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How Long Did It Take to Get Used to Your Machine?
For those of you who are using some form of xPAP treatment, how long did it take you to get used to it? I ask because I think it will be helpful to our members who are "on the fence" about committing to xPAP treatment to hear the truth.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by wlenz on
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The first few nights I had a difficult time. The feeling of suffocating, not enough air being supplied, caused severe problems. This was solved be disabling the ramp feature and starting with my prescribed pressure. Another two to three weeks were required to completely adjust to sleeping with the mask/hose attached to my face. The first few nights, I would wake after 2 to 3 hours of sleep and this was enough sleep to make it impossible to go back to sleep with the mask on. I had to remove the mask so that I could get a few more hours of sleep. This happened every night for about 2 weeks, but one morning I woke up with a full nights sleep and the mask still on. Occasionally, I would wake up at night and the mask was so comfortable, I thought the power was off. I would pull the mask partially off and immediately I would feel and hear the rush of air. The only remaining problem I have is with allergies. Some nights I can not breath through my nose and this problem could be solved with a full face mask. I see my sleep doc in May and will discuss this with him.
Bill
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Permalink Reply by Jeffrey Donaldson on
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For me, a couple of months. I would wake up and find that I had taken the mask off and I didn't remember doing it. I also used the ramp function for a while. Now I sleep all night with it on and I never use the ramp anymore.
The power of positive thinking is the big motivator here. You just have to think that this WILL make me feel better and I HAVE to use it.
When I first started using C-Pap, it made me feel like I was being inflated and it was hard to exhale. That is why I used the ramp feaure. Now I can only imagine that my diaphram has gotten stronger and I hardly notice a difference when I put the mask on.
Just kep some positive thinking going on. It will work.
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Almost immediately. I hadn't slept well for years. I have since lost weight and may or may not need it but I still sleep with it.
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Permalink Reply by Kristina Zabala on
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It took me about a month to really get used to wearing the mask. For about a week, I was taking it off in my sleep. Now I can't sleep without it. Just putting it on puts me to sleep in about 5-10 minutes. I've been using a CPAP for seven years. The crucial part for me to getting used to it was to find a mask that was comfortable and didn't leak. I like the Activa mask by ResMed the best. I also tried the Ultra Mirage and a full-face one that I can't remember the name of.
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Permalink Reply by Moe on
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I got used to the machine in a couple of nights...the first morning after using it I woke up and felt great so I realized just how much apnea had affected me over the years. That was tremendous incentive to adjust to the Darth Vader lullaby.
Right now I've changed masks from a mask to pillows and it's been a tough adjustment...have taken it off in the middle of the night because condensation was dripping directly up my nose or if it had shifted slightly and all the air was cut off but when it works (which is way more often that not, must admit) it's great and that is what keeps me going....
It's mostly a matter of getting the mask holder adjusted just right. To do this I wear it when I'm reading before turning the light out - that gives me 5-10 minutes to do little adjustments and for the pressure to ramp up comfortably before I actually lie back and go to sleep. It's made a huge difference in mask performance. This is a good thing as my husband was starting to wear ear plugs again for those nights I'd tear the mask off at 3:00 a.m. and not put it back on...
sweet dreams, y'all
mo
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My first machine was pretty basic and adjusted with-in a week. But recently got a new smart machine that backs off the pressure when you exhale., But the pressure seemed to rush back at you,not relaxing at all. But after trying different adjustment to increase exhale pressure, its working alot better. Still haveing sinus drainage problems from irritation caused to sinuses from the airflow
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Most people that really need xpap seem to work things out. I have noticed that some colleagues at work have given up after their first night. I was surprised that some replies stated that they have never adjusted to being on their machine. They must have lots of willpower to keep at it.
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I just had my second sleep study with the CPAP machine on all night. I awoke once feeling panicky but determined to get thru the study. When I did finally fall asleep I was out. I did feel much more awake the next morning and went home to sleep 4 more hours during the day.
What I'm wondering now is, how do you know whether to purchase or rent the CPAP machine? It looks like a long term committment from the comments below.
Is there any such thing as trying a machine before you buy it?
David
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Dave,
I was really inspired by your posting. Thanks for Sharing as this is all a very new experience for me and I have no idea how long I've truly has this condition.
David Davis
Dallas, Texas
Dave Hargett said:I was diagnosed with a full night study (no split nights back then) in the late summer of 1994. For insurance reasons I had to go to a facility not associated with my sleep doctor and it took 3 weeks to get the report back (this in the days of paper recordings - not digital). When my doctor saw my numbers: 82 events per hour and oxygen down to 52%, he put me on a CPAP machine on an emergency basis, beginning that night. I was at his office at 3:30 and by 7:30 pm there was a homecare person at my house with A machine and A mask -- I was given no choices whatsoever and didn't realize that I had any choice in equipment.
My pressure was arbitrarily set at 8 cm (I was later titrated to 13 for a fully effective pressure that also eliminated my snoring). The doctor felt that 8 would not hurt me at all and he wanted me to get started with therapy.
