Please tell me it will get better...please?

[sleeplessBoston]

I know you have received lots of useful comments & I just want to reinforce the word "patience". I have been on CPAP for 20 days and I am slowly seeing results. The first week was a disaster: tossing & turning for hours without any sleep, waking up at 2 am and yanking the mask off so I COULD sleep, trying meditation and relaxation tapes. There were nights I cried because I was so tired & could not adjust to the machine. I was on the verge of taking it back & giving up when surprise! I finally slept with the $@%&* thing on for a full 4 hours. I'm now up to 5 hours. I still wake up about 4am and not every night is a good one but I am willing to stick with it for a couple more weeks. I don't feel any difference in my energy level and I still yawn during the day but I hope to appreciate these achievements soon. At 2 weeks my tech gave me a real pep talk and encouraged me to keep trying-she has known some people to take several months before they are able to achieve a full nights sleep with the CPAP and wake up feeling great. Take a deep breath, calm your breathing, & give it a little more time. We are all here with you.

[cotech50]

If you are a mouth breather I would try a full face mask. Leaks can be a problem just work with it. You want to get your pressure range narrowed down that seems to work best. I have been at this since 11/25/09 and have got my ahi down to 1.5 avg 4% large leak and starting to get more 6+hour nights. Wife commented that I did not fall asleep in church Sunday. Hang in there, there are many good people here with years of experience at this. I am a newcomer so take from my experience what you can. This journey can be a rough one for some easy for others. It just takes patience and persistence and some experimentation to find the right combination. When you achieve that combination you will find the journey was worth every minute and you can PAY IT FORWARD.

[Xcat9]

I can't tell you all how much really appreciate this.

Thank you. Fingers crossed tonight will be better, and if not there's always tomorrow night!

[Muse-Inc]

...Fingers crossed tonight will be better, and if not there's always tomorrow night!

That's the attitude! Come post how you slept...we're all rooting for ya!

[Xcat9]

Doing better now...I switched last night to the small nasal pillow (vs. the extra small the tech said to use) and I slept the whole night with the mask on!

1/14am
Made it through the whole night - switched to the small - fit so much better.
leak .10L/s
AHI 3.1
AI 0.3
HI 2.8
usage 7.41 hrs!

Thank you all for helping get through those first few days...phew I think I can do this.

[KatieW]

Well, just a few days, and you're doing so much better. Congratulations, it looks like your cpap therapy is going to be very successful.

[alhebert]

How long does it take before you can sleep through the night without waking up every so often? I am waking up about every 90 minutes or so. Never had this problem before starting cpap therapy.

[Xcat9]

So far (6 nights) I've had one brilliant night once I got the mask seated right. I've been tweaking the humidifier settings each night since to get that right. Last night I felt like I was drowning - bit too much humidity I guess.

So my routine has been to go to bed with it on 10pm'ish, I make it to 1:30, 2:30 or 4 depending. Yank off the mask roll over and back to sleep. Wake up at 5 - put the mask back on, go back to sleep until 7.

I used to go to bed at 10 and sleep till 8.

So my question is what is waking you every 90 mins? Is it a mask thing? A pressure setting?

[alhebert]

I don't know what is waking me up. That is the question I am seeking an answer to.

[BlackSpinner]

How long does it take before you can sleep through the night without waking up every so often? I am waking up about every 90 minutes or so. Never had this problem before starting cpap therapy.

It depends.
Actually you were waking up much more frequently before cpap, you just don't remember.
Ninety minute intervals sounds like just before or after REM sleep.

List your equipment and what your leaks and AHI are and people can help you better

[alhebert]

How do I list my equipment and get into my user profile? Thanks.