Insomnia

[MarcieCPAPsux]

Hello friends,
I hope everyone is faring well during this crazy time in our world.

I have been on CPAP therapy since December 27 and after a rough start things are going quite well now. However, I absolutely cannot fall asleep on my own with the mask on. I have NEVER struggled with insomnia ever before. I am pretty sure my doc won't prescribe Ativan for me a fourth month. I have tried to switch to melatonin and it will work for maybe one night but absolutely not the second night.

In addition to the ativan (or melatonin) I use earbuds to listen to relaxing music and have a satin stress ball that I hold/squeeze to try to put myself in a relaxed state. I'm not particularly uncomfortable (not the most comfortable I've ever been in my life either, but then that's never gonna happen with a stupid looking contraption wrapped around my head and up my nose) so I don't think that's an issue.

My question is if any of you "long-timers" started out with this type of insomnia and if it went away? Will I be able to quite the ativan?

Thank you all!!!!

[Julie]

Well, it might help if you started thinking of the mask as a lifesaver instead of a stupid-looking contraption , and also understanding that Ativan is a bad thing to take as a sleep aid, though Melatonin is good. Insomnia can be very upsetting and difficult to deal with - but not impossible - try entering 'insomnia' in the search bar here to see many posts about it and how others dealt with it. Do you go to bed at the same time every night? Do you just lie in bed for hours waiting for sleep (it's better to get up and do something, though stay away from screens). Have you tried different masks to see if any feel less lousy?

[Miss Emerita]

To build on Julie's reply, I've pasted in below the rules of sleep "hygiene." I hate the term, because it suggests if we don't follow these rules we are unclean. But they are good rules. I thought they weren't really anything I needed to pay attention to, but at a certain point in desperation, I started getting serious about them. Lo and behold, they help! One of the main ways they work, I think, is to disrupt associations between being in bed and being fretfully awake. At any rate, here they are:

• Keep a consistent sleep schedule. Get up at the same time every day, even on weekends or during vacations.
• Set a bedtime that is early enough for you to get at least 7 hours of sleep.
• Don’t go to bed unless you are sleepy.
• If you don’t fall asleep after 20 minutes, get out of bed.
• Establish a relaxing bedtime routine.
• Use your bed only for sleep and sex.
• Make your bedroom quiet and relaxing. Keep the room at a comfortable, cool temperature.
• Limit exposure to bright light in the evenings.
• Turn off electronic devices at least 30 minutes before bedtime.
• Don’t eat a large meal before bedtime. If you are hungry at night, eat a light, healthy snack.
• Exercise regularly and maintain a healthy diet.
• Avoid consuming caffeine in the late afternoon or evening.
• Avoid consuming alcohol before bedtime.
• Reduce your fluid intake before bedtime.

[zonker]

in another of your threads, there was this-

I found wearing it watching tv or reading helped me to get used to it and relax so that I could sleep with it at night.

have you tried that?

[MarcieCPAPsux]

in another of your threads, there was this-

I found wearing it watching tv or reading helped me to get used to it and relax so that I could sleep with it at night.

have you tried that?

I did try to read when I had put myself in a separate room from hubby but then my machine started freaking me out (my doc turned on the autostart function without telling me!) and then I got distracted; I wish there was a tv in the bedroom. But, anyhow, and this also goes along with Julie's response, I clearly need to work on this more in therapy. I don't really ever see myself being comfortable with the appearance of this or wearing it visibly around the house/in front of my husband. I actively avoid mutual bedtime with him so that I can be "invisible." I didn't think that this would be what might be causing the insomnia though. sigh. yet another neuroses. LOL I have a ton of shame (irrational yet it's there) regarding this therapy and mother issues (she had cpap as well) so it gets complicated but then isn't life. Sorry, I'm whining. I'll save it for my shrink, but thanks for helping me weed out the insomnia a little.

Thank you all for contributing! And MIss Emerita, good list. I do many of them, but I am on my computer (grad school paper writing) right up until bed. I need to try to just read before bed. Good news is I graduate in May! (well, I finish anyway!

[Pugsy]

The brain is a strong big wonderful tool but sometimes it doesn't do us any favors.
And he's a tough customer to change his attitude.

You know your attitude needs work and the brain is taking advantage of it and kicking in to high gear when you go to bed and won't calm down so you can sleep.

You can only use meds so long...and meds like Ativan can't be used long term for this stuff. It's simply not good for you.

You are beautiful with your mask on...maybe a different kind of beautiful but beautiful none the less....keep telling yourself that.

How about we find a mask that maybe you will feel a little less weird looking with?
Did you ever look to see what all was available.
Look at the one that I use...just some plastic glued to the end of my nose.

It is all weird...it's not normal to wear this stuff blowing air up our nose but we have this condition called sleep apnea so we aren't normal anyway. Accept it and learn that this is your new normal and quit fighting it. Look for the positives...and not the negatives.
It will take work but it can be done.

In the meantime.....can you safely take Benadryl? If you can...get yourself some OTC Benadryl...generic diphenhydramine and take it about 30 minutes before bedtime. That's my go to drug when I feel like I am going to have some falling asleep issues (some family stress issues usually the cause)...and I take 2 of the 25 mg tablets and it does help because one of the major side effects to it is drowsiness.
I can't take melatonin...caused me extreme vertigo.

[ger365]

My I suggest you take electronics out of the bedroom.
There is a setting in windows where you can reduce the blue (blue tells your mind to wake up) it's in the settings on windows.
The Melatonin is normally 3mg...the max you should take. Try cutting it in half.
Benadry knocks me out big time, house could catch fire I wouldn't know even with PTSD !!!