First night not so good.

[dmu9522]

I was only able to keep the mask on for about 90 mins last night. I would start to feel like I couldn't breathe and rip the mask off to catch my breath. I did that a few times and after the last time just turned it off. I will try it again tonight of course and hopefully I can at the very least wear it longer. My pressure starts at 5 and is supposed to ramp up to 18. Never went over 5 last night though. I think I will try to sit and watch TV a bit upstairs tonight with the mask on so I can try to get used to breathing with it on and distract my mind from thinking about it so much.

[Pugsy]

If using the ramp then the pressure starts at 4 cm most likely and most people will feel like they are starving for air at that low of a pressure.
The ramp setting is in the clinical setup menu and I suggest turning it off when using starting pressures below 6 cm.
I think it hurts more than it helps most newbies when starting at 4 cm.
It simply doesn't move much air and people feel like they are suffocating. Of course they aren't and won't but it sure feels like it and when we aren't comfortable we can't go to sleep and we have to be able to go to sleep.

https://sleep.tnet.com/home/files/resme ... -guide.pdf
Here's the manual that explains how to get into the clinical setup area where ramp can be turned off or adjusted to start higher.

And no...we wouldn't expect the machine to go higher while awake and might not go much higher while asleep. So the fact that for 90 minutes it didn't do much doesn't surprise me. You didn't get much (if any) sleep for the apnea events to start to try to happen to cause the machine to even need to increase the pressure.

[dmu9522]

Thanks! Will give that a try tonight.

[D.H.]

If you turn it up to 6 (as was suggested) and find that's not enough, turn it up even further and/or shorten ramping time. Disabling the ramp altogether is also an option.

I disabled my ramp years ago.

Also, remember that if you take a potty break and shut off the machine, the ramp will engage when you start it again.

[Nick Danger]

Great first effort! You are working hard to identify and correct things that are getting in the way. You are coming here for help. Great job!

[chapa.r]

Dont give up. The first night was really hard. I only slept 2 hours. The second night i took a xanax and that really helped. I was able to sleep 6 hours. The third night i was able to sleep fine. Once you get over the claustrophobic effect (i had that) It will be easy to use. Keep plugging away

[zonker]

Great first effort! You are working hard to identify and correct things that are getting in the way. You are coming here for help. Great job!

+1

to the OP, this DOES get better. it gets easier as you go. stick with it, you can do this.

and please come back to this thread to post any updates or problems. it will help the experts here help YOU.

[cpap626]

I had the same feeling when it was lower, I felt like i had to suck air very hard, I think alot of it is mental as well. I have been trying off and on for the past 2-3 months and only yesterday was I able to sleep 6 hours with it on. It dosent seem like much but it took me a while to not take it off after I got to sleep. Try wearing it as much as possible when you are calm to get used to it. I found if i set a sleep timer for music at night it helps keep my mind from wandering and only focusing on my breathing!

[D.H.]

First of all, what did you do about the ramp? If your pressure is supposed to hit 18, probably you would feel like you're suffocating at 5 (or even 7).

The other thing I want to ask you about us the EPR (Expiratory Pressure Relief). This is the feature that causes the pressure to drop a bit when you exhale. Some patients have difficulty exhaling against the pressure (others others don't). I found this very annoying and completely disabled it. It made me very conscious of my breathing. Perhaps this is your problem too.

[JolietJake]

Definitely skip the ramp as others have said. And I doubt this is the case since it's your first night, but I had a hard time taking deep breaths once and it turns out that my "fine" filter was clogged. Replacing it or removing it fixed that.
As best as I can tell, the filter had plugged rather suddenly due to my wife using the ultrasonic humidifier in the bed room. I guess those things carry the water hardness into the room and then my filter. I'm sure high pollen or smoke or whatever else could just as easily do that. I now run without the fine filter without issue.
Sleeping with the mask gets more comfortable, almost comforting at some point.
Edit: the machine also get noisy when the filter is getting plugged, that's the only diagnostic tool that I know of.

[D.H.]

To the poster who said that the ultra-sonic room humidifier clogged the filter. Use only distilled water in these devices. All impurities in the water go right into the air!

[dmu9522]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions and encouragement. The last couple of nights have not been great, but better. I did turn the starting pressure up to 7 which helped and if I felt like I couldn't breathe a couple deep breaths helped me keep the mask on. I made it 5 hours the 2nd night and a little over 5 last night. I had a really hard time falling asleep, and when I did would wake back up fairly quickly so still a bit of a struggle. I feel like a zombie not having gotten my usual sleep, but I know that my "usual" sleep is not good sleep.

[D.H.]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions and encouragement. The last couple of nights have not been great, but better. I did turn the starting pressure up to 7 which helped and if I felt like I couldn't breathe a couple deep breaths helped me keep the mask on. I made it 5 hours the 2nd night and a little over 5 last night. I had a really hard time falling asleep, and when I did would wake back up fairly quickly so still a bit of a struggle. I feel like a zombie not having gotten my usual sleep, but I know that my "usual" sleep is not good sleep.

Is your breathing problem one of inhaling or of exhaling? If it's the former, try raising the initial pressure even more or disabling the ramp completely. If it's the latter, try a higher EPR setting.