First night on CPAP

[sleeplessinthevalley]

It has taken awhile, but I finally was able to pick up my equipment yesterday. I have a Remstar auto with Aflex and a Quatro fx mask.I wasn't sure what to expect, but was hopefull. All of the info on this forum has been great.

Although I have a very long way to go I can report that last night was wonderful! I wore my mask for 7 1/2 hours. My AHI was 84 during the sleep study, but only 4 last night. Even that may be somewhat inflated because I held my breath several times to experience what it would feel like to have the pressure increase. Average pressure was 10.5. I did have trouble falling asleep and hope that will improve once I become more comfortable with the whole process.

The best part is how I feel today. I woke up at 6. My grandkids came over at 8:45 for me to babysit. We went to lunch and here it is 2 o'clock and I'm still going strong! Normally I would have crashed on the couch long ago.

Thank you to all of you who have posted on this forum. Your advice and support has been great. It turned what could have been a very frightening and intiminating experience into one filled with hope and anticipation!

[Emilia]

Hi... and welcome. You will need to change your name soon as you will no longer be 'sleepless.' If you would take a minute to go up to the User Control Panel (under the search, top left) and then to Profile and then Edit Equipment, you can then choose your gear from the pull down menus and then choose to show those in TEXT, not pictures. This puts your equipment at the bottom of each of your posts automatically like mine below. It allows those with the same machine/mask/software to help you more effectively.

You had a fabulous first night so you are on the path to feeling better and getting good sleep. An AHI of 4 is good, but we all strive to get it down around 1 or 2, if possible. You should get the software so you can monitor your therapy and see what might need tweaking to get optimum therapy. Those with your machine can guide you with that process if you are not that tech savvy. I believe you can get free software for your machine, and a forum member has even created a web based open source form of software you can use.

Best of luck.... and happy sleep/ sweet dreams!

[robysue]

Sounds like you are off to a great start and have the real possibility of taking to CPAP like a duck to water! Hope that continues and that you have a very short adjustment period.

[Janknitz]

Quack, you're a duck (as in taking to it like a duck takes to water)! Congratulations!!!

Be aware that we ALL have bad nights, so if one happens to you don't be discouraged. This is not meant to put a damper on things, but just so that you know if you have a bad night it doesn't mean that CPAP isn't working for you. Keep on keeping on.

But if you can do that well the very first night, you should have mostly good nights and great results. Wonderful news!

[harry33]

welcome
I would take a sleeping pill or valium to help get off to sleep
remember you can lie any way in bed, not always on your back

[Lizistired]

Delayed sleep the first night is normal. You have a beast on your face. Explore it, get to know it, and you will look forward to it.
If not, you can adjust the ramp feature to make it more comfortable as you fall asleep.
I would suggest noy worrying about numbers and software for the first week. Just go with how you feel.
If you feel like a nap, go take it with the mask on. You probably have some sleep to catch up on.

[sleeplessinthevalley]

Thanks everyone for the kind advice and support. Last night went OK, but my cheek bones hurt from the mask. It tends to ride up when I sleep on my side. It is the only real problem I am experiencing at this point.The DME suggested a gel faceliner and I saw that Karen at Pad a Cheeks makes a liner as well. I go to the sleep Dr.(1st visit) next Wed. and I'll see what he has to say.Maybe I need a different mask? My AHI is higher than I would like, but I'm still working out the bugs.

I am trying to figure out how to get data from my Remstar auto. Am I correct that you can buy a downloadable program for about $100 and then be able to read your chip? I am a computer illiterate and really appreciate any advice. Please keep it very simple!!!

We are going to the opera tonight. Wouldn't it be great if I didn't fall asleep!!!!

[cowlypso]

A different mask might be helpful. Your DME would be more knowledgeable than your sleep doctor on that, probably. Your DME should be able to exchange any mask within 30 days, so keep trying until you find one that works for you. You'll know it when you find it.

You can buy the EncoreViewer software for around $100. There are also some free options available that have been developed by users here.

Check out http://www.onkor.net and/or search the forum here for SleepyHead to get download instructions. Both of these programs will give you access to your data. Onkor is completely web-based, whereas SleepyHead is a program you download onto your computer.

Your doctor will not want to change the pressure for at least a week or two. It can take a while to adjust and for your AHI to settle in. If your AHI is still high after a week or two, your doctor may tweak the pressure to try to get it lower. You also want to work on eliminating leaks. If you have a leak, then the air is going out the side of the mask and not into your airway, so it can't do its job of keeping your airway open.