Do you wear your mask all night? Philosophy 101?

[dllfo]

Anatha,

I have tried different pillows, positions, even sitting up again...but I am trying
really hard to sleep on my back all night. I was a stomach sleeper the last
59 years. They are right, find what is ok for you and work on it.

I slept...good last night...from...about 10:30 to almost 8am this morning.
I am not sleepy in the daytime and have a lot more energy.

Hang in there, and feel free to gripe or ask questions.

[chdurie2]

i thougt back-sleeping makes apnea worse. at least, that's what my doc told me.

caroline

[dllfo]

Ouch Caroline,

NOW you tell me. I have some other med problems....like...at a certain level of morphine I lose the ability to swallow laying down. so they told me to sleep sitting up. Yeah...right. I tried it. But when I piled all the pillows up behind me, so I could sit up, the lower back/hip hurt worse. It has been a real pain the rear so far.

Then they said if I laid on my back, my head propped up pretty good, I might be able to swallow and sleep. So I tried that. That has worked for a few days now, but no one ever mentioned laying flat on my back was bad for sleep apnea. Ouch again.

I will research it. BTW, I think aspirational pneumonia was the problem you
run into if you cannot swallow while sleeping. Or was it while you are sleeping
flat? I forget.

Seriously, thanks for the info. I will ask tomorrow.

[Goofproof]

Sleeping on you back is harder for your sleep apnea. It takes a higher pressure to treat it, that's where a APAP is nice it can change your pressure on the fly as you need it, so that when your on your back it can prevent the apnea.

Where if you were using CPAP, you would have to treat at a pressure that would be used to treat apnea's that occur when your on your back, which then you would need a higher pressure.

Have you considered a good Electric Hospital bed, Sitting up in a hospital bed helps me breath and the many setting it can do it's fairly comfortable. In the hospital I would spend half the night in the bed and half in a chair, That was before CPAP, In fact that was when I found out I needed CPAP.

Jim

I have found With the F & P 431, FF Mask, I can spend some of the night on my stomach, I haven't been able to do that in years.

_________________

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[NightHawkeye]

. . . so they told me to sleep sitting up. . .

It's actually not too much of a problem if you just fall asleep in the recliner in front of the TV. That was the primary way I got through the night for a few years.

I prefer sleeping in bed now though . . . gotta love that hose and all . . .

Regards,
Bill

[Guest]

Hi Jim,

"Sleeping on you back is harder for your sleep apnea. It takes a higher pressure to treat it, that's where a APAP is nice it can change your pressure on the fly as you need it, so that when your on your back it can prevent the apnea."

Jim, I have the Auto bipap machine, it is supposed to change my pressure as needed. And I guess it applies as much pressure as I need to breathe, whether on my back or side. Bottom line is I will sleep on my back tonight
and record it. Then I will pull the smartcard and see what it did. Tuesday
night on my side, then check it.

."Where if you were using CPAP, you would have to treat at a pressure that would be used to treat apnea's that occur when your on your back, which then you would need a higher pressure."

Jim, I may be forcing my body to endure the higher pressures by sleeping
on my back, so I will try my side tonight. Again, without a smart card to tell
me...I won't know. I got my smart card back from Apria and put it in today.
So when I hook the software up tomorrow afternoon, I hope to see what
has been going on while I sleep.

"Have you considered a good Electric Hospital bed, Sitting up in a hospital bed helps me breath and the many setting it can do it's fairly comfortable. In the hospital I would spend half the night in the bed and half in a chair, That was before CPAP, In fact that was when I found out I needed CPAP."

Jim, I did not seriously consider the hospital bed. I had a couple of friends
ask me about one, but never really thought about it. I may have to, but
all these breathing problems just came up for me in .....at the most....a
year ago.

I have the same HC 431A mask you have, but I didn't care for it. I use the
Mirage Swift now. It sure is a whole new world now. Just keep adapting
I guess.

[Goofproof]

I had a Quad-By-pass, I couldn't have slept without the bed, now with CPAP I sleep well side to side and some time on stomach, I can't do back, my nose plugs fast, even on decongestants.

I used the ConfortFull mask and it worked fair on my side, but the 431 allows limited stomach sleep, you have to get the pillows just right and turn your head a little, but it's refreshing to do for a change. Jim

[Guest]

My nose plugs up too. I hesitate to say too much, it sounds like a "pity party"
for me. I currently use Astelin Spray, rhino cort Aqua, Nasonex (prescription)
and saline spray and some other one I can't remember.

