Taking my mask off --- does this mean it's not working?

[Fletch]

I keep taking the mask off in my sleep. I don't know why because I can't remember doing it. I just tend to wake up without the mask in the morning.

I've come up with two possible reasons.

1) I get up in the night around 3AM to use the bathroom. I don't believe this is an Apnea related event because I've done it on and off since I was a kid. I'm literally half asleep at this time with no real memory of doing it, I'm wondering if perhaps I forget to put the mask back on when I get back in bed.

2) I have a broken nose, the result of a fight back in college, as a result one nasal passage has better airflow than the other. I also sleep on my side and preferentially nose breathe. I'm wondering if the mask doesn't slip and pinch the good flow passage closed in the night? Perhaps that makes me take the mask off?

In any case I was wondering if anyone else had a problem with taking the mask off when they started CPAP? If so was this something you got over in time? Does it indicate that the pressure is too low? Am I having an incident that makes me take the mask off because I don't think I can breathe?

When the mask stays on I have a great night's sleep, when it's off I feel like **** in the morning. Needless to say I would like it fixed.

[rotoplooker]

Yep, I'm still doing it after year with a full face mask, I do it on autopilot because I clearly hate how it feels on my face abit like one of those facehugging aliens from Alien.

Itching to get my hands on a hybrid mask

Roto

[Guest]

I believe most people do this when beginning treatment. I used to wake up all the time in the middle of the night finding my mask next to me blowing air. It takes some time, but eventually you shoulc stop doing it.

[Goofproof]

If you fill in your profile it will help us help you, also we need to know your pressure before we can determine if it's too low. Jim

New hosers do take the mask off, some have reasons, but you must train yourself to keep it on.

[chdurie2]

mask-taking-off-in-the-middle-of-the-night just means you're not comfortable with the mask. persevere and adjust and it will stop or only occur infrequently.

rototrucker: although a full face mask feels like a lot on your face, it is diffuse. i am trying to get used to the hybrid, and i'm not sure yet whether it is an improvement. although there is less mass on your face, it is very concentrated- your nose and mouth are very plugged up. obviously, you should try it so you'll know for yourself, but the Hybrid has its own adjustment curve.

Caroline

[SnorySnorington]

I was going to ask the same question.How can you "train" yourself to do something you don't know you do when you are a little more than half asleep?That doesn't make any sense. Tired of feeling tired, thought i had the answer maybe i don't ..

[Goofproof]

If you use the RAMP, which I don't recommend. it's pressure may be to low to breath. Could be your CPAP pressure is to low, but most likely you just aren't use to the mask, and you need to force yourself to leave it on. Also the mask off alarm can be turned on, it's not too loud but it might remind you. Jim

[tooly125]

When I first started cpap with my remstar plus I took the mask off occasionally but quickly got over that and stayed compliant.
7 months later I bought a remstar auto and have been taking the mask off in my sleep for the past 4 nights.I have it set on cpap mode to match what I had with the old machine.
The only thing I can think is the new machine smell or the new sounds coming from it are making me take my mask off.

I might try putting socks or mittens on my hands to make it harder to remove the mask.

[bdp522]

Tooly125,
Try pushing your PACs down over the clips. It makes it harder to remove the clips from the mask. Awake it's no problem to slide the PACs back up...but maybe it will be harder to do in your sleep. Could be worth a try.

Brenda

[bank4cat]

Hang in there i broke 2 full face masks before i got used to it hope u get the hang of it before that......I was really bad i changed to a cflex machine and either that helped or it was just time my body adusted good luck i thought i would never get it

[jnickellrental]

[quote="Goofproof"]If you use the RAMP, which I don't recommend. it's pressure may be to low to breath. Could be your CPAP pressure is to low, but most likely you just aren't use to the mask, and you need to force yourself to leave it on. Also the mask off alarm can be turned on, it's not too loud but it might remind you. Jim

[birdshell]

Personally, I do not like the ramp, but then again my pressure is only 9. It is not so high that the ear-popping first few breaths are really uncomfortable. The ramp feature lasted about 3 days for me. At first, it seemed helpful but quickly started out my night by making me feel stifled. It was a struggle to breathe unless I did not use the ramp.

That said, there are some who would not use an xPAP without the ramping.

As for training oneself to keep the mask on, if one can learn to place the tongue so as to prevent mouth breathing, anything is possible. I still am not too sure that I can learn that tongue trick, since I already have to park my tongue on the palate. But, many others have learned the tongue parking place on their palate to good effect.

We train ourselves all the time; our subconscious can be quite powerful.

Fletch, as for the broken nose:
I have a deviated septum, and maybe the broken nose isn't the same. However, my internist is always surprised when he asks me to close my right nostril and breathe through the other. (One would think he would remember after a few times being shocked.) I can almost totally close it off just by taking a deep breath. (I can also move my nose like a bunny, but I digress.)

My allergist, my ENT, and my internist all agree that repairing the deviated septum will not help. I have had a problem with sinus infections (6-8 per year no matter what, with polyps in the maxillary sinus on the good side). This avoidance of surgery makes me very happy, as I watched my brother suffer through his deviated septum repair and nasal polyp removal. Not a comfortable procedure, by any means.

That does not mean that something should not be done to your nose, but just implies that not EVERY smaller passageway needs to be opened. Best wishes, and keep looking for another mask/interface option. Searching for your mask model may be useful, because others may have faced a similar problem and slightly altered their masks with great success.

Searching for Rested Gal's Links postings may be just that for which you are looking, without knowing. If you search for your mask and then read any postings by her, odds are that you will find one with a fix you could use to keep that mask on.

If all else fails, PM Rested Gal. She seems to have tried practically every mask on the market and maintains lists of links to good postings for altering your mask just enough to make it comfortable!

[Goofproof]

[quote="jnickellrental"][quote="Goofproof"]If you use the RAMP, which I don't recommend. it's pressure may be to low to breath. Could be your CPAP pressure is to low, but most likely you just aren't use to the mask, and you need to force yourself to leave it on. Also the mask off alarm can be turned on, it's not too loud but it might remind you. Jim