Ive been diagnosed with Severe Sleep Apnea – Advice Please

If you managed to sleep in a sleep lab, Ben, for your initial sleep study, you should be able to get used to CPAP treatment. Just to give you some hope, I did two inconclusive sleep lab studies (couldn't sleep enough, if at all), before finally getting a home test and being lucky enough to have it for a week-end, so I got (and needed!) two attempts. If someone like me can get used to a CPAP machine (three months now and getting there), then anyone can. Best of luck, but it really just requires persistence. You have to be tough on yourself to some extent too. Cheers, Michael

Just curious: could you just leave your mouth open using the FFM?

Also, you might benefit from a noise machine, if you can find one. Ideally it'd give you options for the kind of sound it generates (white/pink/brown; birds, ocean, rain, etc.).

Like others, I strongly recommend some regular use in the daytime or evening, outside your bedroom, while you do something diverting.

Also, bear in mind that your circumstances don't make for peaceful sleep -- different country, ill mother-in-law, worried wife. It's a lot to deal with. A sleep aid might be of some help, as Pugsy has suggested.

Pugsy wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 07, 2021 8:10 am

Ok...thanks....I have a better picture of things.

I didn't mean to actually wear and use the machine at all times during the day.
When you are at your house...can you set aside some time to just play with things for a short period of time.
Even 30 minutes a few times a day????? Or even 15 minutes????
The idea is to desensitize things a bit so the brain won't look at the mask and machine as something to be on the alert about and instead come to realize the mask is its new best friend. When the brain goes on hyper alert status it will target EVERY little potentially annoying thing and blow it up so you stay wide awake and can't fall asleep. The brain thinks it is doing you a favor but it isn't. Unfortunately retraining the brain isn't an easy job at all.

If you aren't under self imposed pressure to fall asleep the brain might learn to relax a bit.

Can you safely take some sort of OTC sleep aid at bedtime? Might be worth trying.

Thanks for clarifying the wearing of a mask during the daytime part.

The self imposed pressure to fall asleep thing is an interesting thought, and could play a part in my quest to finally fall asleep .

This whole trying to fall asleep while wearing a mask is certainly playing a lot on my mind and seems to now be taking up a lot of my daily mental thought process.

Its funny that you mention a sleep aid , when I started to first experience the ‘’ some thing sticking in my throat ‘’ feeling and before I underwent a sleep test. Thinking that a sleep aid product may in some way help the situation . I purchased some Melatonin capsules .

I took those Melatonin capsules and at first I seemed to be falling asleep quicker and the ‘’ some thing sticking in my throat ‘’ feeling became less frequent .

After a few weeks of taking the Melatonin capsules I started to experience hourly bouts of diarrhoea . That constant daily diarrhoea situation carried on for several weeks , to a point where I was rapidly loosing weight and not feeling very good at all. To cut a long story short I ended up seeing a hospital doctor , who tracked my daily diarrhoea issue down to the Melatonin capsules . Within a few days of stopping the Melatonin capsules , I was back to normal . My ‘’ some thing sticking in my throat ‘’ feeling continued .


Well last night ( Dec 7 ) I went to bed wearing a smaller size ( S ) Phillips Respironics DreamWear Full face mask and as normal I lay on my side .

The smaller mask size felt a better overall fit , but I noticed that as I had not shaved that day the facial stubble tended to make a less tight fit seal on my face.

One area which seems to be getting on my nerves is the sound of the air coming into the face mask , Its not as quite as I was hoping for.

Looking at my digital bed side clock I noticed I was still not asleep after around two hours , but then some time later still wearing the face mask I started to get the some thing sticking in my throat feeling. Here’s where it gets a bit confusing , when that some thing sticking in my throat occurred , I have a strange feeling that I may at that precise moment fallen to sleep .

As soon as the some thing sticking in my throat feeling occurred I panicked and switched the machine off , after switching the machine off and removing the face mask , I then went back to laying on my side . Over the next few hours I had no more some thing sticking in my throat occurrences , but from what I remember I did not go back to fully sleeping , and of course when I got out of bed this morning I’m again feeling tired and grumpy.

My wife who is university educated and has a very good command of English has now suggested that tonight I sleep alone while using the machine and face mask , just to see if that may make any difference .

I know only too well , from the comments made by other forum members to my situation , that it normally takes a long time to reach the stage where some one using a machine and face mask can finally have a good nights sleep .




I’m not really sure what to do next , tonight I will sleep alone while using the machine and mask and I will have a shave .



Ben.

