Second night was horrible

[BigTex]

here is what I noticed.

1. I have a hard time getting used to breathing to my nose.
never really noticed before but I guess I am a mouth breather.
With the mask on its seems much worse.

2. Every time I am about to fall a sleep I will wake up gasping for air it seems.
This seems to be the problem the night before.

I took some sleep meds, put on mask turned off the light.
Struggling getting used to this.
Several times I woke up gasping for air.
Its like the mask is doing the opposite of whats its suppose to do.

After 48 minutes I was getting claustrophobic and took off the mask.
Went to right to sleep and did not wake up before the alarm so the sleep meds worked well.

in 48 minutes the AHI was 9

Today I will practice breathing to my nose.
Hopefully practice makes perfect.

Pressure is set at 8, could this be a pressure issue?

[FarmGirl]

If you are comfortable breathing through your mouth, might consider a full face mask.

[Mary Z]

BigTex, hang in there, CPAP just takes some getting used to- it's a big change.

[sapphirerose]

I had to change my ramp time to 5 minutes and eventually stop using my ramp because I felt like I was suffocating when it was ramping and I am a definite nose breather. My pressure is pretty low most of the time on my APAP (around 8.2 for 90% pressure), but the ramp starts at 4 and that was just too low.

So, check your ramp if you are using it.

I'm a relative CPAP newbie, so take comfort in that I got this advice from a much more experienced CPAP user, my husband.

[greatunclebill]

make sure any sleep medicine, prescription or OTC, is discussed with the sleep doctor. sleep apnea and sleep meds are a dangerous combination for obvious reasons.

my sleep doc gave me sleeping pills for my sleep study. when i asked about sleeping pills when i was having problems adjusting to the mask. he said flat out no. he said the only reason he prescribed them during the test was because i had such a hard time sleeping in the previous test AND i was under direct observation and monitoring by the sleep study tech all night,

[BigTex]

It was prescribed...

I dont have a problem with the ramp.
its set to 10 minutes.

its after that when I am about to fall a sleep that I start gasping.
Its a horrible feeling.


Maybe a full face mask will help.

[Emilia]

If you are mouth breather, a Full Face Mask may be a much better option for you. If you think your are breathing via your mouth for other reasons such a congestion or allergies, then those issues need to be addressed. Attempting to use a nasal mask if you know you will breathe through your mouth is futile.... you will just allow all the therapy to escape via your mouth and you accomplish nothing. If your nasal passages are clear and breathing through your nose is doable... you should consider either a chin strap to hold your jaw up and the mouth closed, or you could attempt to tape your mouth...but you should read more about that, first. Do a search on the forum for taping.

[BigTex]

I use a chin strap.

I just have the feeling that I am not getting enough air breathing via nose.
That might just be a mental thing. Oh boy I publicly said I was mental

[chunkyfrog]

Guess what: chin straps don't always work.
Not for me, anyhow.
My lips always find a way to make a hole to leak through.

[hades161]

You can do a few things to help you adjust and you can teach yourself to not mouth breath with daily practice.

To practice nose breathing and get into the habit of keeping your mouth closed, try this. Close your mouth and with a lil suction get your tongue to stick to the roof of your mouth and breath through your nose. Do this all day, everyday and you will carry the new "habit" into your night time breathing. You will still have to monitor your data to make sure the mouth breathing stops but it should over time if you practice till you do it without thought. If you fail at this get a full face mask ASAP.

To get use to a pap you must practice a bit also. Wearing a mask of any type and having air pumped into you is unnatural and takes time to get use too. Practice at night before bed for about an hour, Watch TV in bed, read a book, listen to an audiobook any thing you can do while laying down and can work on while breathing on the machine and using the mask properly. After a few days you will adjust to the point where you no longer even think about the mask or the machine and you will sleep on it without much issue other then the normal stuff like leaks and what not. Good Luck and stick with it.

[Emilia]

What was your titrated pressure? If it was 8, that doesn't mean it is correct as sleep study conditions are not at all like your own sleep conditions at home. This is why it is important to have the data to view and see what the issues are. I'd say you need a few things to accomplish: Ask your DME for a Full Face Mask to try. The chin strap is clearly not working for you and taping is an option, if you prefer to continue using the nasal mask. If you aren't using a DME (no insurance or buying out of pocket), you could use the mask trial service at http://www.cpaplibrary.com/mask-trials.html Work on the breathing...and be sure your nasal passages are clear before masking up. Your machine is cpap only so you can't benefit from a pressure range to rein in pressure needed. You'll need to get the data and then see if slight adjustments up would be beneficial.

