My first week of CPAP

[johnbellone]

I've been lurking around these forums for the past week or so since I've been diagnosed and begun my therapy. It was such a relief when I was finally diagnosed and still now understanding everything takes a lot of energy. I've been using CPAP for a little over a week and have been struggling with sleeping a full night with the setup. I've spent time adjusting the straps, using the ramp settings, tinkering with the humidity, and still continue to get frustrated with being unable to get in the rhythm of everything.

I have the data from my machine loaded into SleepyHead software on the Mac. It seems the first few nights my AHI was quite low and then the further into the week it seemed to average at 1 - 2.5 AHI. I do have some questions if you are all kind enough to answer:

How much can I trust the time settings in here? It seems to line up - I've only worn the mask for 3-4 hours per night before taking it off (don't remember) - but there are some outliers that say the machine was turned on from 7:45AM-9:01AM while I was at work.

What are some suggestions for getting used to wearing the mask? My biggest problem seems to be falling asleep and getting into a healthy pattern of breathing. I've definitely noticed that, prior to starting therapy, my same hours and state of sleepiness aren't going to work. I'm not actually tired when I think I am anymore!

I find that my nose is clogged up often and I am breathing through my mouth. At first I thought this may be due to the humidifier settings, but I am not actually sure now. I have a pet dog and have never been tested for allergies. I definitely know that I ones of the seasonal variety.

I am keeping positive thoughts as the past week, even with only wearing the mask for a few hours a night, has been blissfully amazing. I completely cut out coffee from my diet to test to see how tired I am, and don't find myself exhausted, yawning or anything while at work as I was only a fortnight or so ago. This is really a positive step for my life and I'm stoked that it is only going to get better from here.

[Julie]

Hi - it's great that you've been able to appreciate some of the benefits, but you're also sabotaging the good part by not keeping the mask on all night. A lot of us go through that at the beginning, but if you're doing it consciously (so many do not) then you have the chance to undo it... i.e. wear the mask all night (and for daytime naps too) because while it might help for the time you wear it, not wearing it for the rest of the night completely defeats the purpose.

Btw, how come the machine was on while you were at work? And if you do have a FF mask, are you not wearing it during the times (all night) when you mouth breathe? A bit confusing.

[johnbellone]

I am not taking the mask off while being completely awake. If I wake back up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom I am sure to put the mask back on. I'm just wondering if there are any tips for getting through this phase? Unfortunately I don't take too many daytime naps to get more usage time in!

The machine shouldn't have been on. Anyway, all the other numbers seem to line up except for that one outlier. I'm trying not to get into bed and go to sleep until I am absolutely sure I'm tired. Last night I had quite the bout of insomnia.

[locust78]

I'm glad to see that you're getting good results so early in your CPAP therapy! You're on the right track by researching forums like this. You'll find a lot of helpful information and tips here. You'll also find that it took many of us months to work out all the bugs & get things 'just right', so don't get discouraged if it doesn't all come together as quickly as you'd like. Be patient an it will pay off.