Do you wear your mask all night? Philosophy 101?

roster · Post by **roster** » Sat May 13, 2006 5:27 pm

Here's happening "the rest of the night":
-You stop breathing.
-Your blood oxygen levels drop.
-Without enough oxygen, all of your organs work at suboptimal level.
-Your heart races trying to pump more oxygen.
-Your blood pressure rises.
-Your body produces excess "flight or fight" hormones.
-These hormones cause many things to go wrong in your body including vascular inflammation which can lead to hardening of the arteries.

I wear the mask any time I sleep including short daytime naps. When my wife relieves me from driving on long car trips, I can rest but not nap. Eventually I may look into purchasing a machine that I can use in the car passenger seat.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat May 13, 2006 5:38 pm

[quote="dllfo"]
If I wake up to answer natures call, see what the dog is barking at, etc.
I take the mask off, turn the machine off and so far, don't put it back on.

RedThunder94 · Post by **RedThunder94** » Sat May 13, 2006 6:31 pm

last night was my first night and i actually slept purty good, amazing how good you feel when you actually rest at night, later i took my afternoon nap and i hooked myself up with out even thinking about it, hopefully this continues, i don't think i'll ever sleep with out my machine now.

ozij · Post by **ozij** » Sat May 13, 2006 11:34 pm

All night, everynight.

The following video - you need a fast internet connection for it - shows you what happens during the times you sleep without a CPAP.

Sleep disordered breathing

O.

RedThunder94 · Post by **RedThunder94** » Sun May 14, 2006 7:24 am

wow, nice vid, very informative.

dllfo · Post by **dllfo** » Sun May 14, 2006 9:28 am

Sunday morning....woke about 6am. Having problems with unit...it may be
malfunctioning. It shuts off my air at times I am trying to breathe. I have
not had it long enough to know why. I will call the DME Monday. I have noticed it stopping the air flow at least a half dozen times in the last couple of days. Maybe if I had the software it might give me a clue...such as I am changing my breathing patterns quickly. I have no idea if it is something I am causing or a malfunction, but I WILL call the DME to discuss it, or ask for another unit.

Rooster - -you gave some great reasons to keep it on and I did. All night.
I need to "save" some of these comments you folks are making,
it helps me understand the overall reasoning for using a CPAP
better.

Ozji.........I can't get the link to load, I will try my laptop with XP. This
computer is faster, bigger, etc. but I go "brain dead" and mess up
my software once in awhile.

"Guest"..I put my mask on, disconnected the hose and wore it all night.
that did help. A couple of you mentioned turning the machine off,
disconnect the hose, then just plug it back in. THAT worked good.
Thanks.....

So, I wore it all night. I got a solid 7-8 hours sleep and feel much better
than before I started using it. And I have you to thank for that. What an
incredible time we live in, where we can have a problem like this and find
an informational forum to get .....not medical answers.....but common
sense solutions. I am still learning and I have a couple of more problem
areas, but between the skilled knowledge in our medical community and
the nice people here, I feel more comfortable able solving it.

BetterBreathinBob · Post by **BetterBreathinBob** » Sun May 14, 2006 12:54 pm

Great posts on the subject of complying all night with the CPAP machine. Everyone wrote about not cheating and feeling so much better when wearing the mask all night. Now a different twist!

Comply with therapy and your blood pressure and heart are happy. Don't and you take the risk of a heart attack at night, probably a good way to go unless you're saved but then but then you could be a useless vegetable in a long term nursing home or you could suffer a stroke with the same end results.

After spending the last 7 years in my sleep lab treating patients with sleep apnea I've seen my fair share of cardiac problems when folks stop breathing.

Be smart and safe- protect your heart and brain at night. wear the mask.

Bob

dllfo · Post by **dllfo** » Sun May 14, 2006 6:10 pm

Good posts.

I have spent all day researching and trying to learn the language of CPAP.

The more I read, the more I see why many of you are so passionate about
using these devices.

My wife will probably get her sleep apnea test this next week and based on
her comments, a machine after that.

Does ANYONE out there have two CPAPs in the same family? Just curious.
I think she sees the incredible turnaround in my ability to go right to sleep
and is realizing, like myself, these machines are wonderful.

roster · Post by **roster** » Sun May 14, 2006 6:26 pm

[quote="dllfo"]

My wife will probably get her sleep apnea test this next week and based on
her comments, a machine after that.

