Posted by mb3986 on March 21, 2008 at 16:57:01:

I had my sleep study two weeks ago. I got my CPAP a week ago. The CPAP machine is a ResMed S8 and the mask a ResMed Activa. I thought the timing was fortuitous, having my first couple of nights with the equipment on a weekend.

When the DME demonstrated the machine for me, it seemed quiet. But that was in the context of daytime background noise. That night, absent the same background noises, was another matter. After 15 minutes, the noise was going to make it difficult to sleep. A pair of earplugs reduced the noise level greatly. The mask fits well, with no major leaks and few minor ones. Still, I found myself waking frequently during the first two nights. I also found it difficult getting back to sleep. I anticipated a period of adjustment to sleeping with a piece of hardware strapped to my face, I concluded the ambient light in my bedroom--through the windows, the hallway, the alarm clock and the VCR--were not making things any easier.

Still, from the first night, I breathed much more freely and my family told that my snoring, which previously could be heard all night all over the house, had stopped entirely.

On the third night, I began wearing a sleep mask. The only difficulty came from the fact that I had to put it on before I put on my CPAP mask and its headgear. Fortunately, the DME had me practice putting on my CPAP mask without using a mirror. Things began to show significant improvement. I awoke no more than three times and each time I quickly fell back to sleep. On the fourth night, I awoke once and after that, I awoke at my normal waking hour. I've read postings where people wrote that they found total darkness "creepy". I found the near-total quiet from the earplugs and the total darkness from the sleep mask relaxing. I seem to fall asleep faster and stay that way for the night.

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