I panicked.

kona0197 · Post by **kona0197** » Fri Jan 31, 2014 5:36 am

I don't know if I can do this. Brand new machine, new mask, chinstrap. And dialed in for tonight. Had it on my face for a half hour. Ripped it off my face. I panicked. Feels like I am drowning. This only happens when I am laying down with it on. I am fine when I sit on the couch and have it on while watching TV. I really don't understand this mental block.

Are powerful sleep aids the only way to do this?

RandyJ · Post by **RandyJ** » Fri Jan 31, 2014 6:38 am

kona0197 wrote:I don't know if I can do this. Brand new machine, new mask, chinstrap. And dialed in for tonight. Had it on my face for a half hour. Ripped it off my face. I panicked. Feels like I am drowning. This only happens when I am laying down with it on. I am fine when I sit on the couch and have it on while watching TV. I really don't understand this mental block.

Are powerful sleep aids the only way to do this?

Your prescribed pressure is under 10, so maybe having ramp on at 5.5 is too low... it's very little air and could feel like suffocating. Anything less than 8 is too little for me. Also, many people when they recline do not breathe as well as when sitting up. A wedge pillow to prop you up, or something under the bed at the head end to raise 3 or 4 inches might help so instead of flat you are slightly inclined.

Try turning ramp off completely so when you turn on machine you start directly at prescribed pressure and see how that feels.

spmccord · Post by **spmccord** » Fri Jan 31, 2014 6:40 am

The first and best advice I was given was "Don't fight it".

Change is hard and it will take a while to really get used to wearing what I call "the alien".

I'm 4 months in and I really feel a difference, plus it's saving my life.

kcellwood · Post by **kcellwood** » Fri Jan 31, 2014 7:16 am

Three weeks into this. My first night I had the same issue. I woke up feeling like I was suffocating and took the maske off. I kind of laughed about it once I came to. Put the mask back on and was good the remainder of the night. Have not had any issues since then. I found it took me a couple days to settle into a normal breathing pattern with the machine on before falling to sleep. I was kind of listening to my breathing so I was conscience of my breathing instead of just breathing normally. I started out using the ramp pressure but after a couple nights stop and go right to 8 when the machine starts up. If you are a half hour into the night then I would think you are up to full pressure even using the ramp. It gets easier or at least it did for me. Hang in there. I am a success story as now I look forward to using the machine and waking up to a whole new feeling. I can't speak to the full face mask like you use so my exerience may be different.

HerbM · Post by **HerbM** » Fri Jan 31, 2014 7:25 am

I will only be trying this at home TONIGHT for the very first time, so mostly all I can offer is my support.

How did your sleep study go with the mask?

During my study, the starting pressure of 4 was too low, and I asked that it be raised (to 6 probably), but ran out of time.

My feeling was that even 6 was too low -- not causing me panic but not pushing enough that it would get through my congestion and airway restriction.

My best advice is relax, take it one day at a time.

This is not a sprint; it is not even a marathon.

It's a way of life -- and a way to live healthier and happier.

(Big words, we'll see if I can live up to them. Hang in there and you can encourage me tomorrow.....)

herefishy · Post by **herefishy** » Fri Jan 31, 2014 8:28 am

You might try your old chinstrap and mask with your new machine so not so many things are new and strange at the same time.

cpapernewbie · Post by **cpapernewbie** » Fri Jan 31, 2014 10:10 am

get rid of the RAMP. For pressure 9, the ramp is not needed and I do not understand why set ramp at 5.5? My pressure is 6-10 and I just set RAMP to 0 (no ramp)

kona0197 · Post by **kona0197** » Fri Jan 31, 2014 12:07 pm

Looks like I need to clarify a few things. I can't put anything under the bed to make to head of the bed elevated. I sleep on the floor. I do not use the ramp feature. I do not have an old chinstrap. Oh and I have to get in 4 hours on the machine a day within the next 20 days or my insurance will have my DME take away the machine. Oh, and at my sleep study I used a sleep aid so I was knocked out when they put the mask on me. I did freak out a bit in the morning when they took the mask off.

