First 8 hour uninterupted sleep!!

[JayC]

APAP for 26 nights

8 hours uninterrupted

And that was after about 2 hour "nap" just before masking up and turning out the light. Maybe the nap is why I am a little bleary eyed this morning...

I can't think (ha ha) when I last slept uninterrupted...never mind 8 hours


Hope it wasn't a fluke!

J

[Slinky]

CONGRATULATIONS, JayC! May you have many more! I've hit 8 hours and better, up to 9 1/2 hours on occasion, but for the most part I'm averaging 7 1/2 hours w/xPAP. And sooooo enjoying it after so many years of interrupted sleep! You're doing great. My first 30 nights on xPAP were the worst 30 nights of sleep I'd ever had and then things got better from there.

[bdp522]

Congrats! I also hope it wasn't a fluke. I wish you many more nights like that!

Brenda

[sleepydoll]

Wow!
I haven't passed the 6 and a half hour mark yet...but will get there some day!

Congratulations!
And many happy returns!

[JayC]

Thanks, everyone!

I had been seeing results between 4.5 hours and 6.5 hours...so seeing an 8+ was pleasantly shocking!


J (fingers crossed for tonight)

p.s. after decades of crappy, fractured sleep, I felt *some* better from day one...even with adjustment, nostril pimple, partially blocked nostrils (one worse than other), leaks, etc.....and about to fire my DME!!

[gasp]

Congrats!

That is exactly what I thought when I got my first night of sleep without having to go to the restroom, which was mostly caused from an event waking me then thinking might as well go.

Now I've had many entire nights of sleep without waking. I hope you do too : )

[JayC]

gasp:

Glad you got there...and I know I'll develop a good track record. And, really, bad nights on APAP are good compared to any night before.

I had last night, the night after success, a very cr@ppy time... for a variety of reason. Was tired, but also hungry so I ate. Was on the computer in a position which often leads to falling asleep...so I started the night with a few hour "nap" before I woke up at 3am and masked up. I woke up several times with dry mouth, open mouth and some drooling (yes, at the same time). And the machine registered the max number of my APAP range....this is the second time I have awoken mouth breathing and seeing that max number. I also had leaks which have been at or near zero much of the last week.

So, I am going to bed soon, will listen to music rather than type, and have already upped my maximum one full number higher. And I'll re-adjust straps to have loose in the right places....

Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better morning. At the very least, I'm sure I can continue to keep the grouchy mornings from escalating to the ballistic feeling (too well known from days/nights past....luckily, I live alone and generally don't go ballistic on others...)

J

[Birddog]

Congrats on your good sleep !

I slept better last night than i have all week that i have been on this machine. I have only been on the hose one week today .i have 60 hours on my machine so i have been trying to give it my best try.last night i though about what i learned from reading posts from all of you and after the first restless hour of feeling like i couldn;t gei my breath, i made some changes.I got up and changed my machine from Auto to CPAP and set it at 10.6 instead of auto 9-12 and slept like a baby.I was perscribed at 12.I saw many of you wrote that the auto setting going up and down was hard to go to sleep or stay asleep because of the constant changes.I agree.I slept all night witout pulling my mask off.I also set my mask off alert as the first 3-4 nights i wore up with my mask pulled off. Thank you all for all your posts and help for us newbies. I look forward to reading this forum every day !

Jon

[gasp]

gasp:

Glad you got there...and I know I'll develop a good track record. And, really, bad nights on APAP are good compared to any night before.

I had last night, the night after success, a very cr@ppy time... for a variety of reason. Was tired, but also hungry so I ate. Was on the computer in a position which often leads to falling asleep...so I started the night with a few hour "nap" before I woke up at 3am and masked up. I woke up several times with dry mouth, open mouth and some drooling (yes, at the same time). And the machine registered the max number of my APAP range....this is the second time I have awoken mouth breathing and seeing that max number. I also had leaks which have been at or near zero much of the last week.

So, I am going to bed soon, will listen to music rather than type, and have already upped my maximum one full number higher. And I'll re-adjust straps to have loose in the right places....

Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better morning. At the very least, I'm sure I can continue to keep the grouchy mornings from escalating to the ballistic feeling (too well known from days/nights past....luckily, I live alone and generally don't go ballistic on others...)

J

I encourage you to start out with the mask, even if it bugs you and less perceived rest occurs. I don't know what your sleep center average AHI was, but for me, knowing that I can go a more than 30 seconds regularly without breathing is enough to mask up - even if it means tolerating the dry mouth etc. It takes some time for the mind/body to get used to the new invasion of apparatus required to sleep. Every hour you spend on it could be one hour closer to your mind/body adjusting. OK, enough of that.

