Newbie not feeling as overwhelmed as before.

So, sleep study on 4/7/20112
CPAP arrived at home on 4/20
Finally got to meet with my ENT specialist who ordered the sleep study today. RDI of 46 events/hour and an AHI of 43 . O2 desaturations to 86%.
My CPAP (Phillips Respironics REMstar Pro C-Flex + Auto IQ) is set to 8.

Think I'm all set for the moment... except for one thing...
Been taking Ambien for the past two weeks, which was prescribed by my primary care doctor. My ENT specialist thinks it's a good idea to continue taking it, at least until I get accustomed to the CPAP machine and wearing the mask at night. I have to say, I've had no issues the couple of nights with the mask after taking it, but the one night I didn't was pure hell. The doctor indicated that it was more important for me to wear the mask and to use the cpap. Worried I might get too accustomed to taking the pill, on top of the CPAP!

If I remember correctly - short term use of ambien is considered nightly for less than 5-6 weeks, so if its helping for now I wouldn't worry too much. You can start cutting them in half to lower your dose if you are concerned... or save them for those nights that seem intolerable.

Happy to hear you are feeling less overwhelmed and have had a couple of good nights!! If your ENT specialist is ok with the Ambien to help you through the transition, try not to worry about it. In a week or so begin trying a night here and there without and see how it goes.

Suzanne

Ambien....I have used it off and on since August 2009. More on the first 6 months and later not so much.
I have bad arthritis..so bad back and neck pain. Needed something to help me sleep a little deeper so I didn't wake up 30 times a night with each movement causing pain. My normal pain meds wired me up...so no sleep while wired up. Discussed with my sleep doctor and she was okay with the Ambien as long as I used common sense. With time and some other trials of various meds that help with sleep and aren't habit forming and don't create a worsening OSA....the ambien use is minimal now but it took some time and some detective work to figure out which meds, which pillow, get a new bed and all to help me get a reduction in pain.

Use common sense with the Ambien. Try taking half a pill sometimes.

It is rather difficult to sleep with this alien stuck to our face ....especially at first...allow yourself some help with the adjusting process and don't beat yourself up over needing a little help. It will get easier and that alien will become a friend later.

dont be afraid to sleep with the ambien nightly for a while, even a couple months. I would stick to the full 10mg dose for the first week of cpap. and then try taking a half. the first night i tried to sleep without the ambien was miserable. but i wouldn't be concerned about taking it for a while to help you adjust,
rick, pharm.d.