On my second night of cpap

[pfann447]

Hi all,
I am a newbie here. Last night was my first on cpap. I have a RemStar Auto A-Flex M-series and a swift LT "for her" nasal mask. I did ok on the machine from 11 last night until about 5:30. When I woke up I could not get back to sleep with the mask on -- I usually sleep until about 6:30 or 7, I was not ready to get up at 5:30. So I took it off and went back to sleep for another hour.
I was not magniciently rested or anything today, just not as tired as I usually am.
I am a little afraid tonight to try again, so I am online instead of in bed.
Hopefully I will get this all to work for me. I didn't love the straps on the mask -- they dig into my cheeks a little.
Looking forward to learning from all of you.
Pfann

[ww]

Stay after it. Can you sew? Take a piece of fleece and cut it about 3 inches wide and as long as your straps on the mask. Sew it into a tube and put it over your mask straps. You can buy them redi made from Pad A Cheek and they really help with the comfort.

[bdp522]

For the first night, you did great! Except for the part about sleeping without the mask and machine. You might have felt better if you had just gotten up at 5:30. It takes weeks for the body to adjust to all of this. As you do it will become easier. Some of us find that we need less sleep now than before cpap. Many have found that when starting we need less sleep, then we start to adjust and find that we crave more than the normal amount of sleep, then it all seems to settle down and we get into a normal pattern again. Give it time, you're doing fine.
I'll second the Padacheeks. You can check them out at http://www.padacheek.com or just PM Padacheek, she is a forum member and always willing to help.

Brenda

[LinkC]

Might I add (as a not-so-handy-man), if you don't sew and want a quick fix, a strip of moleskin stuck to the inside of the strap will make a world of difference (not as good as padacheeks, tho...)

[ozij]

Everything that Brenda said.

O.