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any tips on side effects of pap?

Posted by freebird on October 16, 2003 at 15:13:47:

Even with a heated humidifier I find my nose and throat dry and sore with bipap usage and often awaken with a stiff neck etc. I take klonopin and benadryl to help me sleep because I have terrible insomnia, but often I awaken even with the sleep meds after 3-4 hours of sleep. I got some interesting feed back from some of you, thanks, but I feel frightened by it as well because of the suggestion that if I don't start using the bipap machine with real regularity ( does that mean every single night? and for how many hours minimum?!!!!) that I could die! I am terrified because I can't use it every night it seems and when I do I can often manage only 3-4 hours. Last night I got only 2. I am really scared. I have two little kids and I am only 36, no weight problem, just happen to have severe sleep apnea and a deviated septum which I don't want to have surgery to fix because no one has convinced me it will cure my osa. I want to live a long healthy life and I am unfortunately plagued by my insomnia and my difficulty tolerating the pap. I will be making, as was firmly suggested to me by the kind folks who responded to me, a much greater effort to try anything to use the machine. It just is giving me a lot of very difficult to bear side effects. Again, do you folks have any ideas on how to alleviate insomnia ( more excersize, no caffeine, meditation - i have tried hypnosis, to no avail yet, I take meds to help me relax and sleep, though they don't always work.....I did have a near fatal drowning accident as a 4 year old child and I think the mask adds to my issues related to breathing and loss of control over, such as I experienced while drowning! I value any suggestions, for pap use, lifestyle changes during the day, diet, stress reduction - anything at all to help deal with pap use and side effects! thank you sooooo much as I am really scared and really struggling and really sleep deprived.

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