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I used to have high pressure on my CPAP machine and I used a high pressure mask. The trouble with high pressure is that it literally blows the mask off your face. The high pressure mask has what I called a bellows (or a pleat) built in that would expand for the high pressure and keep the mask fitting on your face. Talk to your supplier about this. I will see if I can find any of my old paperwork to see who makes the mask. I had tried many masks and this one was by far the best.
Red
It took me almost a month to get used to my CPAP. I had to build up the time I used it nightly until I become accustomed to it. Part of the night I would sleep without it. I also had to add a rubber band to my headboard to hold the hose off my shoulder and also added moleskin to the nasal pillow part that goes on your upper lip, so I wouldn't sweat excessively. I would lie down for about a half hour in the afternoon to rest because I too was sleep deprived and used it for a short nap. I also use Vaseline in my nasal passages and on my upper lip.
Congratulations on having your number lowered. I've lost close to 100 pounds and had my number raised by 2! Go fig!
Diana
I've been using it for a week now and I must say I feel so sleep deprived. I am not getting much rest, am crabby and tired all day.I feel worse than I have in months!!!
About how long does it take to get used to your mackine? I'm about to toss it out the window.
My Dr. approved for it to be "turned down" to 10 from 12 but still, I feel like the air is gagging me etc. Will I ever get used to it?
Robin 
I've, as many others, been through the same issues you are having. It took a little getting used to but I used it from day one. I have woken up and gasped for breath because I 'felt' like I wasn't breathing. I asked my sleep specialist about it and she explained that the pressure blowing in when you exhale can take some getting used to and people normally had issues with expelling air not inhaling or I could have hit the ramp button and it simply wasn't enough air.
I explained that it didn't happen shortly after I feel asleep and that I never use the ramp button anyway. I was also confused about the inhale exhale thing, but she said I would get used to it, which I did but I still occasionally (maybe once a month or so) wake up and feel like I am gasping for air.
As far as having sleep apnea when you are awake, not possible. Falling asleep at random times is called narcolepsy and you should be treated for that if you have it. I doubt you have narcolepsy, I image what is happening is you are getting poor sleep at night, you are tired and fall asleep during your mantra sessions.
I did have some issues with the humidifier but I have that licked, I can set it from 0-5 and if it is humid or warm out then I set it at 0 (no heat). If I am sick or the house is dry I set it at 5 (highest heat level) but I always keep water in it even if set on 0.
You might want to call the hospital and find out which mask they used and try to get that from the medical supplier you use. I have used a multitude of masks over the years. I now keep 2 on hand, the regular nightly mask and a full face mask that covers my nose and mouth for those times when I am sick and my nose is stuffy.
I would definitely talk to you doctor, i feel better after a few days of good sleep but now I have trouble falling asleep. Plus my pressure was set at 25 last Feb. and my DS surgery was in October and last week I had another sleep study. My pressure is down to 8, maybe another few pounds and I can get rid of the machine. Watch, once I can get rid of it I will miss it, hehe. BITTER SWEET... Naaaa. I'd be glad to see it go, more room on my night stand and more money not spent on filters, masks, water, hoses, etc...
good luck and definitely talk to your sleep doctor. Make an appointment and tell them about your issues if the medical supply company is no help, you need your sleep.
Oh, check out this post I found and posted just this evening, it is worth the read.
http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/amos/3920590/40-sleep-fact s/
-Jaime
I am posting it here because I know this is a major issue with sleep apnea sufferers. Come to think of it, I should post it on the general forum as well because everyone has trouble sleeping at some point in their lives.
the weblink http://www.abc.net.au/science/sleep/facts.htm and here is the list...
40 FACTS ABOUT SLEEP YOU PROBABLY DIDN'T KNOW...
(OR WERE TOO TIRED TO THINK ABOUT)
-The record for the longest period without sleep is 18 days, 21 hours, 40 minutes during a rocking chair marathon. The record holder reported hallucinations, paranoia, blurred vision, slurred speech and memory and concentration lapses.
- It's impossible to tell if someone is really awake without close medical supervision. People can take cat naps with their eyes open without even being aware of it.
- Anything less than five minutes to fall asleep at night means you're sleep deprived. The ideal is between 10 and 15 minutes, meaning you're still tired enough to sleep deeply, but not so exhausted you feel sleepy by day.
- A new baby typically results in 400-750 hours lost sleep for parents in the first year
- One of the best predictors of insomnia later in life is the development of bad habits from having sleep disturbed by young children.
- The continuous brain recordings that led to the discovery of REM (rapid eye-movement) sleep were not done until 1953, partly because the scientists involved were concerned about wasting paper.
- REM sleep occurs in bursts totalling about 2 hours a night, usually beginning about 90 minutes after falling asleep.
- Dreams, once thought to occur only during REM sleep, also occur (but to a lesser extent) in non-REM sleep phases. It's possible there may not be a single moment of our sleep when we are actually dreamless.
- REM dreams are characterised by bizarre plots, but non-REM dreams are repetitive and thought-like, with little imagery - obsessively returning to a suspicion you left your mobile phone somewhere, for example.
- Certain types of eye movements during REM sleep correspond to specific movements in dreams, suggesting at least part of the dreaming process is analagous to watching a film
- No-one knows for sure if other species dream but some do have sleep cycles similar to humans.
- Elephants sleep standing up during non-REM sleep, but lie down for REM sleep.
