I don't remember taking my mask off!!!

I clearly remember putting my mask on last night when I went to bed. I even remember briefly waking up because there was slobber on the side of my cheek that was causing it to leak. I know I took it off very briefly to clean the slobber off and then put it back on. When I woke up at 5 this morning, my mask was hanging off my headboard post, the machine was off and one of the clips on the mask was undone. I have absolutley no memory of taking my mask off and putting it away. I did have an extremely vivid dream last night that involved forgetting something. In my dream, I had just woken up from some sort of stomach surgery and was being escorted to my room. I remember my room was dirty and the person with me said someone would be in soon to take care of it. Next thing I know, I am at work the same day, and have no memory of how I got there. I am in pain because of the surgery and decide to go back to the hospital. What a twilight zone night I had!!!

Does anyone here have problems with taking their mask off at night and not remembering it?

It happens to many of us. More people than are willing to admit it. Over time you will get more comfortable with it and do it less. Could try and see if DME has a mask you would find more comfortable than your current one. You may find it happens less frequently with one mask versus the other.

Things you can try;
Tape the mask/headgear strap to your face, it may cause enough discomfort to wake you if you try to remove the mask.

Wear the mask while awake- machine on, listen to the radio, watch TV,or read to keep your mind off the mask. This may help you get used to the mask quicker.

If there are any comfort issues with the mask-lookup tweaks for the mask, or possibly look at getting a different mask.

What pressure is the machine set to and do you use the ramp(what are the ramp settings)- a pressure that is too low may make you remove the mask just to get more air.

Brenda

My first night I took it off four times. I'm suppose to have it on four hours a night for it to be covered by my insurance. So when I put it back on I look at the clock. I'm on my third week now and I still take the mask off for one reason or the other, slobber, pinching, headache, but I try to get four hours even if I have to lay there awake in the morning. I'm not noticing anything different except more aggravation and disbelief that this may give me energy. GOOD LUCK.

It Is very common for this to happen when first starting cpap therapy. I still ocassionally will wake up with my mask laying on the bed. Allot of people tape the mask to their face so that when they take it off pulling the tape off wakes them up. I know I have told this story before, but here goes again. I would tell myself before I went to sleep to keep my mask on. One night I woke up arguing with myself whether to take it off or keep it on.

rosie

I took mine off all of the time during the first 2 weeks and would have no memory of doing it at all. Thankfully, my first machine had an alarm on it that the folks on here told me about, so I used that to wake me up when I would take the mask off and that stopped me from doing it anymore. Well, it would wake me and I would put the mask back on. I just stopped doing it for whatever reason. Maybe it was just a one time thing with your dream that you were having.

STL Mark wrote:Could try and see if DME has a mask you would find more comfortable than your current one. You may find it happens less frequently with one mask versus the other.

That is a good suggestion, but I am on my 4th mask and not sure there are many options left.

bdp522 wrote:What pressure is the machine set to and do you use the ramp(what are the ramp settings)- a pressure that is too low may make you remove the mask just to get more air.

My settings are 10/6. I do not use the ramp at all.

Now that I have been awake for a while, I think I know when I took it off. I woke up at some time because of slobber build up in my mask. I know I took it off to wipe it, and I thought I told myself to put it back on, but I guess I didn't. I think this happened about 5 hours after I went to sleep, because my husband said I was moving around a lot when he got up to get ready for work. At least I am keeping it on for most of the night.

Chelsea........

Have a talk with your sub-conscious........I don't think it's convinced that CPAP therapy is what you need.

The sub-conscious is in charge while you're asleep......and if it hasn't decided that your health will suffer if you don't have CPAP therapy, it'll subvert the process in the middle of the night.....while your conscious mind (the one that put the mask on) is asleep.

You might need to wear a recording oximeter for a couple of weeks....look at the print-outs it produces....and show your sub-conscious that it has to agree to CPAP therapy. Once your sub-conscious sees your low O2 levels while its in charge....and realizes that it's gonna die an early death if it doesn't go along with the program, you won't have any more trouble.

Gerald

Chelsea,

I was taking my mask off in my sleep too. Then I got the software and discovered I always had a large leaks prior to removing my mask. Once I took care of the leaks I quit removing the mask.

r

ChelseaChestnut wrote:That is a good suggestion, but I am on my 4th mask and not sure there are many options left.

Chelsea, don't give up on finding the right mask...I'm on my 7th one and still not sure it's the right one. Some people have gone through 10 or more. Take a look at the masks at cpap.com and you will see there is a huge variety. What works for one doesn't work for all.

