Unknowingly taking mask off during the night...

[kyhmm72]

Good morning fellow apnea friends. I am so sleepy this morning that I feel as I could put my head down on my keyboard and crash.

I am about 5 weeks into CPAP treatment, and have been doing well for a beginner, until the last couple of weeks. It got warm outside and was obviously time to turn the AC on, but the AC didn't work. That meant warm nights. Window open, fan on high. Over 80 degrees inside. I found myself struggling with using my CPAP the 4 hours per night that I need to use it for insurance to pay. The last two nights have been quite cool, and I rested much better the night before last. Last night I still took the mask off in my sleep and woke up sometime during the night and put it back on, but didn't turn my machine on, so for a good couple of hours, I was fighting to breathe before I finally turned it on. I'm wondering if anyone else takes their mask off in their sleep, and if so, how do you stop doing it?

[DeepBreathing]

G'day kyhmm72. Yes, it's something we all have done at one time or another, and it can be a hard habit to break. Mostly it's a matter of getting comfortable with the machine and mask. Hot humid nights don't help! I'm lucky that SWMBO is a light sleeper and will give me a nudge if I take mine off.

[sevenlevels]

I started setting an alarm for the time I usually removed the mask. Then just kept adding a half hour after that. Did that for several nights.

During my first month I would use the machine while watching TV or napping to get my four hours per Day compliance.

[green wings]

Hi kyhmm72.

I have been using CPAP for about 3.5 months now. I did take my mask off a few times during the first few weeks. I use a nasal mask, and once I moved it off my nose and slept with it covering my mouth for at least an hour. Wow, did that make me feel horrible the next morning!

I have my machine set to "auto-on" now. If I put on my mask and take a deep breath, the machine automatically comes on. I usually turn on the machine myself, but if I was in a sleep fog and forgot, it would turn on by itself.

If your mask is starting to leak when your treatment pressure goes higher, that could be one reason that you might remove your mask in your sleep.

Another reason could be nasal congestion. I had a problem with that during my beginning CPAP use. I had to play with my humidifier settings to get them just right, then that problem seemed to go away.

I know it's very frustrating to wake up and see the mask lying next to you and have no memory at all of taking it off.

If you want to use download the SleepyHead software (link at the top of this page), it will show you graphs of your treatment pressure during the night. If you take off your mask, that will show up, too. If you're taking off your mask when your treatment pressure increases, you'll be able to see that in the graphs.

I hope that getting your AC working again will fix this problem.

Welcome to the Apnea Board forum. This is a great resource for solving problems with your xPAP therapy.

Good morning fellow apnea friends. I am so sleepy this morning that I feel as I could put my head down on my keyboard and crash.

I am about 5 weeks into CPAP treatment, and have been doing well for a beginner, until the last couple of weeks. It got warm outside and was obviously time to turn the AC on, but the AC didn't work. That meant warm nights. Window open, fan on high. Over 80 degrees inside. I found myself struggling with using my CPAP the 4 hours per night that I need to use it for insurance to pay. The last two nights have been quite cool, and I rested much better the night before last. Last night I still took the mask off in my sleep and woke up sometime during the night and put it back on, but didn't turn my machine on, so for a good couple of hours, I was fighting to breathe before I finally turned it on. I'm wondering if anyone else takes their mask off in their sleep, and if so, how do you stop doing it?