CyberSpiff wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 07, 2021 8:47 am

Ben_Dover wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 07, 2021 1:00 am

I’m originally from England but currently staying with my Vietnamese wife’s family near the Vietnam boarder , to look after her sick mother. I underwent a sleep study and purchased the Resmed Airsense 10 machine back in the UK. I can email the sleep specialist , but with the time zone difference its a bit awkward.

Its a bit difficult to wear the mask during the day due to having to constantly travel back and forth from our house to the wife’s mother’s house .

Tonight I’m going to try a different size mask ( last night the mask size was medium ) and see if that makes things better.

Brilliant! Another ex-pat. Same here but I’m in the States, though I do get back for a bit each year. Depending on your sleep specialist you may or may not get helpful advice. Thankfully this forum exists to keep us from faffing around with it.

Don’t force things, change a lot of things, or get narked, it will make you crazy. Take your time and make small incremental changes. For example last night we went out with some mates for the wife’s birthday and I may have consumed a pint or two (maybe even three), didn’t sleep well as a result, so I’m pretty shirty today. I know it comes from the drink, so no worries as I know it will be better tonight.

Look at videos from TheLankyLefty27 on YouTube for suggestions. The lad Jason is full of beans and has sage advice. He’s a bit of a funny bunny, but I have found his videos very helpful. As it is all recorded you can watch them anytime. CPAP is a new experience for us and it takes time and we are fortunate to learn from others who have traveled the path before us.

Ah us Expat tend to get every where

Ive always been an impatient type of guy and taking my time is not some thing I generally do . Like my dear departed father use to say , like a bull at a gate.

Thanks for the TheLankyLefty27 suggestion , I’m going to check it out .



Ben.

MMcG wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 07, 2021 9:49 am

If you managed to sleep in a sleep lab, Ben, for your initial sleep study, you should be able to get used to CPAP treatment. Just to give you some hope, I did two inconclusive sleep lab studies (couldn't sleep enough, if at all), before finally getting a home test and being lucky enough to have it for a week-end, so I got (and needed!) two attempts. If someone like me can get used to a CPAP machine (three months now and getting there), then anyone can. Best of luck, but it really just requires persistence. You have to be tough on yourself to some extent too. Cheers, Michael

From what I remember of the sleep test , I had numerous wires and sensors attached all over my body , but nothing mask like covering my face.

Thanks Michael for the encouragement , just looking over this forum I’m astounded just how many people seem to have the same CPAP problem as my self. Wouldn’t it be great if there were just a simple pill we could take every night that made it un necessary to use a machine


Ben.

Can you please make a list of all the masks you have in your possession right now...sizes...and exactly what problems you find with each?

Pugsy wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 07, 2021 9:18 pm

Can you please make a list of all the masks you have in your possession right now...sizes...and exactly what problems you find with each?

Hi and Thanks .

I have only used the DreamWear ( Full face mask , no size given ) and the Airfit N30i ( Small starter pack )

I have not yet tried the N4 Nasal Mask ( Large )

So far I’m not really 100% sure of the ongoing problems with the two masks I've tried , both in their own way at times seem to be OK to use.

Ben.

Ben_Dover wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 07, 2021 8:19 pm

After a few weeks of taking the Melatonin capsules I started to experience hourly bouts of diarrhoea . That constant daily diarrhoea situation carried on for several weeks , to a point where I was rapidly loosing weight and not feeling very good at all.

yikes!

do you happen to remember what dosage of melatonin you were using?

The DreamWear and the N30i both use the same sort of frame....with air flowing through it.
Some people are extra sensitive to the noise of that air moving through the frame and it can be annoying to some people.

I am not familiar with the N4 nasal mask at all.
It's made by BMC...which I think is a Chinese company...BMC products are usually cheaper and quality sometimes is inferior.
I am familiar with the concept though. What we call a nasal cushion mask and it covers the end of the nose and uses regular headgear that doesn't have air flowing through it.

I suggest you at least give it a try while awake and see if you experience any air flowing noise or discomfort.
We need to get you a mask that doesn't seem to give your brain something to fixate on and keep you awake.

Melatonin isn't nearly as benign as people tend to believe.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-life ... q-20057874

Plus it's really supposed to be a short term sleep aid and not long term so much and most people do take a much larger dose than is needed or advised. They think if a little works good then a lot will work better and doesn't hurt because since it is OTC it can't hurt you.
I have heard of diarrhea being a known side effect and it wouldn't surprise me one bit that it showed up after long term use.

Everything comes with baggage/side effects.
I can't take melatonin in even the teeniest tiniest dose...causes me extremely severe dizziness within about 30 minutes of taking it and lasts all night.

