Adjusting to CPAP and sleeping all night

I have had my CPAP machine for about a month. I got a mask at first and realized I couldn't sleep with it so I switched to a nasal only fitting. It seems comfortable, but when I put it on and lay down I can't fall asleep. I can't stop thinking of it and focusing on my breathing instead of falling asleep.

If I do fall asleep for a bit I wake up in a panic thinking I can't breathe and usually pull the mask off. Even if I don't pull it off right away I can't fall back asleep so I take it off eventually. I haven't been able to sleep more than an hour or two at a time with the CPAP machine on.

When I did my calibration test I had a sleeping pill (Ambien) Should I ask my doctor for a short prescription of sleeping pills to help me get used to the CPAP machine? Or is there other methods to get comfortable with it? The nasal mask itself seems fine, I just can't adjust to something controlling/changing my breathing pattern. I would really like this to work as I haven't had a full nights sleep in years and it seems so close now, but I just can't get it going. Help!

Pulling your mask off either abruptly or unconsciencely is a natural part of cpap therapy and getting used to it. Some people dont have this problem while others struggle for some time with it but dont worry,it will subside with time. Getting accustomed to trying to sleep with something on your face takes time but it does get easier. Staying focused and positive will help.

Also,you might try using essential oils aroma therapy to enhance your treatment. These can be purchased from http://www.pur-sleep.com and I have found them to be helpful in realxing as I fall asleep.

The focus on your own breathing will pass as you get more accustomed to the pressure. (what are your settings?). The use of sleep-aids can be a useful temporary solution, but you don't want to become dependent on that. Just a thought that a professional counselor that practices hypnosis may be able to help you relax and accept the therapy. Achieving a state of relaxation and accepting the mask is just like learning to wear clothes. As a child you may have torn yours off and enjoyed nature, but as you get older, you adjust.

a agree with the others.....you will adjust in time. i think a lot of folks are 'weirded' out at first...but believe me...soon you won't even notice the mask or the machine. it will be second nature.

T.

I'm a newbie at CPAP as well, and am adjusting to wearing the equipment at night. I spent my first week tossing and turning, pulling at various straps, looking at the clock, and feeling just doggone miserable. Over a few weeks, I've got my own nightly rituals that have seemed to help.

1) Soak in a hot shower 30 minutes before you feel like going to bed. It'll not only do a good job of relaxing you, but you need to wash the day's oils off of your face anyway, right? Kills 2 birds with 1 stone. Don't forget to brush those choppers!

2) No TV in the bedroom.... gets the brain going too much. I take ten minutes to get the humidifier filled and warmed up, attach the hoses, get the mask straightened out and hop in bed. I've got a couple of good books next to my bed, so I put my nasal pillows in, fire up the machine, check the fit and settle in to read for 15 to 20 minutes.

3) My Ipod..... It's been like Ambien in audio form. I found some podcasts and progressive relaxation audios, and I randomly choose 1 or 2 for the night. Each is approximately 30 minutes in length.

4) Lights out, Ipod playing, and I can't recall hearing the end of any of the audios since I started doing these steps nightly. Most mornings, I still find the Ipod earbuds still in my ears.

Maybe not for everybody, but it sure works well for me.

Best of luck and hang in there!
Brian

Brian had many great ideas above, and I would like to add just a few.
Start a few hours before you go to bed. Try on your mask in mirror, and get comfortable with it. If possible, just wear it a while watching tv, not yet hooked up with the hose so you get used to wearing the mask. Hopefully you will get more comfortable with it after a while. Then hook up the hose and do the same with machine on, but sitting up watching tv. It is much less threatening when you are wide awake and not laying down trying to fall asleep. But you will still get more used to the mask and the machine that way. But do not go to sleep this way as it does not work as well sitting up. When it is your normal bedtime move to bedroom and go to sleep. Or you might try some of Brians methods but I liked moving to bed without removing mask. I would disconnect the hose, move machine to bedroom, plug in and turn it back on and go to sleep. Be careful moving if water in tank.
Good Luck,
Don

Thanks for all the replies! I am going to try to use a combination of them and see which seems to work best. I actually slept almost 5 hours with the mask on last night, so maybe just asking about it and knowing other people have had the same issues helped me relax a little.

My setting is 7 and 3 which I was told is pretty mild. I am still looking forward to sleeping the whole night through with the mask on but I am more hopeful now. Thanks!

