I use the nasal pillows since I am claustrophobic and even the idea of a full mask panicked me. I trained myself to sleep with my mouth closed over just a few days to avoid using a chin strap.

Before bedtime, I would sit up and read in bed for awhile with my mask on so I could catch myself if my mouth opened. Fairly quickly, I learned to quickly close my mouth if the air pressure changed. I would experiment with opening and closing my mouth when I lay down to sleep to feel how much better the machine worked when my mouth was closed.  Only took about 3 days to get the hang of it.

Having the machine set to "ramp up" over 15-20 minutes really helped. It started the air pressure on low and I was asleep before it was at full pressure.  Much easier transition!

SLEEP APNEA IS SERIOUS.  It is not just a matter of being tired during the day. Apnea can cause permanent HEART DAMAGE such as congestive heart failure or if there is underlying heart disease already, even a sudden cardiac event (heart attack). Apnea can also cause STROKE, high blood pressure, liver damage, memory problems.  It can put you at HIGH RISK DURING SURGERY and interfere with medications. For more info, check the Mayo Clinic website.

If you cannot sleep comfortably with the mask, try nasal pillows or other types of masks until you find one that works for you. Be persistent.  DO NOT give up using the machine. I found it helped a great deal to have the machine set to "ramp up", that is start at a low setting and then increase over 15 minutes so I was asleep by the time it hit my ideal level. 

Ask your doctor to specify an AT HOME SLEEP TEST. You will receive a small bedside machine with a couple of connectors you wear. The machine records your sleep and breathing patterns and is returned the next morning. The information is downloaded and sent to your doctor for analysis and diagnosis. Much more comfortable than an in lab test and more reflective of your normal sleep patterns.

Just checking in with you to see how things are going...Did your husband get his CPAP yet? I'm a lightweight, but I have severe sleep apnea. I simply cannot breathe when I'm lying down. It takes a couple weeks to get used to it, but for me it's been a God-send.

I have some experience with low sodium--my husband had congestive heart failure following an episode of septic shock. Ugh. I had to completely relearn how to cook. Everything I made was loaded with sodium!  I had to remove every single item of processed food from my kitchen--all bread, hamburger helper mixes, soups, chili, frozen dinners. I became a sodium detective, looking for hidden sodium in canned veggies, tuna, chicken breasts, frozen vegetables, salad dressings, pancake mix, etc. It's hard but not impossible.

As far as the diabetic diet, well, there are lots of different thoughts on that. Has your doctor set a carb limit for him?  I know when I was dealing with my diabetes, my doctor wanted me to keep my carbs below 100gm/daily; even better was below 50. To do that I had to increase my protein to over 70gms/ daily. I lost about half my excess weight over a period of 2 years. Unfortunatly, when i rebelled I gained all of it back. Thus, I am here today awaiting WLS. 

 

Hi everyone...obviously, I know I need to get a sleep study done for 100% confirmation, but I wanted to hear some of your thoughts of whether this be sleep apnea...so, I'm way over weight (280 lbs) and have pretty bad PCOS...the past few months,my husband says I've been snoring so loud and frequently...tho he says he's never heard pauses or gasps, I do remember having this dream recently of being locked in a room of smoke and not being able to breath...woken self up holding my breath...I do have the daytime drowsiness (usually till about noon)...I have bad allergies too, just not sure if its more than that? 😕