New Cpap user's woes

[snyderm]

Well, today was day 6 of using my APAP machine, and despite some good progress on my 3rd day, my 5th and 6th days have been harder than my 1st and 2nd days.

I am not really sleeping anymore, more like napping occassionaly over a 9 hour period. I must have woken up from a shallow sleep between 15-20 times last night. I get get pain/discomfort above the right side of my mouth because my full face mask is pressing on it, causing it to be sore. I have red marks along the outside of my mouth from where the masks seals at night. These are visible long after I go to work in the morning, and somewhat visible throught the entire day. The exhalation pressure of the machine wakes me up on and off throught the night. My mask seems to emit a high pitched vibration when my apap machine goes above 10 pressure. Getting through a workday is very difficult because I am so tired. Tiredness was not one of my symptoms, but it is now that I am using a machine.

I have some somewhat serious health problems that I believe could be due to my sleep apnea, but now I am forced to evaluate what is going to kill me faster; lack of sleep from using this machine, or oxygen deprivation from sleep apnea. Its looking like a wash. My days were far easier without the machine.

At some point I will have to stop using my machine, because I need enough sleep to go to work, and I am not getting that.

[Treehorn]

I had to go through many masks before I found one that suited the shape of my face.

I am glad I percisted with my supplier because now that I have a mask I like things are working out much better.

It took be about 2-3 weeks of waking up, taking of the mask in the middle of the night, trying taping, alternating masks, waking up with marks on my face, etc before I settled down and started to enjoy the therapy.

Maybe you can locate you machine under your bed or nightstand to try and minimize the noise. I suspect once you are used to the masks and getting a good nights sleep the noice won't wake you up.

I kinda like the noice my machine makes now. It is the sound I get to hear before getting a restful nights sleep.

Don't give up - its worth it! Good luck.

[snyderm]

I don't want to give up on this, I really need to do my best to sleep with this machine on, but it is hard. Should I choose to not sleep with the machine on in order to get a good nights sleep once in a while? I just don't know.

Maybe a regular CPAP with a constant noise and pressure would be good for me. I have a feeling the DME is going to ignore me if I ask about getting a different style mask. In fact I know they are going to ignore me.

I can't wait for a weekend so I can actaully get a full nights rest. I seem to be able to sleep once about 5:00am rolls round for some reason. I can't exactly do that when I have to work in the morning.

[Babette]

Alot of us had similar stories getting used to therapy. I had to keep trying different masks, and also I went on Provigil to combat daytime sleepiness and fog. Helped ALOT. I could only tolerate 1/2 a pill, though. I was too meth-ed out on a whole pill.

Just keep at it. If your DME won't give you another mask to try, check out the links below in my signature block.

Good luck!
Barbara

[timbalionguy]

Make sure both your face and the mask seal are clean before you go to bed. The silicone material seems to absorb face oils, and does not seal well when loaded with oil.

If you can, adjust your mask fit at the highest pressure you seem to run.

And yes, you may need to try a number of masks before you find one that works well for you. (I will put in a plug for the hybrid mask, which has been working well for me.)

Take some time to fill in your equipment profile so we all know what you are using. Use the text descriptions rather than the graphical descriptions. And what is your pressure range? A lot of machines are initially set for like 4-20 cm, which is way too much range. Most people are not comfortable unless the minimum pressure is about 7 or higher. Ideally, you want your low pressure to be about 2 cm below your 'titrated pressure', which your machine will help you discover (if you have a data capable machine).

You need to do some serious study here. Learn how others have dealt with mask leaks. But above all, don't give up. Correcting sleep apnea is a key to correcting a number of other health problems.

[jdm2857]

You can use your APAP as a straight CPAP machine. Either put it in CPAP mode, or leave it in APAP and set the minimum and maximum pressure to the same value.

And forum member PadACheek makes fleece covers for the headgear for various masks. These really help with the marks.

[millich]

Snyderm, if your DME won't let you try other masks, you may have to bite the bullet and buy them yourself. Sometimes, you can find a "testdrive" or someone here willing to trade. You can also check out the auction at the top of the page. Our host, CPAP.com, sells masks at reasonable prices.

DO NOT give up. Being successful with CPAP is important. You'll be glad you stuck with it.

[piggy mask girl]

I started on a different mask and had to change my mask to a Mirage Quartro full face mask. I am a new user as well ,and did not do well with my first mask ( a Liberty)called my supplier and gave up the whole thing for a few days till she could come out. Got what sleep I could without a mask. Started using the Mirage Quartro. Kept a 3 week diary of my gains and woes. Now I am having more gains. The problem is you have to find what is right for you. We all have a different anatomy so it has to fit your face. Early in this quest I was falling asleep and once, in the heat of summer, I started to dose off and almost went off the road waking up in time. I then started to go to bed earlier. I would get all my equipment ready to go an hour before bedtime because I was becoming anxious and be so uptight before I went to sleep. I found out from this blog to let the pressure build up in the mask then adjust the straps. I would lay down and make sure I was comfortable with the fit. Occasionally I get a small leak coming from the bottom corner of the mask which does not happen when I sleep on either side. If you can't get sleep and feel you are in danger of falling asleep during the day, contact your supplier to let them know. Against all rules I have taken a nap on weekends without my mask if I am really sleep deprived but ultimately I persist with the mask because of the multiple health issues surrounding apnea. You I don't think any of the systems are perfect so keep trying!!! Oh yes! I check out the marks on my face in the am. Then I can see where I may have tightened the straps too tight. It should be firm but not hurting you. That is were doing the last adjustment with the straps is best after the pressure builds. Use no lotions on the face it can break your seal.

[roster]

I don't want to give up on this, I really need to do my best to sleep with this machine on, but it is hard. Should I choose to not sleep with the machine on in order to get a good nights sleep once in a while? I just don't know.

Maybe a regular CPAP with a constant noise and pressure would be good for me. I have a feeling the DME is going to ignore me if I ask about getting a different style mask. In fact I know they are going to ignore me.

I can't wait for a weekend so I can actaully get a full nights rest. I seem to be able to sleep once about 5:00am rolls round for some reason. I can't exactly do that when I have to work in the morning.

Snyderm,

We need the info Timbalionguy asked for. What info can you see in the window of that HC254? Let us know everything you can see there.

You may be right about the constant pressure and that machine can be set to a constant pressure. Can you find out what pressure or pressure range the machine is currently set at? I am suspicious that it may be set at a pressure that is not correct.

A pressure of 10 cm should not be difficult to exhale against for a 32-year old of reasonable health. Unless you have a physical problem with breathing, your difficulty with exhaling is likely from anxiety. Initially we CPAP users often focus on our breathing and create anxiety. If you can distract your mind by thinking of something else pleasant, things may get easier for you. One thing that helps me is to take several deep exhalations each followed by a normal inhalation. This tend to give me confidence that it is easy to exhale and relieves some of the anxiety. After all, under normal conditions we breathe without thinking about it.

What position(s) are you sleeping in? Did the doc tell you what positions you slept in during the first study and what the results in each position were?

It sounds like you have the mask too tight. Are you getting noticeable leaks?

How is the job stability? Can you hold on for awhile until you can get the CPAP therapy working better and get through an adjustment period?

That is a lot of questions so take your time and think about where you stand now. many of us have gone down this same path and became successful.

Regards,