New guy having trouble adjusting...

Hi everyone,

I’m new to the forum. I got my CPAP setup about about a week ago. I haven’t had a good night sleep yet, not that I did before. I have OSA, and have probably had it for 10 years or so. When I did my sleep study they told me I woke up on average of 110 times an hour and my oxygen levels dropped to 65%. That’s all they told me, I think this is pretty bad.

I have been reading a lot about sleep apnea, and it explains so much about what I have been experiencing for so long now. I really want this to work, I really want a good night sleep, I want to get healthy, but I am a bit discouraged...

When I go to sleep, I do fine for the first hour or two, and then I usually wake up with an overwhelming urge to take the mask off, then I do and quickly fall back to sleep, or do it in my sleep, only to keep waking up constantly for a few hours until I force myself to put it back on. Then the pattern repeats until it’s time to wake up.

So, so far I haven’t benefited from the CPAP. No waking up all rejuvenated. I can’t wait for that part!

Has anyone experienced anything like this?

I had the same problem, trust me it gets easier!

I am on week 3, and absolutely LOVE my machine! I was frustrated in the beginning. I'd put it on and within 2 hours I was taking it off, and not even caring about putting it back on... Then i'd make it 4 hours, and soon it was 6, now I am up to 8 hours a night... Once you fall asleep and you wake up, don't take it off, just turn over and go back to sleep. Don't think about the mask, just think about getting back to sleep. Everyone around me is noticing a difference...

Keep at it, set a goal to make it an extra hour every night until you don't feel the need to take it off at all...

Good luck!

Try wearing the mask with the machine on during the day. Read or watch TV just to keep your mind off the mask. You will find that in time you won't be able to sleep without the mask! It takes weeks to adjust to this new way of sleeping. Keep at it! If you wake with the mask off, put it back on. Don't give up...it gets better!

Brendas

I am wondering why you wake up?

How do your numbers look? Leak, AI, HI, AHI?

When I first started I remember waking up one morning to find the mask neatly stacked beside my pillow but had no recollection of taking it off... at least in your case actually wake up.

Hello & Welcome, AintGonnaSnoreNoMore;! Glad you found this forum—SO much useful info and everyone here is so willing to help!

You're lucky to have found this forum as you begin CPAP--took me almost year before I found this place and, with the help of folks here, got my CPAP therapy working as it should. It does take time to get everything tweaked and working at its best, so patience is key as one begins CPAP.



"You are getting sleepy . . ."

Thanks for the advice! I suppose, I just need to keep trying and it will get easier. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't alone.

I have no idea how to check the stats. It has a card deal. Do I have to go through the provider? Or can I check it myself?

The mask is foreign at first. During the sleep study, they tried to get me to sleep on my back. I CAN'T sleep on my back. Even after abdominal laproscopic surgery, I couldn't sleep on my back. I had done fine until then but I literally panicked when I woke up and they tried to put me to sleep on my back. I couldn't take off the mask because I didn't know how. They let me go back to sleep on my side and I was ok and feel back asleep. I woke up during the night those first few weeks and sometimes felt a bit of panic but I never took the mask off. Now it doesn't bother me at all. It just takes some retraining and it can be done.

Hold down down and right soft keys until the screen displays Clinical Menu Welcome.
Wait for the screen to change to just Clinical then press the left soft key (menu).
Press down to get to Settings. (Don't change them unless you know what you're doing.)
Another down press gets to Results.
Press the left soft key (enter).
Press down to get to Efficacy Data.
Press enter.
You can now scroll up/down through your daily results. (Note that they are not available after noon.)
Press exit repeatedly to move back up the menu system until you get back to your usual screen.

AintGonnaSnoreNoMore wrote: I have no idea how to check the stats. It has a card deal. Do I have to go through the provider? Or can I check it myself?

Your profile seems to indicate that you have the card reader and software. If you need help installing them someone will be able to do that.

If you PM me with your email address, I can send you the Clinical Guide for your machine.

And it would help if you go back into your control panel and change your equipement display from icons to text. It's helpful because all of the S8 machines have the same size and shape. With the text option we don't have to follow the link and then go back to find out whether you have and Elite or Autoset II, for example.

Welcome!

It took me several months to sleep without regard for my equipment. I had better and better numbers when I found the right mask for me, which also means I had a better sleep experience too. Hang in there : )))