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Re: Awakenings "normal" even w/CPAP ?

Posted by Todd4218 on February 26, 2004 at 13:51:19:

In Reply to: Awakenings "normal" even w/CPAP ? posted by Zermatt on February 26, 2004 at 12:03:41:

It took me a long time to get used to staying on my back and I still revert at times. I've been on CPAP 5 years now. Lying on my side, I've had the frequent experience of being awakened by air blowing into my face, because the mask gets pushed to one side by the pillow and leaks.

When I first started CPAP, I was being awakened by air blowing out of my mouth. When you hit REM, your muscles go completely limp (which is supposed to happen) and the air pressure often forces air out of your mouth. No doctor or sleep technician ever told me I needed a chinstrap. I figured it out from reading this forum.

By the way, I didn't always know the reasons at first. It was just over time I started noticing what was happening.

You'll have to watch yourself and see what is causing you to wake up.

Before CPAP, I never woke up during the night. Since CPAP I wake up 1-2 times every night at least and sometimes go through periods of waking up 4-5 times a night usually for unknown reasons. Sometimes it's a leaky mask because I'm on my side or sometimes the hose has gotten into a weird position and is pulling on the mask. Sometimes it's just stiffness because I noticed that I tend to sleep more motionless and on my back compared to before CPAP. Before CPAP I tended to sleep on my side in a fetal position.

After 5 years on CPAP, and 3 sleep studies, I also became concerned that my pressure setting might not be right for every night or every position. Two weeks ago I invested in an auto-PAP. My insurance company so far won't pay for it, but I'm planning to appeal this, since I've seen much different pressure needs on different nights and during the same night, so I think I can now make a case that this was necessary.

My opinion (I'm not a doctor) is that everybody should be using an auto-PAP. I have lots of reasons for this which I won't list, but my advice (remember I'm not a doctor) is to try and get an auto-PAP. They cost about double the price of a CPAP. You can rent them too, so maybe renting one might be an option. For me, it's given me some peace of mind that I'm now getting the right pressure.

I'm still evaluating the auto-PAP, but so far I think it was a good decision.

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