Newbie here and to Cpap

[warrior391]

Hello all,

Just a quick intro, I am 47 and just started using a Cpap after my month long journey to diagnose my OSA. I suspected I had some issues, but finally went through the Doc's visit and sleep sudies. So here I am and I just have a thing or 2 to ask to get started.

I just started using my Cpap, a Remstar Pro with C-flex + and I am using the Swift Lt nose pillow mask.

So far so good, although I took it over the the girl's house that I am seeing the 1st night and didnt use it, I had a complex of some sort using it for the first time with someone next to me. I used it at home since then and then used it at her house with no problem(well, a little aprehensive but she said to get it on, the mask that is...lol) Here is my concern/question...I am on afternoon shift so my normal bed time is anywhere between 12 and 1 am give or take...the 1st three nites I have used the cpap, I woke up about 5ish, didnt feel like i could get back to sleep and removed my mask. Not necessarily out of discomfort, but just thinking I couldnt get back to sleep for some reason. I would then roll over and fall asleep(tossing and turning for the next several hours before I get outta bed at 9-930 ish. Is that the normal process of adjusting to wearing this thing and not feeling the freedom or what? Also, it might be a coincidence, and I think it might be cuz over all I feel run down, but my throat has been somewhat raspy for the last couple days and clogged(phlemy a little, not much tho) and I woke up a little achy this morning. I'm hoping this is just a coincidence and not things to come using this cpap.

Thank you all in advance for all your help. I look forward to hearing from you and hopefully I may be able to lend some help to someone in the future...

[jnk]

Hello all,

Just a quick intro, I am 47 and just started using a Cpap after my month long journey to diagnose my OSA. I suspected I had some issues, but finally went through the Doc's visit and sleep sudies. So here I am and I just have a thing or 2 to ask to get started.

I just started using my Cpap, a Remstar Pro with C-flex + and I am using the Swift Lt nose pillow mask.

So far so good, although I took it over the the girl's house that I am seeing the 1st night and didnt use it, I had a complex of some sort using it for the first time with someone next to me. I used it at home since then and then used it at her house with no problem(well, a little aprehensive but she said to get it on, the mask that is...lol) Here is my concern/question...I am on afternoon shift so my normal bed time is anywhere between 12 and 1 am give or take...the 1st three nites I have used the cpap, I woke up about 5ish, didnt feel like i could get back to sleep and removed my mask. Not necessarily out of discomfort, but just thinking I couldnt get back to sleep for some reason. I would then roll over and fall asleep(tossing and turning for the next several hours before I get outta bed at 9-930 ish. Is that the normal process of adjusting to wearing this thing and not feeling the freedom or what? Also, it might be a coincidence, and I think it might be cuz over all I feel run down, but my throat has been somewhat raspy for the last couple days and clogged(phlemy a little, not much tho) and I woke up a little achy this morning. I'm hoping this is just a coincidence and not things to come using this cpap.

Thank you all in advance for all your help. I look forward to hearing from you and hopefully I may be able to lend some help to someone in the future...

The brain tries to trick you to take the mask off. Sometimes it wins. Eventually you can convince it to let you keep the mask on, and you can also convince it that it is OK to sleep longer with it on so it can go through another sleep cycle or two for that sleep period. You are in the process of training your brain. It is like a stubborn puppy. You have to be gentle with it, but firm.

Your nose and throat have to get used to the pressurized air. Make sure you keep your humidity where it needs to be as best you can. That can take some experimentation. But no matter what you do, your upper airway still has to get used to the added work for a while, because the climate in your airway has changed. During that time, you may pick up a virus, since your immune system gets thrown off by the dry air and so it makes more mucus which in turn, well, you get the picture. Your body will adjust.

Keep at it, and you will get there. It is worth it. Once you go through that process, you are really, really glad you did. Way too many people give up during that adjustment period. They assume they aren't cut out for the therapy. But if they gave it a few more weeks, their life might be changed once they found their stride. It sounds like you are well on your way to finding yours.

jeff

[warrior391]

Makes alot of sense thus far thanks Jeff. I guess I thought it would be an overnight(no pun intended) adjustmen and Id wake up feeling better than I have in years. But as in anything, specially as we get older, change is hard. I certainly will not give up hat easily.

so it may not just be a coincidence about my throat feeling cloged and foggy. I will look around here for tips on adjusted the humidifier. I have the Remstar Pro and system one heated humidifier and am starting out with the humidity setting at 3. I will try and monitor how that is working and try to adjust accordingly.

So the whole upper respitory problems shoudl subside once my body gets used to the idea and adjusts itslef also?

[jnk]

. . . So the whole upper respitory problems shoudl subside once my body gets used to the idea and adjusts itslef also?

