 30 minutes...

[sagesteve]

Auto does effect some people this way.I think you should try straight CPAP and see how you do. Set your pressure at 10 and flex at 1. Give it a few days. I don't know what type of machine you have?

[riverdreamer]

I'm with Shark Bait. I always read for a while, to calm down before going to sleep. Some nights I am so tired I can barely make it through a page, but if I try to go to sleep without that decompress time, I will be wide awake once the lights go out.

Doesn't have to be reading, but I find it better than TV or other things that stimulate me more. When I started on CPAP recently, it really helped take my mind off breathing, my mask, and all that jazz.

[atomickitty3000]

When I first started CPAP I would have trouble falling asleep because I was paying too much attention to my breathing. To fix this I turn on a humidifier or fan so I can't hear the sound of air rushing in and out of the machine while I breath.

I also find it really helpful to have a bed time routine that I follow every night. Just helps to get me into sleeping mode.

[Ron8624]

I have registered and am replying to my original post. I think that if I switch to cpap mode then it might make it easier to go to sleep. I also ordered a swift mask but I'm worried that I might get mouth leaks. I was just wondering if anyone else found it hard to fall asleep at first. I'm comfortable and the mask isn't leaking when I first go to bed but I can't get past the point of almost falling asleep.

[OCNorsk]

I wear it as long as I'm asleep. If I find myself lying awake in the middle of the night ( which can be often, depending upon.. hmmm wish I knew ), I take it off because then all I do is think about it and breathing and I get more and more awake and tense. If I wake up and just turn over, it stays on. I can't wear it if I'm not pretty sleepy because it becomes "inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale." I wish my fourth grade teacher had never told us that breathing was a voluntary function.

I'm quoting myself here from another thread.

When I was young I would get giddy at the thought that it was sleep time. I loved sleeping and it came so easily to me.
Somewhere, some time, everything changed. Getting to sleep is a big challenge for me. Besides breathe in, breathe out, everything that is possibly wrong with me or the world haunts me. The sleep specialists totally frown on this, but I use DVD's of old pleasant sitcoms to engage my mind enough to stop the whirling thoughts. I turn the picture off of the tv and set it on timer. If I know the dialogue already, great...it makes it that much less engaging so I can drift off. When I'm on vacation I use my laptop for the same thing or I have recorded books on my iPod. It is very rare that I can just lie down and sleep will come.

[AThom10731]

Ron,

I'm in the same boat. Hopefully, we will get there, soon. I'm willing to try whatever works. The noise drives me nuts.

Ann

[OCNorsk]

I don't think my machine is loud, (and it looks like we have the same one) unless I'm thinking (obsessing) about it. Another thing about the tv, is that you can't hear the machine.

[jda1000]

After two months on CPAP, I can honestly say I have not fallen asleep once without AmbienCR. I've tried, and missed the entire night's sleep - literally was up all night. I've had insomnia off and on over the years, but with the mask - it's every night.

For the moment, I'm using the AmbienCR, weaning myself off all caffeine sources, and trying to build better sleep hygiene habits - for me, that's mostly just getting to bed at 9.30 or 10, rather than my lifetime average of midnight....

I've tried skipping the AmbienCR, but it invariably means missing a night's rest, and for the moment, I don't think I could stand it....

So, that puts me on sleeping pills and Afrin...

[OCNorsk]

That reminds me. My sleep dr really pushed me to fill a prescription for sleeping pills while I got used to the machine. I didn't do it at the time, but I certainly would not be opposed to it. In fact, now that you mention it, I'm going to go look for those things.

[Ron8624]

I have some Ambien but I have been trying to fall asleep without it. Right now I'm trying to get to bed around 10:30 and I give it up around midnight during the week. I also think I might to try to sleep with the mask but with the machine off.

[ozij]

I had trouble falling asleep when I started out.

Eventually I understood that I was unconsciously waiting for that bothersome noise (machine and mask) to go away. And I told myself that this is not the kind of noise that will go away. It is here to stay - and I concentrated on accepting it - like you would accept the sound of a stream, or the ocean.
This is different from "ignoring" - concentrating on ignoring is tiring - and when you notice the sound you get upset because the ignoring has failed.
Concentrating on accepting is saying something like "right, I know this noise, it's always there, it means nothing" whenever you become conscious of the sound.

By the way, OCNorsk, your 4th grade teacher was wrong: Breathing is not voluntary.

O.

[ThomasMcKean]

So, that puts me on sleeping pills and Afrin...

Be careful with the afrin. If yew take too much of it, yew won't be able to pee.