I have mild sleep apnea likely not worth treating but I snore something horrendous. I have worn an oral appliance for the last 10 years or so.
They work pretty well but need to be redone usually every 5 years. It starts to be less helpful so my 2nd is/was up for a redo.
My Dr. suggested looking into the Inspire implant but one must have CPAP be considered a failure for insurance to cover it.
So after supply chain issues and an insurance snafu. I have this fancy shmancy air machine next to me.
Last night was the first night. Any suggestions that help to get used to this thing? I made it about 2 hours or so before having to take it off.
Had to be up super early this morning so figured try again tonight.
My 2 biggest issues is I guess since it is heated for humidity purposes my face and head seemed hot compared to usual. I have a very difficult time sleeping when hot.
The 2nd which was likely the worst I did not feel like my body was doing the breathing normally/naturally. I felt that I had to control every inhale and exhale. So like I was thinking too much to be able to actually sleep.
Did not really have an issue finding a comfortable position to be in with the thing strapped to my face, which I actually figured would be the worst part of the thing but it wasn’t.

Part of me wants this thing to work for me but then I am stuck with the cleaning and equipment for life pretty much.
Sure the implant the same way but all I do is turn it on and off. Battery change every 10 years I think.

So what helped you get used to your CPAP?

Persistence.

Keep at it.

You can do this.

4 years in and I'm still struggling with my mask. Wish I had a better answer for you.

I've tried pretty much every type of mask. I'm still ripping it off in the middle of the night while I sleep. Can't keep it on.

The user control settings will allow you to turn the humidifier part up or down. It’s hard to get used to. Real hard. Gradually you’ll get it. Sometimes I can sleep without mine, but I’ll have nightmares that I’m suffocating. Not pleasant.

I was a member of the Nose Hose Patrol for just over 10 years. 1995-2005ish.

When finally I did't need CPAP any more, it was odd for quite some time trying to sleep without the little wheezer pumping away. The endless search for a more comfortable mask would find something 'really good' for a week or a month, then on to find something better. For several cycles, various 'nose pillows' worked for a while.

I was able to adapt mostly to the increased benefits of not strangling a dozen times a night.

I learned how to adapt eventually, if not actually gracefully.

CPAP saved my life the very first night I wore the wretched thing.

Loosing considerable weight and dropping from size 56 to 44 pants,seemed to be enough to return to a non-CPAP lifestyle.

Gentlemen, gird your loins & get'er done.

I've kind of made a hobby of my CPAP and have had really good luck with it. A couple things...

Turn the temp down, I started way to high and settled between 76-78 degrees and a humidity setting of 3. I have a ResMed Airsense 11.

What are your pressure settings? Are you using EPR? If you're 4-20 or some other wide range in your pressure settings it is going to bother you more as it makes large adjustments. The goal is to get to a small spread at the lowest pressure you need. I'm using 7-9 cwp. I need to be at a minimum of about 7 or I feel air starved.

Set EPR to 3 which will reduce your pressure on exhale making it more natural.

I have also had the best luck with a resmed P10 nasal pillow mask.

It will be much better once you get this adjusted properly. Don't stay with the wide pressure range most come set at as it will be very hard to get used to.

You should be able to adjust heat and humidity. It sounds like the pressure is set wrong if you feel like you’re forced to breathe weird. Which machine do you have? There are manuals online to get into the provider settings to change things.

As others have said, you casn adjust the humbly/heat setting. I have my heat off and only use humidity during winter when indoor humidity is low. Otherwise I do keep DISTILLED water in the chamber for just Passover humdification.

Do you have it set to ramp up top pressure? Basically when first turned on it is low pressure to give you time to fall asleep before it gets up too pressure so it isn’t as noticeable.

Is is set for APAP or CPAP mode? CPAP is a single constant pressure, APAP is an automatically adjusted pressure that changes based on whether it is sensing apneas by the airflow.

APAP is more comfortable as it generally runs at lower pressures.

What type of mask are you wearing? I prefer nasal pillows and always sleep better with them than a full face or nose cup

What model/make do you have?

It took me 3 full weeks to be able to wear a CPAP mask for an entire night, the first night I actually ripped it off in a panic because it felt like I was suffocating.

You have to play around with the heat/humidity settings to get it right and less is more. You only need a little humidity, not jungle air which can make the sensation of it being hard to breathe even more pronounced. My ResMed goes to 7 on the humidity level and I think I have it on 3 or 4. The hose heat should match your bedroom’s temperature roughly otherwise you’ll get the dreaded rainout in the tube.

