First night on cpap was terrible

I used my cpap machine for the first time last night. I am using the nasal mask with a resmed myair with a humidifier Every time I moved, the mask shifted and air shot up to my eyes. Also my nose was wet this morning. I had the humidifier on 4 and turned it down to 3 for tonight. The air was cold as well, so guess the heat element doesn't work well and I am asking my Doctor to order the heated tube. I will also try the small size mask tonight to see if it helps. I just feel sluggish with a dull headache and a scratchy throat. I woke up a few times and tossed and turned. after about 6 hours I finally found a little comfort but I think my headache is from my neck.

I know it will take time to get used to it but wondering what everyone else did to make it more comfortable. If you have any suggestions, I am open to try.

Thanks

I remember my first night as being awful as well. It was almost as bad as the night I had when I did the home sleep study. I recall thinking that I should get up and throw the whole thing out the window! But, things have gotten much better, and now I actually look forward to putting on the equipment for the night.

My wife started out using using a nasal mask and did have some comfort issues. I have used a nasal pillow mask (ResMed AirFit P10) and find it more comfortable than others I have tried. My wife has also switched to a nasal pillow mask. Getting the right mask and fit is probably the biggest part of getting a CPAP to work well. It is a bit of a trial and error thing. The heated tube is good to have. When you get that you can put the humidity control in Auto. Here is a copy of a post I made to another user, that may help some with the comfort issues.

"Here is a link to a more technical manual that the basic user guide.

AirSense 10 Technical Manual

Here is how I set my machine for comfort and convenience. If you refer to page 14 on how to get into the Settings Menu, and then page 15 for the settings menu table. I will assume for an example your minimum pressure is 9 and the max is 15 cm. Go down to the comfort section.

Ramp Time - I set it to Auto. This will hold the initial pressure until you fall asleep instead of ramping it up over a fixed time period. I find that to me more comfortable.

Start Pressure - I would set it to 7 cm. If you feel short of air, then set it a little higher, but you can't set it higher than your minimum pressure.

EPR - I would turn it on. This will reduce pressure on exhale.

EPR Type - I find that to minimize pressure during the treatment part of the night, I set it to Ramp Only. This reduced pressure on exhale only during the ramp period for comfort. Also the EPR reduces the effectiveness of the treatment pressure, so the overall pressure is likely to be less when it is turned off during treatment.

EPR Level - I set at 3 cm. If the Start Pressure is 7 cm then it will cut back to 4 on exhale during the ramp.

Climate Control - should default to Auto if you have a heated hose.

Tube Temp - Set to 27 C or 81 F.

When I am starting to get ready for bed, I scroll down the user menu and turn on the prewarm function. It warms up the water and is more comfortable going to sleep."

Hope that helps some. Any questions just ask.

I just finished my fourth week using the ResMed with nasal pillow and heated tube. My first nights were terrible. It’s not great yet, but it has gotten much easier. Keep with it. I had to experiment with sleeping positions to minimize leakage. You will find what works. My diagnosed AHI was 21 events per hour. My average AHI with therapy is 0.34. This forum has been very helpful and encouraging. Good luck.

I'm having the same issues. I rip the mask off about an hour in because I can't fall asleep....

I was in exactly the same position as you just over 5 years ago, after a month suffering from all sorts of annoyance I swapped the full face mask for P10 pillows and have never looked back.

My average use over the past year was 8hrs 14mins a night, AHI .52 events an hour with a leak of 12.

I no longer fall asleep during the day and I don't need to carry a flask of coffee when going out on a long drive in my car. My advice is to stick with it you will feel much better

I'm in my 6 th year of CPAP . The first 6 months were all exploratory and very difficult .Soaked or desert mouth , feeling of suffocation , foreign object on face like in "Alien" , mask leaks or explosions , indentations in skin , etc etc . I nearly gave up but now I would be unable to function at all without it- keep going it will get better .! Easily a dozen or more " events " will occur first few weeks .

I used a full face mask for three years - it had to be so tight to keep the seal that it made permanent marks in my face -contact side areas . It was a mistake not to train with the nasal pillow for RESMED 10 . But I initially was incapable of that due to extreme dry mouth . So I went to a chin strap first on - then mask over that. When all is in place it is something of a horror movie get up ! But it works . I was at 36 AHI before CPAP and near dead . Now I'm down as low as 6.5 AHI . But I see some people on CPAP have actually got down to .7 or even .52 ( OMG- please let it be me !). I'm envious but 6.5 will have to do for now - 5 years of trying -more focus all the time . But I did feel alive and not of the walking sleep deprived dead ! Hang in there !

PJK

It's not easy to get used to a CPAP machine.