- Some scientists believe we dream to fix experiences in long-term memory, that is, we dream about things worth remembering. Others reckon we dream about things worth forgetting - to eliminate overlapping memories that would otherwise clog up our brains.
- Dreams may not serve any purpose at all but be merely a meaningless byproduct of two evolutionary adaptations - sleep and consciousness.
- REM sleep may help developing brains mature. Premature babies have 75 per cent REM sleep, 10 per cent more than full-term bubs. Similarly, a newborn kitten puppy rat or hampster experiences only REM sleep, while a newborn guinea pig (which is much more developed at birth) has almost no REM sleep at all.
- Scientists have not been able to explain a 1998 study showing a bright light shone on the backs of human knees can reset the brain's sleep-wake clock.
- British Ministry of Defence researchers have been able to reset soldiers' body clocks so they can go without sleep for up to 36 hrs. Tiny optical fibres embedded in special spectacles project a ring of bright white light (with a spectrum identical to a sunrise) around the edge of soldiers' retinas, fooling them into thinking they have just woken up. The system was first used on US pilots during the bombing of Kosovo.
- Seventeen hours of sustained wakefulness leads to a decrease in performance equivalent to a blood alcohol-level of 0.05%.
- The 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill off Alaska, the Challenger space shuttle disaster and the Chernobyl nuclear accident have all been attributed to human errors in which sleep-deprivation played a role.
- The NRMA estimates fatigue is involved in one in 6 fatal road accidents.
- Exposure to noise at night can suppress immune function even if the sleeper doesn’t wake. Unfamiliar noise, and noise during the first and last two hours of sleep, has the greatest disruptive effect on the sleep cycle.
- The "natural alarm clock" which enables some people to wake up more or less when they want to is caused by a burst of the stress hormone adrenocorticotropin. Researchers say this reflects an unconscious anticipation of the stress of waking up.
- Some sleeping tablets, such as barbiturates suppress REM sleep, which can be harmful over a long period.
- In insomnia following bereavement, sleeping pills can disrupt grieving.
- Tiny luminous rays from a digital alarm clock can be enough to disrupt the sleep cycle even if you do not fully wake. The light turns off a "neural switch" in the brain, causing levels of a key sleep chemical to decline within minutes.
- To drop off we must cool off; body temperature and the brain's sleep-wake cycle are closely linked. That's why hot summer nights can cause a restless sleep. The blood flow mechanism that transfers core body heat to the skin works best between 18 and 30 degrees. But later in life, the comfort zone shrinks to between 23 and 25 degrees - one reason why older people have more sleep disorders.
- A night on the grog will help you get to sleep but it will be a light slumber and you won't dream much.
- After five nights of partial sleep deprivation, three drinks will have the same effect on your body as six would when you've slept enough.
- Humans sleep on average around three hours less than other primates like chimps, rhesus monkeys, squirrel monkeys and baboons, all of whom sleep for 10 hours.
- Ducks at risk of attack by predators are able to balance the need for sleep and survival, keeping one half of the brain awake while the other slips into sleep mode.
- Ten per cent of snorers have sleep apnoea, a disorder which causes sufferers to stop breathing up to 300 times a night and significantly increases the risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke.
- Snoring occurs only in non-REM sleep
- Teenagers need as much sleep as small children (about 10 hrs) while those over 65 need the least of all (about six hours). For the average adult aged 25-55, eight hours is considered optimal
- Some studies suggest women need up to an hour's extra sleep a night compared to men, and not getting it may be one reason women are much more susceptible to depression than men.
- Feeling tired can feel normal after a short time. Those deliberately deprived of sleep for research initially noticed greatly the effects on their alertness, mood and physical performance, but the awareness dropped off after the first few days.
- Diaries from the pre-electric-light-globe Victorian era show adults slept nine to 10 hours a night with periods of rest changing with the seasons in line with sunrise and sunsets.
- Most of what we know about sleep we've learned in the past 25 years.
- As a group, 18 to 24 year-olds deprived of sleep suffer more from impaired performance than older adults.
- Experts say one of the most alluring sleep distractions is the 24-hour accessibility of the internet.
- The extra-hour of sleep received when clocks are put back at the start of daylight in Canada has been found to coincide with a fall in the number of road accidents.
Somebody recently posted that any sleep position will activate the apnea, not just lying down. I noticed that when I tried to meditate in a chair with a mantra, the sleep apnea kicked in. And even more disturbing, I have the same symptoms of seeming to drop off to sleep, only to wake up a few seconds later, realizing that I wasn't breathing with the CPAP machine on! Has anybody else had this problem? Could it be that the machine isn't working right, or needs more pressure?
I left a message for the salesman and the respiratory therapist to call me back. My husband seems to think I may just have started drifting off to sleep, but it's the exact same feeling I had with the sleep apnea - seeming to drift off, then waking up more and realizing that I didn't remember hearing myself breathe.
After all I've gone through adjusting to this machine, this is very discouraging. And I've yet to feel great like I did using the CPAP with the nasal mask during the sleep study. The nurse there assured me that it completely suppressed my sleep apnea, and I felt like it did the next morning. I haven't had the same results with the home machine at all. I needed to sleep at least 9 hours on the weekend to have any energy at all, and that doesn't seem right to me.
Denise Phares/kitties4
Pinksultana · 1 replies · 1219 views
