CPAPtalk.com

Sleepeegirlee, have you started CPAP therapy yet? It doesn't sound like it from your symptoms. If you haven't, remember that we are all here, "hearing your pain", and that you WILL get through this trying period in your life and be a healthier person

Liam and others, it does take time, as many have said. I am finishing up the second month of PAPing, still wake up around 2 a.m. or so and can't get back to sleep so login here for an hour or so and then make myself go back to bed, tired or not and usually sleep the rest of the night.

I forced myself to keep the mask on, but I started out with nasal pillows not a nasal mask, so maybe that made a difference. I watched TV with it on, I walked around the house with it on, I took naps with it on. Yes, most of this was while awake, but I got used to the "feel" of it just being there so I could consciously ignore it. I even took a picture of me with it on including an ugly chin strap and took it to my breakfast group to scare people.

It also took a month or more before I felt truly rested the next morning. And it was very, very gradual, but looking back I see that there was improvement. I still get very sleepy after lunch and usually take a 1 or 2 hour nap, but I always get up before 4 p.m. I feel very refreshed after that and can go the rest of the day until 10 p.m., but I am usually very groggy for about a half hour or so and have to force myself to completely awake and get up.

I found I also still get drowsy driving in the afternoon, so I have to take an ADD drug for that. It doesn't make me hyper but does make me normally alert. Provigil causes extreme drymouth with me for over 24 hours, so I don't take that anymore. And also I have ADD, have since I was a child, undiagnosed of course until I saw a thing on it on 60 minutes many years ago and recognized I had it, and my son had it and my father has it.

I also recognized I had sleep apnea but not until I had a wreck after falling asleep. I didn't hit a tree, I hit another car, luckily swerving in time to avoid a head on collision. I had a friend with SA who had the same thing happen to her and that is what really woke me up to what my problem was with all the drowsiness I was having, and the extreme fatique. I would go to breakfast in the morning and feel like the walking dead. Now I go in all happy and chipper and chatty, like my normal self.

So, everyone, hang in there and remember, that's your life hanging on the bedpost, use it.

Well, for those who are watching my CPAP life with a devotion normally reserved for soap operas (which is probably no one, but I flatter myself)...

Last night, 2 hours of the Activa and an hour and a half of the Ultra Mirage both failed to engender any sleep at all. So once again, I got frustrated, got out of bed, went downstairs, and ended up sleeping (sans CPAP) on the couch.

I slept really well on the couch, but of course by the time I got to that point, I didn't have enough hours left in the night to get a good nights sleep.

So yes, I'm cranky again.

Liam, who wonders if he'll be picked up for a second season.

For me I really believe the worst thing I can do is lie there and tell myself I HAVE to get to sleep with the mask on. That's not the way to relax and fall asleep. That's why I decided that if I don't fall asleep in an hour, I'll just take off the mask. If I put less pressure on myself, I'm more likely to fall asleep.

I tell myself that I cant sleep without the cpap (and thats the truth). Put it on and go to sleep. Yes sometimes i cant sleep. I know its not the cpap. Just had too much caffine or something. Sometimes thats just the way it is. I know taking off the mask wont make things better in my case.

Maybe some exercise or addressing other issues like stuffy nose, counseling, whatever might be the cause. Cpap is a big deal . For me it beats the alternative.

Cheers

Chris

chrisp wrote:I tell myself that I cant sleep without the cpap (and thats the truth). Put it on and go to sleep. Yes sometimes i cant sleep. I know its not the cpap. Just had too much caffine or something. Sometimes thats just the way it is. I know taking off the mask wont make things better in my case.

See, for me it's the opposite. I almost always *CAN* sleep better once I take off the mask. So it makes it hard for me to justify keeping it on and waking up tired, when that's just an exacerbation of the situation that put me on CPAP to start with.

I know there's a good chance if I just keep at it, I'll get used to it, and ultimately sleep better than I ever did before. But at 1am, after lying awake listening to my breathing for 2-3 hours, it's hard to justify leaving it on, when I need to get at least SOME sleep, because my boss still expects me to get things done during the day.

Liam, whose wife is glad when he takes off the mask and stops expecting her to call him "Kemosabe".

Chrisp, I agree. You have to be the judge. If the mask is not what's keeping you up, there is no point in taking it off, but if it is the deciding factor, then I just think it is unwise to put pressure on myself to sleep with it after I've tried and failed. I sure don't want to punish myself to the point where I'm thinking, "I hate this thing!" I think it is best to get used to it slowly.

Liam1965 wrote:

chrisp wrote:I tell myself that I cant sleep without the cpap (and thats the truth). Put it on and go to sleep. Yes sometimes i cant sleep. I know its not the cpap. Just had too much caffine or something. Sometimes thats just the way it is. I know taking off the mask wont make things better in my case.

See, for me it's the opposite. I almost always *CAN* sleep better once I take off the mask. So it makes it hard for me to justify keeping it on and waking up tired, when that's just an exacerbation of the situation that put me on CPAP to start with.

I know there's a good chance if I just keep at it, I'll get used to it, and ultimately sleep better than I ever did before. But at 1am, after lying awake listening to my breathing for 2-3 hours, it's hard to justify leaving it on, when I need to get at least SOME sleep, because my boss still expects me to get things done during the day.

Liam, whose wife is glad when he takes off the mask and stops expecting her to call him "Kemosabe".

You might try having your MD prescribe something to help you sleep. I have been taking 50mg benedryl for allergies pre/cpap so falling asleep for me hasn't been an issue. I have found with my auto I am getting woken up by the increase air pressure. My solution to that was to narrow the range so I don't notice it climbing up higher (which helps somewhat) Or I could set it down to 10 where I was titrated (and would miss appx 30% of the events ) But I know that I am better off treating as many events as possible...

I guess all in all I am an exception, I have been 100% complient since receiving my pap, the mask doesn't bother me as much as waking up dead.