How long did it take you to get used to cpap?

[Arlene1963]

Hi TBonzie,

The first few weeks are the hardest for many of us. Start a new thread and you will get lots of encouragement and support here. As for being demoralized at the thought of this for the rest of your life, here's what I can tell you happened for me: I felt the same way and over time I started to really like my CPAP. Now I can officially say I can't sleep without it! I would never have believed this to be true, and I think for many this is the case. It is often due to settings being wrong initially or just getting used to a new way of sleeping with this on one's face.

There are many dedicated volunteers here who spend hours helping new folks adjust to CPAP, this so use this great resource.

[ChicagoGranny]

My clinician told me that 9 is what seems to stop my apnea.

How about learning to use Sleepyhead and finding out which settings prevent breathing events? Don't depend on a clinician to guess at what seems to work.

Start a new thread and you will get lots of encouragement and support here.

+1

[Bertha deBlues]

Hi TBonzie,

The first few weeks are the hardest for many of us. Start a new thread and you will get lots of encouragement and support here. As for being demoralized at the thought of this for the rest of your life, here's what I can tell you happened for me: I felt the same way and over time I started to really like my CPAP. Now I can officially say I can't sleep without it! I would never have believed this to be true, and I think for many this is the case. It is often due to settings being wrong initially or just getting used to a new way of sleeping with this on one's face.

There are many dedicated volunteers here who spend hours helping new folks adjust to CPAP, this so use this great resource.

I could have written what Arlene1963 wrote, as it describes my CPAP experience. Hang in there, it will get better.

[FrederickRose]

One night. I just put the mask on and went to sleep. I know that many struggle with the therapy but I had no trouble at all. I was very lucky.

Wow, I am jealous!

[JeffL]

I don't know how long it would have taken with a full mask. It kind of freaked me out at the sleep study, but I took to the nasal pillows right away from day one. The only nights I've gone without using it in over 5 years, were when I had a bad cold.

[Joycelrios]

1 month then 6 months I could put the mask on with it turned all the way up and it doesn’t take my breath away like it used to at one month. Now it just feels like a life line.

With REGULAR use your body will adjust to the change and the machine will become a part of you.

[chunkyfrog]

Zombie thread--common problem for newbies.
Many threads like this.
Same problem, same solutions.

[mrcrayola]

Used to it in some ways but not in others. Having trouble with air leakage. Occasionally my AHI drops below 5 for a night, but 7-9 is more the norm. On the other hand, I've gotten to where having a "lamprey" clamped to my face is pretty routine and I never thought I'd say that. I also haven't accidentally flung my machine across the room in a few months, either, so I must be doing something right. Ha!

I've been going at it just shy of six months. I'm still not a member of "this is the holy grail of sleep!" ranks, but I love messin' with data and stats, so SleepyHead keeps me engaged.

Cheers,

MC

[Barb (Seattle)]

about 10 years off and on. it was a total struggle for me. the 1st mask I had was the "bubble mask" which I can't even find on the internet lol

it blew off my face no matter what I did, so I slept without it. I called and they changed masks. Still blew off my face.

so..I quit for a while. that was 1997. I would try again once in a while. Then, I would call the DME and complain and
they said they had no ideas so, I quit again.

finally, I moved to a different city with different Dr's and DME's. We tried a whole bunch of masks and I finally found one that works.
Quattro Air small. But...during my last sleep study I used a ResMed F20. I will be getting one of those soon. loved it, and I didn't have to cinch
it down very much.


for the last year, I was on the Respironics Dream Machine and had horrible #'s. I called and called and they would move the settings. Nothing worked
I kept having 20-30 apneas /hour. So...I asked for a sleep study and had one last August. Inconvlusive. they moved the settings according to what the
study said...and still....20-30/hour. II have a lot of centrals. Long long story short I said something here and was lent an S9 VPAP ADAPT (asv) and my AHI is normal...proobably
for the 1st time in years I haven't been this rested in a long time.

[Barb (Seattle)]

I'm still adjusting. I'm on the 2nd day of week four. The last few days have been the worst.

Getting to sleep with this is just so difficult. I feel like I'm suffocating breathing out. I've had the exhalation set to maximum (which helped); have tried ramp on, off, auto; and the pressure has been raised. One time when I was coughing/freaking out I looked at the pressure and it was 9. My clinician told me that 9 is what seems to stop my apnea.

I'm thinking at this point it's psychological and I don't know what to do. Reasoning is that once I'm asleep, I'm fine. And if I wake up during the night - the mask/breathing doesn't bother me. I go right to sleep. I'm a bit OCD and tend to overfocus and once I realize I'm breathing through this, it's almost a panic attack. I cough and cough....45 minutes to an hour. I gave up one night but usually I fight it out. It's played hell with my sleeping schedule.

Next week, I have appointments with both my primary and my pulmonologist. We'll see if they have any advice.

But right now, the thought of this forever is just incredibly demoralizing.

hang in there! it takes time. Your body will adjust. Mine did. Don't give up!

[Zmartha]

4 months but changing type of mask really helped it