'Very Severe' Chronic Obstructive Apnea

[SleepingBeauty3]

First of all, I am new, I am 56 and I have recently been diagnosed with,Very Severe Chronic Obstructive Sleep Apnea. I was taken aback by this, because for many years I have suspected that my hubby had it and it turns out to be me.

I was wondering if any of you have or have had the same problem that I am dealing with? Every single night while I am in asleep, I remove the headgear. This has been going on for nearly a month or more. What are the solutions to this situation?

Any ideas?
SleepingBeauty3

[Fredman]

I didn't but this is common among many new CPAP users. I would suggest using the Pur-Sleep as an ajunct to your therapy available at https://www.cpap.com or at http://www.pursleep.com. Many of us, including myself use this wonderful

Pur-sleep utilizes wonderful scents that you can choose from and you put a few drops on an absorbent pad. Place the pad on a ceramic base and place just under your air intake for your unit. A wonderful aroma is then supplied through your hose and into your mask and thus relaxing you and making the experience a lot easier to tolerate.

Many stop pulling of their masks after starting pursleep. The concept is based on the fact that anesthesiologist will let young children choose a scent to put in their gas masks for surgeries. They have found that the smell of their chosen aroma relaxes the child while they apply the mask over the face.

This may not be the only solution to you pulling of your mask, but persist with treatment. Eventually you will stop. I am sure others will comment with additional solutions...but either way pursleep is a nice gentle way to help you fall asleep and for some it helped them stop pulling off their mask.

[DaveMunson]

I did when I started at first. I remember a couple of times waking up. I believe that when sleeping, I thought I could not breathe. Not enough air flow. I am not sure what the dream was but at that time, my air was restricted and I needed to take off the mask to get enough air. Kind of a panic thing.

I took control of the program on my machine and increased the maximum flow.

I have seen this on this board before of the last few years. Seems to be a problem for some of us.

[kteague]

Taking the mask off during sleep is not unusual. I did it for many months, and I think it was due to a couple different causes. Originally my pressure was too low as was my ramp (and too long), and taking the mask off was due to a sense of suffocating. Even after my OSA treatment was therapeutic (got a data capable machine) I didn't sleep much due to other sleep issues, so it took longer for the equipment to feel familiar. I tried using bandaids across my mask straps so it would cause pain and wake me if I took it off, and using hair clips so it would pull my hair.

This may sound silly, but considering how our sleeping brain filters sensations that are not dangerous and learns to ignore them (used to live by a train track crossing and learned to sleep thru the noises), I decided to stop my nightly mantra of "Keep your mask on". Instead, when I would wake to my mask off, I'd intentionally get melodramatic with alarm. Can't say if that's what helped or I just got used to the mask, but I did quit and haven't taken it off in my sleep but once in at least a couple years.

If it helps at all, that forced alarm need not be fake - if you have "very severe" OSA, your dismay at removing the mask should be very real. Keep at it - this too shall pass.

[SleepingBeauty3]

Thank you so very much for responding to me and for the great advice,I sure do need it right now.

Presently, my machine is set at 10, which is really too low. My doc wants to eventually set it on 40 because my Oxygen levels drops down to 80, no small wonder that I am a living Zombi all of the time. My life has stopped because of Severe OSA.

SleepingBeauty3

[ozij]

SleepingBeauty3, maybe it was a slip of the finger that made you say the doctor wants to set your machine at 40 - there's no cpap that can deliver pressure that high.

Are you sure your diagnosis is "Chronic Obstructive" Apnea? I haven't ever really heard "chronic obstructive" used like that next to apnea. "Apnea" means a total stop of breathing - non-breathing, literally. You can't be alive and have "chronic obstructive non-breathing" at the same time.

Is that oxygen level drop when you're asleep, or does the describe your oxygen level when awake?

O.

[kteague]

I'm with Ozij on the question about your oxygen. Did you have a titration study that showed your oxygen to still be that low even with cpap? Do you have a copy of that study? Maybe there's specifics in it that would clarify things.

It can be overwhelming to feel so bad yet have it require effort to get better. By the time I started getting effective treatment for my OSA, I felt I would surely die. I had to quit working, cooking, driving... it took every ounce of strength to go from my bed to the bedside chair, rest a bit, then make it the few steps to the bathroom. Getting my cpap treatment right was the beginning of my improvement. When it was wrong I was getting worse instead of better.

Please do give us some details from your titration study. Maybe part of the answer is there. Without effective cpap treatment you will only get worse. Cpap is your best hope. Persevere. Also, check your report and see if you have any issues with limb movements. They can disrupt sleep and make you feel your cpap treatment isn't working when they are really the culprit.

We are here for you.

Kathy

[alnhwrd]

Most adjust in time to wearing the mask. A trick I read about is to apply a piece of tape or bandage tthat attaches the headgear to the face. That way when you pull the mask off the adhesive yanks your skin enough to wake you up and you can put your mask back on. Hope this helps.