I *finally* slept through the night!

I started cpap almost 2 months ago, and I've been waking up 3 or 4 times each night. Completely frustrated, though my AHI has been 1.0 or less the past month, I'm tired of waking up. But last night was the first night I slept all night long. I think I may have found my 'set up". Yesterday my pad-a-cheek came, and I used it for the first time last night, and I think that is what made everything come together. Seriously, the difference the pad-a-cheek made was astounding. I use nasal pillows, and I barely feel that.

My set last night (AHI was 0.6!) was:

1. A hose cozy
2. I threaded the smaller hose that is attached to the headgear up over my face and through the opening on the top strap on my headgear. That attached to the hose which is behind my head. This magically kept the hose away from me.
3. I used the Contour CPAP Compliance Pillow. I tried it before, but couldn't keep my head there. The rolled up blanket allowed me to rest on my side which kept my head in place on the pillow.
4. I rolled up thick blanket and placed it the entire length of the bed. I used this to lay on my side and partially on my back, which kept my head in the correct position on the pillow.
5. The pad-a-cheeks made my straps feel like a blanket on my face and not straps. Which allowed me to keep my head on the side.
6. And lastly, I used the "calm" essential oil from pur-sleep.

I hope that I've hit the magic combination. I'm sure every night won't be perfect, but this gives me hope that I can actually sleep all night. It can be done!

Congrats, Thats awesome...

Its a routine and once you find out what works its all good..

Cowboy

I slept all night long

That is great to hear.

Just don't get it set in your mind that you have to sleep all night without any awakenings. As we cycle through sleep stages at night, awakenings are not unusual. You can go back to sleep and still wake up rested and refreshed in the morning.

Get settled-in and check out a hose hanger. It will do away with hose interference forever. You can make a "home made" and can check it out by searching "hanger". I bought the Hose Buddy.

Glad to see it's working for you!

Sheriff

Congratulations!

It would have been easy for you to throw up your hands and say can't do it, but you persisted, not just doing the same thing every night to the point of giving up, but trying to improvise your therapy to make it work.

This is the type of post that a person new to xPAP needs to read.

John

Update: I slept through the night again, this time almost 6 hours! And I fell asleep almost immediately, which for me is amazing.

I should add that I've had insomnia for almost 20 years. (im 46 now). I haven't slept through the night in almost 10 years. So the fact that I've slept through the night 2 nights in a row makes me feel like a normal person.

SmoothieMom wrote:I should add that I've had insomnia for almost 20 years. (im 46 now). I haven't slept through the night in almost 10 years. So the fact that I've slept through the night 2 nights in a row makes me feel like a normal person.

I conclude that you had sleep apnea for years and it was the cause of your insomnia all along.