Question re: How early to mask up at night?

[Foggy1]

I've been in the habit of putting my mask on and starting up my CPAP machine as soon as I get in bed, even though I sometimes watch TV or read for a while. There are times when I have trouble falling asleep, and the mask might be on for well over an hour before I'm actually asleep. Other nights, I can't keep my eyes open and drift off quickly. I try to keep a regular night time schedule, so I go to bed at about the same time each night.

So my question: Should I wait until I actually feel sleepy before I put on the mask? Am I adversely skewing my results by wearing the mask when I'm awake for so long?

[Pugsy]

If you are getting some flagged events while awake during the times where it might take you longer to get to sleep ..yeah it will skew the data a little but better to have the data a little skewed than risk falling asleep with the mask off and having a truck load of apnea events happen.
I wouldn't worry about the data being skewed a little. The important thing is to sleep with the mask on.
If you happen to have some flagged events when you know you were awake..we just mentally remove the from the calculations.
When it happens to me I just eyeball the time I know I was asleep. If I see that not many events happened during that time frame that's good enough for me. I don't have to have the AHI figured exactly and hours of sleep don't have to be exact either.

[LSAT]

IMO...It really doesn't matter. You may get a few more CA's showing on your Sleepyhead report, but as long as you are sleeping well and feel good....do what works for you. Don't worry about the report.

[Foggy1]

Thanks for the confirmation. I worry that I will fall asleep without the mask if I don't put it on when I get into bed. Just didn't want to be "doing it wrong".

[old dude]

Pugsy and LSAT are of course both right. I will admit to a having had a tendency to not to mask up until I was ready to fall asleep, and to also unmask as soon as I was awake-which of course precluded any chance of falling back to sleep. I was doing it all so as to not record those waking breathing patterns that can get mis-scored by my machine. The real question was why? Being truthful with myself, I was likely number-chasing trying to impress my doctor in the event he should challenge my self-titration efforts. When he looked me right in the face and told me he wouldn't give a nickel for the difference between an AHI average of 0.5 and 5.0, I quit worrying about it.

Not too surprisingly, when I just let it go for some reason those waking minutes seemed to stop getting scored poorly by my machine. Probably when I stopped thinking about how I might be breathing, I started breathing in a manner more acceptable to the machine. I readily admit to often being my own worst enemy by over-thinking things.

[Sheriff Buford]

Pugsy and LSAT are of course both right.

Of course???

Sheriff

[Seattleboy49]

I am one of those people who need a little help falling asleep so I usually read, which does the trick in no time. But I am worried that if I wait to put the mask on right when I am feeling tired I will mess with the process by the time I put it on and get it feeling comfortable. so I have been putting it on right when I get in bed and that seems to work for me.

[hyperlexis]

Alas for me it's a chronic problem. I get into bed, watch tv then eventually after 11 or 12 get a wave of sleepiness hit me and I'm like oh, I'll just put my head down and close my eyes for a second.... Then I wake up after 2 a.m. and drag the mask over and suit up.

It drives me crazy this keeps happening, but I don't think I could stand wearing a mask for hours before bed. My V2 or Quattro FX possibly, because they dont have forehead braces and I wear glasses, but the others like the Amara Gel or the plain Quattro, no, not really, because I couldnt see anything.

But hey if it helps you, why not.

[Sheriff Buford]

I'll lie in bed and watch the news. When I start to get a little groggy, I'll mask up.... then I'm out. It seems that when the mask goes on, it signals my body to do the sleepy thang'.

Sheriff

[kteague]

Knowing yourself is the key. If there's any chance of falling asleep without the mask, it's best to avoid the possibility. Early on I would fall asleep without the mask. Made a rule for myself not to lay down without the mask, but would still often sit on the side of the bed with good intentions then wake up much later still sitting upright. Had to change my rule to putting my mask on while standing by my bedside. Was able to relax about that over time, but still never allow myself to lie down without first masking up. I can go from not sleepy to sound asleep with no apparent warning. Those less susceptible to sudden sleep can give themselves some leeway.

[jamiswolf]

Thanks for the confirmation. I worry that I will fall asleep without the mask if I don't put it on when I get into bed. Just didn't want to be "doing it wrong".

Hi Foggy,
Data aside...falling asleep without the mask would be my biggest worry.

I always mask up when going to bed. I have a talking book reader with a sleep shut-off setting. And almost always I'm asleep before the machine shuts off...unless it's a really interesting and exciting book!
Jamis

[jbloodwo]

Although i am totally new to this I basically put the mask on as soon as i turn the lights out and lay down.
I have never been one that easily gets to sleep at night. the report from my sleep study stated first sleep was at like 63 mnn and i think that is about average for me. the only exception to the tanking forever to sleep is if i take a nap in the afternoon. in thos cases i can fall asleep right away.

[chunkyfrog]

I waited just a little bit last night; "until I was sleepy enough"
You guessed it; 2 hours off the machine, and feeling so very rotten!
Being retired, I was able to sleep (much) later than usual (hosing, like I should),
and was able to finally feel human--but I lost 4 hours. Bad frog!

[ddk]

I generally wait until my breathing has slowed and regulated because I find that the difference in breathing disturbs my ability to fall asleep due to the crappy pressure relief of my machine. However I also find that if I don't put the mask on before being too sleepy that I'll end up falling asleep without it which is worse than staying awake longer to get to sleep.

One method I find that helps me get to sleep is to NOT think about my breathing.

[LinkC]

I'll lie in bed and watch the news.

Jeez, it's a wonder you ever get any sleep after that!