Claustrophobic Having a Hard Time

[Julie]

You say you take a long time falling asleep now (re using the ramp) but has it occurred to you that you'll likely sleep a lot sooner if you're getting enough air - after adjusting pressures?

[palerider]

My wife tells me to not look at it so negatively but look at the positives, but i am finding that very difficult and i find that it is easier to say than actually do.

LISTEN to your wife, and stop putting words in her mouth. Maybe a quiet, peacefully sleeping you is more attractive than the snoring, gagging person you were... Or maybe she gets a sexy fighter pilot vibe...

[zoocrewphoto]

When I first got my cpap, I was worried about sharing hotel rooms with my friends when we travel since I felt awkward with the mask on. But then I remembered how embarassed I was to snore all night and keep them awake. The cpap is so much better. My friends were all amazed at how quiet was. My sister doesn't yell at me all night and keep me awake (She thinks I get quiet because she makes me roll over, but the truth is I am uncomfortable on that side, so I am quiet because I am awake.)

Using my cpap keeps me from being embarassed because I am not apologizing for disturbing somebody else's sleep.

I do have to be careful when sharing a bed as I don't want my exhaust blowing on the other person. I have to sleep on the other side of the bed so that I aimed away from them when sleeping on my better side.

[OboeVet]

It took about 5 visits in 6 months to get the minimum pressure raised, the maximum lowered, try several different mose-hoses and full face masks. Thankfully, I had a superb DME (Durable Medical Equipment) vendor and great support team at VA.

Next, I had made a promise not to drop out for 6 months for a Post Traumatic Stress & CPAP-APAP study with a very small research cohort. So, I started a little mind game: I would prepare for sleep by thinking I was on a long range B-52 bomber mission where all crew had to be on oxygen masks in case of depressurization, or you would die. So, to get my 2 hours of sleep time (guessed flight duty schedule was like Guard Duty in Vietnam ... 2 hrs down & 4 hrs on) I had to quickly drop off. I pretended to check in with the Flight Deck reporting on the mask ready for rack time. I also had been wearing foam earplugs for a couple of years (due to my beloved ' s snoring), which I always did when I used to travel by commercial air lines.

So, nicely pester your support team to get the machine to fit you, not the other way around. Glean every good idea from this virtual community, CPAP Talk was a huge contributer to getting me started, and helping me describe waking up suffocating and ripping the mask off (too low minimum), walking up with leaks and ripping the mask off (too high maximum) and changing masks several times to find a mask that did not require cinching the straps so tight I wore a hole on the bridge of my nose. For me the F&P Simplus is the one that "floats" on my face, including sleeping on my sides.

DON'T GIVE UP! Set reasonable targets for working up to 4 hours of treatment per night and if you can take naps on days off. When I woke up for the first time in decades of OSA feeling totally relaxed, rested and feeling all is well, I was hooked on CPAP-APAP. For me, the added bonus of getting REM sleep is the frequency and severity of my nightmares has dropped almost to zero!

All the best on your "new normal."

Don

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

[chunkyfrog]

A cpap mask's similarity to many exciting and heroic other masks opens up the possibilities for fantasy.
Creative imagery can help in many ways.

[SunnyBeBe]

I would really focus on making sure your mask is comfortable. I'm not sure how to do that, but, there are some great suggestions from others above. I knew almost instantly, that the full mask that I tried on was not going to work at all. I switched to a Nasal Pillow and was immediately much more comfortable. With a little practice, I learned that it didn't need to be tight and that I could get excellent treatment and be comfortable.

I won't say that I love it, but, what I do love is the confidence that I am protecting my health. I want to keep my brain and heart healthy. Without proper oxygen, I can't do that properly. I think that once you have some level of success with the treatment, you begin to feel more positive about it. While, I haven't really struggled with many issues, I still think it's a matter of getting your mind ready. With the right mindset and proper feedback, I think you have a much better chance of feeling good about it.

[Muttmom]

Has anything gotten better for you.
I never found an option that worked for me and quite frankly, I felt like they just didn't care that they were actually destroying my sleep and making me miserable

[chunkyfrog]

OMG! YES.
Within a month, my boss commented that my memory and concentration had dramatically improved.
Within a week, I was no longer dozing off at my desk, during a movie, or WHILE DRIVING.
The very first day, I woke up without the usual hangover-type headache.
In about 90 days, I suddenly realized I could RUN 2 blocks, where previously, I could not run over 100 feet
without stopping to catch my breath.
I am sure cpap has saved my life many times, as there had been times I felt so terrible it didn't matter.