The search can get expensive, so check out places like cpapauction (got one there) and craigslist (got two there), all three were brand new, in bags. That way you can try different masks without spending full price. Sometimes people offer them here just to clean out their closets. Keep your eyes open, you never know what you'll find, and it may be the right one!

Linda

rosiefrosie wrote:It Is very common for this to happen when first starting cpap therapy.

I am glad to know it isn't just me. A couple of days ago, I woke up with my mask removed from the hose and placed on the nightstand, the hose hung up and my machine completely off (not just on standby - I had to hold the power button down for at least 3 seconds). I have no recollection of doing this at all. Only happened once so far, but I have only been using mine for a week. We'll see what the future holds.

Can't add to what's been said above about your mask, but I will say..... Congrats on having some colorful REM sleep! Dreaming is a wonderful sign that you are getting some REM which is the restorative stage of sleep. Things will get better with the mask.... training and perseverance will prevail!

I also have been taking my mask off through the night. Early on, I sparked a conversation that got me looking much harder at the pressure than at the mask and I've had a lot of success there. Not perfect yet but I am getting, on most nights, longer periods non-stop with the mask on.

Like you, (but without the remembered dream) I would wake at some point be it in the night or in the morning and see my mask off, the quick releases undone, the machine turned off, and hanging neatly on the headboard. This was before I set the mask alarm and auto-off to "on" so clearly I had deliberately taken it off and turned off the machine but had utterly no recollection of it.

Freaky.

I have been improving especially now that I am starting to get my therapy pressure dialed in. I've gotten to where, quite often, I'll be laying there just barely awake with the mask still hissing in my ear (machine hasn't shut off automatically than that) and alarm still beeping (hadn't given up yelling at me) and slapped the mask back on. Some nights... not so good. At least I have definitively progressed beyond hanging it up in my sleep. If it is off and I don't recall it, it has gotten to where it only is to the point where it lays on the bed next to me.

The other thing that I did do that has helped is in that during the semi-conscious state where it is just as easy to go back to sleep as I am when I wake and realize the mask is off to be more strict to get the dang thing back on.

That one active thing I could do directly toward compliance beyond the system/setup itself has had the biggest impact.

Good luck. I ain't there yet but slowly progressing. I see people posting here that I envy and seem to take to it like a duck to water. Not me. I will keep at it. I hope you and others new to it like me don't give up either. I oscillate between despair and jubilation and try to not focus on the despair. "It's not the despair. I can take the despair. It's the hope I can't stand.

Even without the oximeter Gerald suggests (although is a great idea and one I will be doing as well) just remember: You were diagnosed with OSA and there are known serious complications from that. I focus on THAT and that I need to stay at it.

Also... only your fourth mask???? You're but a babe in the woods yet

Like Linda, I have 7 now. Now that I have my pressure more in control, I am less worried whether I stick to one or not. If you had a previous one don't feel bad going back to one you somewhat liked. I have some I loathed in the beginning that I rather like now. That's been helping some as well.

Also, do check your leaks. I found that it was a bit of a mask adjustment and pillow changes to stop unexpected leaks that perhaps were a contributing factor quite often.

canadrian wrote:

rosiefrosie wrote:It Is very common for this to happen when first starting cpap therapy.

I am glad to know it isn't just me. A couple of days ago, I woke up with my mask removed from the hose and placed on the nightstand, the hose hung up and my machine completely off (not just on standby - I had to hold the power button down for at least 3 seconds). I have no recollection of doing this at all. Only happened once so far, but I have only been using mine for a week. We'll see what the future holds.

Yup, sounds familiar. IT ISN'T JUST YOU!

trike-mike wrote:....

Also... only your fourth mask???? You're but a babe in the woods yet

Keep trying until you find the right mask.

Also, do check your leaks. I found that it was a bit of a mask adjustment and pillow changes to stop unexpected leaks that perhaps were a contributing factor quite often.

It was finding the right mask that stopped my leaks, but I managed to stop at four, but not before chinstrap, taping, pantyhose fixes etc....but it was finally the Innomed Hybrid that finally worked along with a fix inspired by Bleeping Beauty's scrunchie fix.

You might want to check out some forum member fixes...you'll find links via RestedGal's LINKS to Lab Rat Trophy awards:
viewtopic.php?t=15104#p127492


Good luck,

r

Yep, been there too! I've did it a lot when I first started to use my machine. I was always so surprised because I couldn't believe that I took it off and turned the machine off while sleeping! I think that I did it when I had an itch on my nose or just wanted to get this thing off of my face! I now feel very comfortable with it on and often times wake up thinking it isn't turned on and working when it is.