As ResMed puts it:

"How does positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy impact on the body's own humidification process? Just as some people have difficulty adapting to less humid climates, some people have difficulty adapting to positive airway pressure. This therapy creates a new climate for your nose and upper airway because airflow is greater than what your body is accustomed to humidifying – and the greater your treatment pressure the more difficult this task becomes. Your nose may become tender or dry, or it may respond to the new environment by creating more mucus to protect its sensitive tissues. A humidifier can prevent and even reverse these symptoms by treating the air before it even reaches your nose."--http://www.resmed.com/us/patients_and_f ... c=patients

"Up to 40% of PAP users experience nasal congestion and dryness of the nose and throat. These symptoms can be severe enough to prevent patients from continuing their treatment. [Humidifiers] add moisture and warmth to the air delivered by a CPAP or bilevel system. This reduces symptoms of dryness and congestion, improving patient comfort and compliance. Research also shows that nasal resistance can promote mouth breathing, which in turn leads to additional dryness. Heated humidification can prevent the large increase in nasal resistance that results in mouth breathing and leaks."--http://www.resmed.com/us/patients_and_f ... c=patients

[warrior391]

Ahhh, roger that...good stuff, thanks again

[montana user]

The first 2 weeks I would take off my mask and not even know it. I would find it on the floor or in bed with me. Every time I noticed it was off, I put it back on. Finally my brain and body loved the sleep I was getting so I didn't have a problem with it after that.

This weekend I fell asleep on the couch ( late night early morning) and it soo reminded me how much I love my CPAP. I snored so loud it woke me up! After the third time, I finally got up and went to bed to my beloved machine!

[warrior391]

This weekend I fell asleep on the couch ( late night early morning) and it soo reminded me how much I love my CPAP. I snored so loud it woke me up! After the third time, I finally got up and went to bed to my beloved machine!

Your beloved machine...what? You havnt named her?

Hey thanks for the input, Im working on having that kind of relationship with My beloved machine...

[Julie]

Suggestion - turn the humidifier down- it may well be the reason you're getting clogged up and feeling flu-y.

[warrior391]

Suggestion - turn the humidifier down- it may well be the reason you're getting clogged up and feeling flu-y.

Ok thx...down to 2 or even 1?....yea, that's it...Flu-y..ewwwwww

[pb5927317]

Suggestion - turn the humidifier down- it may well be the reason you're getting clogged up and feeling flu-y.

Ok thx...down to 2 or even 1?....yea, that's it...Flu-y..ewwwwww

I either set mine on 1, or off. I still use a lot of water, but if its on 3, I wake up stuffy.

[warrior391]

Suggestion - turn the humidifier down- it may well be the reason you're getting clogged up and feeling flu-y.

Ok thx...down to 2 or even 1?....yea, that's it...Flu-y..ewwwwww

I either set mine on 1, or off. I still use a lot of water, but if its on 3, I wake up stuffy.

Won't turning it off eliminate any humidification completely, what do you mean you still use alot of water? Having it off still uses up the water in the humidifier?

Went to bed last nite at 1:30a and I woke up at 3:30 to a violent cough and hacking up major loogie and couldnt get my mask off fast enough, and I feel like total crap this morning and cant sleep...7 am is NOT my wake u time...Uggggg

[cflame1]

Turning it off just turns off the heat, doesn't stop the humidity.

[warrior391]

Turning it off just turns off the heat, doesn't stop the humidity.

Ahhh ok...yea, just read that in the...Oh whats that? The users manual....lol

[ozij]

This weekend I fell asleep on the couch ( late night early morning) and it soo reminded me how much I love my CPAP. I snored so loud it woke me up! After the third time, I finally got up and went to bed to my beloved machine!

Your beloved machine...what? You havnt named her?

Hey thanks for the input, Im working on having that kind of relationship with My beloved machine...

I was reading this, and suddenly remembered how I felt reading a FAQ list as newbie. Every question more or less started with "I love my machine / mask" and I thought "Oh come on, are you trying to sweet talk me??".
Five years on I can tell you it's true. The feeling you get when therapy is finally working is so good, so much the opposite of the previous struggle to breathe, that eventually, without having noticed it, you really do love your machine or mask.
Pretty amazing. Once the brain realizes this machine (or mask) are the reason it is finally safe to sleep - that's when love appears. Puppy love -- if we're to follow jnk's analogy.

It's probably like what a blankie, teddy bear or pacifier were for us when were very young.

[BlackSpinner]

Regarding the humidity: It is very personal.

Some like it hot and humid - like me I have it as high as it can go without rain out.

Some can't stand it.

Experiment each way for about a week. One night could be just an adjust of the sinuses - mucus can also come from unblocking and healing so lots of humidity generating mucus may be undoing the damage of years.

You may also want to try nasal rinses with distilled salted water before bed time.

Mucus in the throat can also come from acid reflux during the night (GERD) so try jacking up the head of the bed by 4 inches. Lots of people with OSA also have GERD.