how to stop taking mask off when i am asleep

I was placed on cpap therapy august 2015 for minor to moderate sleep apnoea, my problem is that I tend to take off my mask whilst I am asleep every night. Apparently I am only getting an average of one hour sleep with the mask on according to my reviews in the sleep clinic when they read the results. My biggest concern is that I may end up losing my driving licence ( which I need because I have an elderly frail mother who I have to care for and do a lot of tasks for which involve using my car) if it seems I am not being compliant with my therapy. Dvla require a minimum of 5 hours sleep per night with the mask on. I have tried putting tape over the clips to deter me tampering with them in my sleep. I even tried setting an alarm clock every 2 hours to wake up to check if the mask was on but this didn't work as my sleep was getting too interrupted and then I couldn't get back to sleep. Any advise would be very much appreciated.

Try taping the mask on to your face - pulling the skin if you take the mask might wake you up,so you can put the mask on again.
Any idea why you are taking the mask off? Might be you still aren't used to it, so wearing it during the day, watching TV etc might help?
If you are in the uk, you might not have a machine that works with sleepyhead if he nhs gave it to you - but it's worth checking out, as it might help with why you take the mask off. Also what pressure you ate using could be a factor,and ramp time.

This tape works good:

http://www.amazon.com/Nexcare-Clear-Tap ... Nexcare+3m

In a pinch even masking tape will work, or duct tape in tough times. The trick is to be sure your face is absolutely clean and don't use soaps with lotion or oil/moisturizers in them. Careful trying to pull it off in the morning, pull the tape back onto itself.

Thanks for the suggestion, I have actually used tape before but I still took it off, maybe I need to try stronger tape which will wake me up if I try to take it off again

I keep suggesting super glue, but I don't think anybody has tried it yet

I started doing this during the winter. I went the duct tape route because that is what I had on hand. Worked for me.

bobby pins? barrettes?

pat_t61 wrote:Thanks for the suggestion, I have actually used tape before but I still took it off, maybe I need to try stronger tape which will wake me up if I try to take it off again

I don't usually suggest this unless it's a hard-core case like yours, however, If you tangle a little bit of hair into the tape on the side or the back of your head, it will cause some pain when you yank it off. That should wake you up enough to realize what you're doing. In the morning, before your shower or whatever, use a little mineral oil or vegetable oil to remove the tape/residue from your hair. Blue painter's tape leaves almost no residue. Duct tape quite a bit. Several people told me this worked for them.... hopefully it's just for a few days (or weeks).

Thank you to everyone for your very helpful suggestions. I am going to try the duct tape method and then the hair tangling method if the duct tape doesn't work. I will keep you informed of any progress, fingers crossed, thanks

pat_t61 wrote:Thank you to everyone for your very helpful suggestions. I am going to try the duct tape method and then the hair tangling method if the duct tape doesn't work. I will keep you informed of any progress, fingers crossed, thanks

Good luck... a lot of us had mask ripping off problems and virtually all have solved them. You just have to stick with it for awhile. Keep us posted.

Sir NoddinOff wrote:. . . mask ripping off problems and virtually all have solved them. . . .

I, for one, still have the problem intermittently. Usually the noise of it will wake me up, or my wife will hear me start to snore and will find a safe way to wake me up, such as nudging the mask gently into my face. (Well, USUALLY gently. )

Oddly enough, in my case, the more comfortable the mask, the more likely I am to rip it off in my sleep. For example, the new Respironics DreamWear may be the most comfortable mask for me, but it is just too darn easy for my sleeping brain to take it off at night. So whenever the problem seems to become habitual, I will switch back to a nasal pillow that is less easy to take off.

Tape pulling free from skin may be possible to sleep through; but if you catch some HAIR under the tape---
Now that might wake you up.
You might benefit from wearing your mask and running the machine for a bit, while awake, reading or watching TV--
This can help your sleepy self learn to trust the mask. It will also count as "sleep", even though it is practice.