SweetDreams

BKNJ: Don't feel alone. I have pretty much same experience. Doing this for six months and using same equipment as you except I have the pillow mask--and not the full mask. Every night I hook up to the machine and every night I fight the machine. Every morning I wake up more exhausted than ever--even when I've worn the mask for 4+ hours.

I get your ranting.

I'm going to do more research and, hopefully, report my findings.

WiredGeorge: Thankful for your reply. Yes, you are completely right that I need to better educate myself on terminology.

And I hear you saying I have to wean myself from stomach/side sleeping. I will try my best.

But...there's still the question about insomnia and use of CPAP machine. I've been researching this and find there is validation that CPAP can further aggravate insomnia and that for some new CPAPers this can result in full- fledged CPAP-induced (or CPAP-enhanced) insomnia. I started this thread because I think its worth discussion. There's probably only a few of us experiencing this but I'd like to hear from those, if possible, and also hear from those of you with expertise who can offer advice.

Although I now dread going to bed, I'm still wearing the mask. I do my best to get at least 4 hours in it (especially because insurance company is Big Brother watching). But, as I have every night for the past six months, I also know I'll wake up two hours later unable to fall back asleep unless I pull off the mask.

In the end, maybe there's no answer. But like each of you, I was eager to try this thing that was supposed to help me sleep better and healthier. After six months, I'm more tired and grumpy during the day than ever. I sleep even less per night than before. I wake up exhausted.

I don't understand.

Dear Friends,

I'm new to this forum and to this topic so kindly excuse me if this has been discussed hundreds of times already.

I was diagnosed a year ago with moderate sleep apnea. Been using the ResMed AirSense 10 with AirFit P10 for Her pillows (extra small) for about six months. I think the ramp goes from about 5 cm to 9 cm in about 10 minutes. I don't understand the reports ResMed sends me but it looks like I have about 2 to 4.5 events per hour most nights when using the machine--not sure what that means.

Long story short (kind of): I feel that my sleep has degraded since I've been using the equipment. I'm exhausted all the time! It's not the equipment, per se; I'm quite comfortable with it before I try to actually fall asleep. Reading a book before bed hooked up to the machine, for instance, is no problem.

These are my issues:

Insomnia: I'm already prone to insomnia and have been waking up three to five times a night for years. When I wake up, exhausted, at 1 a.m., I'm just not inclined to keep the mask on. The only way I can get back to sleep is to burrow my head/nose deep into my pillow (on stomach)--and that means the mask just doesn't work. It's up to whether or not I get those few last hours of precious sleep--or attempt to be diligent and wear the mask. (Another way to get thru the night is to take sleeping pills--but I don't want to rely on those. I use them about once a month when I'm at the end of my wits.)

Side and stomach sleeper: As I mentioned above, I tend to burrow my head deep into my pillow and sleep best when sleeping on my stomach. The mask doesn't work when I do that. (It leaks, etc.) I've been reading that folks with apnea often sleep on their stomachs (before correction with machine) so perhaps this is something I should relearn.

Bottom line? I recently went away for a week without the CPAP machine and had the best sleep I've had in months. (At least it seemed that way.)

I have a lousy insurance program with a doctor who is not a specialist--so I don't feel there's a lot of help to get there.

Any advice?