Wake up just as I'm falling asleep

[Iceman1217]

Hello all,

This is my first time posting so please be gentle lol. I went for a sleep study a long time ago when I was younger and sleep apnea didn't affect my life as much as it does now. I have had the same cpap machine stored away for longer than I care to admit. I recently started trying to get used to sleeping with my cpap machine. The first night I had my new mask and new tubing I was on the verge of falling asleep so many times but unfortunately I was unable to. My mind was racing the whole time and I was unable to fall asleep with it on even though I felt my body starting to relax and almost get there. I kept feeling what I think is a little pang of anxiety, I guess, course through my body. I have tried again and again since that night but the anxiety is getting the best of me.

I bought new masks thinking that, that might be the issue. I bought the Phillips Dream Wear Nasal Pillows, the Dream Wear Full Face, and the ResMed AirFit F20. The best ones so far have been the Nasal Pilows and the ResMed AirFit F20. I have been close to falling asleep with both of those on.

I have also been experimenting with my pressure so I have increased it to 11.5-12 depending on the mask I use but to no avail. I don't know what my pressure is supposed to be since I had my sleep study done a long time ago. So with all that said I am here hoping that someone might have an inkling as to what might be wrong. I know there are a lot of factors to consider but I don't know what else to do at this point.

I don't have health insurance at the moment due to being laid off because of Covid so going to get another sleep study isn't an option at the moment. I am so close to falling asleep tho that I feel like a sleep study is only going to tell me what I already know which is that I have bad sleep apnea. I'm pretty much desperate at this point... I haven't had a good night's sleep in almost 15 years and I really really want this to work. Thank you so much for reading this and if you have any questions please let me know and I will answer them as best as I can. I'm wondering if I should buy a new cpap machine or if there is something I can take for the anxiety or maybe my pressure is too low/high... like I said I'm running out of options lol. Any advice would be very welcome.

Thanks again,

Iceman

[Pugsy]

So exactly which brand AND model machine do you have in your possession right now that you are trying to use?

[Iceman1217]

Right now I am using the RemStar Plus M Series.

[Pugsy]

Okay. M Series Plus model...fixed cpap and zero data available. The machine can't help us out in terms of any ideas as to what is going on. Out of work...don't suppose you have 300 to 400 dollars burning a hole in your pocket do you?

Do you take any medications of any kind? If so, what?

If you try to go to sleep and can't or feel just as you are dozing off you wake up with the mind going 90 mph....when you take the mask off do you go right to sleep or does it take a little bit to wind down?

Have you ever tried any sort of sleep aid either OTC or RX?

Without data from a machine we are flying totally blind in terms of what might or might not be going on in terms of therapy itself.

[Iceman1217]

Yea I was thinking about maybe getting the Resmes Airsense 10 especially because it has the Automatic setting.

I take Amlodopine for blood pressure but that's about it.

It's more like I'm drifting to sleep and right before I do something sense a weird feeling throughout my body and I have to get up. When I take the mask off it takes me a bit to get back to bed and it has actually caused some night of insomnia as well.

The most I have ever taken was melatonin but I feel like I get a little anxious when I take that since apparently it really knocks me out real fast

About the data, I totally understand, I think I may just pay for the Airsense 10 out of pocket since I don't know when the next time I'm going to have insurance to get the machine that way.

[zonker]

The most I have ever taken was melatonin but I feel like I get a little anxious when I take that since apparently it really knocks me out real fast

what dosage of melatonin are you taking?

[Iceman1217]

5mg of Melatonin and I only took it a few times.

[chunkyfrog]

If you use the cpap, running, while you are wide awake--reading or watching TV,
some of your anxiety should dissipate, as you are getting used to it.
Shopping for a new machine locally is a good way to get ripped off.
[[[Try not to do that]]]
Consider online, https;//www.cpap.com (forum sponsors), or secondwindcpap.com.
Sometimes longtime members here have extras to sell.

[Iceman1217]

Yea I was going to get mine from Lofta but I'm still doing some research. And I have been using the masks when I'm awake but I still can't fall asleep with it on at night.

[Pugsy]

Check with forum member LSAT. He sometimes has some gently used auto adjusting machines available at very fair prices.
Prices will depend on the number of hours and the model.

viewtopic/t180253/AirSense-and-AirCurve ... sSOLD.html

I know all these have been sold but send him a PM because he will probably find some more and you can be first on the list to get one.
I have bought from him...totally trustworthy.

What time of day do you take your BP medication? If in the evening...try taking it in the morning. It can sometimes cause a bit of rapid heartbeat that might be a factor in the sleep problem. Long shot I know and I doubt it but worth taking it in the morning just in case if it has been a night time med.

I can't take melatonin either. Even in a tiny dose it causes me vertigo. It does come with some baggage but you might revisit it at a lower dose and they now make a sustained release dosage version which might help. 3 mg instead of 5 mg and a more level dosage than a dump at the beginning of the night.

https://www.amazon.com/Melatonin-Sustai ... B00012NDFQ

Check with your doctor as to maybe taking one of the over the counter sleep aids safely with your history of high blood pressure.
I think benadryl/diphenhydramine or the other one (I forget the name) is probably safe but check to make sure.
Generic benadryl all by itself when I feel like I need a bit of help falling asleep and staying asleep...and I take a BP medication but not the same as yours.

Something to maybe get you over the hump where you wake up right when you feel you are falling asleep.
At this point we don't know if the wake up is apnea related because we have no data to review and evaluate...so impossible to know if you ever actually fell asleep or not.
Or if maybe you just had a hypnic jerk kind of thing that wakes you up.

[zonker]

5mg of Melatonin and I only took it a few times.

darn it! responded to this, but forgot to hit submit.

don't know if you want to persue melatonin, but if so, we don't all use the same amount. sometimes, less is more. i use-

https://www.amazon.com/Natrol-Melatonin ... 217&sr=8-5

because it's liquid, it dispenses vis an eye dropper. this allows you to take even smaller doses. justb a couple of drops or so works for me.

anyway, glad you mentioned melatonin. it's time for me to re-order.

[Iceman1217]

A little update regarding my issue. Thanks Pugsy for getting me in touch with LSAT. I ended up getting a ResMed airsense 10 which has helped me a great deal!! The first night I fell asleep for two hours which was incredible since I hadn't been able to fall asleep at all with my old machine. Since then I have been averaging about 2-3 hours a night with my best night being 5 and a half hours. I'm going to be trying some times released melatonin like Pugsy suggested and if that is too much for me then I'm going to try to tincture that Zonker suggested and see if that might be a better option for me.

I'm still having a little trouble falling asleep but I believe the issue is with the positioning of my head. It has to be elevated and angled in a way that my wind pipe is open if that makes sense. This would also explain my lack of being able to stay asleep as I believe my head moves down more in my sleep and then causes me to wake up. Idk if anyone has experienced this but I thought I would put it up anyone just in case. I was looking into maybe getting a special pillow for this but not sure if that would help anymore than just a regular pillow. If anyone has any insight regarding this I would love to hear about it.

Thanks to everyone for helping me on my journey!! I know it's not over yet but knowing there is a support system like this out there makes me feel a lot better about it!!