I am new on here, hello

I have had my cpap for a few months but not a year yet... I wear it but it took along time to get use to it. I would wake up with my cpap off and really didnt remember taking it off. I have had trouble breathing and took it off...I don't believe it is doing what it is meant to do...I don't feel rested when i wake even after being in bed for 12 hours. it leaks several times a night and wakes me up.I am use to sleeping on my side and its reall hard to get it so it don't leak air...I am just so frustrated!!!!! I have woke up not being able to breathe and panicing because i cant get the cpap off!! I have a appt with my sleep doc on the 28th of this month. I hope he can fix this, I should of seen him long before now, I know but being as i was to have surgury and it was stopped because of my heart flippin out, cuz I have PVC'S which arecaused from sleep abneia...I was put in the heart ICU and lots of test were done on me...My heart doctor said my heart was fine that it was my sleep abneia, I thought I should go to my sleep doctor. I have rescheduled my gullbladder and hernia repair again and it is on the 23rd of this month just 5 days after my surgury, I am a little reluctant but i am going to get it done cuz i am miserable....How in the world do you just get sleep apneia? I haven't always ha it atleaast I don't think so...I use to not beable to go to sleep til I had been up for hours and sometimes I would stay up for 36 hrs all the time...I was told in 2008 that I had sleep apneia...That was after all the heart stuff i had to go through, finally it was said that my heart problems were caused from sleep apneia. well I procrastinated on going to the doctor but I finally did...I had trouble with my insurance about the sleep study, which was needed to deterrmine my condition. Its been along road and I am still not better....Hopefully the 28th of this month that will all change.... I am also a member of sleep connect...It is another community! Thank you for listening to me whin....

Hi Cathy - whine all you like, that's what the forum is for ! We all have apnea, we've all had some trouble getting used to it and finding the right equipment, so you're in the right place. What is really going to help us help you is for you to click, at the top left of the main page where it says "User Control Panel" (not very large!) and then fill out your Profile with the complete name and model type of your Cpap machine, plus the same for your mask(s) and what pressure the machine is set to. Then every time you post a note we can all see right away what you have (look below my note here) and try to gear our advice (however bad it might be ) to you more carefully. So much of the trouble is often not having the right size of mask, or not having been fitted well, but could also be, for instance, that you're a person who breathes with an open mouth once you're asleep, and loses all the Cpap air that way instead of it going where it's needed (down your throat), and if that's the case, you might need to change to a different type of mask that will make a big difference. But there are many other factors too, so please write back quickly!

you gonna get your gallbladder repaired?why not just have it removed because if you have gallstones removed,they will eventually comeback and that means more surgery.i had gallbladder surgery in which it had to be removed as it became infected and stones were blocking my bile ducts.

cathystuart wrote:I don't believe it is doing what it is meant to do...I don't feel rested when i wake even after being in bed for 12 hours. it leaks several times a night and wakes me up.I am use to sleeping on my side and its reall hard to get it so it don't leak air...I am just so frustrated!!!!! I have woke up not being able to breathe and panicing because i cant get the cpap off!! I have a appt with my sleep doc on the 28th of this month.

Cathy,

If the mask leaks, the machine cannot do its job. You have 10 days before your appointment on the 28th. Use this time to go back to your DME (your equipment provider) and ask them for help. They should be able to help you fit your mask, or get you a different size that fits better, or get you a different type that works better. Every face is different, and many people have faces that are not exactly the same on each side. That makes the mask thing a huge challenge.

The not being able to breathe thing might be related to leaks. If you have a APAP machine (one that auto adjusts), and you get a leak, the machine will crank up the pressure to try to maintain your therapy. The high pressure will be hard to breathe out against. I can understand that causing you to panic.

I am also a side sleeper. In my case, I cannot breathe at all when I am on my back, not even with the CPAP machine. As a result, I have to sleep on my side. I have found that a irregular shaped pillow works for me. I have an older pillow that is made out of cotton batting. I cut it into 2 triangles. I put the pointy end under my head. That way, it doesn't get near my mouth and press on the mask. There are even commercially made CPAP pillows that you can buy.

Good luck! Please post back on your progress.

-john-