Keep taking mask off

I have been on cpap therapy for the last 3 years and unfortunately, my body has not tolerated or gotten use to the damn mask despite trying all sorts of pressure settings. According to the machine, I take off my mask after 2-3 hours even though the Apneas are well below 5. There is NO excess leakage, but I feel absolutely awful when using it for 2 hours as opposed to not using it all. Would bipap be an option to look at? Unfortunately with bipap I need some sort of special prescription.

You're blaming the machine for what probably is a mask problem... does your feel comfortable, fit well, etc? Is it the only one you've tried? There are so many out there, diff. types, etc... and if you give us more info on that, in specific detail, we might be able to help. What are your settings now, just for the record? If you don't get enough air in, even if it feels ok when awake, you could be fighting things all night long, though there are other issues that could be to blame as well.

Julie wrote:You're blaming the machine for what probably is a mask problem... does your feel comfortable, fit well, etc? Is it the only one you've tried? There are so many out there, diff. types, etc... and if you give us more info on that, in specific detail, we might be able to help. What are your settings now, just for the record? If you don't get enough air in, even if it feels ok when awake, you could be fighting things all night long, though there are other issues that could be to blame as well.

The comfort is there because there was a few instances where I did keep the mask on. Going to sleep with the mask is not the problem and I have tried dozens of masks but nothing has worked. For me, nasal mask is the way to go because the full face mask. I am currently on constant pressure of 12 with the humidity temp of 6 and temp of 23. Machine is the Resmed Auto S10. Mask is the N20 and the apneas are at .8

A BiPAP, also requires wearing a mask, XPAP won't work without wearing the mask.

Is there a reason why you're not on Apap? And do you find that hum. setting to be helpful or ? Depending on what machine you have, Sleepyhead software could probably tell you more... let us know if you are interested (it's free and way more useful than other 'machine' results.

Julie wrote:Is there a reason why you're not on Apap? And do you find that hum. setting to be helpful or ? Depending on what machine you have, Sleepyhead software could probably tell you more... let us know if you are interested (it's free and way more useful than other 'machine' results.

According to the sleep technican I will eventually get 'use to" the CPAP rather than APAP. I am not sure why they keep insisting on pushing CPAP

Talk to your doctor, not the techs! They have no business offering advice in any case and are not at all necessarily qualified. This is important and you should take charge of your therapy, understand why things are done certain ways and have input re leaving them as is or not.

Julie wrote:Talk to your doctor, not the techs! They have no business offering advice in any case and are not at all necessarily qualified. This is important and you should take charge of your therapy, understand why things are done certain ways and have input re leaving them as is or not.

I honestly don't know who to believe anymore. I did a sleep test and saw that my apneas reduced when I lost weight and have been able to maintain this weight with eating an incredibly clean, low energy carb and lean protein program but I don't feel refreshed after a night sleep. I feel worse with cpap than apap or without the machine all together but the technician said that I will eventually get used to cpap so she changed the setting to cpap. Before I had done a lab sleep test with the mask and that time, I kept the mask on but the pressure at the time was at 6.5 constant. The doctor tried to adjust the pressure but I kept taking off my mask again.


They keep pushing sales on me but I did not budge and got another month until I find a solution or find out what works for me. With work and generally the doctors being busy, it's hard to schedule an appointment with them.

Do what works FOR YOU.
You do not need to tell the tech anything--YOU are the one using the machine.
Shut up, nod quietly, and smile knowingly.

Can you either a) adjust the machine to an Apap mode (it has to be an Apap to begin with... in Cpap mode now), or b) can you afford to buy an Apap on your own (we can help you to do it inexpensively)?

I do hope you will become informed about retrieving and posting your machine data. There may be clues in there, like what is happening in the moments before you take the mask off. It would be a shame if a small tweak of your settings is part of what is standing between you and better sleep and treatment. Are there any identifiable mask issues we may be able to help with? Are you awake or asleep when you remove the mask? Generally the first things to evaluate are mask comfort and therapy effectiveness. If there are other issues at play, then it may take a bit more investigation. Not that this specifically pertains to you, but for illustration, even when I settled in with a mask and got my settings optimized, I still had trouble tolerating keeping the mask on when I woke up. For me, it was my dual sleep diagnosis of a limb movement disorder that kept me in a state of heightened sensitivity making the mask and straps touching me maddening. Once I was no longer in a chronic state of agitation, keeping the mask on became a non issue. Good luck troubleshooting. If it is demonstrated through data that your treatment is effective and your mask fits well, THEN maybe I would accept that getting used to it may play a role.

kteague wrote:I do hope you will become informed about retrieving and posting your machine data. There may be clues in there, like what is happening in the moments before you take the mask off. It would be a shame if a small tweak of your settings is part of what is standing between you and better sleep and treatment. Are there any identifiable mask issues we may be able to help with? Are you awake or asleep when you remove the mask? Generally the first things to evaluate are mask comfort and therapy effectiveness. If there are other issues at play, then it may take a bit more investigation. Not that this specifically pertains to you, but for illustration, even when I settled in with a mask and got my settings optimized, I still had trouble tolerating keeping the mask on when I woke up. For me, it was my dual sleep diagnosis of a limb movement disorder that kept me in a state of heightened sensitivity making the mask and straps touching me maddening. Once I was no longer in a chronic state of agitation, keeping the mask on became a non issue. Good luck troubleshooting. If it is demonstrated through data that your treatment is effective and your mask fits well, THEN maybe I would accept that getting used to it may play a role.

I am asleep when I take off the mask but without the mask I have breathing issues.

chunkyfrog wrote:Do what works FOR YOU.
You do not need to tell the tech anything--YOU are the one using the machine.
Shut up, nod quietly, and smile knowingly.

I have expressed my dissatisfaction with the treatment but they insist that it's not the setting but me who will eventually get used to it. With APAP I did however manage to keep the mask on longer than it being on cpap but I feel worse while being on cpap than being on apap or not having the mask on at all. Not putting on a mask, I wake up at 3-4am regardless and I rarely dream. I have started to turn grey as a result of this disease and the stress this sleep apnea is releasing is getting too much to bare.

I would want to look at the data via sleepyhead to see if there is a reason why you are pulling off the mask.

Julie wrote:Can you either a) adjust the machine to an Apap mode (it has to be an Apap to begin with... in Cpap mode now), or b) can you afford to buy an Apap on your own (we can help you to do it inexpensively)?

I know how to adjust it and changing to APAP but they want to try CPAP for a week.