I prefer diphendyramine or Doxylamine succinate for OTC sleep aids. Less baggage.

zonker wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 07, 2021 9:56 pm

Ben_Dover wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 07, 2021 8:19 pm

After a few weeks of taking the Melatonin capsules I started to experience hourly bouts of diarrhoea . That constant daily diarrhoea situation carried on for several weeks , to a point where I was rapidly loosing weight and not feeling very good at all.

yikes!

do you happen to remember what dosage of melatonin you were using?

zonker wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 07, 2021 9:56 pm

Ben_Dover wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 07, 2021 8:19 pm

After a few weeks of taking the Melatonin capsules I started to experience hourly bouts of diarrhoea . That constant daily diarrhoea situation carried on for several weeks , to a point where I was rapidly loosing weight and not feeling very good at all.

yikes!

do you happen to remember what dosage of melatonin you were using?

This is the exact one I used in the past ( 10mg a day )

The doctor mentioned the Passion Flower , but I never took them


Ben

Pugsy wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 07, 2021 10:10 pm

The DreamWear and the N30i both use the same sort of frame....with air flowing through it.
Some people are extra sensitive to the noise of that air moving through the frame and it can be annoying to some people.

I am not familiar with the N4 nasal mask at all.
It's made by BMC...which I think is a Chinese company...BMC products are usually cheaper and quality sometimes is inferior.
I am familiar with the concept though. What we call a nasal cushion mask and it covers the end of the nose and uses regular headgear that doesn't have air flowing through it.

I suggest you at least give it a try while awake and see if you experience any air flowing noise or discomfort.
We need to get you a mask that doesn't seem to give your brain something to fixate on and keep you awake.

Thanks, when we get back to our house I will try the machine and mask during the day time , to see if there’s any difference in air flow noise.

The masks I have used ( N30i and DreamWear ) both seem to make annoying air flow noise to some degree . May be that airflow noise is the cause / contributing to me not being able to get off to sleep.

Could there actually be a face mask that is silent , where air flow movement is concerned .


Ben.

If noise is bothering you, Ben, why not try ear plugs for a while. The natural wax ones are probably the best but they are fairly expensive (single use only recommended), but that can be stretched to a couple of nights without any problems, from personal experience. They block out maybe close to 50% of the noise, but you will become more conscious of the sound of your own breathing as a result, so a bit of a trade-off there.

BTW I have a beard and moustache and use a nasal pillow without any leakage problems. You don't need a perfect seal. Your mask/nasal pillow has in-built deliberate "leakage" anyway to facilitate exhalation. But you need to have it fitted tightly enough, so that it doesn't come lose or shift when you turn in bed. How tight is largely a process of trial and error, but lean towards what might feel slightly tight initially - just personal experience - I got used to it.

Ben_Dover wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 07, 2021 11:06 pm

zonker wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 07, 2021 9:56 pm

Ben_Dover wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 07, 2021 8:19 pm

After a few weeks of taking the Melatonin capsules I started to experience hourly bouts of diarrhoea . That constant daily diarrhoea situation carried on for several weeks , to a point where I was rapidly loosing weight and not feeling very good at all.

yikes!

do you happen to remember what dosage of melatonin you were using?

This is the exact one I used in the past ( 10mg a day )

The doctor mentioned the Passion Flower , but I never took them


Ben

my thinking is that this dose may be too much and that's triggering the unwanted side effect. mind you, i'm not a doctor nor very knowledgeable in such matters. but i take natrol liquid melatonin 1mg. the liquid, i think, is key in that it's dispensed via a dropper and let's me control how much i take.

don't know if the same would work for you.

i'll look at pugsy's reply and see what she says. in any such matters, i defer to her knowledge and experience!

Pugsy wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 07, 2021 10:34 pm

Melatonin isn't nearly as benign as people tend to believe.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-life ... q-20057874

Plus it's really supposed to be a short term sleep aid and not long term so much and most people do take a much larger dose than is needed or advised. They think if a little works good then a lot will work better and doesn't hurt because since it is OTC it can't hurt you.
I have heard of diarrhea being a known side effect and it wouldn't surprise me one bit that it showed up after long term use.

well, that blows. who needs diarrhea when your just trying to get to sleep? i vaguely remember some conversations when i first started on the forum about side effects. i must've blocked the big out out!

it also blows because i've been taking melatonin for the longest time. at least as long as i've been on cpap (6 years). do you think that i should cease? maybe my body has had time to adjust and i won't need it anymore.