Posted by BC on October 20, 2011 at 08:05:56:In Reply to: Rough Sleep Study, Need Advice posted by sandman on October 19, 2011 at 10:52:42:
I'm sorry you had a rough night.
People vary tremendously. Some adapt easily to the mask, some have a hard time, and some never adapt. There are alternatives if you can't adapt (oral appliances, surgery, weight loss for some, and I've even seen reports that some kinds of exercises--such as playing a didgederoo--can help). So don't give up.
Don't give up on CPAP yet either (assuming that you do have apnea). I went through a period where I knew I couldn't get adequate rest on my own, but it seemed that I was worse off on CPAP. That was a time of incredible frustration. There are lots of us who feared we would never adjust but did.
If you do get prescribed CPAP, try working into it in small doses. That's a standard tool for any kind of fear/discomfort. For example, you might wear just the mask/nasal pillows around the house without being connected to anything. I actually do that if I get up in the middle of the night; rather than have to put the mask back on in the dark, I just disconnect the mask from the tube, and walk around wearing the mask. Sometimes I do lift the nasal pillows out of my nose and let them rest on top, but sometimes I don't bother; you'll find that you can breathe just fine while wearing the mask. You don't need to do this a long time; try it for short periods until you get used to it. After that, try attaching yourself to the machine and turning it on, while staying awake (e.g., try reading for a while). That will help you to get used to the air pressure, and help your body to realize that you don't really need to think about your breathing or worry that you'll suffocate while wearing the mask. Even when you get to the point of using CPAP while sleeping, you can still ease into it gradually (e.g., for an hour the first night). Doctors atually consider it a success if you use CPAP 4 hours a night. (That's partly an indicator that many have a hard time adjusting to CPAP, but also an indicator that you don't necessarily need a full night of CPAP in order for it to be helpful.)
Take care.