Cpap and getting better sleep: What's your experience?

@thankful I too am a mouth breather. I tried going to an new full-faced mask and it leaked bad. I ended up back to where I was when I first started on CPAP. I went back to my Philips comfort gel blue. It is the best one for me. We are all different on what kind of face we have so need to have different masks. I encourage you to keep trying to find one that works. Sometimes the old ones work better

@johnbishop- You are right about the "old ones"work better. I started with a Fisher Paykel Zest and tried at least 7 different full face masks then went back to the Zest. I used the Zest masks for at least 14 years. With the new Eson2 I have "happy faces" on my Resmed nearly every morning with 7 1/2- 8 hrs. My score on the web has been from 85- 97 most days. The only place I seem to loose points is the mask seal, but when I asked my sleep Dr. about that he said he wished all his patients had as good of results and use of their machines. Happy Zzzz's! Jim @thankful

I thought I would update you all on what happened. I finally got into my sleep medicine doctor and he said that the medical supplies company which is associated with my doctor's company told me wrong. My prescription had not expired and was good until November. He showed me on the computer my records. I thus saw my doctor months early. The medical supplies also told me that my CPAP machine was broadcasting my results so I did not need to bring it in. The doctor did not have any records so now I would need to make another appointment to see how I have been doing these last months. The problems of life. I did get another of my old mask and seem to be doing better with it.

@johnhans, That's great news that your prescription has not expired yet. It does seem like Murphy's Law has a way of adding to life's little problems ☺ I recently got the ResMed AirFit F30 full face mask and went back to using the ResMed AirFit F20 after 2 nights of struggling with the F30. I think it's because I can't seem to breath through the nose with the full face mask style that fits under the nose and up against it. I know I have a deviated septum and sometimes I can easily breath through the nose and sometimes not so much.

Jim @thankful -- I'm getting close to your record of the number of different masks I've tried. I'm currently using a ResMed AirFit F20 with a CPAP Comfort Cover cloth mask liner and it's been the best. My most recent failure was the followon to the one I'm using the AirFit F30. I've also tried the AirTouch F20, the Amara View, Dreamware full face mask, the AirFit F10, and the Fisher Paykel full face mask was the first one. I'm also having hip pain on my right side mostly which causes me to toss and turn due to being a side sleeper. I'm thinking of getting one of those split adjustable beds that has a no-gravity position to ease the pressure on the back to see if that might help. Tough getting old but it beats the alternative ☺

Hi, @johnhans @johnbishop @dawn_giacabazi @thankful @beatricefay @cece55 and others,
My husband just got a CPAP after a sleep study last week. I have some questions as a spouse of a person using a CPAP, if you don't mind. Wondering if you can remind me how long it takes for a new user to get used to using the CPAP? It seems my husband is still getting used to falling asleep with it.

I am getting used to falling asleep with the noise, also, which is like white noise in a way and I think should not be bad at all to get used to. The great thing is that I'm not fighting to get to sleep with snoring noises or awakening in the middle of the night to snoring and trying to kindly ask him to flip over or the like. I'm seeing my sleep improve already, thankfully.

The other question I have may be more petty, but it's important to me. We just moved this summer, and I've been busy making our bedroom and master bath attractive. Just today I met with a seamstress I've worked with for years about making curtains for our bedroom, and I'm excited about them. At the same time, with the CPAP coming home, I feel like my work to beautify is now competing with the CPAP equipment making our room look a bit like a hospital room and the humidifier water piece and the mouthpiece on our bathroom counter (which I like to keep cleared off, except for hand soap, some greenery, etc.).

I'm not concerning myself about this too much this week, as I'm just reveling in the fact my sleep is on track to improve (I probably lost 1+ hours per night before, due to snoring). I know I'll want to work on this in the future, though. Do you have any tricks for keeping these pieces of equipment in an attractive way?

Zonkers Lisa! @lisalucier - I'm probably not a good person to answer this but my bathroom is already cluttered with my Sonicare toothbrush, partial denture cup, electric razor, and a gallon of distilled water I keep on the bathroom counter for the humidifier tank. I used to leave my mask on a paper towel after washing it in the morning but I have a SoClean 2 now and only wash the parts on weekends when I do it. The SoClean sits next to the CPAP on my night stand next to the bed. I do have to hide everything when company comes though ☺ If you have large bathroom maybe a shelf off to the side would work?

