Slept 3 nights out of 16! New user. How long does it take?

TheeMrFrog · Post by **TheeMrFrog** » Fri Jun 08, 2007 11:52 pm

I just started CPAP three weeks ago. The machine is fine and the mask works fine but most of the nights I am still awake at 2 or 3 AM so I take the mask off and go to sleep. I am even taking a sleeping pill. How long does it take to start sleeping most of the time using CPAP? I hope I am going to get used to the machine and mask soon. Any encouragement? Mr Frog

THier · Post by **THier** » Sat Jun 09, 2007 1:56 am

TheeMrFrog wrote:I just started CPAP three weeks ago. The machine is fine and the mask works fine but most of the nights I am still awake at 2 or 3 AM so I take the mask off and go to sleep. I am even taking a sleeping pill. How long does it take to start sleeping most of the time using CPAP? I hope I am going to get used to the machine and mask soon. Any encouragement? Mr Frog

Yes,,
Get the right equipment,, it has taken me almost two years to find what works for me, I had a problem falling asleep,, Comfortlite 1 mask took care of that issue. Then there was the issue of removing the mask during the night. I gave up on the CPAP entirely for almost a year. Revisited the doc,, he prescribed a BiPAP machine,, the results are amazing. I have not removed the mask once since I have been on the BiPAP.

I need to give my wife credit for getting me back into my CPAP - BiPAP therapy.

Keep at it,, keep coming for support,, folks here all went through some sort of problem at spme point.

Tom

TerryB · Post by **TerryB** » Sat Jun 09, 2007 6:45 pm

You need to identify the things which are bugging you and eliminate them OR their effect on your ability to sleep.

Personally, I've found the Comfort Lite 2 works well, I use Naproxin Sodium pain reliever each evening plus Benadryl antihistimine. I use Pur-sleep aromatic oils and I use ear plugs. Not many paths of irritation remaining.

Good Luck,
TerryB

tangents · Post by **tangents** » Sat Jun 09, 2007 6:45 pm

TheeMrFrog,

I'm only a three month "veteran", but I have learned that you won't progress in your treatment until you keep your mask on all night. There have been other topic threads about this, search on "in my sleep", as in: I took my mask off in my sleep. You need to muscle it through the night for a while until you start to feel better.

If you have questions about making your mask or pressure more tolerable, post a new thread with the specifics in the title and someone here will help you.

Good Luck,
Cathy

mhacker · Post by **mhacker** » Sat Jun 09, 2007 7:00 pm

Well, I think everyone is different. I was told - use it or die. I never had sleeping problems (unlike those around me) so I just did it and really had no problems.

Is it mind over matter? Some times I think so. I know that I think too much at night sometimes and the noise and pressure do not help. Other nights, I am at peace and ZONK I am out. Last night I hit the hay at 9:00 and woke at 2:00 this afternoon. That really messed up the charts - I am not compliant for today as I only used it from noon to 2

Saying it will get better is not really "help", not thinking about it will make it better. It is the darn time lag between them that is the pits.

mb

snoregirl · Post by **snoregirl** » Sat Jun 09, 2007 7:17 pm

I was one of the lucky ones. I put it on and that was that. I did find it easier when I went from the full face mask to the nasal pillow and I am sure that others were happier going the other direction. So the interface can make a lot of difference.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Jun 09, 2007 8:14 pm

I looked back through your previous posts and couldn't find what pressure and equipment you're using.

Apparently SOMETHING isn't working well if you have to take the mask off to sleep. I also read about your DME, so apparently THEY aren't much help either.

Hang in there.

Den

Babette · Post by **Babette** » Sun Jun 10, 2007 10:58 am

Mr. Frog - I'm starting Week 8. It took me about 3 weeks before I could be 100% compliant. In that time, I tried 4 different masks. I've found the masks are my issue. In that period, I would do just what you said - wake up a couple times a night, take the mask off, sleep nekkid, that sort of thing.

I was so horribly sleep deprived during those weeks that I had to take nights completely off from cpap to catch up.

My breakthrough happened when I got the Breeze and discovered I could sleep MOST OF THE NIGHT without fiddling with the pillows coming out of my nose, fiddling with the hose, fiddling, fiddling, fiddling. I got to where I could sleep all night long. I was still getting up once a night for potty break, but that was it.

In week 7 I got the NasalAire II, and now I don't even get up for potty breaks. I'm getting better sleep than ever. No fiddling with mask or hose. Getting energy back - both mental and physical.

So, hang in there!!! Go to Mask Roulette, and start trying other masks. If you see a mask for sale or trade, don't hesitate to PM that person and ask them if they'd consider a "test drive" - you pay the shipping, they send it to you, you test it out. If it works - you pay them or swap them something. If it doesn't, you send it back to them.

I've gotten very lucky on this forum and had the ability to try numerous masks. Go out there and find some masks to try!!!!

Cheers and hugs,
Barbara

birdshell · Post by **birdshell** » Sun Jun 10, 2007 11:45 am

I support all of the previous comments. We all do have to find our own answers, proving that we ARE all very different in so many, many ways.

That said, I firmly am becoming more and more convinced that we react to some irritants present of which we are not fully aware. It just seems that we are not so crazy as to remove masks that are comfortable, knowing that sleeping without them will cause all KINDS of problems.

The above conclusion is drawn, in part, on my own experience with back pain. In growing to adulthood as a prone (stomach) sleeper, I found that I had begun to have some back pain. Back pain sufferers are given recommendations for sleeping on their back or side. On the balance, back pain lost to retraining myself to sleep on my back or side: this has resolved itself into my becoming a side sleeper, often flipping from side to side.

