[Pressure] My first 3 days on machine have been a disaster

[kennmcb]

I'm feeling frustrated and hopeless. First two nights I woke up 3 hrs later and last night woke up one hour after therapy. I have no idea why. Is the air supposed to come thru as a burst? I believe that is whats waking me up. Help!!

[Sleep2Snore]

Sounds like you are on an APAP that is automatic, supplies air when you have an event.
Stick with it, when I tried an APAP it did that to me as well, every time the pressure went up it woke me up.
Stay with it, you will soon get used to it, however, if the low pressure is to low it will have more of a tendency to wake you.
The easier way is to increase the lower pressure so it is a bit closer to the high pressure, this will be less of a pressure change and you will get used to it quicker.  However, getting used to any machine that blows air at you takes a bit of time.

[ajack]

It sounds normal, it will get better. cpap is a shock to the system. give yourself 2 weeks and 2 months to fully adjust, you will be surprised how it's going to work out, compared to how you feel now.
It won't be long before you are checking if the machine is working because you aren't feeling anything. I've even woken up upset, thinking I took my mask off. only to find it still on my face.

read the 2 links below and get your clinical manual and sleepyhead from the top of the page. ask lots of questions
some people like 6 as a minimum, as it gets rid of any stuffy feeling. If you really can't stand it, you can bring the max down to 10 for a few days. Keeping the mask on, mask fit and getting rid of leaks is the most important things this week

[Sleep2Snore]

Yep, I remember taking my mask off thinking there was a fault and the pressure had dropped, only to find it nearly blew my hair away when I removed it.  
You will get used to it given a bit of time.  

[Sleeprider]

There is always a lot of flow available to maintain pressure when the mask is removed, and there is no resistance. That is not related to the settings. you have an older Auto CPAP, and it is set to the default minimum pressure. I'll say it right now, that is not going to work. We need to figure out what your current median pressure is in the range of 4-15 and make that your minimum pressure for now. The best way to figure that out is to look at software like #Sleepyhead, but you can find that information on your machine display, looking at the sleep report.

If you don't know how to access settings and these reports, be sure to request a provider manual at the CPAP Setup Manual link at the top of this page. Consider downloading #Sleepyhead, so you can see what is disrupting your sleep and how effective your treatment is. We can help, but the key to success is understanding your machine and the good data it produces.

[car54]

Persevere, hang in there. You have reached a great site with people that will help you. My 1st month was difficult. The mask is one of the most important elements. If you do not like what  you have try another. Reach out on this site and you will be helped.

Car54

[trish6hundred]

Hi kennmcb,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
I know CPAP therapy can take some time to get used to; just stick with it, it does get better over time.
Make sure you download the data-management software #sleepyhead so you can start getting your data looked at to better help you along the way.
Good luck to you on your CPAP journey

[weeble]

Keep going....a lot of people don't take to it immediately....as others have said, it's probably just the machine adjusting to the events. Stick it out. You'll get there in the end. Good luck

[cate1898]

Welcome to the forum! Glad you found us. Hope you persevere and in time you will get used to it. Everyone takes time to do this and how long is an individual thing.

[Gary1of2]

Stick with it the fisrt month or so was horrible. I am now 3 months in and when I wake up I often reach up to see if air is coming out. I dont feel the pressure change and I am using apap.