Skipping nights

[lilbean95]

Hi, I'm a 16 year old girl and it's summer time. I was womdering if it was ok to skip a night here or there if I'm sleeping over somewhere other than my house. I don't want to have to carry my machine around with me everywhere I go just in case I'm invited to sleep over somewhere. I dont mean to sound like a whiney teenager, I'm just curious.

[Pugsy]

Do you really have to ask?

Most of us won't even take a nap without the machine. Very unlikely anyone here will give you the okay to slide every now and then.

Now if it happens to be sleep overs like when I was your age...we never slept.

[lilbean95]

I kind of figured that would be the answer. I had to skip last night because the parents of the kids I was. Any sitting didn't get home until late and I just slept there. In the future though, I'll try my best not to skip.

[Pugsy]

Should you find yourself in a situation like last night you might do what we do when the power goes out and we don't have backup power.. try sleeping sort of upright in a recliner or something. Not perfect solution but might help lessen the collapses of the airway a bit. Upright or semi upright seems to help a little.

[BlackSpinner]

It is also a bad habit to start.
It is amazing how fast "Once in a while won't hurt" turns into "I just can't be bothered". I do that to my exercise routine ALL THE TIME. Once I start skipping it is over, it is out of my awareness, until suddenly a few months down the road I realize that somehow I stopped.

[pats]

Hi, I'm a 16 year old girl and it's summer time. I was womdering if it was ok to skip a night here or there if I'm sleeping over somewhere other than my house. I don't want to have to carry my machine around with me everywhere I go just in case I'm invited to sleep over somewhere. I dont mean to sound like a whiney teenager, I'm just curious.

You may want to discuss Provent with your sleep doctor. It's a bit expensive for everyday use, about $2 per night, and does not work for everyone. My sleep doctor considers APAP a better normal treatment for me, but has prescribed Provent for travel. If it works for you, and your doctor considers it an appropriate treatment for occasional use, you could keep a Provent pair in your purse for unplanned sleep-overs.

[archangle]

You may very well find out soon that you have a really hard time sleeping without CPAP. Right now, your brain and body have gotten used to being strangled several times an hour during your sleep for the past several years. Once your brain figures out that strangulation is not a necessary part of sleep, it will start waking you up when you don't have your machine.

If you go without your machine one night, you may find you'll feel awful the next day.

As far as your health, to some extent, one night's not that likely to do that much damage. You have been doing without for a long time. However, there is some risk you'll overstress and have a heart attack, stroke, or something during a night of no CPAP. The stress will be a lot more than before you did CPAP. That's a lot more likely to happen to one of us old folks than a youngster like you.

Be very careful not to skip until you've really gotten used to sleeping with CPAP. It can really hurt the process of making your mind accept the thing from the Alien movie strapped to your face.

If you take your machine with you somewhere, remove the water tank first. Do that before you do anything to the machine. If you move it with the water tank attached, you might ruin the machine. You can also detach the humidifier and leave it at home if you don't want to carry the whole thing.

[Janknitz]

The answer is very clearly that you should never sleep without your CPAP, BUT . . .

I can't imagine being a 16 year old girl and having to do this at a slumber party. I do feel for you! I hope that you have some really good friends, and that you can explain to them you have a medical condition that is very serious and that you really need this machine to sleep. Friends who will understand and be supportive are like gold and you will probably keep them in your heart for life. Tell them about the machine and satisfy their curiosity long before bedtime. If you have an extra mask or you're willing to clean, you can even let them try it.

[Simbot]

Wow really, I skip using it all the time. When I need to get a good night's sleep, I don't use it. My sleep Dr. did not mention this being a problem.

[chunkyfrog]

Skipping just gives me a beastly headache; and I feel like total crap the next day.
I wonder how many of your friends have family members with untreated apnea.
Exposure to a courageous teen who is using the equipment may tip some of these procrastinators into finally getting treated.
Kids can be amazing examples to foolish old folks.

[Janknitz]

Wow really, I skip using it all the time. When I need to get a good night's sleep, I don't use it. My sleep Dr. did not mention this being a problem.

Simbot, Just curious if you know what your untreated AHI was? Because that's how many times an hour you stop breathing for at least 10 seconds. (Imagine trying to hold your breath for your AHI x 10 seconds).

Does your doctor HAVE to explain to you that's a problem???? That's why you need CPAP in the first place. Skipping "all the time" means that you are not getting good treatment "all the time". And every little bit hurts your body.

If you are having trouble sleeping with the machine, then you need to learn what to do to get more comfortable sleeping with the machine. But not using the machine doesn't accomplish anything except causing you more problems in the long run.

[jen4700]

I have to agree that NOT skipping is preferred - for all the reasons mentioned above.

But if your OSA is mild, I don't see how skipping one night is going to hurt. I think this is a decision you have to make with your parents and your doctor. I feel like crap when I don't use my machine.

[Simbot]

I understand Janknitz, my problem is I can't decide if I get better sleep with or without CPAP. That's why I skip it, trying to compare which gives me a better (or less bad) night's sleep. I know I have apnea, but the machine keeps me awake so much that I feel terrible the next day. I have other threads on this, don't respond, I don't want to hijack the OP.

I think my untreated AHI was 15-20.

[xenablue]

lilbean - it's understandable that a young lady having a busy social life, sleep overs etc., wouldn't want to lug her CPAP machine along, but it's definitely advisable and I agree with all the advice you've had from others.

If you're the confident young lady you sound like from your posts, then I think if you got all your best friends together and explained to them that you need to use this machine every night when you sleep (and explain why - how many times you stop breathing every night without it) and that it's no big deal, and it won't keep them awake, but it will help you sleep and make sure YOU DO WAKE up in the morning.

I think that once your friends get over the initial shock/facsination etc., they will be very accepting and it will just be part of your sleepover gear. Some of your friends might be a little afraid, so it wouldn't hurt to give them a demo. I made my husband WEAR my mask, with the machine ON, when I first started on CPAP so he would know and understand what was going on. It helped him immensely!

Good luck and hang in there.

Cheers,
xena

[tiredmama]

As far a habits go, I think you'll be OK skipping when you're sleeping in a strange place, because there are so many things that are not your usual routine. Skipping it in your bed is going to be a bigger problem.

With planned sleepovers...a question is, do you snore? Friends weren't honest with me about just how HORRIBLE my snoring was until recently when I was considering surgery for a severely deviated septum and other problems. Apparently, my snoring kept everyone else up. I think they would have been happier to sleep with any noise and weirdness from a CPAP machine than that snoring!