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Wow, what a post! I suspect you are in for a real treat. My wife got so little sleep before I got my bipap machine that she was always up an hour or so before I was. My snoring was very bad and she was always staying awake to make sure that she could nudge me when I stopped breathing. What a wonderful therapy that not only helps me get the sleep I need, but my wife is getting MUCH more sleep as well. I think this therapy is helping her more than it is me since I'm still trying to perfect my equipment and getting rid of leaks and such. Not only that, but when I wake, she's right there next to me and she's still sleeping. You guys can go ahead and get married now.

Sleep2Die4 wrote:

mystiohmy wrote: a light sleeper?

Medical science does not recognize anyone as "a light sleeper". You almost certainly have a health problem. Lack of sufficient, quality sleep will be devastating to you in the long run.

My recommendation is to keep a journal and write down all your "light sleeper" symptoms for two weeks. Then have a consultation with a sleep doctor.

This (copay) might well be the best $50 you ever spend in your life.

Good luck.

I wish that I had received that message many decades ago. I complained to my doctor once after my first child was born. He just said that most new mothers are light sleepers and not to worry about it.

I remembered that message for a long time and only got a sleep study very late in the game of life. I am convinced I already had sleep apnea in my twenties.

But I don't think sleep labs and CPAPs were around back then.

Pugsy wrote:The new high quality machines are nearly silent. Most of any noise heard is mask noise from inhale and exhale and the venting of the air that escapes out the vent holes. Some masks are "noisier" than others.

So don't worry too much about the noise. What little sound there is will be much less than snoring and gasping for air and easily muffled with some sort of white noise if you wish.

Exactly. The mask is usually the source of any noise you might hear. It generally won't be sound from the CPAP machine itself that you'll notice.

i am guessing the percentage of our spouses who would rather sleep to the sound of our cpap machines instead of the sound of our snoring is somewhere in the approximate ballpark range of 100 percent exactly.

you will be thrilled.

in fact probably my main reason for continuing with cpap through the first exceptionally difficult year for me was that i knew my wife was finally getting some sleep.

My machine, a ResMed S8, is so quiet I cannot hear it, nor can my lover. Maybe it won't even be a problem.
Good luck.

If you know your boyfriend would stop breathing during the night, more than likely your sleep was disturbed by it. Now there will be a very low, rhytmic sound--you may not even hear it at all. If you do, a little white noise, as already suggested will easily cover it.

BTW, My PRS1 auto, "built" in 2010, makes one annoying &^%$#@ beep when you turn it on. So if your DBF goes to sleep after you THAT might be a problem. It can't be turned off without "going in" and voiding the warranty. I *think* the later builds allow you to turn the beep off, but I'm not 100% positive. If not, go for the ResMed--no beep.

Placing the machine on a rubber mousepad will often damp a lot of the noise. And is cheap!!



If a light sleeper sleeps with a light on; how does a hard sleeper sleep?

-tim wrote:A CPAP machine makes white noise. Well pink noise with rhythms if you want to get technical but whatever. I would hold off on the noise generator until you know you need it.

I have a cat that is a true light sleeper and thinks its her job to watch after me while I'm sleeping as well as absorbing any spare heat if its cold. She doesn't like the cpap machine but its because of the tubes and airflow. It took her a few days to get used to it and she still looks at it like it might bite her.

You will get better sleep in the long run but the first few weeks will take and adjustment, just like moving into a new house with a different heating system sounds will also keep you awake.

If it gets too much, sleep in a different room for a night. If your sleep deprived, your adjustment time will be longer.

About two years before my sleeping became a crisis, I got to kittens to replace one lost to an owl. I made the mistake of letting them sleep in my room, their constant prowling kept me up; I thought. Because I thought they were waking me but actually looking back on it; I think I was sleeping very poorly and lightly enough that I was aware of them moving about. In my youth I never heard either the family dog or the cat once I fell asleep and both slept in my room or not as it pleased them. Anyhoo, after about 4 weeks, I was near exhaustion (doctors opinion, after I complained about it, he blamed the cats) and put a slatted door on my room (to let in air from the swamp cooler) to keep out the kittens. I thought that solved it. It took me a long time to "make up" that sleep loss. Its appropriate that they talk about sleep efficiency. When it get compromised, we log the hours but they do not pay off. I consider myself fortunate that my sleep apnea finally came on like gangbusters, or I might never have realized I had a problem till there was too much damage.

