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chunkyfrog wrote:Bad results from poor decisions.
Cause and effect; sowing and reaping; break a rule, you learn the LAW!
If the OP's message was a word to the wise, so be it.
If it was a plea for sympathy and attention, nice try!

Riding on dirt roads in the bed of pickup trucks, driven by a old man drinking Calvert Reserve, (friends dad), drinking out of the hose, no bike helmet, or football helmet, playing with fire, did I mention girls. I don't like rules, never did, but that doesn't mean I don't know the odd's and where to set personal limits. Jim

Its all about "choices".... you just made the wrong one Garry. I have been wearing my cpap at night for over 5 years and have only missed it twice in all that time. First one I had food poisoning next I had the flu..., both times I tried to sleep in my recliner and wished I could been in bed with my cpap ON.
Choices.... we all make them, you just have to make the RIGHT one.

I used to wake up gasping and choking from reflux, and I took prilosec for years. I still have issues if I nap without the cpap, but as long as I use the machine, I am basically fine, and I managed to get myself off the prilosec completely. One of the very best benefits for me. Another is I almost never have to get up at night to pee. After a year and a half. I may actually be having more energy too, but that may be the morning coffee talking!
Jim

"choking and can't get your breath and you suddenly realise it's not working" ... the breathing is not working, I take it you mean.

I have had what sounds like the same experience, but while using the CPAP machine. For me, I would say that this was very clearly acid reflux: I had "burped up" some stomach acid and then inhaled some of it. I could taste the acid in my mouth. But my breathing apparatus clearly was very much not interested in letting any more of it into my lungs. Which made it darn hard to inhale.

The first time it happened, I didn't think I was dying, but I sure didn't know what was happening. It was a very unpleasant time for a few minutes.

I used to have these choking fits before I started cpap. I would wake up choking and gasping. It would be so bad that I would usually choke until I vomited. Then I would have trouble getting back to sleep because my throat burned so bad. I used to believe it was just acid reflux. But after starting cpap, it suddenly stopping, and some discussions on this forum; I have come to understand that it is really caused by sleep apnea. When my throat is closed, and I try to breathe, I start coughing and create a vacuum, and basically pull the acid up. So, the acid reflux coming up is the *result*, not the cause. By using a cpap machine,the problem is prevented. I have not had a single choking fit while using my cpap machine. It has been 3 years since i started cpap, and my only choking fits have been when I fell asleep watching tv and did not have my cpap on. This is one of the immediate improvements I discovered with cpap, and something I had no idea was related. '

Just i guess im a side sleeper so its hard to sleep on your side with a mask as most of you know.
Maybe i will try to buy a special pillow but so expensive.

I dud go to the Doctor today and told him what went on.
He believes it was acid reflux and is caused according to him eating or drinking a lot before bed.

I did eat later than normal as i hadnt eaten earlier so now i will allow at least 4 hours before bedtime.

Garyjames wrote:Just i guess im a side sleeper so its hard to sleep on your side with a mask as most of you know.
Maybe i will try to buy a special pillow but so expensive.

I dud go to the Doctor today and told him what went on.
He believes it was acid reflux and is caused according to him eating or drinking a lot before bed.

I did eat later than normal as i hadnt eaten earlier so now i will allow at least 4 hours before bedtime.

Gary,
I am a side sleeper too and use a FFM. It works pretty well. Not perfectly but pretty well. The thing is, though, I am sleeping much more than I was before my CPAP therapy began 6 weeks ago and I don't go to bed wondering if I am going to wake up sucking air because I stopped breathing. That's worth any inconvenience to be endured while I get used to the mask.
It does sound as though your original post was related to a problem with acid reflux and eating too soon before bed. Most of us have done something like that at one time or another. It is very scary to wake up with your breathing cut off due to acid back up. i do not eat anything after 7 pm most of the time but if I do I take something to deal with the acid.
Best wishes. Things will get better bit by bit if you keep at it.

Reflux and apnea can go hand in hand. This weekend I fell asleep in the afternoon watching tv and woke exactly that way--I was sitting upright btw-- I used to have that night after night before CPAP. Scary as hell.

USE YOUR CPAP, it never happens on me on CPAP. And don't get hooked on acid blockers or ppi's if you can avoid it. We have reflux because impaired digestion due to metabolic disorder (diabetes or pre-diabetes) and gut dysbiosis cause too little acid so food is not digested properly. If you inhibit acid it gets worse, not better. Change your diet to get better control over your metabolism and lose weight, tend your gut flora, and don't eat within 3 hours of going to bed.

I am also a side sleeper, and i use a full face mask. I sleep with my face at the edge of the pillow, so the mask hangs over the side. I have no problems with leaks due to this. My only issues are with sweat or drool causing leaks. You do not need an expensive pillow to sleep on your side.

for years I would wake up gasping for air several times a night. It didn't matter how I tried to sleep. on my back, on my side even on my stomach. that is when I had my sleep study done and found out how bad my apnea is.
that was 6 years ago and now I wouldn't even think of going to sleep with out my machine. I tell people it is like an addiction to the machine. if I lost power at home I would go to the firehouse and sleep in an extra bed so I could plug it in.
sleeping with out it is out of the question!!!