New User with racing heart rate

[erickr613]

Hello,

I'll preface this by saying I'm brand new to CPAP....as of Friday. I'll also apologize about the length I'm a thorough person. It was suggested I desensitize myself to the system and wear the mask while watching TV just to get used to it and when "I'm feeling brave sleep in it." Well this weekend I decided to tackle it head on. Friday night I was able to get a couple of hours of sleep with the system. I was having leaking issues and decided to deal with it in the morning. Saturday I focused on fitment, I tried taking a nap and was having a hard time getting to sleep. I assumed it was because I was sleepy but not tired enough. Saturday night I forced myself to stay up until I was absolutely exhausted. I laid down at 2:30am Sunday morning and slept beautifully with the machine until about 6:00 I woke up feeling fine and ready to rock. Sunday's bedtime came along and that's when the issues started. I laid down with the system and started to fall asleep. Right at the moment I would fall asleep I would suddenly jerk awake short of breath and heart racing. I would recover quickly without removing my mask, my heart rate would return to normal, and I would start to drift off again. As soon as I would reach that tipping point of awake to asleep it would happen again. After about 30 mins I pulled the mask off and slept without the machine. This feeling is not the Hypnic Jerk feeling, this is more like a small panic attack/not enough air. I called the doctor this morning and am waiting to hear back. For the specs I have a Respironics Dreamstation with Heated Humidifier, I'm using a full faced mask. I have a ramp of 8-13 over 30 mins with a flex of 13-18. (My understanding is these are high settings??). I tried turning the ramp off thinking I wasn't getting enough air under the ramp settings and it didn't seem to make a difference. Any direction would be appreciated.

[Radio]

I did have 2 small panic attacks when I first started. I woke up and couldn't get my mask off immediately, and for some reason my brain just went crazy.
My ramp pressure starts at 6 and I feel no air starvation.
Like you, I consider myself a beginner but the feeling of something strapped over your face is distressing. Maybe try just sitting up in bed (reading, TV)

[rick blaine]

Hi erickr613,

There's a book out I've been reading recently. Making Habits, Breaking Habits by Jeremy Dean. One of the things it suggests is that forming a new habit and having it become something your hardly notice, takes, on average, 66 days.

I say that because you seem to think you will 'habituate' in a couple of hours watching tv with the mask on. And in general, after a couple of days, one weekend.

And you also think it will happen sooner if you, as you say,"Tackle it head on." By being active, determined.

While everyone is different, there a couple of things that seems to be true for most people in getting used to CPAP treatment.

1. Relax. Calm down. Do some of this 'mindfulness' stuff in the hour before you go to bed.

Above all, don't push for change. Let it happen to you.

2. There's a thing called 'sleep hygiene' – you'll find a neat description of it using the search function at the top of the page. One particular point from the list: aim to go to bed the same time every evening,

That staying up to make yourself really tired is the opposite of that.

3. Waking up with your heart racing could be lots of things. One is: that you are waking up in the middle of an apnea.

And if that keeps happening, a change in pressure might be needed.

And to get the data needed to find out if that's true, you will have to keep using the machine.

We're back to the sleep hygiene thing again.

4. For the record, you don't say anything about your age, or gender, or any history of heart abnormalities – a-fib, hcm, pvst, etc. And you don't say anything about drugs you might be taking.

What I'm saying is: has your doctor formally cleared you for this treatment? If not, get that done.

5. Remember what that book I mentioned says. Plenty of posters here will tell you from their experience that 66 days or even three months to before CPAP began to be habitual is quite common.

[erickr613]

Rick,

Thank you for the advice and the reading recommendation. I will definitely grab the book. As far as medical goes I’m a heavy male 34, 6’3 395...believe it or not no heart conditions afib or otherwise. ::knocks on wood:: I also don’t take drugs in any shape or form. I’ll have a beer from time to time, but no antidepressants, no anxiety meds, no focus drugs, I barely take ibuprofen when I have a headache. I do use caffeine in the day but I limit it to before 12:00-13:00

I did have to have 2 sleep studies to get approved for the treatment by my insurance. I did one at home and one in a lab. I guess my insistence on using it right away and tackling it head on is the pressure from the insurance company to use it so much time over 3 months or they won’t pay for it. Also, everyone I talk to says they’re life changing. So I’m excited to use the machine as much as possible to sleep as well as possible. But after a few times waking up racing like that in a 45 min span I get frustrated and remove the machine. I would much rather build up to using it slowly.



quote="rick blaine" post_id=1316369 time=1564451655 user_id=77956]
Hi erickr613,

There's a book out I've been reading recently. Making Habits, Breaking Habits by Jeremy Dean. One of the things it suggests is that forming a new habit and having it become something your hardly notice, takes, on average, 66 days.

I say that because you seem to think you will 'habituate' in a couple of hours watching tv with the mask on. And in general, after a couple of days, one weekend.

And you also think it will happen sooner if you, as you say,"Tackle it head on." By being active, determined.

While everyone is different, there a couple of things that seems to be true for most people in getting used to CPAP treatment.

1. Relax. Calm down. Do some of this 'mindfulness' stuff in the hour before you go to bed.

Above all, don't push for change. Let it happen to you.

2. There's a thing called 'sleep hygiene' – you'll find a neat description of it using the search function at the top of the page. One particular point from the list: aim to go to bed the same time every evening,

That staying up to make yourself really tired is the opposite of that.

3. Waking up with your heart racing could be lots of things. One is: that you are waking up in the middle of an apnea.

And if that keeps happening, a change in pressure might be needed.

And to get the data needed to find out if that's true, you will have to keep using the machine.

We're back to the sleep hygiene thing again.

4. For the record, you don't say anything about your age, or gender, or any history of heart abnormalities – a-fib, hcm, pvst, etc. And you don't say anything about drugs you might be taking.

What I'm saying is: has your doctor formally cleared you for this treatment? If not, get that done.

5. Remember what that book I mentioned says. Plenty of posters here will tell you from their experience that 66 days or even three months to before CPAP began to be habitual is quite common.
[/quote]

[icipher]

I am sorry to hear about your issue. it sounds very similar to my initial experience when i started therapy 5 years ago. Are you being treated for central, obstructive or both?

[D.H.]

To the OP:

Why are you using a full face mask? You might do better with a nasal one.

If you feel like there's "not enough" air, you might want a higher pressure (or a shorter ramp time). BTW, there's nothing wrong with completely disabling the ramp.

[erickr613]

I tried on about 6 different masks during my in lab study, I found the full face to be the most natural feeling as far as breathing goes. It also had the best seal. I talked to the doctor and have come to learn it's basically all in my head. I was having Mini Panic attacks. I have disabled the ramp and have had better success the past couple of nights. Thanks again to everyone for their suggestions.

To the OP:

Why are you using a full face mask? You might do better with a nasal one.

If you feel like there's "not enough" air, you might want a higher pressure (or a shorter ramp time). BTW, there's nothing wrong with completely disabling the ramp.

[Patriot Partner]

Try very cold air conditioning

And a quiet fan blowing on your face

No humidity on machine

Lotta blankets

Much of the claustrophobia is actually just breathing hot air