A little story to give you hope...

A friend's husband left her, ending their oft troubled long marriage. Shortly after the breakup I asked her how she was doing, and she replied that she was having trouble sleeping. Surprised, I asked, "You mean you miss him?" Humored by my question, she told me there are two things she had to have to sleep well - a fan blowing on her, and the sounds from her husband's CPAP machine.

Things are new only till we get used to them. Hopefully any sounds you hear will be minimal and that your mind quickly learns to disregard and sleep through those sounds. I once lived in an apartment in a small town where the train tracks ran alongside our tiny back yard, literally shaking the walls every couple hours, blaring their warning sounds all the way. I surprised myself by soon sleeping through the passing trains. But then again, until the days of sleep disorders, I was not a "light sleeper".

Good luck.

Janknitz wrote:BTW, My PRS1 auto, "built" in 2010, makes one annoying &^%$#@ beep when you turn it on. So if your DBF goes to sleep after you THAT might be a problem. It can't be turned off without "going in" and voiding the warranty. I *think* the later builds allow you to turn the beep off, but I'm not 100% positive. If not, go for the ResMed--no beep.

The later builds have "silent mode", which, when enabled, does turn off the "I'm turning on now" beep. My v2.50 firmware machine (obtained in October 2011) also lets me preheat the humidifier.

mystiohmy wrote:I'm very much in love with my boyfriend and we are even talking marriage. Over the months we've been together, I noticed he would stop breathing during the night and suggested he be tested for sleep apnea. His tests came back today and he has severe sleep apnea and was told he needs the CPAP machine. I'm so afraid I won't be able to sleep next to him anymore due to the noise the machine makes. I'm such a light sleeper, even sleeping with his snoring etc thus far has been somewhat of a struggle. I realize he needs to use the machine for his health and it's going to be a part of my life now. Possibly forever.

Any advice on sleeping next to a CPAP user if you're a light sleeper? Thank you!

no need to worry after some days it will be habit for you .

My husband is also a light sleeper and he finds the machine sound quite pleasant - it's his white noise - he thinks it sounds like the ocean - go figure. It's me that needs total silence, so no matter what I do it still sounds like a freight train coming through the bedroom. Much as I thought I would never adjust I have to some degree... I get 50% more sleep, which is better than the close to none before, so it has helped my husband sleep better. Good luck - He will lead a longer, much better life as then will you - maybe this will turn the noise into a "life living sound" of the ocean for you too.

mystiohmy wrote:I'm very much in love with my boyfriend and we are even talking marriage. Over the months we've been together, I noticed he would stop breathing during the night and suggested he be tested for sleep apnea. His tests came back today and he has severe sleep apnea and was told he needs the CPAP machine. I'm so afraid I won't be able to sleep next to him anymore due to the noise the machine makes. I'm such a light sleeper, even sleeping with his snoring etc thus far has been somewhat of a struggle. I realize he needs to use the machine for his health and it's going to be a part of my life now. Possibly forever.

Any advice on sleeping next to a CPAP user if you're a light sleeper? Thank you!

Phonedude,

The CPAP sounds that bother me are the conducted noises, not the sound of the machine itself. This is the sound of my own breathing and it's conducted in the tubing, through the pillow and mattress, and in the bones of my own head.

A few things help:
1. Make sure your hose isn't lying on your bed or pillow. I use a hose hanger and that helps a lot.
2. A hose wrap helps decrease the noise (and also decreases the sound of the tubing dragging against other surfaces).
3. Make sure your mask's air vent isn't blowing on something solid and making noise.

You mentioned dead silence, so I'm not sure it will work for you, but white noise helps me. During the summer I run a fan. In the winter I have one ear bud in and listen to white noise on my iPod (you can download actual white noise, or something you find soothing--for me it's talking in podcasts).

I find ear plugs or using two ear buds MAGNIFY the sounds (because of bone conduction in my head) so that does NOT work for me.

I hope these help. In the morning when I wake, I can't hear it at all--strange!

MY machine is very quiet. Can't even tell it's on.

-Kathryn

Don't worry. You won't hear it, Sounds like he is just breathing correctly. My hubby is a very light sleeper too, and my S9 Auto never kept him awake even a minute. I don't think you will need a white-noise machine. Just use a fan on low while he is using the loaner if it is noisy. Most CPAPs today are very quiet.