Just started using CPAP with nasal mask/chin strap. THIS IS HARD!!

[Big Guy]

Thank you for your support!!  It really means a lot, even though we're online.  I am feeling tempted to go without the mask tonight just to get some "normal" sleep because I think the cpap is messing with my REM sleep maybe from just not being used to it yet.

There are times when I just don't want to gear up for sleep. When I truly feel that way, I don't. I'm not promoting that others do as well. But for me, it helps me to stay in the game. 

I don't want to resent SA therapy. The longer I go about it, I figure the better my chances are at it being successful. If that means I have a night every now & then of sleep w/o my CPAP gear, so be it. 

For me, this isn't a sprint. It's a long distance race. I know I'm heading in the right direction, and I need to pace myself. That means doing what I need to do to keep at it. Early on, I was going to try and be 100% compliant, come Hell or high water. I then realized that wasn't going to work for me in the long run. If I missed one night, I would feel like I failed. 

This therapy isn't about failing for me. It's about pursuing a solution to a problem. By lightening up a bit and not being so strict and unwavering, it allows me to go about it on my terms. 

You might call me a 98%er. I'm okay with that, as long as I achieve my goal. 

[AndyB]

Thank you for your support!!  It really means a lot, even though we're online.  I am feeling tempted to go without the mask tonight just to get some "normal" sleep because I think the cpap is messing with my REM sleep maybe from just not being used to it yet.

Stay with it.  Like you, I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea -- my untreated AHI was 44.  It took several months to get used to sleeping with a CPAP.

I got into the habit from the very beginning of always using my machine.  The adverse effects of sleep apnea are serious, so I'm very religious about it.  Once in a great while I'll take off my mask after 4-5 hours, but I try to use my machine at least 6-7 hours.  It's not wonderful, but way better than getting dementia or having a stroke or heart attack.  It gets easier, and now it's no big deal -- just one of those things I do for my health.

You can do it.

[ajack]

As you know, that's the path to it sitting in the box, till you sell it on Craigs. You really have to push trough and have the mask on when every you lay down and sit up if you need a scratch your nose, so you can't go back to sleep without it. It's all the time and it's quicker in the long run

[sheepless]

I doubt you could get many to say they like cpap. I'm not thrilled either. I had to go a couple nights without this winter during a power outage and it was miserable; much worse than enduring the machine and its accessories. I'm envious of anyone that can take the occasional night off 'cause I'd love to be free of the soft cervical collar and the mask and the tangle of hose and the noise at the machine and in my mask and the air blowing on my wife... it's just not an option anymore. one night without and I feel as sick and tired as before cpap. I just wish I had been offered some kind of treatment more than 30 years ago when I first started to realize I had a problem. a lot, and I really mean a lot of lost time and physical and mental consequences in the interim. it's a royal PITA but the alternative is worse. ditto to "stick with it" and "you can do it". it'll be old hat before you know it.

[ajack]

There is a psychologist giving a webinar on cpap adherence, you might get something out of it ti help.
https://youtu.be/KSkoS3iMdEE?t=2498

[3rdMarDiv]

Thank you !!  I am almost past the 2 week mark, so I'm pushing through.  It must take the body a long time to finally catch up.

Just passing the 4 month mark and starting to feel like an old pro. Still have some issues, but they are minor and I'm sure I will work through them. Quite awhile (2+ months) before I started feeling like I was taking control. It was all due to this site. Reading, studying information and reading posts have educated me a lot.

FreeCPAPadvice.com and youtube LankyLefty videos are also great.

The main thing I always noticed was that even my worst night on CPAP was 10X better than my best night without it. Life changing improvement.

Persistence pays off. Always know that you will be the master of all.

[Big Guy]

Thank you !!  I am almost past the 2 week mark, so I'm pushing through.  It must take the body a long time to finally catch up.

Just passing the 4 month mark and starting to feel like an old pro. Still have some issues, but they are minor and I'm sure I will work through them. Quite awhile (2+ months) before I started feeling like I was taking control. It was all due to this site. Reading, studying information and reading posts have educated me a lot.

FreeCPAPadvice.com and youtube LankyLefty videos are also great.

The main thing I always noticed was that even my worst night on CPAP was 10X better than my best night without it. Life changing improvement.

Persistence pays off. Always know that you will be the master of all.

I wish the difference between using my CPAP and not using it was that stark. I feel "okay" when using mine, but it's far from being life changing. 

[homey76]

[3rdMarDiv]

Well I never stayed awake all day and always felt like I needed to sleep and I did sleep during the day, a lot. I thought it was just getting older. My Mom was just like that when she got older. I could not sit down in a comfortable chair without falling asleep. One time I drove through a busy intersection red light. No one was hurt, but it scared the hell out of me. 

As soon as I started therapy I was and am staying up all day and very seldom nap for more than 10 or so minutes. No more nightmares, constant tossing and turning all night.

People around me told me for a long time that I stopped breathing constantly when I fell asleep in my easy chair, the car, the movies. I snored to beat the band they said. I had no idea. 

I got pneumonia and almost died and the pulmonary doctor watched me one night and later said I had sleep apnea really bad. Said I lived through the pneumonia but the apnea was gonna kill me. My O2 levels were also horrible. 

Of course my wife, for years, had to put up the snoring, gasping for air, stopping breathing, falling asleep in the car wherever we went, etc.

Got it checked out and low and behold I had severe sleep apnea. From there it's been a lot of research and making it work better and better.

I've made 100% turnaround in my life outlook. I wasn't depressed, just going through life half asleep. 

It really hit me when I offered to watch my brand new grand daughter and my daughter said she would love to, but I might fall asleep.

Couple days later I scheduled the testing.
I now watch her 3-4 times a week all day and no body worries about me falling asleep...

[mesenteria]

As you know, that's the path to it sitting in the box, till you sell it on Craigs. You really have to push trough and have the mask on when every you lay down and sit up if you need a scratch your nose, so you can't go back to sleep without it. It's all the time and it's quicker in the long run

I agree with the above statement.  We're all different in terms of our self-discipline, so maybe a very few of us can take breaks from apnea therapy now and then and return to it will full vigor and determination.  Thousands would not.  For many of us, a single night turns into two a few months down the path.  Then three, and finally you convince yourself it's not big deal, you feel better doing it your way.

I have only gone a single night without, and that was an overnight Christmas Eve stay at my daughter's place one full week since commencing my therapy.  Since then, the machine goes with me, even as carry-on, even for a single night at a motel before returning home.

I know that if I give in and decline to wear it, I'll be snoring within an hour.  Badly.  I proved that to myself about six months ago, a year into therapy, when I awoke near 0600, but fell back asleep after removing the mask.  I awoke to a loud snort...and it wasn't from my wife!!!

Don't kid yourself.  Once you have the apnea, you'll always have the disorder, maybe more, maybe less, but it will always be present.