Why can't I get to sleep

[rwalker]

Although i am only on my second week on cpap i am getting so frustrated at the fact that I can't drop off to sleep, i have been through the finding the right mask, having the mask on does not cause a problem, the humidifier gives my mouth restbite from the dryness, i just can't seem to drop off to sleep, will this come in time? at the moment i seem to lay there for a couple of hours, i finally go to sleep but wake up after only an hour or so, i then take the mask off and i'm out like a light, please tell me this is normal and soon i will be how i used to be - hit the pillow and out. And tips would be great.

[bdp522]

This is normal. Try wearing the mask while awake, (read, watch TV, listen to the radio) of course have the machine on. It took a couple of weeks but I eventually got to where as soon as the mask goes on I fall asleep. It takes longer for some. I never used a sleep aid, but some need to in the beginning. Hopefully each night you will be able to keep the mask on for longer and longer stretches. It takes most 6-8 weeks to adjust to this new way of sleeping, some take longer, some less. The trick is to keep at it! Keep posting for encouragement, and tips. We can help you get this all working for you!

Brenda

[swcompassionate]

I am sorry to hear that you are going through this. Does your mind race at night? If mine does that, sometimes I will keep a notepad by the bed to write down all the things I am afraid I am going to forget. I have a little bit of an opposite problem that sometimes I can fall asleep right away but with the CPAP on I awake after two or three hours. I am currently waiting to get my machine's pressure reset a little lower due to gas issues. My mom swears by a natural supplement called GABA to help with anxiety which is usually what I wake up with to help sleep through the night. You may also want to try the pursleep aromatherapy. I know that Bret was offering some free samples on the forum just put in pursleep aromatherapy and you should be able to find the post about it. I just got mine and am looking forward to it once my pressure is reset. Keep hanging in there, I know I have been on CPAP off and on for about a month and still having trouble. I am trying to find answers to get me sleeping through the night. I hope a few of these suggestions might help.

Maria

P.S. It is an adjustment period. I am trying to just wear it as long as I can and sleep and then when I cannot I take it off and either go back to sleep or get up for a while and do something else. I am hoping over time the length I can wear it will increase. Keep on keeping on.

[ozij]

For some of us,learning to sleep with cpap means trying to create new habits - in a context where our old habits are deeply ingrained: falling asleep.

Tips:
Since the aim is to learn to sleep with the mask, the first rule is: no sleeping in bed without the mask. Which means, every time you wake up, and feel the urge to take of the mask you tell yourself: "OK, if you want to get out of bed and do something else, that's fine, lets find something pleasant and relaxing to do. If you want to stay in the nice warm comforting bed - you stay in bed with the mask on".


There are a number of reasons for this rule:

1. You can't force yourself to sleep - but you do have a choice of whether you use the mask or do not use it - and it's important to remind yourself that your are choosing.
2. You can't commit yourself to sleep with the mask - because you can't force yourself to sleep - but by committing yourself to not spending time in bed without the mask you express your firm commitment to the idea that sleeping with with the mask is what you have to do, without any ifs and buts.
3. Your brain - body - psyche - have a reason for waking you up. By getting up without the mask, you respect this reason / need - you refrain from getting into a fight with that need. However, you also inform your body - brain - psyche that reverting to "sleeping without the mask" is unacceptable - you saying something like "sure, I'm with you on this, I understand how upset you are, I feel your pain, we'll be awake if that's what you need now".
4. Reverting to sleeping without the mask after you take it off is a sure way of reinforcing your short sleep. Your body - brain - psyche, learns that if it wakes you up (and whines insistently enough...), it will get a chance to sleep maskless - so of course it wakes you up every night.

So when you wake up, and you decide not to sleep without the mask, get up and do something relaxing and pleasant till you're relaxed and sleepy, and then you go back to bed, put the mask on, and try to sleep. And if you wake up again, repeat.
Be gentle to yourself: admit you're refusing to fall asleep with mask, admit you have to resist this - it may be too strange or unpleasant physically, it may be your emotions rebelling agains the diagnosis, or the prescription. It may be the difficulty in giving up those comfort habits - whatever it is - it should be accepted, respected, but not bowed down to. Which is why you will get up if you don't want to sleep with the mask, and you will, just as respectfuly and gently, put the mask back on when you feel sleepy.

Had you broken a leg and been told you can't go to work for a week in order for it to start healing, you would have done so. This treatment is no different: you need it, and if you think you will be too sleep deprived to function at work - take time off to let yourself learn this new way of sleeping (thank, as ever, for that apt expression, felineperson).

A totaly different tip:
Make sure the way your hose and mask are set up lets you change position comfortably in bed.
And pur-sleep may help too.

Good luck!
O.

[jules]

A few words more -

XPAP is for life - might as well get used to it now

XPAP is for every sleeping moment - naps too

XPAP is you NEW best friend - treat it well and it will treat you well in return


give your machine a name if you want - wendy (windy) is common -