Brand New to CPAP and STRUGGLING

[ykf7b0]

Hello, I've just recently completed a sleep study that was provided to me by the Veteran's Administration and performed by an independent sleep study clinic. It has been determined that I have moderate sleep apnea and I was scheduled a sleep study just last night with a cpap. After only 3 hours I had to end the session. I must say it was the most uncomfortable experience I've had in a very long time. I have had some traumatic nasal injuries and the nose only mask was awful because I felt I was smothering the 3 hours I had it on. I have a feeling I will be scheduled to try again and probably with a full mask because I'm mouth breathing a lot of the time. I would love to know how you guys ever got used to this and how long did it take you to get sleep with it on. Thank you all and I really appreciate having this forum to help me get through this. Greg

[wegogirl]

I’m new since April and use dreamwear with nasal pillow insets. It was hard to relax and ease into feeling comfortable. I was told I could start using it for 3 or more hours while adjusting. It took a while but, I was determined to make it work. I’m traveling out of country in a month and looking for advice on traveling with a cpap….trying to avoid buying a small travel size.
While learning to relax and breath I also had nasal irritation that resolved using Vaseline and better adjustment.
I’m very happy with how it has helped me sleep better.

[Sheriff Buford]

Almost every person that wears the cpap mask has gone thru your experience. I remember thinking the same thing. It seems you are probably going to need the full-face mask, due to your mouth breathing. I keep my mouth open all night, because like you, I have nasal issues. Ask for the Resmed F20 mask. It's a popular mask. You can open your mouth with a full face mask. Try wearing the mask while reading or watching TV. It'll help you get used to it.

Bring your issues here. We'll help you thru this.

Sheriff

[robysue1]

Greg,

Welcome to the forum.

I'm sorry to hear that you had a really lousy night during the CPAP titration study. I've had more than one of those myself, albeit many years ago.

Hopefully a CPAP titration study with a full face mask so you can easily breathe through your mouth will seem less torturous to you.

You write:

I would love to know how you guys ever got used to this and how long did it take you to get sleep with it on. Thank you all and I really appreciate having this forum to help me get through this. Greg

The amount of time it takes to get used to sleeping with a mask on your face and air blowing down your throat varies tremendously. A few lucky souls (like my husband) have almost no problems sleeping with the mask right from the start. A few unlucky souls, like myself, can take a year or more before they're sleeping well with the mask.

For most people? It takes a few weeks to a couple of months to straighten out all the new-to-CPAP bumps and start sleeping well with the mask.

Having a support network, like cpaptalk.com, can be tremendously useful. I seriously don't think I would have ever gotten through my difficult adjustment period without the kind folks here at cpaptalk.com. They were always there with suggestions for me to try when I was troubleshooting my issues with CPAP therapy and they also gave me both the room to rant when I needed to as well as keeping me honest about getting over the rants when it really was time to climb back into the saddle and keep slugging away at getting used to having the mask on my nose.

One thing that helps us help you is accurately describing the issues you are facing when you are sleeping with the mask on your face. We can't make useful suggestions when we don't actually understand the problem. And there are many different problems that new users describe as "I can't breath" or "The mask is just plain uncomfortable." Some of those different problems have very different solutions and suggestions for Problem A can actually make Problem B feel worse.

[ChicagoGranny]

the nose only mask was awful because I felt I was smothering the 3 hours I had it on.

Don't let your experience with one mask spoil things. There are many different styles and models of masks. You can view most of them here --> cpap.com

I have had some traumatic nasal

Have you had a consultation with an ENT recently? It would be a good idea to go soon and discuss sleep apnea and CPAP with her.

[Starfield83]

Hi Greg,
I am also new to CPAP therapy, about 90 days into it now.
Some nights it works fine but about 1/2 the time I still struggle with it. I have a full face mask and absolutely hate it. Soon as my insurance will pay, I will be trying the nasal pillows. I think the main problem with the full mask is the amount of skin surface area the mask has to seal around and more surface area = more potential for leaks to occur. It doesn’t seem to matter how well my mask is fitted before I go to sleep, it could wake me up at 2am with air blowing against my cheek, near corner of mouth, or around my nose.
Perhaps a full mask will work better for you, but that’s the problems I have had with it.
Best of luck.

