Harder and harder to be compliant

I don't know what it is but I get home from work, make dinner, clean up some (my house is looking as bad as what it did before I started CPAP), give twins a bath, get things ready for next day, wash face, brush teeth, hook up CPAP, rub rubbing alcohol on the mask, use Sea Breeze on face where the mask touches, lay down (have to read twins a book) and fall asleep. Wake up at about 5 am without turning on CPAP BUT had the mask on.

I have the auto start on and it isn't working. Told rep and she said that the auto start and shut off are not that predictible. I cannot rely on it.

Now, instead of being full of energy and having as clean of a house as I can with twin 3 year olds. I'm tired, have a headache, and NO energy. My new couch is to be delivered tomorrow (by my dad and future brother in law) and my house is not even close ready for it.

I'm looking forward to getting a nice new couch but I'm almost ready to tell my sister to pitch it. I'm also looking forward to a clean house but I'm looking forward to sleep more.

She has only owned it for 9 months and it doesn't go with the interior of her and her future husbands new home. So it's mine. It would be a shame to let it go but I'm so sleepy I don't have the energy to clean or re-arrange anything.

I don't want to bring a new couch into somewhere that is dirty and dusty.

It seems to me the part you have to change is laying down to read to the twins and falling asleep there.
You need to make going to sleep a more precise process. Finish the reading, put on the mask, turn on the machine and go to sleep.
Your CPAP may save your life AND the twins if you were so tired that an accident happened.

Please get you CPAP use back in order.

Good Luck,
TerryB

Forget the couch......focus on what's important......and that's whether or not the twins will have a mother in their future.

In order to be successful, you need a better machine. What you have is bottom-of-the-line. You need a "M" series auto with AFLEX....and the software to go along with it.

If you don't have software, it's like driving in the dark without headlights.....you can't see where you're going....and you can't see where you've been.

You must take charge of your own therapy.......no one considers your twins' future important like you do......and that means you have to do what it takes to be sure you're around when they need you. You can't depend on the doctor......or anyone else to help you make your CPAP therapy a success.

Study what's listed under the yellow lightbulb at the top of the page.....go after knowledge like you are cramming for finals at the last of the last semester of your senior year in college.

Finally...."sit down" and have a little talk with your sub-conscious. It isn't yet convinced that the future well-being of your twins depends on it helping you with effective therapy while you're asleep.

You have work to do.....and you can be successful.

There's a bunch of nice people on this forum who will do all they can to help you.....just as others have helped them.

Gerald

I know and it's scary. Very scary. All I can think about every morning when I either remove the mask in the middle of the night or don't turn on the machine or fall asleep somewhere other than in bed is that what would happen to my twins should I not wake up. They don't have a father they could rely on. I would hate to see how they would turn out or what would happen to them if they went to live with him.

How would they feel if they couldn't wake thier mommy up? Would they know what to do? Would they know to call 911? Over half the time they can't remember their address and we don't have a house phone. Just a cell phone. Would they be okay? Would they remember who I was?

I know that is kinda dramatic but my cousin (who is a police officer) just pulled someone else out of a house filled with flies due to the person being dead for almost a week. He died in his sleep due to heart failure. No history of heart problems. The man had a CPAP in his room but didn't use it and he told me that was probably what caused his heart to give up. Most likely he went to sleep and didn't wake up.

I'm trying. I really am. This will be the 4th or 5th time I have changed my routine around. When I am compliant things are great. When I'm not. Things are worse then what it was before I started using it.

Get a better machine and software.....you don't want to be "fly food".

Gerald

You really have to set up a routine that will keep you compliant. I don't have 3 year old twins but I know that, life with small children makes it very hard to get a routine and keep it going but you need to really work at that.

If you could get the twins to bed ( just sit on the bed to read the story) and to sleep and then mask up and go to bed yourself, it may be a better approach. Maybe you should not even lie down until that has happened. I know there is no guarantee that the children will stay asleep but it may work most of the time and that would help.

