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Thanks so much for reading my post and the advice. I talked with my PCP and explained my situation. She listened and knows that I want to do what I can for this to be a successful transition. Here are the changes I made and I hope this helps someone else new to CPAP.
I usually am up within 1.5 hours to use the restroom, but that is normal for me. I am able to get to sleep relatively quickly and stay asleep till about 5:30am/6:00am.
My plan is to slowly wean myself from Xanax but will always have some on hand for those rough nights. This has been a huge adjustment for our household. We also got a better bed, adjustable to be elevated slightly. With the new mattress, my hips do not go numb any more while on my side. My spouse snores too but the slight elevation has significantly reduced her snoring so that it is not keeping me up. I also match my breathing with her snoring when I am falling asleep--sounds weird but it works. At the time of this update, the dogs and cats are still not allowed in the bed or bedroom. At least we are both having a good nights sleep. I am logging 7-8 hours a night on the CPAP. Being that the first night was a sketchy, yucky uncomfortable 46 minutes, I'd say this is progress. Again, the purpose of this update is to let everyone know I think I am on the right path and more importantly, I hope this helps others.
Newly diagnosed and working through my first week. I had 1 fantastic night of sleep and felt great the next day but this was caused by pure exhaustion and melatonin. Next night, a bad dream woke me up and I ripped the mask off, paced the house, watched TV and went back to bed with the mask but only slept for 1.5 hours. Since then, it's been all downhill. I am claustrophobic to begin with and the thought of sleeping with the CPAP FF mask (Amara view) freaks me out. I did some desensitization such as holding the mask to my face, then wearing it around the house, then wearing it watching TV (hose not connected) and then with the hose connected. I had a few nights of very interrupted sleep and now 2 really bad nights. Tonite, I relaxed (no TV, just relaxation music playing softly) then put the mask--my heart rate spiked and I panicked which resulted in a night without the mask and an extremely bad night. My body will not relax and I am up every 20 minutes--already stepped outside to get some fresh air twice. What have you done or heard people do to work through this? What other resources are available? Any help, guidance and words of advice will be appreciated.
