Day 6 and it's not working well

[papa77]

Hello to everyone. I have gone through all the test and Doctors visit over the last few months and finally I brought my cpap home six days ago. I have the ResMed Elite ll with the humidifier and a swift LT nasal pillow. The longest I've been able to wear the mask is three hours. Most nights are 1.5 to two hours. Six nights and I have logged 11 hours on the machine. I don't remember taking it off during the night, I wake up and its laying on the floor. I think its the mask but I'm not sure. I have a one shot mask change in the first 30 days for free. I keep thinking, what mask should I get, what if that one is worse? Six nights and I'm still tired, still have a headache in the morning, still can't have a conversation with my wife the first hour I'm awake because I won't remember any of it. If anybody has has a similar experience, some good advice would really cheer me up. thanks

[jules]

You have to learn to keep the mask on. Otherwise all of this was worthless.

One thing is you have to tell yourself each day that

"I can do this"

"I have to do this"

"I have to get this to work or I will die soon".



Can you get your wife to check on you during the night and get you to put your mask back on? Two 2 hour sessions are better than one; three would be even better.

The Swift LT is a fairly popular mask. I haven't tried it myself however. What do you find wrong with it?

[BallBuster]

Sorry bro. I posted something about having a sticky post for newbies like you, but they condemned it to hell. I thought it was a great post, but it received eggs and tomatoes from the old-timers who think they are better and smarter than everyone else here.

Good luck.

[BallBuster]

If anybody has has a similar experience, some good advice would really cheer me up. thanks

I had some great advice but it received eggs and tomatoes because it was from a newbie. This place is whacked.

[maxhal]

Oh ya, I understand what your going through. I started and still use the swift II Nasal Mask, but I also have a few full face masks. I sampled a few at the Distributors, but their masks smelled funny, from their cleaning methods, but I found that I did sleep better with a Full Face Mask. I have had the cpap since May and have only used it on 96 days for longer than 4 hours. That's 96 days out of 200 days, as many nights, I did just go back to my regular sleeping methods, ( No mask) and places (couch), instead of in bed with mask on face or with mask on floor after 2 hours. I found that once I started using a full face mask that I actually preferred the Swift even more, ( Least evil of the two ), and I began to work with the Swift, and made more of an effort to leave it on. From reading this forum and specific comments from experienced users here, I started to keep track of my results, writing them down every day which helps motivate me to strive for lower and lower AHI results. And even though I do not feel totally rested each night, I am using the cpap every night now, for the last month, and I do feel a small difference in my energy levels. Still wake up after 3 - 4 hours, but now I am able to go back to sleep with the mask on , and am really totally used to having the mask on my face.

For me the big difference that allowed me to make more of an effort to use my cpap, was the information I received from researching this forum, trying different masks, recording the results, and my girlfriend who threatened to kill me in the middle of a snore, if I didn't keep the mask on. ( It's winter now, and much colder on the couch)

Keep trying, a lot of users on this forum describe the same behaviour as ours when they started, so you have to know , getting started and used to this sleeping method is only easy for a very rare few.

[ozij]

Welcome, papa77
Many of us have gone through that, and there really are many reasons.
The strangeness of the smell coming from the mask and the machine were a terrible bother for me when I started. Forum member sleep guy has developed a series of pleasant smells, based on essential oils that have made a difference to many. Take a look at his site http://www.pur-sleep.com.

I found routing the hose from above helped me a lot, as did adding hose cover, and a heated hose to make the air feel comfortable for me. I started out with wrapping the hose, but after about 4 months decided to buy a heated hose - and have been using it happily ever since - more than 3 years already.

Be patient with yourself, you're learning "a new way of sleeping" - and it's not that easy at all for many of us.

I can't recommend a mask, because masks are so very personal, but I can tell you that my favorite is a nasal pillows mask, and that when I started, my nostrils got sore after 2 nights (or 3?) and I had to take an RT recommended break. I used KY Jelly to make the nasal pillows more comfortable (tip from Resmed on an archied chat). Altrenatives are Ayr Gel, and Laniso.

It's a pitty one can't buy the needed patience - but you're lucky to have come to a place where many will be very happy to give you support that is worth its weight in gold.

Some of, who have been greatly helped by the forum decide to hang around and help newcomers.

Good luck - papa77. If you register, and add your machine mask and pressure details to your profile, you won't have to repeat them when you ask question.

Remember - there really are no stupid questions on this forum. Should you run into barking and snapping, ignore it.

Put on your armor, and keep posting.



Good luck!
O.

[elader]

It is literally all in the mask. You have to get something you are 'comfortable' with. Can you go to your DME and try on some other kinds of masks. I have a swift LT but cannot get used to it and still use my comfortgel nasal mask (dont know why the word comfort is in the name).

[turbosnore]

I couldn't sleep too many hours with nasal mask. My reason was mouth leak. My throat became very sore and dry,
and my mouth was dryer than desert sand (and I guess tasted like camel's feet).

Full face mask was my rescue.

[BallBuster]

Remember - there really are no stupid questions on this forum.

Yes there are, and if you ask them you will receive eggs and tomatoes. Who are you trying to fool?

[mindy]

Welcome, papa77!

You'll probably find as many answers as there are people! There are lots of really good, caring and knowledgeable people on this forum who can help with almost anything. We also try to encourage each other to get through the rough spots. You're most definitely not alone in removing your mask during the night. Think of it this way: you've slept for how many years with no mask on your face??? So it will take awhile to get used to that or find a mask that works -- it's the hardest part of the therapy. The second hardest part, imho, is the wait until we feel better. For some it's right away, for some it's a few weeks and for some it can be a lot longer. I had a little relief the first night (less fuzzy in the am) but it was 6 weeks before my headaches went away and after that there was more improvment over the rest of that first year.

So hang in there and if we can help you, please come back and we'll do whatever we can

Mindy

[Hawthorne]

It does take time to get used to all this, as mindy said. Give yourself time and come here as often as you want, for advice and help. There are lots of caring people here who have been where you are and are able and willing to help you through the tough beginnings of cpap therapy.

[stacia123]

The mask is the hardest part to get used to. You'll probably end up trying several masks before you find one that will work well. You may need to use something to keep your mouth closed, or use a full face mask that goes over the nose and mouth. (It seems a lot of people here hate full face masks and actively discourage people from trying them, but I love them personally. Check with your DME and maybe try on both kinds. At least think about it.)

Also, you may wish to wear your mask while reading or watching TV just to get used to the feel of it. If you take your mask off during the night, set a little timer to go off every 3-4 hours to check and make sure it's still on.

The hardest thing is to not get discouraged. I'm on my 7th week of CPAP and have gone through plenty of discouraging times. Keep at it, try to stay positive, and ask for help when you need it.

[papa77]

WOW!

Thanks everyone for the shot in the arm. Perhaps I just expected overnight relief from day one. It looks like practice is the word of the next few months. The opening of the mouth may be my problem (a few times I have found the mask as far away from me as the hose would allow like I had jerked it off and tossed it) which would lead me to belive that a full face mask would help. Its the danged insurance company that will allow me one mask change and I am afraid that I will hate that worse and want to go back to the swift. But right now, there is not amount I would not pay for a good nights sleep.

By the way, last night I got about 1:45 logged. Total of 14.3 hours over seven nights.

Again, thanks for all the kind words