Woo made it through my first night!

After 4 years of on again / 99.99% off again casual use of my CPAP machine, 4 different masks, intermittent pestering from my wife and parents to use the damnable machine, I can finally say that I made it through my first whole night without taking the mask off!

Things changed about 2 weeks ago when I decided enough was enough, I was sick of being tired and not having enough energy. I dug up the info for my machine, cobbled together a null modem cable + usb serial adapter for about 20$, and got my hands on the software to download the data and change the settings. I've been tinkering with settings, but had been taking the mask off after about 2.5 to 3 hours of use each night.

2 nights ago I woke up with the mask on but couldn't tell I was wearing it - breathing with it on felt "normal". I figured that was a good thing and I was getting used to it, then last night I went the distance. I'll download the data tonight, see what it looks like, pretend to understand some of it, and go from there. I think it's set at an autoset from 8-12 for pressure, and I think it was limiting that pressure to 12 that enabled me to go the whole night (previous settings went up to 16).

This site has been a tremendous help, and I look forward to continued success and someday not feeling as tired as I do now!

Yea! You are right about this site. The people here are very generous with their knowledge. Good luck tonight!

Sounds like you're really "ready" to get this right (even if under coercion). Let us know how your data looks and how you progress. Waking up with breathing thru the mask feeling "normal" is a good sign. That was a mile marker for me. For so long I couldn't go back to sleep with the mask on because after waking I was hyperaware of it so it was over for me for the night. Once I could wake up and lie there with it on, it increased my opportunity for catching a few more hours sleep getting treatment. Hope this is the beginning of long good sleep for you.
Kathy

Getting through a full night is a big milestone. Keep it up and you will have more and more, and believe it or not, cpap will become the norm for you. You'll have much more energy, a new life, and not at the severe risk of heart attack or stroke you would have otherwise.

Keep up the good work, and the folks here are happy to offer help whenever you need it.

Georgio

Congrats on your first complete night. As a new "hose-head" myself it does feel good to be making progress, and waking up less tired each morning, than when you went to sleep. Keep making little steps, and you be there before you know it. - David

Hi,

I am glad that you picked up on CPAP again, and that you made it through the night. But I am concerned about something that you write. You say that you knocked down the upper limit on the pressure from 16 back to 12. With CPAP, pressure is not a linear thing. At some point, the pressure is high enough to open things up to allow you to breathe. Any pressure less than that key pressure level is the same as not using the CPAP at all. You need to have the machine set to provide the pressure that was discovered when you were titrated in your sleep study. Any pressure less than that and you might as well turn the machine off and save the electricity.

Do you have the results from your study and the prescription from your doctor? If so, can you post some of those numbers? Perhaps the collected wisdom of the group here can suggest some settings for your machine that will help you get effective treatment. Or if you have a DME, so much the better. Another thing you can do is post the data from a night of sleep. The numbers such as AHI will give a pretty good indication how well you are doing.

-john-

Congratulations.
Hang in there. There IS light at the end of this tunnel.


Den