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Hope1952 wrote:This week my doctor suggested I use the sleep medication he prescribed BEFORE I got my cpap machine (Zolpidem 10 MG) since I'm so frequently being awakened by my machine and apneas. ....

So your doc wants you to take a sleeping pill so you will not be awakened by apneas? You know what the technical term is for people who are not awakened by an apnea? Dead

Quit fiddling with drugs at this point. You need to get your therapy optimized first.

Tell us about the statistics your machine is displaying so we get an idea whether your CPAP therapy is working well or not.

roster wrote:

Hope1952 wrote:This week my doctor suggested I use the sleep medication he prescribed BEFORE I got my cpap machine (Zolpidem 10 MG) since I'm so frequently being awakened by my machine and apneas. ....

So your doc wants you to take a sleeping pill so you will not be awakened by apneas? You know what the technical term is for people who are not awakened by an apnea? Dead

Quit fiddling with drugs at this point. You need to get your therapy optimized first.

Tell us about the statistics your machine is displaying so we get an idea whether your CPAP therapy is working well or not.

Thanks for hearing me, Rooster. I'm afraid of not waking up. I had 37 hypopneas an hour during my sleep study and have as many whenever I use my machine. I don't know about the data. I've had the machine two months, haven't gotten help from doctor or DMEs, and I'm just starting to realize that if I'm ever going to be successful, I'm going to have to figure it out for myself. My machine is new and the software isn't out yet. (for sale anyway) I don't use the machine except for about one hour a night. Then I think to myself marginal sleep is better than no sleep. So I take it off.

I may try another mask just for the heck of it. Mine is kind of noisy. Hearing myself breathe is very distracting to sleep but that doesn't explain why over and over again I wake with a start, sit bolt upright in bed, gasp for air and fight the temptation to yank the mask off. I make myself calm down and realize I CAN breathe through the mask. It's not leaking. So the mask is a bit of a hindrance to going to sleep, but not to my sleep.

Hope1952 wrote: I've had the machine two months, haven't gotten help from doctor or DMEs, and I'm just starting to realize that if I'm ever going to be successful, I'm going to have to figure it out for myself.

Now you figured out the most important thing, so let's do it.

Hope1952 wrote: My machine is new and the software isn't out yet. (for sale anyway) I don't use the machine except for about one hour a night. Then I think to myself marginal sleep is better than no sleep. So I take it off.

Software is great, but until you get it there is good data on the display. Figure out how to view it or ask for help here. You need to know what is happening with your breathing when you use the machine. So many patients come here with the wrong machine settings and their therapy is working poorly.

If you must sleep without the machine, sleep on your sides or tummy. At least 40% of patients have positional sleep apnea which means the apnea is more severe when sleeping on the back.

Another thing about drugs, if you take them and sleep deeper while you are "unmachined", your apneas are likely to be much longer. Not a good thing at all.

Robespierre wrote:I've used zolpidem along with CPAP with no problem. I used to crack the 10mg tabs in half. I don't need the zolpidem any more because my RLS/PLMD meds were changed to gabapentin, which helps me sleep.

Jim

Jim, how many mgs of gabapentin are you on?

SleepingUgly wrote:

Robespierre wrote:I've used zolpidem along with CPAP with no problem. I used to crack the 10mg tabs in half. I don't need the zolpidem any more because my RLS/PLMD meds were changed to gabapentin, which helps me sleep.

Jim

Jim, how many mgs of gabapentin are you on?

I take 300mg once a day.

roster wrote: Software is great, but until you get it there is good data on the display. Figure out how to view it or ask for help here. You need to know what is happening with your breathing when you use the machine. So many patients come here with the wrong machine settings and their therapy is working poorly.

If you must sleep without the machine, sleep on your sides or tummy. At least 40% of patients have positional sleep apnea which means the apnea is more severe when sleeping on the back.

Another thing about drugs, if you take them and sleep deeper while you are "unmachined", your apneas are likely to be much longer. Not a good thing at all.

Thanks for the encouragement, Roster. I'll study the display and try to figure it out.

Not an expert, but if you are on an auto, maybe it is set wide open (from 4-20). Can you figure out how to read the screen or take machine in and have DME read it for you. What is your leak rate? I take a sleeping pill to help manage my pain. My numbers have not increased, but my therapy was constant before the sleeping pill. See what your doctor is saying, and keep asking questions.

m