[ChicagoGranny]

I have a full face mask and absolutely hate it.

Have you found that model on youtube and carefully watched some videos on fitting and adjusting?

[lynninnj]

Hello, I've just recently completed a sleep study that was provided to me by the Veteran's Administration and performed by an independent sleep study clinic. It has been determined that I have moderate sleep apnea and I was scheduled a sleep study just last night with a cpap. After only 3 hours I had to end the session. I must say it was the most uncomfortable experience I've had in a very long time. I have had some traumatic nasal injuries and the nose only mask was awful because I felt I was smothering the 3 hours I had it on. I have a feeling I will be scheduled to try again and probably with a full mask because I'm mouth breathing a lot of the time. I would love to know how you guys ever got used to this and how long did it take you to get sleep with it on. Thank you all and I really appreciate having this forum to help me get through this. Greg

vaseline will break down silicone.

Try Lansinoh lanolin. Found with breastfeeding items at walmart. A little goes a long way. Don’t be put off by nipple cream. This is better solution as it aids healing.

Lansinoh Lanolin Nipple Cream for Breastfeeding, 1.41 Ounces https://a.co/d/gptRyUU

[Starfield83]

I have a full face mask and absolutely hate it.

Have you found that model on youtube and carefully watched some videos on fitting and adjusting?

I was instructed in person, seen videos, and used the machines mask fit test. Everything is fine when I go to sleep, but I guess hours of pressure inside the mask and skin oils eventually cause the blowouts to occur.

[Janknitz]

I was instructed in person, seen videos, and used the machines mask fit test. Everything is fine when I go to sleep, but I guess hours of pressure inside the mask and skin oils eventually cause the blowouts to occur.

Have you tried fitting your mask at your highest pressure? The ResMed should have a "Mask Fit" feature that will allow you to fit the mask while it's running at the highest pressure in your range. I think it runs about 15 minutes, then goes back to the regular pressure settings. That will give you time to make sure you're not going to leak when it goes up to a higher pressure. Sometimes that helps.

But you are correct, there's so much surface area that has to seal on a FF mask that it's difficult. If you feel that face oils are an issue, you might want to look into a mask liner to see if that helps any.

[ykf7b0]

Have you had a consultation with an ENT recently? It would be a good idea to go soon and discuss sleep apnea and CPAP with her.
[/quote]

I had an evaluation and it was determined I only breath 50% from each nostril but cpap wasn’t mentioned the best I remember. That was one year ago. My VA doctor got me set up for the sleep studies.

[ChicagoGranny]

But you are correct, there's so much surface area that has to seal on a FF mask that it's difficult.

Are you thinking about the traditional FFMs that covered from the cleft of the chin to most of the cheeks and up over the bridge of the nose? Have you never seen the F30i that he is using? It's only a mouthpiece with two openings for the nose. It's a small surface area and is lightweight.

[ChicagoGranny]

I had an evaluation and it was determined I only breath 50% from each nostril

That's unhealthy even when you are awake, not to mention it can make CPAP difficult to use. I would have a consultation with a different ENT soon.

[Janknitz]

But you are correct, there's so much surface area that has to seal on a FF mask that it's difficult.

Are you thinking about the traditional FFMs that covered from the cleft of the chin to most of the cheeks and up over the bridge of the nose? Have you never seen the F30i that he is using? It's only a mouthpiece with two openings for the nose. It's a small surface area and is lightweight.

Still a lot more surface area than a nasal prong or cradle mask, and the mouth moves more than the nose.

[ejbpesca]

I about lost it my first days with a CPAP mask on my face thinking I just could not do it, but with time I finally got somewhat use to it.

It was pretty freaky. Somewhere between awake and asleep I imagined I was on an airplane at 30,000 ft. and the air pressure for the cabin had failed so I had to wear this air delivering mask on the long flight to survive. That sort of worked to let me accept the mask. Then I had a dream that the crab looking thing in the movie Alien had grabbed my face. I ripped the mask/headgear off and woke in a panic. That happened several times.

It took a few weeks, but I finally got used to the mask although I still take breaks from it over 10 years later.

Best of luck. Hope it all works for you. I am still looking for answers and having problems with my therapy. I have no local help from doctors nor technicians so I look to forums for help.