I THINK THAT IF WE ARE NOT TOTALLY PHYSICALLY COMFORTABLE, EITHER FROM AN ILL-SUITED OR ILL-FITTING MASK, PRESSURE, OR MACHINE, THEN WE BECOME NON-COMPLIANT WITH OUR TREATMENT. As Randy Newman sings in the "Monk" TV show theme, "I may be wrong; but I don't think so."

I have only used my CPAP for a little over a year, but have had experience with the following masks: Swift 1, ADAM Circuit, ComfortLite 1 Direct Seal, ComfortLite 2 with Direct Seal and Simple Seal, Breeze with Dreamseal, Hybrid, Aura/Twilight (deconstructed). I have tried all in the order listed.

Whenever there has been a problem with the mask, I have torn it off. ONLY once have I torn it off unknowingly; I felt pretty sheepish when I awoke with the CL 2 headgear firmly in place and the direct seal next to me on the bed. Why wear the thing if not getting any therapy?

I am currently wrangling with the Aura/Twilight NP, and find it very comfortable and lightweight. It also takes up little room, but I am having to find a way to improve the seal of the nasal pillows. I hate to make noise when breathing in OR out. However, there is more to the whole story. I hope that I discover what it is!

Now it seems that we should be able to get customized nare molds made for our pillows or direct seal type of interfaces. That is where I am finding the issues to be for me. Now, if the old contact dermatitis will stay at bay for the Aura/Twilight NP, MAYBE I can find a way to seal those nares and the nasal pillows. Are custom ear molds not made for hearing aid wearers? And, as far as I know, impaired hearing isn't AS life threatening as sleep disordered breathing. (At least, from my experience, one may develop coping skills and adaptations in the environment with hearing impairments.)

All of this was leading toward one major point for Mr. Frog: keep tweaking and experimenting. You seem to be doing well and are motivated to wear your equipment at least part of each night. Did you know that using the xPAP for a 4 hour period is considered compliance by some companies?

Maybe you will change your nickname to "Mr. Tweaker" in a few weeks or months. Until then, please be sure to post any discoveries here so that others may be helped.

Anyone know how to make a nare cast and mold it into the nasal pillows for the Aura/Twilight NP? The dynamic nature of the nares/nostrils are a challenge....

Karen

cwsanfor · Post by **cwsanfor** » Sun Jun 10, 2007 12:12 pm

Poor Frog! I can certainly sympathize. I'm sorry to tell you that it took almost a month for me to get it anywhere near right, and sleep consistently through the night.

What helped me was to get at least two masks (I'd suggest about six, though ), one nasal and one full face, and rotate them when you get irritated nares or nasal bridge.

I used Ayr's saline gel and a nasal saline wash for the nares, and cortisone, antibiotic cream, and FlexiFit bandaids for the bridge.

I stopped removing the mask in my sleep during this time, also. Don't know why.

Even during that first rough month, I was better off with 4 hours sleep than I had been with 9 hours before treatment.

sleepyWI · Post by **sleepyWI** » Sun Jun 10, 2007 5:34 pm

Time is the answer.....I went weeks and weeks before I could get past 2 or 3 in the morning. For me it was a long slow process of adapting to the treatment, and also (as Karen/birdshell pointed out) finding the right mask for me. I use a CL2 and can now go all night every night. I still experiment with other masks in seach of mask nirvana. I am now playing with a Bravo which out of the box I am not impressed with but might be made workable with some tweaks. Good luck to you!

elliejose · Post by **elliejose** » Sun Jun 10, 2007 8:42 pm

Time was the answer for me, also. 'twas 3 to 3 and one half months before I slept for a full night - without taking the mask off in my sleep. I now have auto bipap and it is so much easier to breathe - I think it would have been a much shorter length of time had I started on auto bipap from the beginning. Just keep on keeping on. Eventually it will happen. DON'T GIVE UP! Keep us posted!

m1k2s3 · Post by **m1k2s3** » Sun Jun 10, 2007 9:10 pm

I agree with Terry, you might need to identify things that are causing you problems and maybe the best place to start is to make sure you have the right equipment. For me, the adjustments were other things like I was used to going to sleep in a quiet, dark room. I had to get used to the noise from my machine, the display buttons were illuminated, causing this bright light and of course the obvious adjustment, sleeping with a mask strapped to my head! I'm getting used to the noise and I repositioned my machine so the light wasn't too bad ( I've been using CPAP for about two months now)

But I think the biggest adjustment was figuring out silly things like how to cough without feeling like I was choking or to move around from one side to the other - or the worst was when I developed a stuffy nose ( re allergy stuff) - all seemed a lot more stressful at 2 or 3 a.m. but eventually I've worked through those problems.

I think the important thing is don't give up. Everyone's experience is different and you just have to find what works well for you. Take it hour by hour, day by day - it can be terribly frustrating but focus on the ultimate goal - a restful and refreshing sleep...........and it will happen, just give it some time.

And keep coming back to this website................. you will find the most supportive, caring hoseheads right here!!!!!!

THier · Post by **THier** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 3:59 am

Hey Frog,,

Just to follow up,, see your not alone,,,,

Keep at it,, the life you save may be your own.

Seriously though,,,, the Bi-PAP was the biggest difference for me,,, difference was night and day:lol: sorry couldn't resist.

Tom

Humidifier

Additional Comments: My machine is a ResMed S9 Elite - Pressure is 11

Slept 3 nights out of 16! New user. How long does it take?

Slept 3 nights out of 16! New user. How long does it take?

Re: Slept 3 nights out of 16! New user. How long does it tak