Does ANYONE out there have two CPAPs in the same family? Just curious.
I think she sees the incredible turnaround in my ability to go right to sleep
and is realizing, like myself, these machines are wonderful.

Bonnie · Post by **Bonnie** » Sun May 14, 2006 7:53 pm

Severeena and her husband are both hoseheads. Come to think of it I haven't seen her posting for a while. She is our resident expert on Hans Rudolph ff masks

dllfo · Post by **dllfo** » Mon May 15, 2006 10:17 am

Thanks, guess we won't be alone then. Another good night sleeping. I am
feeling...noticeably better.

We have to get busy scheduling her today.....thanks again.

Anatha · Post by **Anatha** » Mon May 15, 2006 10:46 am

I have trouble keeping it on for a full night also, so I empathize with the original poster. In the middle of the night, I take it off and am only faintly aware of it. Half the time I am not even awakened for any particular reason like the restroom.

I am fully aware of all the health risks and that I need to have it on.

At this point, I have used it for almost 1 month now, and I have made huge improvements in my compliance. I recently changed my mask, so that is helping ALOT. My last one caused panic attacks.

My goal is to wear it for 8 hours but I know that it will take a little time to make these changes, so every week, I have a new goal for increasing my time on it. I am hoping by 6 months that I will be sleeping all night, or almost all night.

Some people told me, "just keep it on no matter what". Well, I tried laying there with it on, but forcing myself to keep it on only caused some very long anxiety filled nights of little to no sleep. Very discouraging. So, this is the best behavior modification that I could come up with.

All I can say is, change is hard.

chdurie2 · Post by **chdurie2** » Mon May 15, 2006 11:04 am

Anantha:

Make friends with your mask. there are archived posts on this. wear it around the house when you don't have to, when you watch tv, etc. i agree that lying there for hours with it on isn't good, but if you weren't fighting with the mask so hard, that wouldn't happen. you act as if you have a choice. but you don't really, if you truly understand the dangers to your health. Six months as a goal to sleep with mask all nite?! That's a pretty remote goal--meaning it's too far off. How about one nite or maybe one week?! This morning I woke up with mask not only off but the machine was off, too. That's a first for me. But most nites it stays on all nite after a few days of coming off every nite, as yours does, without knowing when or why.

Buck up, kiddo, it ain't so horrible. and once you feel the benefits of cpap, you'll want to keep it on all nite. but at this rate, it will be a minimum of six months before you do.

i think your goal needs to be fast-forwarded a lot, and please feel free to talk here about your problems with the mask. i just can't support a program of mask avoidance, and it just doesn't take that much time to get used to a mask.

Caroline

caroline

Snoozin' Bluezzz · Post by **Snoozin' Bluezzz** » Mon May 15, 2006 11:26 am

Anatha wrote:Some people told me, "just keep it on no matter what". Well, I tried laying there with it on, but forcing myself to keep it on only caused some very long anxiety filled nights of little to no sleep. Very discouraging. So, this is the best behavior modification that I could come up with.

All I can say is, change is hard.

Anatha - I felt and behaved the same way until I found an interface I could tolerate and then it all clicked in for me, day 1. Unfortunately the interface I found, that worked that way, is the one you seem to be struggling with, if you equipment is up to date, which appears to be the Swift.

Even now it gives me the most consistent results even though it requires constant tweaking.

After I got used to one interface and was able to use it I am better able to try others.

I agree, if possible your goal needs to be fast forwarded. If you can it would be better to get more aggressive in how long you stay with your interface each night. Some folks seem to have some success with sleep aids like Ambien or anti-anxiety meds.

David

RedThunder94 · Post by **RedThunder94** » Mon May 15, 2006 5:22 pm

yeah, i got my machine friday and so far have logged 34 hours of decent sleep, i still haven't got to where i can beat the alarm clock, but when i woke up this morning i was breathing fine and thinking it must be on a lower pressure but to my suprise it was at 18 cm's and i wasn't even having a hard time with it, so it looks like i'm not going to have much of a problem with sleeping with this thing on from now on, upside is i worked an extra long day today and didn't even try to fall asleep at the wheel once, yawned a few times but that was all, i couldn't believe it, but this stuff actually works...

Do you wear your mask all night? Philosophy 101?

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