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Hi wiredgeorge. Thank you for your reply. I used to sleep like a log from10-11 to around 7. It was glorious. I breathe OK using the WISP nasal mask, until the air pressure starts to build. It also helped a little when I figured out how to turn off the humidifier heater because I can't stand that warm, humid air. I will ask to try a different type of mask at my next visit.
Hi PatientVioletBear. I will ask my sleep tech if the EPR can be changed. I did explain this to the tech last week but he only changed the upper range pressure. Thanks for the info!
Hi wiredgeorge. I was referred to the sleep doctor by my primary care doctor because she thought it might help. The issue I was referred for is a disturbed sleep pattern. If I go to bed at 10 pm, I am invariably wide awake between 1 and 4, despite being so tired I can hardly keep my eyes open. This is quite common among people with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and nobody knows why. I also have extreme hypersensitivity when sleeping - I fall asleep quickly and easily, but wake up at every little noise. So even the hum from a so-called whisper quiet CPAP is enough to jolt me straight out of sleep and into full wakefulness. I am trying the CPAP on my sleep doctor's recommendation - she believes it will improve my CFS - but have a hard time getting past the noise of the machine and the sound of my own breathing through the mask. Struggling to breathe, especially on the exhale, is so far adding to my challenges, not reducing them. The sleep doctor tends to see everything through the perspective of apnea. I guess when your only tool is a hammer, all you see is nails.
Hi Dan. Yes, I've been using the CPAP while watching tv. I still can't get past level 6 before I feel I can't breathe at all - the pressure is too strong. I went in to see if anything needed to be adjusted. The sleep tech checked that the mask worked well and adjusted my pressures from 5-20 down to 5-15. However, that still does not address the fact that I am having a hard time breathing against the starting pressure and that I can't sleep at all when I wear the mask.
I have a Philips DreamStation CPAP machine. The pressure starts at level 5 and can go as high as 20, according to the sleep tech. I've not been able to keep the mask on beyond level 6, so this sounds pretty improbable to me. I was given a nose-only mask that fits fine. The problem seems to be with the pressure of the airflow.
I have just received a CPAP for the first time and have been trying to use it. After 7 days, I have yet to fall asleep while wearing the mask. The forced air is extremely unpleasant, and it requires a lot of force to exhale, even at the lowest settings (5). As soon as the pressure starts ramping up, it feels like there is an elephant sitting on my chest. Before I reach air pressure 6, I hit the ramp button and it drops down to 5 again. As soon as the humidifier kicks in, it feels like I am breathing through a long straw. I have to work so hard to just breathe that my heart rate shoots up to over 90 bpm. I finally end up taking off the mask just to sleep. Without the CPAP, I fall asleep in 3 minutes flat. With the CPAP, I lie in bed trying to sleep for up to an hour. Any advice?
