Taking mask off in my sleep

Doc Egor · Post by **Doc Egor** » Thu Oct 13, 2005 9:10 pm

I've been on the "machine" for about a year and a half now and I have a problem I can't seem to remedy.

In my sleep I remove my mask and shut the machine down....lol

I go to sleep and I'll wake up in the morning and the mask and hose will be neatly hung on the machine.

I have no memory of removing the mask, my wife claims I've a avid sleepwalker and sleep talker so maybe this has something to do with it.

I've even tried lacing string though the headgear so that the mask can't just be slipped off without a concentrated effort....didn't work either...lol

Suggestions?

Thanks!

Doc

thewebbie · Post by **thewebbie** » Thu Oct 13, 2005 9:30 pm

I've found myself doing the same thing but my wife will kick me and tell me to put the mask back on because I start snoring.

Doc Egor · Post by **Doc Egor** » Thu Oct 13, 2005 9:40 pm

I even went as far as to set the alarm on the machine so if I took the mask off without stopping the machine it would honk at me...lol

Nope..no luck there either...

Evidently I've very tricky when I'm sleeping....

Maybe I need to train the cat to put the mask back on me and start the machine when this happens?

Doc

crazyone · Post by **crazyone** » Fri Oct 14, 2005 11:57 am

Actually, I am having a very similar problem except that I am not so neat about it. Apparently, I like to throw things across the room in my sleep, or actually just cpap things. Although, I used my new Comfort Curve mask last night for the first time and kept it on longer than usual.

I've thought about possibly setting my alarm for 2 or 3 in the morning to wake myself in order to put it back on. Don't know if it will work or not, but I figure it's worth a try. I'll let you know how it works out for me after a few days.

If anyone else has any ideas - Please post them.

rock and roll · Post by **rock and roll** » Fri Oct 14, 2005 12:08 pm

soounds like a job for DUCT TAPE!

cybergoon · Post by **cybergoon** » Fri Oct 14, 2005 12:44 pm

soounds like a job for DUCT TAPE!

Heh, I was thinking handcuffs!

rock and roll · Post by **rock and roll** » Fri Oct 14, 2005 1:02 pm

Cybergoon,

I did a doubletake when I saw your avatar. You look so much like me 20 years ago it is canny. Of course when I blow your picture up it is too blurry to see very well. I wear a baseball cap all the time when not working and Isported a beard like yours for 20 years until I looked like Foster Brooks and shaved it. I would love to see another picture of you if you would send to me. If so PM me and I will send you my email address.

Moxie Chick · Post by **Moxie Chick** » Fri Oct 14, 2005 5:49 pm

I can only assume, Doc, that you are under 40 - it's been YEARS since my bladder let me sleep through the night! I often find when I wake up during the night that I've removed my mask in my sleep. I just try to discipline myself to put it back on when I come back to bed.

I just got a Swift about 2 weeks ago and am not taking it off in my sleep as often as I did that horrible Adams Circuit headgear - but the nasal pillows on the old mask were softer.

ozij · Post by **ozij** » Sat Oct 15, 2005 4:43 am

Wild idea:
Build a cardboard construction around you machine so that you can't just reach over and turn it off, something to really get up so you can turn off the machine.
Are you sure you mask is comfortable enough and the pressure OK?

O.

Doc Egor · Post by **Doc Egor** » Sat Oct 15, 2005 7:56 pm

The cardboard is a interesting idea....lol

I've never have been able (or even wanted/needed to) sleep for 8 hours at a time unless I'm extreemely exhausted from being up and working for 40+ hours straight. You may laugh but this is the truth.

My job is in the entertainment industry and for certain large shows I may start @ 5AM on a Friday morning and work pretty much straight through until Sunday morning or noon.
Even for the regular shows a workday exceeds 24hrs on a fairly regular basis.
If I do a multiday festival I might put in 190+ hours in a 10 day period.
Usually when I come home after a run like that I can get 8 hours of uninterupted sleep before I am ready to get up again.

I can't honestly say my cpap maching has made me "feel" better, my wife say's I don't kick my legs or snore so much at night with the machine on.

I like to sleep on my side, and if someone would just build a mask that would permit that without heroic measures maybe I would feel differently about the machine.

Doc

ozij · Post by **ozij** » Sun Oct 16, 2005 1:13 am

Doc Egor wrote: I like to sleep on my side, and if someone would just build a mask that would permit that without heroic measures maybe I would feel differently about the machine.

The following work for me for side sleeping
Breeze
Aura

Swift works for many, though it didn't for me.

You'll find descriptions of all on www. cpap.com - hosts of this site.

O.

THier · Post by **THier** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 1:27 pm

I am new to the apnea-cpap machine thing,,, but I am doing the same thing. During my sleep study, I never tried to remove the mask,,,, BUT, since I got my cpap thursday, 10-13-05, I take the mask off everynight and turn the machine off. I do remember waking thinking I am haveing a hard time exhaling,,,(new mask coming 10-18) but I don't remember ever removing mask and shutting the machine off.

Tom

Jay Jennings · Post by **Jay Jennings** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 9:44 pm

I've had my apap machine for just 4 nights now, and during nights 2 and 3 I awoke early in the morning to find my mask on the bedpost and the machine shut off. I have *no* recollection of taking it off at all. Last night I "woke up" and was fiddling with the machine because my nose was itching, or something, and my wife woke up and asked me what I was doing. I said, "Nothing" and went back to sleep.

So maybe my nose was itching the other nights, and she just wasn't awake to catch me. =:)

I've always thought I was a light sleeper, so it kind of bugs me that I'd take the mask off and turn off the machine without remembering it.

Of course, maybe I was a light sleeper because I was never *really* asleep. =:)

Jay

KimberlyinMN · Post by **KimberlyinMN** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 9:40 am

I've done this a few times. A couple of times I have no recollection, a few other times I kind of remember thinking that it was almost time to wake up so I take it off to get 30-60 minutes of "comfortable" sleep. Once or twice I've taken it off but then realized what time it was so I put it back on and go back to sleep. This last week we were at the in-laws and I brought the wrong FF mask (tad too big). The last night we were there, I decided to sleep without the mask/machine. DH said I snored so weirdly that he thought it was two people snoring. He said even the schnauzer was looking at me like I was strange. (That's something because THAT dog sleeps through anything.)

Kimberly

beachgurl_1988 · Post by **beachgurl_1988** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 7:54 pm

I don't really have a problem with taking my mask off during my sleep, but I do tend to fall asleep watching TV and not put it on. I always wake up around 3 in the morning and put it on.

Have you tried putting it under your bed? Then it would be harder to turn off? If you put it under the side of the bed, snake your tubing up behind the headboard and turn the alarm on, then you should just be able to take the mask off, and not turn the machine off.

Mask

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Taking mask off in my sleep

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