Compliance trouble

Hi, folks.

I tried searching first, but couldn't find anything. I have had my APAP for 9 days, and I'm having mixed results as far as compliance.

I have the ResMed Swift FX nasal pillows mask. I keep waking up in the morning with my mask off. I have no memory of waking up and taking it off, so I assume that I am losing it by moving around in bed or by pulling it off in my sleep.

Can anyone give me any tips on keeping my mask on at night? I REALLY want to be successful with my therapy.

Thanks for the help.

-Jay

You can use a piece of tape to tape the head gear to your face to help wake you up when you pull it off. You can also use your machine while watching TV to get your compliance time in when necessary.

Try wearing your mask while you are awake, doing something like watching TV
or reading (if your mask will allow you to.) This will allow you to adjust to wearing
it so that it does not seem so foreign to you. Doing this will make it less likely that
you will unmask during sleep.

As for compliance, relax. The Medicare standard (used by many insurance companies, too)
is that you must use the machine for at least 4 hours per night for at least 70% of any
consecutive 30-day period during the first 90 days of use.

So, in theory, the compliance clock does not have to start until you are 60 days in. And
then, you only have to comply for 21 days out of the 30.

Try wearing the mask during the day... when you are reading or watching TV. It helps your brain to begin feeling comfortable with it.

As for compliance, speak to your doctor. He or she can write a letter explaining why it's been difficult to be compliant. My doctor told me not to worry about it and it all worked out.

Good luck with keeping the mask on. It took the majority of us awhile to sleep with the mask all night.

You may want to try either bandaids or tape across the straps of the mask in hopes the discomfort from it coming off will wake you enough to stop the removal or re-secure it, whatever the need. Also, some people add an extra strap to help stabilize the mask. If you do that, just be very sure it cannot slide and block the exhale vents. If you are removing it in your sleep, that behavior seems to slack off once the feel of the treatment and equipment feels less foreign. Took me a while to stop, but at some point I did.

I put my chinstrap over my mask for a while to prevent me from taking the mask off while sleeping. Took a couple of weeks but the brain learned.
-tino

MastrHiram wrote:Hi, folks.

I tried searching first, but couldn't find anything. I have had my APAP for 9 days, and I'm having mixed results as far as compliance.

I have the ResMed Swift FX nasal pillows mask. I keep waking up in the morning with my mask off. I have no memory of waking up and taking it off, so I assume that I am losing it by moving around in bed or by pulling it off in my sleep.

Can anyone give me any tips on keeping my mask on at night? I REALLY want to be successful with my therapy.

Thanks for the help.

-Jay

Hi Jay,

I found by moving my machine as far away as possible on my nightstand and moving my bed position in the opposite direction that this prevented me from unconsciously removing my mask and turning off the machine. This action made it too much trouble for my brain to want to remove the mask.

If you can get back to sleep easily, the tape or chinstrap suggestions are helpful. But if you can't, I would try my suggestion first.

49er

Just keep at it. It does take time to get used to wearing the mask