Discouraged: still waking up!

[cpierc01]

Just wanted to say what worked for me. I was diagnosed june 2013 with severe apnea. I just decided that if I was in bed I had the mask on regardless! If mask is not on then I get up. So far this has worked for me. Good Luck it is hard but so worth it.

[dir1944]

cpierc1...thanks for your comment. i guess i should be doing the same thing you're doing. i'm going to be better about this whole thing after hearing from so many concerned and wonderful people on this website. it's gratifying to know there are genuine people out there that care and support me.

cheers
david

[Sir NoddinOff]

Just wanted to say what worked for me. I was diagnosed june 2013 with severe apnea. I just decided that if I was in bed I had the mask on regardless! If mask is not on then I get up. So far this has worked for me. Good Luck it is hard but so worth it.

Ya gotta love a fighter

[Pesser]

Dir1944:
I have the same experience as you, and I have the same expectation. I wake up after a few hours of sleep. Before treatment I do remember at times sleeping all through the night. Those few times were great. I believed that being on APAP would bring back the few times that I did sleep right! I was wrong. I have been wrong since Dec. But what I did was keep my mask on and I am getting used to the sound and feel of the entire room. While the sleep that I want is not forthcoming, I do have enormous energy, reduced depression and anxiety, less pain in my joints. Maybe someday I’ll actually get through a day without a 30 minute nap.

[dir1944]

pesser...thank you for your comment. it's always good to know other people have the same expectations as i've had. even though i'm not sleeping through the night, last night was the first night that after waking up and staying up for around an hour, i did put the mask on and got up around 5:30, which is normal for me. i know i have to use the mask the whole night or i'm never going to get anywhere with this.

cheers
david

[kteague]

Indeed is disheartening to try and miss, but it is soul-sucking to miss without trying. You seem to be poised in a prime position to take this to the next level. Good luck with you giving this your absolute best effort!

[jencat824]

David,

You've been given some great advice. I would add to that advice - aromatherapy. It might help to calm you during those 'wake-up's. CPAP.com sells several scents, but before investing you might want to try a scented oil you find soothing. Put just a little on a cotton ball & place near (never blocking) the intake vent. It should be soothing, not overpowering. The scent might help to calm you while you are trying to remember not to remove the mask, and help you in your quest to 'go back to sleep' without waking up too much.

I used aromatherapy before it became available commercially as a CPAP item. I used to have some sinus trouble & put Vicks on a cotton ball behind the intake of my machine. When CPAP.com began selling it I experimented with several different scents and I now use a mix of Clear & Calm. If I've really had a stressful day I use Peace (its the lavender in it that I think soothes me). Just check these on the hosts site, and before you invest, try some cheapies from a local store - they won't be a good as those formulated for CPAP use, but may help you to see if aromatherapy works for you. The size bottles available on CPAP.com really last a long time - these are essence oils and you only use a tiny amount to get the same effect.

Hope this helps,
Jen

[dir1944]

*ok. i went to see the mayo sleep center manager today and he evaluated the memory stick from my orion + machine. i explained my concerns to him and told him that i thought that my complying with medicare was my biggest concern.
here's what he told me. "don't worry about medicare anymore". "you are so compliant it's almost ridiculous." he said i was doing much better than i thought. he told me i was in the 90 percentile group. he said i've never gone past 7 on a scale of 4 to 16. he said everything looked very good for me and i was doing fine. i sure felt better about that. and he told me nothing gets sent to medicare after this three month evaluation and i know that's going to help me a lot.

so the last few nights i have woken up, as usual, but i did put the mask back on and went right to sleep. i think because of all of you, i have a much better attitude about the treatment. i can't thank you all enough. i think we all need a good support system and you all are fabulous.

thank you, thank you, thank you very much
david

[Pugsy]

Congrats on the good report from the doctor.

FWIW...I rarely have a night where I don't wake up at all. Like Robysue says...it's normal to have an occasional wake up....hopefully it is very brief and we go right back to sleep and may not even remember it but sometimes we do remember them and sometimes they aren't so brief. My wake ups are significantly decreased in number though and time awake is significantly lower.
I rarely have to get up in the middle of the night...so the mask and machine always stays on and if I do get up for some reason the mask almost always goes back on when I go back to bed. The only exception being if I am ill (like I was this past Sunday AM) and there's a good chance I have to make a mad dash to the bathroom. You know what I mean where 2 seconds could mean a mess or not to have to clean up and not fun when you are sick to start with.
I slept for 90 minutes without machine because I was afraid I would have to deal with one of those trips to the bathroom...I paid for it though..major sore throat from snoring and terrible ribbing from hubby who says I was shaking the shingles off the roof from my snoring. Plus my butt was dragging all day..partly from the 90 minutes of bad sleep and partly from just feeling under the weather.