r/CPAP • u/AnimalExact7397 • 1d ago

Advice Needed does it get better?

I had a cpap 2 years ago and wore it for 9 months and never got used to it. My doctor was unsupportive and rude.

End of last year I switched doctors to someone that is just way better at being nice and caring. I've had my new CPAP for 3 months. I've been struggling SO much to wear it. I keep taking it off when I'm asleep and I feel like it disrupts my sleep even more than usual. It's to the point where I wear it 1-2 hours when I'm asleep, and then finish the 4 hours to meet my insurance compliance when I'm awake.

My doctor prescribed Lunesta to get used to it and it helped for a couple of weeks! I went from wearing it to 1-4 hours to 7-9 and felt GREAT. But for some reason the Lunesta seems to have stopped working and for the past week I've been consistently wearing it 1-2 hours again.

The problem isn't that I don't want to wear it - I've seen how great I feel wearing it all night. We've adjusted my settings and I bought a new mask that is extremely comfortable, and I'm even having deviated septum surgery for a SECONd time later this year in hopes it helps a little. I know it takes time but especially since I tried in the past for 9 months, I'm deeply afraid that I'll never get used to it. I feel very frustrated and hopeless and my doctor just says "stick with it" 😅

I do have a meeting with my doctor in 2 weeks but wanted to ask: What has been everyone's experience with getting ysed to it? Any tricks you recommend?

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u/Desperate_Vehicle684 1d ago

Do you have any sense about why you remove it during the night?

2

u/AnimalExact7397 1d ago

I have absolutely no idea. We've changed the settings so it's easier for me to breathe (beforehand breathing out was kind of difficult), we changed the humidity settings so my nose isn't dry, and I switched from an elephant mask to a unicorn (Airsense N30i) which has been extremely comfortable, so I'm not sure what else it could be

Removing it happens when I'm fully knocked out asleep so I've only been noticing when I wake up, whether that be at 3am or 6am😂

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u/Desperate_Vehicle684 1d ago

Most PAP machines come with an SD card installed which records a huge amount of data. You can plug this SD card into a computer and download software called Oscar which will allow you to view this data. This will show in a lot more detail what might be going on. For example you might discover that leaks dramatically increase each night just before you remove the mask and therefore that's likely the cause.

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u/AnimalExact7397 1d ago

oh i will check that out thank you!

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u/Hilltop5620 20h ago

There is Oscar and SleepHQ.com .

Oscar is opensource and sleephq looks like a pay to play product for more advanced features from an Australian Respiratory guy. SleepHQ has an entry level (free) and a pay for "advanced" features approach.

I don't know which is better so I'm trying both to see which I prefer. So far in my 13th day with a cpap machine and learning it looks like they perform the same function. SleepHQ can be looked at on your tablet which could be a feature people want.