I went through many masks before finding one that worked for a year, and just recently got a new one that I really like. As you've probably heard here already, everyone's different and one person's perfect mask is another's nightmare. Know your insurance coverage, understand your DME's relationship with the mask manufacturers (for warranties such as Respironics and ResMEd), and keep at it until you get the perfect setup for you.

Also, I couldn't tolerate nasal pillows when I first began XPAP therapy, but now I can. Before I used too small a size and it rubbed my nose raw and didn't feel like I was getting sufficient air. Now I know to go up a size and have a looser fit (for my nasal pillow mask).

Anyway, keep on keepin' on : ) Good to hear from you.

[JayC]

gasp:

My AHI met criteria by rounding, although likely my events would have been higher if I was not masked in the 2nd part of the night (around 3am). My HI is the major issue: saturation went as low as mid/low 80s during the study. I have positional apnea generally if I am on my back...which I don't favor as a position anyway. I sleep both sides, and stomach. I have done so on nights of zero leak as well as other nights. I am really happy with my Swift LT.

The comfort gel (?) they put on my nose put pressure on my sinuses, and gave me a dull eye/head ache....although even with that, I had better functioning that day!! I am overjoyed with the fit of my Swift LT....first purchase. (Yes, I am repeating, but I do REALLY love it!!)

I don't *plan* to "nap" so late in the day, nor without the mask. I just don't realize how tired I am. More of a sleep hygiene issue...not resistance to APAP. I have had the mouth breathing --- I believe --- because my max of 12 is not adequate at that moment, and I might be starved for a little more air briefly. I am waking because I am mouth breathing, and sometimes with a gasp ( hee hee hee )as I awake. I go right back to sleep, until it happens again (if it does). When it happens, the machine is showing 12 as the pressure at that moment. Every time so far....

My pressure reading (90% ?) is consistently 10.6 with an occasional 8.6 reading. We'll see if raising to 13 max helps or makes it worse.

No chronic nose irritation at this point. No face lines to speak of...and any do resolve quickly.

My titration during the study (CPAP) the 8 showed no real benefit over 7. Ha, ha... Thankfully, doc prescribed APAP.

I cannot imagine doing without my new best buddy. I'm totally committed. I know the road is often not smooth; and know I have been blessed with quite an easy beginning. Of course, the DME is an inch from being fired for non-responsiveness, lack of attention to detail, false/inaccurate info, and not being big enough to just own their mistakes/omissions. I'll leave it as that and spare the gory details....

I *would* like to know what the DMEs can and should be doing for us.....can you say more?

Thanks.

J

[Scentastics]

Congrats!

I, too, had a good experience last night on my new RESMED machine with full face mask I picked up yesterday at Lincare.

It's been two years since I've been able to "control" my apnea. My apnea occurs as I transition from awake mode into sleep mode. I felt the macine "kick in" at the right time and I didn't feel like I needed to rip the mask off like other machines and masks I've had in the past.

I, too, hope it wasn't a fluke.

Tonight I will put water in the humidifer, as my mouth was dry.

For the first time, in a long time, I look forward to going to sleep tonight.

Btw, I'm in the northeast too, Vermont.

[ThatMaskedMan]

Hi Scentastics,

I lived in Vermont for 3 years and miss it. I worked in Grand Isle and Williston and lived for a while in Winooski. Once (long before diagnosed with OSA) I woke up and found myself driving 50mph across the Sandbar Bridge.

As to the topic, I'm 5 weeks on cpap and seem to always wake up after 7 hrs and 10 minutes. But maybe someday 8 hrs!

[Scentastics]

7 hours and 10 minutes? That's not bad at all! I'd take that!

I live on the southern middle part of Vermont. On the border of Mass. I see you live in upstate. We do a lot of shows there throughout the year. In fact, this week we'll be going to the Dutchess County Fair in Rhinebeck, NY.

I take it you were sleep driving on the bridge? OMG!

[JayC]

Scent...

Massachusetts here....

What are you doing at the fair? What are you showing?

Yes, I'll take a consistent 6 or 7 any night!! Pretty much anything where I wake feeling refreshed!!

J

[Scentastics]

I grew up in Massachusetts--Lynnfield. Where are you?

We make soap, candles, oils, incense and stuff for the home and body. We do craft shows all over the northeast. My sister is in Gloucester this weekend selling the product line.

So, was your "wicked" good sleep a fluke?

Last night, my mask got stifiling hot. I had the heater on low, but way to hot for me. Tonight I'll put it on humidifier. Still, it's the best machine so far. It helps (so far, knock on wood, it's only been 2 nights) get me through the transition of awake to sleep mode, which is when my apnea happens the most. I still haven't worn it all night though.