I have tried not drinking liquids after a certain time, and so on. I always lose
the battle. At least I can breathe now.

I run two HEPA air filters in my bed room...BIG ones. My central heat & A/C
unit has 3 large HEPA filters and so on. My new Hoover Vacuum has a HEPA
and on and on.

Sorry to hear about your bypass. At least you caught it in time...but...we at
least kow what we need to do and are getting the equipment to do it.

It is 10:53pm and we are going to bed in a few minutes...I can look forward
to sleeping now. I used to really dread it.

I am anxious to see what my smart card says tomorrow.

[Anatha]

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

This is my second mask. I had the Activa before, and the Swift is much better. I would wake up in a panic with the Activa, which was NOT a great way to start out my treatment.

I have my 1 month appointment coming up and I have considered asking my doc for a small amount of sleep medication to help me transition. Maybe an anti-anxiety med would be the next step if the sleep meds don't work. I am also going to request a heated humifier (my insurance forced me to use a cool one first) and a machine with data, so that I can see my progress. He is very set in his ways, so I am going to have to fight for this stuff. I might have to change docs if he is a big enough pain.

Anyways, thanks for the feedback.

[th]

ALL night, every night. Anything less is detrimental to your health and shortening your life.



Amigo said it all.......ditto to the above
th

[dllfo]

My posts are saying Guest...NOT dllfo.

The post starting with:

Hi Jim,
"Sleeping on you..........."

AND


The post saying guest below that is mine.

"My nose plugs up too."

I am watching the forum on two computers now. This computer should list
my "name" and all. Certainly not Guest.

[sthnreb]

When you turn the auto off, the humidifier goes off too. I immediately turn it back on, make the trek and come back, turn the machine back on and then put the mask on before it starts up. It's blowing away by the time my head hits the pillow. One problem is that if it has titrated to a higher level, it does start over at the lower setting. I am however back asleep with no problem. In short,
PUT IT BACK ON ALL NIGHT.

[itsme]

Ok I think everyone here on this forum realizes how important a full nights sleep on cpap is... but I know for me at least... learning how to not sleep on my stomach after all these years has made it a slow learning process. Does everyone think that taking it off after 3 hours for a week, then 4 hours for a while, then 5 hours and so on until I get used to 8 hours a night is actually worse than just giving up all together.

I know for some people sleeping through the night is not a problem, but for me it certainly is... and I am slowly getting used to making it the whole night and do every couple nights.

I would think that 5 hours on cpap is still better than 0 hours, but not as good as 8 hours... especially considering my body has been suffering through 0 hours for all this time. And it seems to me that a restless sleepless night on CPAP is probably worse than a sleepful night without.

Just my two cents, and obviously I am no where near a pro... perhaps I need ambien or something.

[chdurie2]

hi itsme:

is 5 hours where you are right now in this progression? as in up from 2-3? the reason i ask is that theoretically it's okay to go from 2 to 3 to 4 to 5 and so on, except for a coupla things. how would you implement this? set an alarm for when the mask time is up and then go back to regular sleeping? that seems kind of silly. play it by ear and just hope that you increase in increments? the problems here are that it might not work that way in reality, meaning how would you know that you'll sleep a bit more with the mask and then a bit more, and in reality, you may just stay at 2-3 hours all the time. it's self-limiting, meaning that you're giving yourself the message that this is something you don't need to do full-time, and that's not a constructive message. better to tell yourself you'll do it all nite, and then if stuff happens, well, it happens. but yes, your goal should always be to do it all nite.

if it would ease your distress, i don't think there would be anything wrong with asking your doc for a little triazolam (short-life benzodiazepam) for short-term use if you really find it all that anxiety-provoking to use a mask. but first, try breathing with your cpap as you go to sleep. in other words, let the machine help you breathe. when you start breathing with it, it's easy at least to fall asleep with it. give it a shot--let it help you get to sleep rather than fighting it.

caroline

[chdurie2]

itsme:

i re-read your post and i realize that although i did a lot of talking, i don't really understand your problem. is it because you need to sleep on your side now with cpap and that's unfamiliar and uncomfortable? i think there are stomach cpap sleepers here...but what is the logistical problem that makes it so uncomfortable for you besides the fact that it's weird going to bed in a suit of armor?

trying to help.



caroline