Those who sleep through the night

[Dreamingofsleep]

Hi there,
I was just wondering which of our members regularly sleep through the night and have no cpap issues. I was wondering what type of machine they use, the mask and the "type" of sleeper they are. For instance, restless, sound, back, side sleeper, etc. Would love contributions. Also how did you sleep before CPAP as well...

Thanks
Dreaming

[Stormynights]

I have only slept through the night once in the last 25 to 30 years. I felt like crap the next day. I had been using my husbands PR1 machine for a while and I didn't have headaches as bad or insomnia. My brain fog was even lifted. I am a side sleeper.

[caffeinatedcfo]

I always wake 1-2 times per night, but sleep well in general since beginning CPAP. My equipment follows below. I generally sleep supine, but occasionally turn to my right side. I was a belly-sleeper before CPAP.

[Kitatonic]

My doctor was surprised that I adapted to PAP so easily, as his experience is that my adaptation was typical for a heavy person. I am a sound back sleeper. My husband is the complete opposite: stout,restless,side sleeper, struggled with PAP.

[Kenwood]

I almost never wake up at night. I fall asleep very quickly and sleep soundly throughout the night. I use a SwiftFX nasal pillow. I sleep on my stomach. The only reason I might wake up is if I'm blocking the vents and it starts to make a sound.

Now I've had my share of problems with mask leaks when I was using a FFM. But since Pugsy sent me nasal pillows, I'm no longer in major leakage.

Prior to PAP. I had an AHI of 131. Never got into Stage 3 or REM sleep. Got up about 2-3 times to take a leak. Was exhausted and a zombie. Would fall asleep while driving and watching TV. Wife stopped sleeping in the bedroom cause of the snoring and I stopped breathing all the time.

I'm using a BiPAP Auto with high pressures. My AHI now averages about 1.5

[RandyJ]

I'm one of the lucky ones. I usually sleep through the night; occasionally I need to get up once to urinate before my wake up time, but it's the exception, 1 or 2 nights a week out of 7. I fall asleep quickly, less than 2 mins after securing my mask, turning on the machine and getting comfortable on my left side. I'm a sound sleeper most of the time, with the odd night when i wake up on my back and need to reposition myself, but i always fall back asleep quickly. I use a nasal pillow mask most of the time, occasionally a nasal mask, and alternate between an S9 Autoset and a PR System One Bipap Auto 750.

Before cpap, I wasn't conscious of sleeping badly, but I was up 2-4 times a night to urinate and had frequent attacks of reflux, waking violently to the acid burning in my throat. I often was drowsy upon getting up in the morning, and would nod off while I sipped my morning coffee and watched the news. Once on an early morning drive to the airport I struggled to stay awake, and knew something wasn't right. When my partner told me I made strange noises and seemed to stop breathing and gasp for breath in my sleep, I didn't take it seriously at first. It took me a while to connect all the dots. All of these symptoms disappeared after the first night on cpap.

Now I sleep like a baby on cpap and never had a problem adapting to it. From the first night it seemed to be a perfect fit, exactly what my body needed and I was fortunate that on some level my psyche understood that and didn't fight against it. I sympathize with those who struggle with it, but I haven't been in their shoes and don't feel I have much to offer them but encouragement.

[Denial Dave]

7 hours of sleep per night with no awakenings. My nightly AHI is right around 0.7 after almost 8 months of use. Bilevel high pressure.

[avi123]

I am not sure what you call a "night"? Is it for 30 to 40 years old who need to go to work or for retirees like me. I am 83 yrs old male.

I came down with plain OSA three years ago when I could not sleep at all for a few weeks and then was diagnosed with OSA plus other Vestibular System pathologies such as Peripheral Neuropathy (numbness in the soles of the feet and thus having balancing problems during walking), Tinnitus, Positional Vertigo, etc.

During the first year I used a small dose of Zolpidem (5 to 10 mg) to fall asleep and maintain it. Then I could sleep about 6 to 7 hours. Being a border line Diabetic and taking 30 mg Actos daily for it, I am getting up from one to three times a night to go urinate.
I could minimize it by taking some FlowMax which controls the neck of the bladder. But decided against taking it now b/c I take too many medications at this time. On top of it, it's good to urinate often enough to prevent bladder infections.