As far as it feeling hard to breathe, you’ve got to make sure you have the exhale relief turned on, each major manufacturer has it and calls it something different; ResMed calls it EPR, or expiratory pressure relief. It detects your exhale and lowers the pressure just long enough to exhale then adjusts back. I too felt like it was hard to breathe out against the pressure until I found this setting and enabled it.

You also just started and the machine is analyzing your breathing and will eventually adjust the pressure as needed. I originally had my pressure at like 20 and felt like it was trying to blow me up like a pool toy and I looked up the settings to lower that to 15 max, you may need to go through your doctor for this. They send you a machine pre-set with a minimum starting pressure and maximum pressure.

Lastly, you might want to try a couple different masks until you find one that you like. I went through 5 until I found the ResMed AirFit F20 was perfect for me.

ResMed Airsense 11 auto with ResMed Airfit P10 Nasal Pillows.
The nurse just set everything to auto so I am really not sure what the actual numbers are at the moment.
I do know it is set to not send full pressure or air until after it thinks I have fallen asleep. Last night was a little better but of course one of my ninja sleeping kids came into the room and kept kicking me so I went and slept in the other room.

I’ll fiddle with the settings.

I had to try a couple masks before finding the F30 to be the most comfortable with my bi-pap machine. The nasal pillows were the ones I couldn't get the hang of. I really like the humidification. It has helped with allergies in the summer and nose bleeds in the winter. After a year I can't sleep without it.

Been using mine for about 19 yrs. It takes some getting use to and experimenting with different masks ect.

I can not lay down in my bed and go to sleep without mine.

Well this is a timely thread for me. I am also struggling with my machine. I've had it about 6 weeks now and am still trying to get used to it. I've woken my wife up several times as I take it of in the middle of the night with a couple of foul words.

I too have the ResMed Airsense 11.

I got called the other day by the "compliance" people who told me I needed to increase the usage or insurance wasn't going to pay for it. She did take my ramp up time from 20 minutes to 5 minutes which seemed to help. And my wife told me stop turning it off when I got up to use the head and just put the mask under my pillow until I got back in bed.

I had no idea you could adjust so many things on this machine. I am definitely going to play with it this afternoon after we get back from Top Gun. Of particular interest is the EPR mentioned above. I feel like I have to force my exhalation and it really starts pissing me off.

quote:

And my wife told me stop turning it off when I got up to use the head and just put the mask under my pillow until I got back in bed.

^^^^^^^^^^^^
Just unhook the hose from the mask. Keep the mask on and rehook when you get back in bed.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:

quote:

And my wife told me stop turning it off when I got up to use the head and just put the mask under my pillow until I got back in bed.

^^^^^^^^^^^^
Just unhook the hose from the mask. Keep the mask on and rehook when you get back in bed.

There should be a setting for auto on/off.

Put mask on and start breathing and it will start up without having to push a button.

Take the mask off and it should stop within a few seconds.

https://www.usa.philips.com/c-...y/dare-to-dream.html

Phillips dreamware mask

That mask has really helped me sleep and use my CPAP more. I do it with the cushion not the pillows and the way it fits is so much more comfortable than the mask that came with my machine. Worth every penny.

I like the full facemask as sometimes Im a mouth breather.

I too sometimes get the feeling of not catching your breath when I first turn the on the machine. I just try to relax and take slow deep breaths to settle in.

I've used a CPAP for more than a decade now and it certainly does make for a good night's sleep. It usually takes a couple of weeks to get used to using the device and then you'll be fine. I only use a soft "nasal pillow" type mask. So long as I have sufficient pressure, it works fine.

Sounds like its setup correctly, delay of full pressure when starting, reduce the humdity level, I'm at a 5, anything more is too much and between 3-5 work well.

You need the humidity working, be sure to use purified water, I get the gallon jugs from supermarket for mine.

Eventually your body will accept that it's normal. My original CPAP setting was close to 20, the APAP has modulated it to 11 as the max I need.

Setup the app on your phone it will tell you the stats on how it's working.

Give yourself several nights to get use to wearing and sleeping with the mask. There are several different types of masks so you may have to experiment with different masks until you find one that's comfortable. When I first went on a CPAP in 2016 my first night was just like yours, I slept a couple hours and then had to remove the mask. I ended up with a mask that just covers my nostrils and I've been happy. You have to give your body time to get use to sleeping with the CPAP.