I use a CPap machine. I've developed a sleeping pattern which is not good. I go to sleep OK but I wake up between one and two hours later. Sometimes this happens several times a night, but not often. Ultimately, I go to sleep and don't wake till morning. It's a sort of "sleep, wake, sleep, sleep sleep" pattern.
My mask covers my nose. I'm not sure it has a name or number. I have been on the Fisher and Paykel [HC604] CPap machine for about 5 years. The changed sleeping pattern started about 2 years ago.
We have a smoke problem here. The farmers burn their stubble and the foresters burn the forests to supposedly stop bushfires. Because of the lack of wind, the smoke hangs around for weeks. To combat this I use online filters on the CPap hose. I had to bump up, on advice, one setting. It is now 10. I am not sure what that means. It was set on 9 after my hospital sleep test.
I will try to find some melatonin, but I'm not sure it is availabve in Australia. I have tried sleeping tablets and valium, but these give me nightmares.
I know all of this is confusing so I hope you can understand it. Thanks for your help.
Have you tried Benadryl? It is actually an anithistmine and usually is well tolerated. It causes drowsiness and is found in many of the PM drugs such as Advil PM, Tylenol PM, etc.
I do not like prescribed sleeping pills for myself as I tend to have problems with them.
Unfortunately Benadryl has the opposite effect on me and causes me to become really jittery. This is not a common side effect and so you shouldn't have this problem.
Do you follow good sleep hygiene? Do you have a set time to go to bed? Is your room cool and dark? Do you have a good mattress? Do you do something soothing before bed?
Men need to be very careful with taking Benadryl on a regular basis, it may cause problems with the prostate.
Gordon, I take it that it has been 5 years or so since you had a study done. Things change alot in 5 years. Weight change, possible change in medication and like it or not you've also aged. It sounds strange to me that you're doing fine for 3 years and patterns change. I have a hard time with pressure being changed on machines without testing, because that's why we actually do a CPAP titration to see what the best pressure is to ensure good, uninterupted sleep. By new Medicare regulations all new machines are supposed to have down load capability. I'm not sure what guidelines are used in Australia, but I would consider a repeat study and new machine. Also, check with your DME or whomever you follow up with, if the machine indeed holds it's pressure.