The software would help if you had a data capable machine but I gather that is not a financial possiblity or priority for you at the present time so you need to work with what you have right now and get these other things when you can.

If you can get compliance set up, your Plus machine will do the job for now.

Without me going into a big long story about what has happened in the past your right Hawthorne. I have other things I need to spend my money on each month than buying a better machine or anything else. Right now I'm saving up for the twins their own beds. This is going to be a santa gift for them. Due to the fact that I will have to get myself a new bed also since 2 toddler beds and a queen bed cannot fit into my room.

With that said, if I don't go to bed with them I end up on the couch since they are bed hogs!!!

Next step is moving to a house with more bedrooms closer together and not so spread out. I wasn't thinking of kids when my ex and I moved into this one!!!

I think I will try reading the book with the machine on and using the ramp. Since they are only 3 the books are short anyway. I would have 20 min to get the book over with! I guess that's the nice part of having a ff mask. I will try it that way.

You could try that. Just hang in there amd try to get the best therapy you can with your current circumstances.

Is the couch comfortable to sleep on? Will the newer one from your sister be comfortable to sleep on? Maybe you can sleep on the couch until Christmas anyway, setting up your cpap there. Don't worry about you house being clean if the new couch is more comfortable to sleep on. Just get it!

Get the children to bed and read the story. SIt on the bed unitl then. Don't lie down. After they are asleep, put on your mask and turn on the machine when you are settled for the night on the couch.

Actually I was just noting your ramp pressure. Are you able to breathe easily at that pressure for the first 20 minutes? With a pressure of 15 cm, 4.5 is a little low to start out. It takes a long time to get from 4.5 to 15. Your ramp should be maybe 8 cm with a presssure of 15. You may have to increase it gradually to get a better ramp level.

Actually it is. When I first put it on and turn it on I have to blow out firmly or else I feel like I'm going to sufficate. Turn the ramp on and I can breathe much better. The ramp is set for 20 min and I find myself restarting it when it gets close to 10 if I'm not asleep yet. The thing that bugs me the most is the humidifier. I cannot get that thing right. There are nights that I wake up with my nose running to my chin due to the humidifier and there are nights that I wake up completely dry. I have tried the setting on 5 all the way down to 1. I can't stand the air to be cold so I have to turn it up higher which in turn causes too much humidity. Night before last I disconnected the humidifier all together and even though I woke up dry I was fine.

Although it is nice to have a fully data capable machine, priorities come first and getting food on the table for your little ones come first. Your plus machine will do the job -- if you can get the mask and turn on the machine to get a good nights sleep. I didn't have twins, but did have five kids stair-stepped (4 in five years and baby number 5 when oldest was 8. Things can be hectic and crazy but you must take care of yourself. Try to ge the kids to bed a tad earlier to give yourself some much needed time to get into your own routine. Give yourself a break, your house will be there tomorrow, the next day, and the day after. As long as it isn't a pig stye so family services won't come into the picture, give yourself a break and no that you are carrying a big load right now trying to raise your kids alone.

Hopefully, you will be able to get into a set routine and your therapy will come naturally for you.

Elbysmom, take the couch and say "thank you", and let that be the end of it. Don't worry about your house, that will come in time. Many of us have been there, whether 5 kids in 8 years as above (ouch ) or twins (my twins, boys, 2 of 4 kids, are 25 today). Mine were the last 2, 7 and 9 years after the first 2, so 1) I knew what I was doing more, and 2) the older 2 could help. You don't sound like you have the benefit of either, which brings its own issues and difficulties. In many cases including mine, I also don't think having twins helps the relationship any either, and can spell the end. It didn't help mine, that's for sure, although technically speaking I was not single until that youngest 2 were almost 12, so again my lot was easier I think.

Kids are a joy, but I cannot imagine having had sleep apnea when mine were little - my heart goes out to you.

The sad reality is, as many have said above, the more tired we become, the worse we tend to treat ourselves. CPAP works, and your energy levels will improve on it, but you do have to get into a routine to benefit from that.

All the best of luck,