Presently I take at bedtime one 0.5 Xanax RS tablet, and one 300 mg Gabapentin capsule each evening. The Gabapentin suppose to treat my Diabetic Neuropathy and also induce sleep. I usually sleep from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. and getting up the same number of times to urinate as I did before. If I don't fall asleep within one hour I then also take 5 mg of Zolpidem, which usually makes me fall a sleep within 20 min.

However, I been suffering from Residual Excessive Sleepiness (RES) in the a. m. part of the days. I am investigating how to solve it. I am questioning if it has to do with a hang-over from the Rxs that I take before sleep or is it a true RES which was found to be prevalence amongst XPAP users (up to 20% of them). I want to be examined by John Fisher's sleep Doc at Duke who is a Neurologist as well. O'yes, I sleep only on my my back. Otherwise, my kind of mask would leak. It's headgear is so lose that the sealing is relying on its weight to seal. Laying flat on my back minimize the leaks.

[kteague]

I am not one who sleeps through the night, but I want to suggest to you that the quality of the blocks of sleep can be an important improvement even if one is not sleeping straight through the night. I think there's a difference between a night of light intermittent sleep and a few wakeups between blocks of good sleep. Which are you having trouble with?

[Dreamingofsleep]

Thanks so much for your great responses everyone! I am thinking about maybe switching to the swift pillow mask after reading some of your posts. Also, KTeague I am having trouble with the mask and the machine...lol. I am having some sleep now though that it better than before CPAP, but I am still waking often through the night. Sometimes it's mask and machine issues and sometimes it's RLS or pain issues. "I have a dream" that someday I will get lots more of that quality sleep. The little bit I get now has helped me actually drive five hours to my daughter's graduation

[HoseCrusher]

I sleep through the night and love my Swift FX. I have an older machine but it seems to work well.

[Janknitz]

At first with CPAP I started sleeping through the night after many years if 4 am wake ups with night sweats. My "menopause" mysteriously disappeared with CPAP.

But the downside is that I lay in one position all night, and lately I wake around 2 am with hip pain which wakes me several more times each night to change Positions. I'm fine during the day. It's only at night. But my sleep is very fragmented lately. Frustrating.

[letsride]

My bedroom time has never exceeded 4 hours, during those hours i would be up and down.
I now sleep completely through the night 7.5 to 10 hour depending if it is the weekend.
I guess i never knew what a nights sleep was until I met my new friend! ASV

[Denial Dave]

just to expand a bit on my earlier response....

I still work full time. I go to bed somewhere between 9:45 & 10PM and I am typically on the road by 5:20 AM to get to work for a 6AM start.

For my first 4-5 months, I had lots of small awakenings from mask exhaust noise on my pillow, mask leaks, etc..

Now after 8 months of use, I seem to have become accustomed to everything & I rarely wake up during the night anymore.

6 1/2 - 7 hours of sleep is all I need anymore.... no naps are needed



My sleep study showed an AHI of 36 with numerous PLM's... PLM's are gone too

7 hours of sleep per night with no awakenings. My nightly AHI is right around 0.7 after almost 8 months of use. Bilevel high pressure.

[msla]

I'm one of the lucky ones. I usually sleep through the night; occasionally I need to get up once to urinate before my wake up time, but it's the exception, 1 or 2 nights a week out of 7. I fall asleep quickly, less than 2 mins after securing my mask, turning on the machine and getting comfortable on my left side. I'm a sound sleeper most of the time, with the odd night when i wake up on my back and need to reposition myself, but i always fall back asleep quickly. I use a nasal pillow mask most of the time, occasionally a nasal mask, and alternate between an S9 Autoset and a PR System One Bipap Auto 750.

Before cpap, I wasn't conscious of sleeping badly, but I was up 2-4 times a night to urinate and had frequent attacks of reflux, waking violently to the acid burning in my throat. I often was drowsy upon getting up in the morning, and would nod off while I sipped my morning coffee and watched the news. Once on an early morning drive to the airport I struggled to stay awake, and knew something wasn't right. When my partner told me I made strange noises and seemed to stop breathing and gasp for breath in my sleep, I didn't take it seriously at first. It took me a while to connect all the dots. All of these symptoms disappeared after the first night on cpap.

Now I sleep like a baby on cpap and never had a problem adapting to it. From the first night it seemed to be a perfect fit, exactly what my body needed and I was fortunate that on some level my psyche understood that and didn't fight against it. I sympathize with those who struggle with it, but I haven't been in their shoes and don't feel I have much to offer them but encouragement.

Almost exactly what I would have written.