New to CPAP

I went last night to have a CPAP test, freaked out over the amount of air flowing through the mask and realizing I had to breathe in and out using it...I wasn't used to this amount of air in my life, and after a perioud of time, got used to it, and slept great.

Thank God I found this forum, and look forward to, if possible, using aromatherapy to help me sleep with it....Scents for me have always calmed me, and I need them especially when sleeping...

if anyone has any tips as to how I can relax beforehand, that would be great. Also, any recommendations as to what scents work for them? When I walk through the woods, I love the scent of the trees that each one gives off, so relaxing.

Peace,

Laurie[/b]

Welcome, Laurie.
There is a recent discussion on this forum about it;
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=80465&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=scent

I love to take hot baths before bed or even showers. Try not to drink caffeine or alcohol at least 4 hours before bed. What I actually like to use is the sleep set from bath and body works. They have a bubble bath, shower gel, lotion, body spray and pillow mist. Its lavender and vanilla scented and I think they have a lavender and chamomile now. Its suppose to calm and relax you and put you to sleep. My husband bought it for me and it really helps. You can also try to make your bedroom inviting with no clutter or electronics. That will help with a atmosphere of sleep. Hopefully some of these work and help you stay calm.

Hi PoolChick,

Welcome to the forum. If you like aromatherapy , there is a product on CPAP.COM called PurSleep CPAP Aromatherapy. It comes in several scents and a disk diffuser. One of the members here uses a cotton ball with a bit of essential oil in a small dish placed behind the CPAP machine. Be careful, you may want to start a bit away from the back of the unit. Especially if your using a nasal mask.

There are some in the forum that swear by aromatherapy and its calming influence and others who will argue that it is unhealthy to breathe concentrated and sometime chemically produced aromas. Me, I believe in what ever floats your boat. I tried a couple of scents but I go to sleep easily, with or without a mask.

Other forms of relaxation, pre-sleep is reading or watching TV. If you are like me and wear glasses, you may want to consider your mask choice wisely, Some masks are not eye-wear tolerant.

I am still a relative newbie, I am fast approaching my three month mark. I first thought the pressure was fierce and distracting. I also thought the whole, "wear something attached to your face and then go to sleep" process daunting. Eventually, I have come to actually welcome getting masked up at night because I feel so much better since I started.

Take your time, think distance race, not a sprint, and keep a positive attitude. You will do well.
-tino

poolchick3 wrote:I went last night to have a CPAP test, freaked out over the amount of air flowing through the mask and realizing I had to breathe in and out using it...I wasn't used to this amount of air in my life...

Laurie,

I know exactly what you mean. When they first put that mask up to my face, I was overwhelmed. It was like breathing from the back end of jet engine. Not many things freak me out, but that sure did.

After playing with it for a little while, I came up with a few tricks that helped. First, if I was in control of the mask rather than the sleep tech, I felt better. It let me pull it away if it got to be too much. Next, I found that if I timed it so I just started to inhale as the mask hit my face, I didn't get that initial blast of air. That at least got me through the sleep study and the first few nights. Later on, I learned that I just had to trust that I could breathe normal, and everything would be OK. After about 10 days, I got used to it.

About 6 months in, I converted from full face masks to a Swift LT nasal pillow mask. Something amazing happened. I simply cannot feel the air when using my Swift LT. I am on a pretty high pressure setting (21 inhale, 14 exhale), yet I cannot tell if my machine is working unless I pull the mask off and feel the airflow with my fingers.

The net-net is that your reaction is perfectly normal, and it will be a little scary at first. But you can get used to it, and it will quickly become second nature.

-john-

It sounds odd, but if you try to breathe normally, it makes the adjustment happen more quickly.

OK, now that you've heard not to drink alcohol before bed, you get to hear that one of nature's best soporifics is a major ingredient in beer: hops.

There is an old tradition, from long before anybody came up with a $9.95 word like "aromatherapy", before anybody started charging MORE than that for the stuff to DO aromatherapy... the "dream pillow".

Basically it was a little cloth & lace pillow filled with whatever scents you happen to like - and hops - placed at the head of your bed. The idea is that breathing the resins from the hops helps to relax and zonk out, and also promotes dreams. Hops is actually closely related to marijuana, so it all kind of makes sense.

Some friends of mine, members of a brewing club, decided to try some hop tea once. They all woke up at pretty much the same time - 13 hours later. Edit: hops is also a diuretic. So you can imagine the fight to get to the bathroom after 13 hours