Can I skip some days?

[bluetrout]

I'm new to this. Just 18 days into using the CPAP machine. Seems to work well for me. I am waking up refreshed. Diagnosed with mild to moderate apnea. Can I skip some days without adverse affects? What would any affects be? We're thinking of a 2 week trailer journey. Using the CPAP would be a major hassle. Also I'm noticing a red mark on the bridge of my nose from the mask. Could I take a night off to let that recover?

[robysue]

The most likely outcome of your skipping "some days" is that you will quickly start feeling pretty miserable. As in feeling as bad as you felt before starting CPAP. The apneas and hypopneas will start occurring on the first night that you choose to go without the CPAP. So it's very likely you will not be waking up refreshed and ready to go well before the end of your trip. And that will likely lead to you being cranky, which could easily affect how much you and your traveling companions actually enjoy the trip.

The absolute worse case scenario is what appears to have happened to Justice Scalia back in Feburary: All the evidence points to his death being related to the fact that he chose to not use his CPAP that night.

As for the red mark on the bridge of your nose: Use a bandaid or a mask pad to protect the area. Also consider whether you are tightening the mask the appropriate amount. If the mask is too tight, that can lead to pressure marks. If the mask is way too loose, that can lead to the mask sliding around too much, which in turn can lead to marks caused by the forehead support rubbing against the bridge of the nose.

[jnk...]

The effects of skipping are highly individual, depending on your condition and other health problems. But it is sort of like asking 'Is it OK for me to have bad nights of sleep?' One night of bad sleep is enough to totally wreck some people in obvious ways. Other people will merely have their reflexes slowed in a way that may make them more susceptible, for example, to getting into a car accident, minor or major. A few with severe health issues might be taking their lives into their own hands to take the risk of going into REM sleep without PAP. So that's why one human being can't really give another human being 'permission' to choose to have less-than-optimal nights of sleep. Especially for a trip that involves driving.

Most find that they get the best results from PAP therapy when they resolve to use the therapy all night every night and EVERY time they sleep. That gets the brain trained to relax in that it never has to deal with bad breathing during sleep again. There is a cumulative effect from that over the days, months, and years. That is considered by the sleep industry the very best way to go for improved sleep. One night of bad breathing can set you back a bit on that path. For some, it may only set them back a little. For others, in can undo weeks of brain conditioning.

Modern masks work best when worn as loose as possible. Many of us when first starting out wear our masks way too tight. That may be the reason for the red mark on the bridge of your nose. It is counter-intuitive just how loose a mask may need to be. It has to inflate and float, not get clamped down like a vise. OR, it may be that another mask would work better for you in the long run.

That said, the real answer is that only your doctor knows enough about YOUR history and condition and related conditions to give you the info you need to make the personal decision about occasional skipping of one night or several nights. After all, I am just some guy on the internet.

-jeff

[Noctuary]

I skip days now here and there; it makes no difference to me. Whether I use the gold standard or not, I will without doubt wake up feeling tired, sometimes terribly. Go for it.

[Midnight Strangler]

We're thinking of a 2 week trailer journey.

Experiment before you go on the trip. Skip Friday and Saturday nights when you have the next days off to recover.

[Hang Fire]

Using the CPAP would be a major hassle.

Are you a wimp?

[49er]

I skip days now here and there; it makes no difference to me. Whether I use the gold standard or not, I will without doubt wake up feeling tired, sometimes terribly. Go for it.

Noctuary,

I understand how you feel about pap therapy and I pretty much feel the same way.

However, I don't feel it is the place of forum members to tell someone to stop using pap therapy without checking with their doctor. Serious consequences may or may not result but I don't think that is a chance we want to take.

And just you know, as much as I hate it, I continue to use it until I switch to an alternative method. As unbearable as I find it to be, I fear great health consequences from not using it.

[Janknitz]

There is really no "hassle" taking CPAP on journeys. It has its own case to make it easy to transport. I tuck an extension cord in to make sure I can always reach an outlet. For car trips it's easy enough to tuck a container of distilled water in the car, or you can "live dangerously" by using tap water on the trip. That's the type of living dangerously I prefer to falling asleep at the wheel and killing somebody, or being too fatigued to enjoy my trip.

[Krelvin]

Simple answer, no. You should use it every time you sleep, at home and away.

[Mudrock63]

I have missed treatment two nights since starting therapy for various reasons. I felt like crap the next day and it took me a week to get to feeling better. I recommend using it every time you sleep. Period.

[Cardsfan]

Use the machine every time you sleep. Your health depends on it.
We travel all the time. I'd leave everything else at home before I left my cpap at home. Just DO IT.

Here's a story-- my neighbor booked an Alaska cruise with her brother. The night before the cruise, in a hotel, the brother had a stroke. He had left his cpap at home, because he didn't want to bother taking it. Now, I don't know for sure if going without his cpap for that night caused the stroke, but I would not put my life on the line to find out.

How can I help? Explain why it is a "Major hassle". Because as many miles as I've toted my machine on to trips, I know some tips. First, just plan a little extra time to set up the equipment. Put some distilled water in empty smaller size water bottles. If you are staying in the same trailer the whole time, what's the hard part? Set it up and get on with having fun. I've got a sign for hotels that says "Medical device, please do not move or touch" for the cleaning crews. Learn to travel with it.

I can't believe anyone would tell you it is OK to go without treatment.

[Okie bipap]

You can use either a band aid or a piece of molesting on your nose to prevent the red mark.

[bluetrout]

Thanks all. Good information here. I can't ask my MD right now because I'm in the midst of transferring from one doc in California to one here in Colorado. I'll be set up with that in a couple of weeks. The "hassle" is that the trailer is very small and we camp in remote backcountry sites with no electricity. (With no other people for that matter.) The sleeping arrangement necessitates using the long 10' hose and placing the CPAP machine on the sink area. Thus getting up to pee is a scramble/ workout. My wife is very understanding and supportive of all this so that is a big help. Guess I'm at the stage of denial where I want this to be just a minor glitch allowing me to return to the simplicity of my former habits. Oh well. Glad I got diagnosed and that there is a solution no matter what the learning curve. Thanks again for the advice.

[catbirdgirl]

get a portable battery, it might work better.

[BlackSpinner]

Mild to moderate apnea = waking up at least 30 times an hour, every hour, all night long.
Do you want to enjoy the trip? Or would everybody be happy listening to you bitch and whine all the time.
If you are driving you should be using you cpap at night because otherwise it is equivalent to being drunk behind the wheel and you are endangering others on the road. In fact it is illegal in some places.