If you don't have the software for your machine, you can download it for free... you have two choices: ResScan or Sleepyhead. Both are available for free.

Once you have data that shows your sleep and events during the night, we can help you determine some issues. Regardless, you do need to work at getting the mask/pressure issues resolved in order to benefit from this therapy. It can be done, and once you do it, you will begin to feel better.

[Uncle_Bob]

Several times I woke up gasping for air.
Its like the mask is doing the opposite of whats its suppose to do.

Pressure is set at 8, could this be a pressure issue?

Looking back at your first post you posted a 90% and maximum leak rate of 4.80 & 45.60.
Taking care of leaks is cpap newbie task number 1. Its possible you could be leaking too much air that you are not getting enough pressure so you wake up gasping. Try looking at you leak graph and see if the big leak period correspond to when you are waking up.
You might want to consider mouth taping to find out if you are mouth breathing (hence leaking).
What mask did you wear during your titration?

Also going to sleep with starting at 4cm on the ramp. I would be gasping for air from the start. If your pressure is only 8cm then you could try and turn off the RAMP and EPR. Both given the sensation of reduced pressure often needed at higher pressures and it sounds like it would be worth while for you to trying CPAP without them.

I recently tried the Mirage FX nasal mask. Its on its way back to cpap.com on the return insurance. Couldn't stop it leaking.

Good luck
~UB

[Kairosgrammy]

It's possible that the mask you are using just won't work for you if it is making you claustophobic. My first mask was similar to that. I tried for 3 weeks before I had my "nervous breakdown" I went back to the RT at the dme I used at that time and told her what was going on (heart palpitations, etc) and she said, I have the solution. She gave me nasal pillows (I believe the forerunner to swift fx which is what I use right now). Of course, you do have to breathe through your nose but it doesn't give those claustophobic feelings. Another alternative is a hybrid mask which has the nasal pillows and a part for the mouth. I just tried one and didn't care for it. It brought back the claustophobic feelings though not as bad as the nasal mask but for most, it doesn't seem to be a problem. I will stick with nasal pillows with a chin strap to prevent mouth breathing.

Keep on trying. It all takes some getting used to no matter what facemask you use. However, getting the right mask is essential because that is one of the leading reasons people give up on cpap.

here is what I noticed.

1. I have a hard time getting used to breathing to my nose.
never really noticed before but I guess I am a mouth breather.
With the mask on its seems much worse.

2. Every time I am about to fall a sleep I will wake up gasping for air it seems.
This seems to be the problem the night before.

I took some sleep meds, put on mask turned off the light.
Struggling getting used to this.
Several times I woke up gasping for air.
Its like the mask is doing the opposite of whats its suppose to do.

After 48 minutes I was getting claustrophobic and took off the mask.
Went to right to sleep and did not wake up before the alarm so the sleep meds worked well.

in 48 minutes the AHI was 9

Today I will practice breathing to my nose.
Hopefully practice makes perfect.

Pressure is set at 8, could this be a pressure issue?

[Emilia]

I concur... try a hybrid mask or a nasal pillow/chin strap or taping combo to see if that helps. As for keeping your mouth shut... try putting your tongue tip just behind the ridge that sits behind your upper teeth. If you can train yourself to keep your tongue in that position, you will find that your mouth will stay closed and it helps to keep air from escaping from your mouth. It will take some time to make this a habit, but many of us have done it successfully.

[macewa]

I tried the nasal mask and that was a disaster. Then they had me use a chin strap and that was just one more thing that had to be strapped on me and around my head. I'm one of those people who gets a headache if I wear a barrett or pull my hair back tight in a pony tail. I went to the full face and that cause me lots of pain on my nose and my pressure was so high I had to strap it on way too tight.

I just got my FitLife Total Face mask the other day and I LOVE IT!!! This is now, two or three days with no nose ache or headache. I don't usually feel claustrophic but with the full face mask at times I did. With the Full Face . . I hardly even know it's on. So I would say to consider that also as a choice. JMHO.

If you are mouth breather, a Full Face Mask may be a much better option for you. If you think your are breathing via your mouth for other reasons such a congestion or allergies, then those issues need to be addressed. Attempting to use a nasal mask if you know you will breathe through your mouth is futile.... you will just allow all the therapy to escape via your mouth and you accomplish nothing. If your nasal passages are clear and breathing through your nose is doable... you should consider either a chin strap to hold your jaw up and the mouth closed, or you could attempt to tape your mouth...but you should read more about that, first. Do a search on the forum for taping.