new cpap user

hi..

i am 30 and have just started using cpap for the past two weeks. i have always been pudgy 5 4 160-170 pounds and have had htn for 6 years. didn't realize it probably was the sleep apnea. my jaw is very small, but bigger neck..anyhow..i have not been able to sleep the night fully with the mask..i have been trying to sleep with it atleast for a couple of hours but i am just hyperaware of it and the full face mask feels heavy and restricting...i need a full face mask due to my overbite, small jaw , periodic mouth breather along with frequent nasal congestion and allergies..anyhow i expected a miracle but have not had it..infact i feel even more tired and stressed because its become an ordeal every night trying to sleep with this. i would appreciate any advice, help...is this normal?

thank you so much.

Well, it doesn't happen to everyone, but there are plenty of us who have a devil of a time tolerating CPAP and mask at first. My first 30 nights on CPAP were the worst 30 nights of sleep I'd EVER had! But gradually things got better. VERY FEW experience drastic relief their very first night on CPAP. Don't get discouraged. Just grit your teeth and try to figure out one problem at a time w/your mask or therapy. What one thing is bothering you most?

You might try donning your mask during the day or early evening w/your CPAP turned on to your pressure and just sit and relax and read a book or magazine, work a crossword or jigsaw puzzle, watch TV ... whatever takes your mind off the mask and pressure and that desperate "I've gotta get some sleep" feeling.

It would be a big help to those of us who want to help and might have some advice if you would take a good look at the top of your CPAP or at your CPAP User manual and tell us what brand AND MODEL of CPAP you are using and at the literature that came w/your mask and tell us what mask you are using plus whether you have a heated humidifier or not. Now days most of us are provided w/an integrated heated humidifier w/our CPAPs.

It's very normal, pinkvilasini. Welcome to the board.
You edit your profile by clicking on the "user control panel" link (upper left third of the screen) - it will be more helpful to us if you use text instead of icons to describe the stuff you use.

Set yourself time for lots and lots of reading - there's a collection of links in the first post of this thread viewtopic/t35702/Where-A-CPAP-Newbie-Should-Start.html , and there's info in the big yellow light bulb "Our Wisdom".

There are no stupid questions on this forum - so ask away.

I'm too shortsighted to be able to do anything without my glasses, so I had to teach myself the think - gently - something like: This is here, it's here to stay. I too was hyper aware of the touch of those strange things on my face, of the sounds of my breathing, amplified by the mask, the machine whirring next to me, and the smells.... oh all those unfamiliar, plastic smells...

I thought I would never get used to all those things - but I did. Letting the hose dangle from above was a great help to me. So was getting a machine that tracked my breathing data.

O.

pinkvilasini wrote: the full face mask feels heavy and restricting...i need a full face mask due to my overbite, small jaw , periodic mouth breather along with frequent nasal congestion and allergies

Look into the Hybrid or Liberty mask. I prefer the Liberty. You may find them far less restricting feeling.

I know this is a CPAP forum but if you can't get used to cpap you may try an oral appliance due to your small jaw being a factor in your OSA. I too have a small jaw/receding chin and have tried both an oral appliance (TAP device) and CPAP - both worked wonderfully! The oral appliance will hold your lower jaw forward at night thereby opening your airway.

Velbor uses both an oral appliance and CPAP too.

ozij wrote: I'm too shortsighted to be able to do anything without my glasses, so I had to teach myself the think - gently - something like: This is here, it's here to stay. I too was hyper aware of the touch of those strange things on my face, of the sounds of my breathing, amplified by the mask, the machine whirring next to me, and the smells.... oh all those unfamiliar, plastic smells...

O.

Welcome, pinkvilasini. I have commented before that the mask reminded me of first wearing glasses, with a tickling sensation that went away after my nerve endings were accustomed to the mask touching them.

That said, my brother will have used his CPAP for a full year on January 1. It took him 4-5 months of slowly increasing the amount of time that he wore his mask to achieve a full night's sleep. So, as my fellow forum folk have said, you are NOT alone.
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jskinner is quite right about the Liberty. It is my favorite full-faced mask of all that I have used. The Hybrid would be in second place. I, too, have a small jaw with an overbite and am a mouthbreather--and have a nasal congestion/sinus problem, as well.

Here is where you will find information on the Liberty mask: Liberty by ResMed

And, here is where you will find the same on the Hybrid: Hybrid Mask by Innomed
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You might also want to consider using a saline nasal wash or neti pot. Many of us have found that to be helpful in controlling some of the congestion issues. For more on this subject, including nasal wash, nasal lavage, neti pot use, etc.:

Click Here to Find Out ALL ABOUT Getting Saline Into Your Head
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Hang in there and keep letting us know how you are doing. You may find some new way to tolerate your mask that would help others, or maybe you will just tell us your experiences. Either way, you are more than welcome to post here and seek help. We have ALL received some kind of help here, and after that...an awfully large number of us seem to stick around. Hmmmm.... Maybe we need more help than we like to admit?

Best of rest,

Karen

thank you all for your responses..

i have an apt with the RT on Jan 2 to go over my data and to talk about mask issues..i will ask about this mirage liberty full face mask which seems might be a better option.

as far as helpful tips as asked by karen...i talked to my uncle who has been using a nasal cpap and he stated that you have to love it and want it in terms of using cpap.. i guess being positive about the experience.. i have to admit getting nice big breaths of air blown into my face does feel like "a breath of fresh air". its satisfying sometimes to lie there meditate and just lull myself to sleep by listening to the steady stream of air..i try to visualize being healed by these big breaths to make it a healing experience..why not revel in the experience instead of abhoring it..turn it into a zen like spa experience..i know many of you are probably groaning, but when life throws you lemons why not make lemonade

pinkvilasini wrote:thank you all for your responses..

i have an apt with the RT on Jan 2 to go over my data and to talk about mask issues..i will ask about this mirage liberty full face mask which seems might be a better option.

as far as helpful tips as asked by karen...i talked to my uncle who has been using a nasal cpap and he stated that you have to love it and want it in terms of using cpap.. i guess being positive about the experience.. i have to admit getting nice big breaths of air blown into my face does feel like "a breath of fresh air". its satisfying sometimes to lie there meditate and just lull myself to sleep by listening to the steady stream of air..i try to visualize being healed by these big breaths to make it a healing experience..why not revel in the experience instead of abhoring it..turn it into a zen like spa experience..i know many of you are probably groaning, but when life throws you lemons why not make lemonade

You have to find the sugar for the lemonade, of course. My sugar was the memory of sitting on a bench in the sunshine on steep side of a valley in the Swiss mountains in one of my favorite hiking paths (from Wilderswil to Lauterbrunnen).

The sun was pleasant, the scenery was breathtaking - everything from snow to grass to fir trees to the blue of the sky, the air was fresh, bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
somebody was turning hay at the other side of the valley and I looked at a bird soaring and dipping against the background -- when I started wondering what the bird - and the man, and other living beings - felt about the constant rumble / roar of the lovely stream down there.... So I had those noises from the cpap, and the memory of the noisy stream - and of the wave crashing against the seashore - and I learned to turn the new noises into comforting background.
O.