Getting used to the CPAP really depends (IMHO) on how well you can adjust to the mask. Once I got used to the mask it wasn't too bad. My Mayo sleep doctor told me to wear it for 30 minutes or so while watching TV but I never did it because that would mean moving it back and forth. Is your husband bothered by the mask or uncomfortable with it on?

Glad to hear your sleep is better too!

@lisalucier Maybe it is how one sees things? If you look at all the medical supplies and think of how it is saving your husband from a stroke or heart attack, it might be easier to accept.
As for how long, that will depend on the person and how well the mask fits. It is trial and error at first to get the mask adjusted to fitting right. This is always true for me with every replacement mask, but it takes less time as you learn. It could take days or weeks. Be aware your husband may take many months to catch up on sleep and feel fully recovered from all the years of lost sleep.
Finally congratulations on him getting and using it. That is quite a step. Also to you for seeing the bright side of no more snoring.

@lisalucier- Well, lets see Lisa. It's been many years since I started using C-pap, but what I've said in many posts is how important the mask feels & works for your husband. I just remember fumbling with a leaky mask for days on end and wanted (and may have) flung the darn thing across the room. Once he finds a mask that fits and experiences that wonderful rem sleep again there's no turning back! My answer may be slightly simplified, but for me that describes my experience.
I can assure you that finding that "right" mask is not always that easy as many on this subject will detest. Hopefully you have a local medical supply store nearby that you may have meet with a Respiratory Therapist that assisted him in picking up his machine and mask at and they will be available to assist with any issues he may be having with mask or other possible issues.
The ramp feature I found real important so I could often fall asleep before the pressure increases by much. It can be set for a variety of different times and for me 15 minutes worked great.
Btw, my wife really did grow to enjoy the white noise the C-pap provided especially in lieu of my snoring!
As for the bedroom decor that has never been an issue for us, but I understand what you are saying.
Depending on the type of nightstand he has I suppose a person could make minimal modifications and install the C-pap inside the cabinet? I think you could make a creative cozy for his machine like a football on his nightstand. 🙂 Happy Zzzz's...
Jim@thankful.

@johnbishop @thankful @johnhans - thanks to all of you for your input. It's all very helpful, as we are new to this (for ourselves, vs. theoretically). I think - from what I understand - that so far the mask he got in the second half of the night in his sleep study is all right for him. I did forewarn him from what many have said in this thread and in others that there seems to be a trial and error period for the mask. So far, so good. I will keep checking with him. I think right now having something in his mouth, some contraption on his face/head is quite different for him with falling asleep. I'm hoping that this mask is indeed a "thumbs up" for him. I will keep checking with him on that to make sure he's as comfortable as he can be. He is about as unfussy and not particular as they come, so possibly this mask will indeed be okay.

johnhans, you make some excellent points about the real issue being to avoid a stroke or heart attack (vs. lovely decor). That is indeed true, and his dad has had some heart troubles over time, so I'd like for my husband to stay out of heart trouble, if at all possible.

johnbishop actually suggested a local medical supply store, and they evidently did a great job of getting him set up with what he needed, setting expectations and explaining how all this goes. Thank you, John. Interesting that the store's employees also told him that insurance would not pay for the device if there was not evidence of him using it the first 30 days and his reports coming in.

I don't know anything about the ramp feature, thankful. I will have to check with him on that. He always stuns me with how quickly he can fall asleep - many times it's literally 60 seconds. I almost always take 10+ minutes (but maybe that will go down now!). I didn't realize the pressure goes up at a certain point. I assume that is to get to optimal pressure, but it's distracting or noisy when trying to get to sleep?

Yeah, good point on the cabinet or the like in a nightstand, thankful. Right now we have antique pieces for nightstands (a trunk and a small table), till we come across some we like and that will match well with our dressers (we were not the first owners of either dresser, but love them both). One of our antique tables with two levels might be an option (storing it on the lower level). Ultimately, we should choose nightstands based on the CPAP, is what is becoming clear to me now. I know it also depends heavily on what turns out to be convenient for him.

Any other tips for a newbie to using a CPAP that I should pass along?