New 'PAPer and so very tired...

Hello everyone,

I have only recently been getting treatment for OSA after about 10 years of rotten sleep and waking misery. I'm in my third day of use... and I feel like someone ran over me and backed up a couple of times for good measure.

My biggest problems are:
My mind is always racing,
I am a very light sleeper,
I had trouble getting comfortable even before wearing the headgear,
I prefer to sleep on my stomach.

I REFUSE to give up on this... my health has been in decline (and I'm only 37!) and this is going to fix a lot of problems for me. Does anyone have any hints to make my CPAP transition a little easier for me? I've tried Melatonin (and I take 5-HTP every night regardless) and it doesn't really seem to help.

Most docs will prescribe a sleep aid like Ambien for 30 days to help you adjust to CPAP.

Cygnusia wrote:Hello everyone, I REFUSE to give up on this...

Cy', first and foremost, you have the correct attitude.

Basic stuff:
the first few days are/can be miserable. They were for me.
I felt worse after the first few days than ever before.....that can be normal.
It's a journey.
racing mind....get Barry Krakow's book, Sound sleep, sound mind.
light sleeper....get over it.....I did.
headgear....it will take trial and error to find what works....
if something is not working....try something else.
stomach sleeper.....many stomach sleepers here to help.

You're on the path.....there is light at the end of the tunnel...
.........and it's not the train....
it's your new life.

Get the card, reader and software for you machine....asap.
Start getting yourself educated...here.
Never hesitate to ask questions.

Welcome! to your new life.

welcome
you can still sleep on stomach by arranging 2 pillows
agree re sleeping pills to help you adapt , I needed these

a common problem with new users is mouth breathing with any nose only type mask, this stops all CPAP benefits

try daytime naps using your CPAP

Talk to your doctor about the sleep issues. I had some very similar in that I would wake up very often and had some trouble getting to sleep. Part of it may have been simple habit from a few years of the OSA messing with sleep architecture. I have been able to sort of break that habit with the use of Ambien prescribed by my sleep doctor. I am not perfect but it is so much better.

You gotta get the hours of "good" sleep before you can expect to feel better and 4-6 hours of fragmented sleep won't do the trick. It hurts nothing to have a bit of help. Ambien is won't make the OSA worse like some of the other "drowsy" meds do.


Welcome to the forum.

Thanks for the advice and help. My doc told me when he saw me last (switched from a Quattro to a Swift because the mask was giving me panic attacks) that he may also switch me over to BiPAP since he noticed I was struggling with exhalation a bit... and that was even with C-Flex turned to 3.

Also, I may have the stomach thing licked... I was using one of those big stuffy "halfway-across-a-king-size" pillows. I grabbed one of our older pillows that's been loved on a lot, and lying down on my stomach felt a bit better. I'll see how it goes tonight.

Lots of well-loved pillows can be a big benefit.

I'm not a stomach sleeper, but I kind of roll from my side, semi-onto my stomach, with my cheek against the pillow. Side-sleeper pillows are great for this.

I found two masks worked well for me -- the Respironics Comfortlite 2, and the Aeiomed Headrest.

And yes, I have a Bipap because I couldn't breathe out against straight CPAP.

If they switch me to BiPAP, I suppose they would put me on a Plus or Auto, since they can just switch them out without replacing the humidifier.

I've also been having some pain in my shoulders, back and chest... although I attribute the chest pain to anxiety flareups because my sleeping has been pretty poor these past couple days.

cygnusia wrote:My biggest problems are:
My mind is always racing,
I am a very light sleeper,
I had trouble getting comfortable even before wearing the headgear,

I too had these problems - take heart, it takes time but it does get better as your therapy progresses.

And one day you'll wake up, and realise you've felt better for a while - it can be a gradual thing, not bam! overnight for everyone. It can be as simple as a realisation that you've not (wanted to) put your head on your desk & wept for tiredness at 3pm for a while now!! For me now the mask = breathing comfort = relaxation = sleep.

Welcome to the forum, and as Carbonman said, you've definitely the right attitude to succeed.

I do feel a little better this morning. Last night I took a glass of warm milk with 1.5 mg of Melatonin, put a comforter on the headboard and stuck the hose inside it, and settled in on my stomach (for the first time in days.)

I feel a little muddy-headed, but that could just be the Melatonin speaking. I did end up taking the mask off but my weekly average for time is going up (along with the system leaks) as my AHI average is going down. My nose is a little tender, but I write that off as just not being used to having something stuck on it all night long.

While I'm thinking about it... I'm using the small pillows with the Swift, and I have been getting whistling noises upon exhalation. The medium doesn't do it, but I don't feel as comfortable wearing them. Any suggestions?

Cygnusia wrote:I do feel a little better this morning.

I feel a little muddy-headed,

Any suggestions?

One night at a time, "a little better" each morning......that's it.

I was "a little muddy-headed", too.
As I was thinking back to my first weeks, I was so muddy-headed,
I never thought to look in the mask bag for different size pillows,
so I just used the med. that the alleged RT set me up with.
....well, for the reasons you just stated, that led me to the FFM and
totally changed my therapy results.

All things for a reason.

I like to hear these stories, like yours.....because I never want to forget
where I came from and how I got here, today.

Thanks!

Cygnusia wrote:I do feel a little better this morning. Last night I took a glass of warm milk with 1.5 mg of Melatonin, put a comforter on the headboard and stuck the hose inside it, and settled in on my stomach (for the first time in days.)

I feel a little muddy-headed, but that could just be the Melatonin speaking. I did end up taking the mask off but my weekly average for time is going up (along with the system leaks) as my AHI average is going down. My nose is a little tender, but I write that off as just not being used to having something stuck on it all night long.

While I'm thinking about it... I'm using the small pillows with the Swift, and I have been getting whistling noises upon exhalation. The medium doesn't do it, but I don't feel as comfortable wearing them. Any suggestions?

There are a couple of things you can do to increase your comfort.

Try a product called Lansinoh, which is a lanolin cream typically used by nursing moms with chapped nipples. Comes in a purple box, and you can find it in most pharmacies. It's expensive, but you use it very sparingly. Put a little dab all around your nostrils. It not only helps with the comfort factor, but it also helps you get a good seal.

If you still experience that whistling noise (i.e., leak) with the Lansinoh while using the Small pillows, try the Medium pillows. If they feel too tight, try loosening the headgear just a little. The pillows should rest against your nose comfortably.

(The lanolin is a good idea, no matter which pillow size you're using.) I used Lansinoh on my nostrils every night when I was using my Swift LT. Now that I have a full-face mask and don't need it for my nostrils, I'm using it on my lips to keep them from drying out.

HTH

I may try to sleep with the medium pillows first. Right now I'm unemployed (gotta love this economy, and especially in the world of newspapers...) so I try to spend when I don't have much of a choice.

I may also be wearing the pillows just a little too tight. I can't seem to get "snug=sealed" out of my head.