I have been wearing my Cpap mask for about 2 weeks. Last night, I FINALLY slept with it on ALL night! I think figuring out which mask is right for you, and then taking it a day at a time does help. Plus, getting all this wonderful information from all of you on board has helped me tremendously!!
Good luck!

Kate

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Just remember to not make too many changes all at once. At first it isnt as big an issue but as you get more used to sleeping with a mask on and start concentrating on making your treatmeant more effective then make one change at a time.

"Time" is the key word. Give your therapy time and it should get better. Be patient and hang in there.

My first night with my machine, the DME forgot to turn off all the alarms with mask misadjusted, apneas, etc. etc. so every time I would be falling asleep, the <expletives deleted> alarms went off.

This annoyed me so much that when I got the alarms turned off, I was determined I was going to make it through the night, come h-ll or high water.

I was (and to a lesser extent, still am) claustrophobic, especially about THINGS on my face.

I would settle in on my side, after getting the mask in place, and start counting my breaths, up to 100 and restart. If I lost track of where I was (usually because I dozed off), I started over at the last number I remembered, and kept counting.

If I woke and started freaking about the mask (though my CL2 wasn't much to freak about), I would take it off for a moment or two, then put it back on and breathe in sync with my machine (I have a Bipap), counting the breaths, and refusing to let myself panic.

That doesn't sound hard, but sometimes, it was. Primary point was... I did not let myself sleep without my machine. I would not. Because as little as I wanted to be a hosehead, if I had to be one, I intended to be the best one I could be.

Some people struggle a lot with mask removal. For others, it comes easier. Hope things will get easier for you.

iwant2sleepbetter wrote:Thanks for all the replies! I am going to try to use a combination of them and see which seems to work best. I actually slept almost 5 hours with the mask on last night, so maybe just asking about it and knowing other people have had the same issues helped me relax a little.

My setting is 7 and 3 which I was told is pretty mild. I am still looking forward to sleeping the whole night through with the mask on but I am more hopeful now. Thanks!

Welcome, iwant2sleepbetter! You've already received some great suggestions, but I wanted to add a few of my own. I have several "nature sounds" CDs that I sometimes play as I'm falling asleep. I like the sound of the ocean and rain, so I have those. They helped me early on not to concentrate too much on my breathing. I think that's pretty common in the beginning, as we try to learn how our machine responds to breaths.

It would really help if you fill in your equipment profile (via the User Control Panel in the upper left of the screen). That way, we can all see what model of machine and mask you use each time you post. Some machines have settings that can be changed, such as Ramp, Exhalation and Inhale. If you have Ramp on, you may have your starting pressure too low. It can actually be more difficult to breathe when the pressure's too low. You said that your "setting is 7 and 3". I'm not sure what you're saying, but I assume that means that your prescribed pressure is 7 and you have Exhalation set to 3, but I'm not sure if I'm correct. You may want to try turning off your ramp, or set it to start a bit higher, to see if that makes any difference. If your Exhalation is at 3, you may want to try lowering that to 1 or 2 and see what you think. Once we know what machine you're using I'm sure someone can help you figure that out if you don't know how.

That's great that you slept longer last night! Please let us know how you're doing.

~ DreamOn

I had the same problem when I first started and I started on a pressure of 5! After a few weeks I got used to breathing out harder, and the CFLEX does help alot with that. What machine do you have? Does it have CFLEX or EPR? If so, is it turned on? I think it's best to stay away from drugs if at all possible. I think it would be better to set your pressure down to 5 for a week (or until you get used to it), then move to 6 and keep it there until you're used to it ... you get the idea. But I think with a pressure of 7 you'll be able to adjust if you just keep at it.

I use a sound machine on the "rain" setting, it drowns out the sound of the xpap. Also, if you want a sleep aid, you might look into Roserem. It is non-addictive. I have taken it and I cannot take Ambien or anything like it. Here is more info http://insomnia-relief.com/rozerem.html

Good luck.

It is kind of like those nights when you can't fall asleep your mind is going 240, You feel tired and want to sleep but your mind keeps going. Well now add this new device and you begine breathing with it and what do you do? You concentrate on your breathing of course because this is so new to you. Then you start to become used to it and are able to fall right to sleep after you put that mask on, turn the machine on and lay down.

Then comes that one night when you put the mask on, turn the machine on and lay down and close your eyes and suddenly you realize you are concentrating on your breathing again.

Their are times this has happened to me and others that have been using cpap successfully. One time I had to just take the mask off, turn the machine off and get out of bed. I just walked around the house for a few minutes and went back to bed to start over but tried to think of something else and I was fine.

Gerry