Not knowing what to expect, when we got home my wife and I both called into work and took the next day (Wednesday) off, figuring we were going to have a rough night.
When the homecare rep demonstrated my machine, she began moving the mask toward my face and then turned on the machine, so that I got a blast of air that took my breath away initially - sort of like sticking your head out of the car window at 50 miles per hour! I really wondered at that point if it was possible for me to wear this device!
Eventually we chose to go to bed. Now, previous to this, I was snoring horrendously, enough that my wife had moved out of the bedroom. I was also getting up just about hourly due to nocturia.
I got the machine hooked up and the mask semi-comfortable and lay down to go to sleep, feeling more than a little anxious given the "emergency" nature of this treatment. Like most severe apneics, though, I was able to fall asleep very quickly. Next thing I knew I was getting up to go to the bathroom, just like normal, except that it wat FIVE HOURS after I went to sleep. My wife was lying there exhausted, having kept her hand on my chest all night long to be sure I was breathing because with the noise of the machine and my lack of snoring she wasn't sure if I was still having apnea episodes.
However, I had this image in my head that I would feel tremendously better even after one night on CPAP. That wasn't the case on Wednesday morning, as I felt I was still tired, but my wife confirmed that I had not snored as much (hardly any) and I knew I had slept longer at a time with many fewer bathroom breaks. So I was encouraged, but not sold yet.
Same thing basically on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights, in that I woke up the next morning still not feeling GREAT as I had hoped to feel. Now remember, at this time we had no idea what my correct titrated pressure would be (13) and I was getting treatment at 8 cm.
On Saturdays in the few weeks before I started treatment, I would usually be up by 9, done with errands by noon, and then moping around the house tired and irritable for the rest of the day, even taking a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon.
This first Saturday after CPAP I had to go to the hardware store for something and while I was there I thought to buy a couple of other items and came home and did two very minor 15-minute projects that I had been putting off for about six months. I did some office work on my computer and stayed busy and at 11 pm that night as I was turning off my computer and getting ready for bed, it dawned on me -- I HADN'T BEEN SLEEPY ALL DAY! I DID NOT TAKE MY 3 HOUR NAP!
After 4 days of saying I didn't feel better, the evidence was staring me right in my face and the light bulb went on in my head, the lightning struck, whatever cliché you want to use. I literally went out into the hallway, banged my head against the wall (not hard - I'm not THAT stupid!) and said to myself "you dumb SOB, this thing really does work!".
From that night on I have never looked back. I have never slept a night without the mask/machine except when the power was off. My worst night was one time with a sinus infection that was running like Niagara Falls and I sat up till the early morning hours before it dried up enough so that I could go to bed with my mask on.
Using CPAP I've gone from a grumpy, irritable old man at age 45, to someone who still has lots of energy at age 60. I joined an A.W.A.K.E. support group, got more education on sleep apnea, became an A.W.A.K.E. group leader and eventually Chairman of the American Sleep Apnea Association. CPAP really works to change lives if the patient can tolerate it and I think more people can tolerate it with help from their peers. That's why groups like this on the internet and the physical support groups like A.W.A.K.E. can help.
So, to answer the original question in a shorter form, I saw a difference in how I felt in 4 days and that convinced me to go on and be compliant with my treatment. Yes, I've had mask issues over the years, had to fight my insurance to get a heated humidifier a few years later, been through several machines in 15 years, but I've been compliant.
Through the years of leading support groups, I've helped others with adjustment issues, and I've seen both successes and failures. I've known people like me to see a difference in 4 days; others take 4 weeks, 4 months or even 4 years. In a few cases, switching to an oral appliance has helped some milder cases.
Problems can occur, but the thing to do is NOT give up. Keep trying and look for any level of success to help encourage you to keep on 'papping at night. I'm personally convinced that without my CPAP I would have been dead long ago, either from heart issues (I had quadruple bypass surgery at age 50) or a driving accident related to the sleepiness from untreated sleep apnea.
Dave Hargett
Sleep Apnea Patient and Sleep Activist/Advocate
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Took me less than a week. The results (in terms of how I felt) were amazing, and so dramatic, that I had no trouble accepting the machine. I use nasal pillows because of claustrophobia, and that helped immensely as well. The full mask used at the sleep center was quite disconcerting compared to my nasal pillows.
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It took me about 6 months, but once I did I nor can anyone in the house sleep without it. For the first month being a stomach sleeper I found myself getting strangled by the hose, but have since learned how to use it properly. I can't be without it and don't really want to put my family through what would happen if I didn't use it, so I do it for them as much as for me. I hope this helps somewhat. Its a difficult road but so worth the potholes and ruts.
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I didn't have much trouble, because i never agonized about wearing it all night. I put it on, went to sleep (or not), and took it off when I simply didn't want to lie on my side or back any longer. I have gone, in about a month to 6 weeks, from 2-3 hours to 4-5 hours or more at night. My doc. is happy if I get at least 5 for the mask to have an impact. It's not perfect, but it is improving. And i can sleep with it on, though I felt claustrophobic at first. Prefer to let it ramp up, rather than come at me in a rush.
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