My first night on cpap & mask question!

I made it thru a whole night with the machine. I was quite proud of myself! But when I first placed the mask across my face and turned on the machine, I almost had a panic attack! The ait was pushing so hard that I couldn't breathe out and I freaked! But I knew that it was something that I HAD to do! So I pushed the button on the machine that lowers the pressure to a 5 and within 20 minutes, it raises it to my full pressure of 14. I had a problem keeping my mask from being leaky, but I kept pushing and tugging until it finally seemed acceptable. I felt really hot and stuffy for a while. I hate breathing in hot air from my exhalations! But as the pressure became stronger, it helped somewhat. I do not know if my mask is a good one or not. all I know is that it covers the mouth and nose. The bottom of it rests right below my lower lip. Now I am generally a mouth breather but it was hard to breathe thru my mouth with this mask on. I am afraid to ask for the one that simply covers the nose as my nose has little nostrils that feel caved in at the slightest touch! If I was to have a stopped up nose, how would I breathe if it is hard to open my mouth with this mask? Boy, am I a newbie!!!!
Thanks to all!
jl

What brand and model CPAP do you have? The feature you used last night is called the Ramp (it slowly raises the pressure from a low setting such as 4 or 5 over the set time period, 20 minutes last night for you, to your set pressure of 14).

Since the air felt uncomfortably warm I guess it is safe to assume that you also have a heated humidifier. You SHOULD be able to reset the humidifier to a lower setting more comfortable for you. You should have been provided w/a Users Manual for your CPAP and your humidifier, instructions for lowering the humidity temperature should be in the manual.

You may not find it so difficult to breathe w/that full face mask when the humidifier temperature is lowered.

which mask

janetlee wrote:I made it thru a whole night with the machine. I was quite proud of myself!

Janetlee,

You did great. You made it further than I did the first night.

janetlee wrote: when I first placed the mask across my face and turned on the machine, I almost had a panic attack! The ait was pushing so hard that I couldn't breathe out and I freaked!

I know that feeling, the same thing happened to me during my first sleep study. After I got done freaking out, I thought that there was no way that I was going to be able to do it. I found that if I was in control, I could deal with it. It came down to practicing a bit where I held the mask in my hand rather than attaching the head gear. I then found that if I timed it right, I could inhale as I put the mask up to my face, and I would get in sync with the system. After I was convinced that I wasn't going to suffocate, everything was OK. Messing with your air supply can easily trigger a panic reaction.

janetlee wrote:I had a problem keeping my mask from being leaky, but I kept pushing and tugging until it finally seemed acceptable.

I found that hose management helped out--making sure that the hose was not pulling your mask sideways and making leaks. Some folks use a hanger to route the hose up over your head. For me, I found that I could put it behind my pillow and it would stay put.

janetlee wrote:I felt really hot and stuffy for a while. I hate breathing in hot air from my exhalations!

Once again, I had the same issue. I use a higher humidity level. To compensate for the heat, I turn down the air conditioning in my house so I am breathing a little cooler air. I also keep a fan in my bedroom doorway with the door partly open. This circulates the air a bit without having it blow on my face.

janetlee wrote:I am afraid to ask for the one that simply covers the nose as my nose has little nostrils that feel caved in at the slightest touch! If I was to have a stopped up nose, how would I breathe if it is hard to open my mouth with this mask?

Due to asthma and allergies, I used to be stuffed up all the time. I would wake up totally plugged up. This cleared up when I went on CPAP. I am not 100% sure why, but I think it is due to the machine blowing the junk out of my nasal passages, and breathing air that is filtered through the machine rather than putting my nose into a pillow full of dust, mites, and other debris.

What many people do is have 2 masks. They use the nasal mask when they can, and fall back to the full face mask when their nose is pulled up. So far, I haven't gotten sick since I have been on CPAP, but I do have a fallback mask for that occasion.

janetlee wrote:Boy, am I a newbie!!!!

Not no more. You are rapidly becoming a pro.

-john-