Poll: Falling asleep with CPAP

[JCWarrior]

How well do you fall asleep with CPAP and how long did it take for this to become "natural" for you?

[andy88488]

I adapted extremely quickly (like a few days), and fall asleep almost immediately when I put on the mask. I have been very lucky and tolerated this treatment extremely well.

[rob15594]

By the second night I started falling asleep in 5 to 10 minutes. Now staying asleep is a different story.

[library lady]

Still takes me awhile to fall asleep, it was that way before xpap as well... but I do sleep better now, and AHI is now <5 with an average of 2.5

[Drowsy Dancer]

I was so severely sleep deprived at first that I had no trouble. As I became better rested (in about two weeks), it was harder for a little while, then I adapted and it became easy again after about six weeks. I think my brain is conditioned to associate the mask with relaxation and sleep.

[apw5746]

After I watched TV a few days and evenings wearing the mask, I don't have a TV in the BR, I don't have any problems sleeping with it. However, like rob15594, I get up several time a night. Having your prostate removed will do this though.

[stopsnoring]

I seem to fall asleep ok - somehow hearing the breathing from the machine relaxes me. But staying asleep hasn't been easy!

[2flamingos]

I can't sleep without it!

[flyingwithoutwings]

Most nights I fall asleep fairly quickly and will sleep all night but I still wake up so darn tired!

[Nozzelnut]

Without something like ibuprofen PM it's almost agony for me to fall asleep.

[HoseCrusher]

I like to think of pleasant things. Snorkeling in the tropics I put my mask on and let the warm water gently cradel me to sleep... Or, I put my mask on in preparation for a thrilling fighter jet ride... Or I get "suited" up for a moon walk in outer space...

After getting masked up I am transformed to the ballroom where I am twirling around the floor with this skinny "hose" of a girl and we have won many awards for our poise and style...

And the absolutely amazing thing is that each morning I awake rested and refreshed and ready to great the day. All I can say is that the xPAP stuff has really transformed my sleeping.

[chronic]

Took me a good long time to adapt, but, now I would not dare go to sleep in bed without. Naps in my recliner are a different story.

[RogerSC]

Varies, depends what's on my mind. I try to go to bed when I'm sleepy enough that I don't spend much time going to sleep. But sleeping has always been variable for me, stress level is a variable, cpap is just another variable. No, it doesn't feel natural, don't know if it ever will. But I know at some level that doesn't really matter if it feels natural or not...

[Captain_Midnight]

When I started w cpap, I expected it to be a miserable burdon.

It took only a few weeks for the mask to change from an icky alien device to a welcome friend.

It began with the wooshing noise changing from annoying to something similar to waves lapping at the seashore.

After but a few months into xpap therapy, every time I pick up my mask, I yawn. (Thank you Dr. Pavlov.)

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[JCWarrior]

I'm posting now because I kept falling asleep and waking up. Eventually made me anxious. Figured I would chill out and try it again. Some nights are not bad. Tonight is my 2 week CPAP anniversary.

I experienced sleep panic attacks very bad for a while before CPAP. Sometimes I couldn't even stay in bed. I think undiagnosed OSA was a big part of that. Hopefully CPAP will make that a thing of the past once i get used to it.