Re: Why is the FFM so scary???
Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 4:05 am
I'll include a little background in my reply...
When I was untreated, one of the changes I had noticed was that I was becoming increasingly claustrophobic. It was never an issue with me (I've done some caving, and even dived in caves many years back), and I was concerned that I was becoming some kind of wuss. After starting CPAP, the claustrophobia has abated (I haven't tried caving again other than a stroll through the tourist part) but I don't feel anxious in security doors in banks anymore, and am comforatble crawling around in my roof sorting out electrical problems. I believe that the nightly suffocating I was experiencing made me claustrophobic, to the point that when, in my titration sleep study, they stuck a full face mask on me, I had to fight panic. The fact that they insisted on dropping the pressure to 4cm so that I couldn't get enough air to breath didn't help either.
I strongly suspect that if I tried a FFM now, with the apnea being treated, I'd have a good shot at being comfortable. But it was not an option when I started!
Colin
When I was untreated, one of the changes I had noticed was that I was becoming increasingly claustrophobic. It was never an issue with me (I've done some caving, and even dived in caves many years back), and I was concerned that I was becoming some kind of wuss. After starting CPAP, the claustrophobia has abated (I haven't tried caving again other than a stroll through the tourist part) but I don't feel anxious in security doors in banks anymore, and am comforatble crawling around in my roof sorting out electrical problems. I believe that the nightly suffocating I was experiencing made me claustrophobic, to the point that when, in my titration sleep study, they stuck a full face mask on me, I had to fight panic. The fact that they insisted on dropping the pressure to 4cm so that I couldn't get enough air to breath didn't help either.
I strongly suspect that if I tried a FFM now, with the apnea being treated, I'd have a good shot at being comfortable. But it was not an option when I started!
Colin