How long did it take you to get used to the machine?

[Ghost1958]

Id trained with SCBAs in the fire service so the masks and pressure didnt bother me. Mostly been messing with humidity settings and getting used to sleeping with the thing on and not causing a bad leak. Learning to read the software. But Slept 8 hrs the first nite I had the machine felt great the next morning.

If your having trouble the best advise I can give is what my instructor for the SCBA unit gave me. He said " At first stop worrying about leaks, and think of anything but the mask, your breathing or the unit. Just breathe normal. You make the machine breathe. It doesnt make you breathe"

Once I got that in my head the mask breathing pace etc was a non issue.

[krelvin]

About 3 months. However, it was with equipment changes during that time.

I started with a high very high pressure which required a limited higher machine which supported it (20cm - 28cm). So no real data on it and I had a real hard time since I got leaks very easily. I finally convinced my PCP that I would be better at a lower pressure if I didn't sleep on my back since I never slept on my back before. They eventually lowered it and I was able to switch to a BiPap Auto which had data that I could monitor.

I also had problems with the hose popping off the mask in the middle of the night. Couldn't figure out why since nobody else seemed to have the problem. I finally got a new hose and that fixed that.

The real break through however happened when I figured out how to sleep on my stomach with the mask.... took a bit to figure it out, but when I did I was once again sleeping in a position that I had slept in for 30 years.. and I started getting much better rest.

It also helped with deal with leaks since I could use the bed to help hold the mask against my face a bit when needed, typically in the early morning after I had slept for most of the night.

8yrs now... 6yrs with current machine. Getting new machine soon.

[Sleepster]

You would think I would just pop that baby on and just go to sleep. But I can't yet.)

For a lot of us it just doesn't work that way. Having that hose attached to my face bothered me for months.

So them intake it off and just sleep with apneas, of course.

Uh... That's your problem. Stop giving yourself that option.

When you sleep without the machine you deprive your body of the oxygen and the sleep it needs to function properly. It will lead to a heart attack or stroke. Meanwhile you'll live a miserable sleep-deprived life.

That's what you should be worried about, not the stupid insurance compliance.

The good news is that if you commit to sleeping with the mask on, every time you sleep, all the time you're sleeping, the quality of your life will improve and you will start to realize just how awful you've been feeling in recent years.

Every time you sleep without the mask on, though, you interrupt that adaptation process and your body has to start all over again.

[herbm]

About 30 minutes.

About 4 hours and 30 minutes if you count the 'sleep' study (pretty much the worst 4 hours of sleep in that decade.)

I was lucky, many don't get used to it for weeks or longer -- that's normal. Many don't FEEL BENEFITS clearly for 6 months or more so you may be lucky too.

Just remember the longer it takes to lose you symptoms and gain the benefits the sicker your internal organs likely were already.

My luck was largely in picking and using the P10 FIRST. I lay down on the first day (in the after noon for a nap and was out.)

Slept great and have NEVER failed to use the mask since then with typically 8 hours sleep per night.

[EDIT: Others have reminded me that also, I was a Commercial Diver (underwater) and this means I had years of practice wearing all sorts of breathing equipment from SCUBA regulators to a variety of full diving helmets and recompression chamber masks.]

About day 200 or so, I finally had a day where my total usage dropped below 4 hours -- due to having to stay on a trouble call all night and both of the days before and after. Every time I see that chart, for a moment, I wonder what was WRONG that day.

I just didn't get into bed that day.

[JimZZZ]

I was fortunate to have worn a big rubber mask during my time as an air force pilot so this dinky little PAP mask was easy for me. The only difficulty I encountered was learning enough (from the forum) to fine tune my settings for optimum therapy. That took a couple of months.

[OMyMyOHellYes]

It may sound weird, and I may be weird in this respect, but years back when I did the second night at the sleep center for titration, that was the first night of reasonable sleep I had for a long, long time.

After that I couldn't wait to get home with a machine of my own. Took about a week, but was going good from night one.

OMyMy

[NickDanger]

It took me months to get used to the machine.

[kfujioka]

I am new to using the bipap. I was just diagnosed. I can only keep the mask on for one to two hours. I have had the machine for 2.5 weeks. I am worried I won't make compliance if I don't get better at it. I am happy to put my mask on when I drift off to sleep because I know I won't have those really bad apneas that occur when I am trying to fall asleep. But I take off the mask somehow and I don't remember.
Thursday this week I will see a sleep doctor. I have no idea what to talk to him about. I know nothing about my condition. My regular doctor prescribed the machine after the sleep study, she never went over the sleep study results so I know nothing.
I wish I knew more about my condition.
I will get better at wearing the mask, I think. I ordered a chin strap and some special tape that was recommended on here, to keep my mouth closed. (I wear a nasal mask.)
I only,guess how much I sleep. I guess 4 hrs.
I would like to have better information.
Kim

[NickDanger]

Kim, have you tried wearing the mask and running the machine while watching television or reading before going to sleep? That would have two benefits: (1) it would help you get comfortable with the mask and (2) the machine doesn't actually know whether you are awake or asleep so the time would count for compliance purposes. The machine is smart enough to determine when it is running but you aren't wearing the mask - so don't try to game the system.