Need Help Please!!!!

I have recently been diagnosed with severe sleep apnea and restless leg syndrome. Well the requip for the rls is great, but I cannot go to sleep with my cpap machine. I know I will feel so much better, but I just lay there, I can not go to sleep. I have been a 'mouth breather' for so long I just lay there thinking don't open your mouth, don't open your mouth. My pressure is on 18 and I can ramp from 9. I am not sure what my problem is. They told me I have to use it at least 6 hrs a night or the ins will not pay for the machine. So far I have not even gotten to sleep with it on but once. That night was so bad. I woke up throwing up gaging and choking, I like to have never got the thing off my nose. It really scared me. Please any help you guys can offer is so appreciated. I am worried about not only when I have surgery, but the healing, and not to mention how much better I will feel with it. --Angela

To get used to the CPAP I fell asleep and when I woke up I grabed the mask and put it on. After a month of this anytime I put the mask on I went to sleep. Pavlov's dog theory I guess but it worked.

I too am a new user less then a month. Pressure of 18 ramped up from 6 and a mouth breather. I had to get a device from the CPAP therapist to keep my month shut. Your insurance should cover it. With that I cam sleep all night with the CPAP. A couple of times I have woke up gagging and took off the CPAP but kept the mouth device on and my husband said I did not snore! However I love my CPAP most of the time. I sleep all night long now without getting up to go to the bath room. The only problem I am having is my feet swelling up and waking up with some swelling!! I am going to try to drink lots of water today and see if that helps. Oh and I was told that pillow mask would not work with a pressure of 18. It could be too much pressure going right into the nose. I do not know if this is true or not but that is what my Therapist said. I use a mask that fits only over my nose. Barbara

Hello Angela, I have been on my CPAP for a LONG time. Because WLS makes you have a sleep study done before the surgery, I had to do another Sleep study. I was sent home with a level of two or three (my memory is shot) BTW, I have the nose mask, more on that in a sec. I used to turn the CPAP on and it immediately started at 19.Whoa! But I quickly got used to it. For many years, this was fine, but the Dr.s said it may be too high now. I LOVED the pressure but, air always escaped during sleep and it'd wake me up and **** me off! Being on, I don't know, 1,2,3? has helped tremendously. Also, since I've had the CPAP, I sleep for a looonngg time, up to twelve thirteen hours if not woken up by my husband, or alarm (and med issues). I took to the CPAP right away, and have had such success, that I don't want to give it up! I try to sleep on my side, but always end up with my face in the pillow, for a long time just to shut the noise out. I'm a stomach sleeper. In cold weather, I can't sleep unless I pull the sheets over my head, blocking out all light and just "let" the CPAP do the breathing for me. I hate covering my head without the CPAP, because the "heat" or "warm air" really freaks me out. I can't sleep without the thing. I do have a problem though, and I hope someone either knows what I'm talking about, or can give advice to an unchangeable stomach sleeper.....my CPAP has the blue gel "pillows" around the nose, and a tiny one for your forhead. I wake up lately and have a permanent red mark right in the middle of my forhead, 24/7. Obviously I'm sleeping hard on that part of my head, but I've tried to sleep on my back, my side, but after I fall asleep, my body does whatever it wants. Anyone have this problem with the "mark", or "lines" on your face from the straps (yes, I loosen them, but the air escaping, noise, you know) Boy, this was a longer post than I had intended. After all my hullabuloo, CPAP's are great, with those few exceptions. Good Luck Angela. [email protected]

I love my cpap! The first night I tried to use it was when I had my sleep study and it scared me with the air blowing in my face, but when the guy doing the study told me that I was only actually taking in oxygen 1/4 of the 45 minutes I'd been asleep, I freaked out. He told me that he was not supposed do the mask so early in the study, but he was seriously worried and decided to put it on me early. I had no idea sleep apnea was so dangerous until he told me afterwards that people died from it. That he was amazed I'd not had a heart attack yet from the lack of oxygen. I'd had no idea how long it would take for me to get my machine, but there was someone from the health care place on my doorstep the next afternoon. I am at a setting of 15 with supplemental oxygen at night and I won't even take a nap without my little nasal mask. The whistling... drives me around the twist. Has anyone found that their mask fits wonderfully, no leaks, no rubbing and all that one night and the next night even though nothing is changed, it's like a whole different mask? Nothing makes it comfortable, but yet, I'm scared to death to take it off. I don't have a red mark on my forehead, probably because I sleep in a recliner, but I get breakouts sometimes where the mask sits on my skin. How do you know if you need to have your pressure increased? Wow... I rambled like an idiot... sorry. Kel

Even with a ramp up, you may not need a pressure of 18 all night long. You say you have a regular CPAP. Have you tried Autopap ? Do you use a humidifier? I am just now going to a full face mask because I've been taping my mouth shut. I was using the Nasal-Aire II which is very comfortable but I still mouth breath so I'm going to try a mask I've been reading about on www.cpaptalk.com called the Hybrid. People with high pressures seem to like this mask very much. I haven't tried it yet because everywhere I called was all sold out or it was too new for them to have gotten any yet. Another reason for Autopap is that as you loose weight, your pressure may drop and Autopap will work better that CPAP with changing pressures. Just a thought.