i am terrified of my machine....please help

bp4Christ wrote:one thing i don't understand however is if i use this machine lets say five hours of the night, and if i wake up and take it off, and sleep another three hours, why would i feel like i didn't use it?

Because you have negated the benefits you received from the first five hours when you WERE using it. Makes perfect sense to me.

If you TRULY have "faith in a higher power", then you should NOT be having the fears you seem to be experiencing. And, you should not feel "alone".
A couple of forum members have used a "byline" in their profile you might consider: "If HE leads you to it, HE will lead you through it."

You NEED to use it.......just do it!

Den

Hi, sorry to hear you're having such a bad week! As far as the 5 hrs/3 hrs goes, those 3 hrs can wipe out the good 5 hrs because if you're having lots of apneas during the 3 hrs, you'll be just as tired from the experience as if you hadn't used Cpap at all (just like you were before Cpap altogether). It's a lousy business that way, but be patient - at least you realized that the seal probably came loose and there's no big mystery there, but if it happens again, do put the mask back on because (been there!) you'll be better off than if you don't use it at all. It takes some adjusting (mentally and mask-wise) and you may end up having to try a few different masks (most of us do!) but believe me, it's still so much better than not using anything.

Kteague said it best in a response to another poster;

I don't know how long you are sleeping each night, but I think that can be a contributing factor in how long it will take to feel better. There is maintenance sleep, then there is recouperative sleep. I always wonder how folks expect the mind and body to heal on even sub-maintenance sleep. My personal feeling is that some extra sleep beyond what one would need in a normal night should be the goal. (That's personal experience and logic, not science.)

I loosely liken sleep debt to a charge account. We all know if you pay the minimum monthly payment, you'll get by but the debt will seem to never go down. And don't even think about paying less than the minimum! While you may be making a payment, not only is it not going down, it's being added to daily. For sleep debt, take the advice of credit counselors and pay more than the minimum required to reduce the debt quicker.

Brenda

Bryan,

Sometimes we have periods of time in our lives when honestly, it just plain sucks. But no matter how bad things have been (and are) I could always look around and be glad I wasn't in someone else's shoes. That was not to trivialize my pain, but to keep me mindful that others are enduring worse and surviving, so surely I will too. It's not about enjoying everything in life, it's about doing our best with the hand we've been dealt.

Here's how I see hard times and our response to it. Say a thief were to break into my house to rob me, and says "Give me your cash!" Then not only do I give him my cash, but I say, "Here, want my jewelry? How about my debit card and PIN? Checkbook?" I have just given him more sway in my life than even he required of me. There are choices we make about how we let difficulties affect us.

Daggone it, I'm just stubborn enough to not relinquish anything I don't have to. I refuse to allow difficulties to rob me of my enjoyment of life in general. That's one thing no one can take from me - I have to give it up by choice. Bryan, you have said you are dealing with some emotional issues that I'm sure really color this principle for you. I'm sorry for you that this very big factor is added to your struggle. You and your counselor(s) have to work through that, and you have to sort thru if there's any ground you have given up that you have a choice over.

There was a time as a young woman that I nearly self-destructed. Guilt played a big factor - I didn't think I deserved a happy life. There was a magnetic dark force that I was nearly overtaken by. Once I understood that my spin on this was guilt born and not God born, I was better able to battle it. When the darkness loomed menacingly, I would keep telling myself, "This is not your destiny." While I knew that in my head, it took a while for my heart to follow. I can't begin to imagine fighting such strong emotional battles for a lifetime - for me it was a year or so.

Bryan, I pray you figure out how to best handle your difficulties. God is not trying to keep it a secret from you (James 1). You are in a good place because you are seeking solutions. Keep moving forward.

Kathy