LSAT · Post by **LSAT** » Fri Jan 31, 2014 1:03 pm

It looks like you have been fighting this for almost 7 years. I think you need to get serious about it and just DO IT! You are not going to drown, you are not going to suffocate and the CPAP should not make you dizzy.....did I miss any of your excuses?

kona0197 · Post by **kona0197** » Fri Jan 31, 2014 1:25 pm

I'm not giving excuses. I literally choke with the mask on and can NOT breathe even when I force it. Maybe I need BI-PAP.

BlackSpinner · Post by **BlackSpinner** » Fri Jan 31, 2014 1:29 pm

kona0197 wrote:I'm not giving excuses. I literally choke with the mask on and can NOT breathe even when I force it. Maybe I need BI-PAP.

This only happens when I am laying down with it on. I am fine when I sit on the couch and have it on while watching TV. I really don't understand this mental block.

This is purely psychological. No Bipap is going to make a difference. Get a referral to someone who does behavioural therapy (CBT) from your doctor and have the doctor write the reasons to the insurance company so you can try longer.

Uncle Flapp · Post by **Uncle Flapp** » Fri Jan 31, 2014 1:54 pm

kona0197 wrote:...Maybe I need BI-PAP.

I went from CPAP to Bi-level (due to centrals) and found the latter a more difficult adjustment because of the change in pressures. Easy to focus on breathing patterns. Still struggling but keeping at it. You should too. Hang in there. Be determined. Keep working at it.

Wulfman... · Post by **Wulfman...** » Fri Jan 31, 2014 2:17 pm

kona0197 wrote:I'm not giving excuses. I literally choke with the mask on and can NOT breathe even when I force it. Maybe I need BI-PAP.

QUIT USING THE RAMP!!!!!! (Let it go straight to your therapy pressure.)

And, maybe you need to bump up your therapy pressure one or more centimeters.

I also can't believe that after all these years, you have to show compliance with therapy to get a new machine. I DON'T understand that one.

Den

.

RogerSC · Post by **RogerSC** » Fri Jan 31, 2014 2:21 pm

Don't know if this would work for you, but have you tried nasal pillow masks, like Swift FX, AirFit P10, Nuance, tap pap, and so on? There are several of these available that don't cover your mouth, only minimal facial contact. That might help the feeling of being suffocated by your mask, just having nasal pillows in your nose rather than your mouth and nose covered. The tap pap is a minimal nasal pillow mask, can be used with no headgear, it's anchored in your mouth to your upper teeth, so that's an option as well.

Just a thought...I felt that I wasn't getting enough air when I started on cpap, but that went away when I turned off the ramp. By the way, you should delete "Ramp: 5.5" from your additional comments section, and you'll get less misunderstandings about whether you're using the ramp or not *smile*.

And I used Ambien for the first week of cpap use to get used to sleeping with all the gear on, that was very helpful, too. After a week, I was pretty much with the program, able to get to sleep without Ambien. That was after my first night with cpap when I couldn't get to sleep at all with it on, so I got a prescription for Ambien from my sleep doctor. That still happens very rarely, like last night *smile*, when I had a lot on my mind and got to bed late after stressing about some stuff. By the way, here's a clue, listening to the overnight business news is not a good way to prepare yourself for sleep *smile*.

Couple of thoughts...don't let this get the better of you. You know that you need to do this to be healthier, so please keep on working on it until it's something that you just do.

Wulfman... · Post by **Wulfman...** » Fri Jan 31, 2014 2:31 pm

kona0197 wrote:Looks like I need to clarify a few things. I can't put anything under the bed to make to head of the bed elevated. I sleep on the floor. I do not use the ramp feature. I do not have an old chinstrap. Oh and I have to get in 4 hours on the machine a day within the next 20 days or my insurance will have my DME take away the machine. Oh, and at my sleep study I used a sleep aid so I was knocked out when they put the mask on me. I did freak out a bit in the morning when they took the mask off.

Oops, I missed that.
However, you may still need a little more pressure. Nine centimeters would give me similar feelings.

Den

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