Need advice, please!

[Pappy97]

I'm 26. I developed obstructive sleep apnea at 18. It went largely untreated until it worsened to the point I had to take a medical leave from law school (which I am currently on).

I got a brand new machine a little over 5 weeks ago. I have seen some improvement. However, I knew I was not making it very long through the night. After I saw my doctor for a follow-up, I found out I've only been sleeping with it for about 4 hours every night. The mask is comfortable and I fall asleep in no time. I use the ramp function.

What I suspect happens is that I sleep it with it fine for a few hours, wake up, and take it off. Any advice on how to move towards making it through the whole night?

Also, for those of you who are able to sleep through the whole night with the mask on, how long did it take for you to begin feeling really rested?

Thank you!

[trish6hundred]

Hi Pappy97,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
What you might try to do is to set up and wear your mask and use the machine during the evening as you watch tv or read and see if that will help your body to get used to this way of sleeping.
Everybody is different, some people get used to it right away and others have a rought time of it for a while. I took to it right away but, YMMV.
Hang in there for more suggestions, best of luck to you with your CPAP therapy and don't give up.

[justMongo]

There is a period of adjustment to PAP. It takes time -- some longer than others.
It's not uncommon to sleep only 4 hours at the beginning.

Many sleep apnea patients have other conditions. for example blood pressure , obesity, diabetes...
Those may get better when the person gets a handle on PAP.

For now, try to discipline yourself to keep the mask on. If you have to get up, be sure to put it back on.

Forum members might be better able to suggest options if you would kindly fill in your machine type, mask, et cetera in your profile.

[Sleepster]

What I suspect happens is that I sleep it with it fine for a few hours, wake up, and take it off.

That will have to be addressed before anything else.

In extreme cases I've heard of people using bobby pins to help keep the mask in place. Wearing it while you're awake is a good way to adapt, but I suspect you fall asleep right away as soon as you put it on.

You would probably adapt quickly and feel better, but you'd have to beat that problem of sleeping without the mask.

[PaulaO2]

Take some string. Wrap it around the hose near your shoulder. Then pin it to your shirt. When you take off the mask, you'll have to wake up enough to mess with the pin or the noise from the mask will wake you up.

Another is to set yourself an alarm. If you are wearing it on average about 4 hrs in, then set an alarm for 4.5 hrs. Wake up, make sure the mask is on, and go back to sleep. This won't work though if you can't go back to sleep.

[Galactus]

I had the very same issue at the start. Took me about 3 weeks to get more than 4-6 hours with it on. I would wake up and instinctively take it off. I was originally using a nasal mask which was heavy and the instinct is something is covering your face pull it off it's a foreign object. I found that using a nasal pillow mask made for less "stuff" on my face and less desire to "get it off fast" when I awoke. Even then took me a few weeks to get acclimated and not pull it off right away. It takes a bit of time like anything else to get used to, give it a bit fo time, and when you realize it is off just keep putting it back on. Good luck and all the best!

[darkcat]

I just went through this. A little trick I used was to add some medical tape from the mask to my cheaks. It worked for me and I have been hitting 6-8 hours. I will note it does suck in the morning when you take the tape off. It is so worth it though I feel much better now that I get the full treatment.

[handyman2]

I too was uncomfortable with the mask on at first. I got a FX mirage mask that was much more comfortable and never had a problem keeping the mask on all night. I got it from someone in in Florida that advertised on Craigslist.

[Pappy97]

Thank you for all the responses, guys! It's great to know that it isn't anomalous. I'm going to give your suggestions a whirl.

[WakeUpTime]

Pappy97, in one way, it's great that you can so easily drift into your 2nd sleep shift without even knowing. Trying these suggested methods will hopefully get you the oxygen you need during your 2nd shift.

For me, after 4+ months of trying, it's still impossible to get past 4 hours, and impossible to get back to anything called "sleep" after that. I've recently resorted to sleeping pills to get through "sleep" shift #2 (3am-7am), but taking sleeping pills for such a short duration isn't the best idea. Perhaps I'm just a sensitive sleeper. After getting a minimum acceptable amount of sleep (3.5-4 hours), anything uncomfortable forces an awakening. All the factors allowing the initial onset of sleep won't return for another 20 hours.

I've just ordered a P10 to try the lightest possible mask available. We'll see if that gets me a little further. Failing that, I don't think persistence is going to make a difference for me. This may just be the way it's going to be.

Mistakenly, I initially saw CPAP as the means to a good sleep. CPAP is the method to dramatically reduce episodes of sleep apnea. Anything more is highly personalized.