I’m looking forward to a good night’s sleep.
Wish me luck.
Nose pillows or full face mask? Either one works but I thought getting used to the face mask took a bit longer.
Good deal!
One thing to note - it may take a while to get used to it and the benefits may not be immediately apparent.
I have used one for 5 1/2 years and only missed two nights, One when my Mother was passing away and I spent the night in the hospital with her. I felt out of sorts the next day but thought it was the circumstances.
The second was last year while we were going from AZ to CO and my machine died. It took one and a half days to get a new one and continue. I woke up the next morning and was in a fog all day.
In general it will make a real difference in how you feel and perform.
So if you have any problems adjusting please hang in there. In the long run it is worth it for us hose heads.
Congratulations! Wonderful news! My boyfriend has had his for 2 years now and it has made such a huge difference for both of us. He is happier and more alert and feels healthier than ever. I sleep so much better now that I’m not constantly checking to make sure he’s still alive.
So…um…I have a question for you CPAP users…
How do you deal with your love life? Just make sure you do your fooling around before you put it on? What if you fall asleep right afterwards? What about middle-of-the-night sex? Or early-morning-sex?
It’s just that the CPAP is probably the least sexy thing I could possibly wear to bed short of an iron lung, and I am seriously debating whether living in a fog and dying younger is a decent tradeoff for never getting laid again.
Well in our case it hasn’t been a problem. We have been together far too long for something like a CPAP mask to cause any problems. If he falls asleep after, I just wake him up and tell him to put his mask on. He has his hose running through the headboard decoration so the mask hangs over his face. If there’s going to be any early morning or night time nookie, he just needs to slip it off and let it fall to the side of the bed. It’s more of a hassle to take off his underpants.
Oh and cuddling is still perfectly possible. I don’t like being spooned very much so generally I’ll spoon him and the mask isn’t in the way at all. But if he’s spooning me, the fact that the mask hose comes from overhead helps to keep it out of the way. It swivels where it attaches to the face part so he can move however he wants without it getting in the way.
Aw c’mon, you know all the chicks dig Darth Vader.
I have nose things, and a strap to keep my mouth closed (I should have had that years ago).
Good luck!! I was really, really worried about how I’d adapt, since if anything isn’t right, I can’t sleep. So I took Ambien for the first couple of nights, and it hasn’t been an issue since then.
Can’t say as it makes much difference to me - I have so many other sleep issues. I felt like I dreamed more than usual the first couple of nights; this is apparently common, as you’re catching up on lost REM sleep, though the professionals also say it’s a BAD sign (as in, you remember dreams so you’re having more arousals). I don’t know what the right answer is there.
It seemed like, at first, it made me a little less frighteningly sleepy during the days, but not necessarily enough to make it worth it (and that effect hasn’t lasted). Still, they say I should stick with it and so I have.
If I skip a night, I might feel worse than usual but it’s hard to tell - again, other sleep issues, and a skipped night usually means something else is going on (travel, I’m sick, etc.).
Cool! I haven’t had one those in years!
Good luck to you!I have had a lot of people that I know come to love these machines, and they help them function so much better. I am so paralyzingly paranoic about something obstructing my breathing that I had panic attacks trying to use a CPAP. Leftover from childhood asthma attacks, I guess. Of course, I never believed I really needed it in the first place.
Doctor: You wake up at night a lot, so you need a CPAP.
Me: I have cancer, fibromyalgia, and severe RA. I’m in pain 24/7. I wake up because I’m in pain, not because I’m not breathing, numbskull!
I started using mine last December and noticed an immediate difference. I feel better when I wake up and am much more alert. I’ve missed two or three days and feel like crap when I wake up. I have a face mask, and tend to sleep on my side. The hardest part is squashing my pillow around so there is a nice dent for the mask to lay in.
Good luck! I hope it helps.
Maybe he’s still asleep.
StG
A 2nd wonderful night. I feel like a million bucks!
And lo and behold, I just found out today that I was approved for Social Security, SSI and Medicare!
The blessing are flowing so much I am dizzy.
Awesome! Glad you’re feeling the effects immediately!
I’m thinking about switching from the nose pillows to the face mask. I have the smallest size pillows my supplier has, but they always seem to end up in a manner that causes my nostrils to hurt. I end up wearing the mask half the night and just sleeping on my side the other half of the night. Really annoying. Time for a change.
Nice! I remember what it was first like being able to wake up in the morning and not feeling dead tired and groggy. It’s almost impossible to sleep witout it now.
I’ve had one for over 10 years now, in fact I just got my brand-new machine (my third) yesterday. It’s whisper-quiet.
Here’s the only thing I don’t like about the nasal pillows I currently use: the escaping air is pushed straight out from my face. So I can’t sleep on my right side, facing my wife, without it blowing on her. My old mask used to vent down toward my feet which was much better. But I vastly prefer the nasal pillows in every other way.
Edit: Asimovian, if your nasal pillows are hurting, are you sure you don’t have the straps set too tight? If they’re leaving marks, for example, they are too tight.
Pleasant dreams.
No marks, and I’ve tried to play with the straps to keep them from being too tight. Half of the nights, I’ll wake up and find that the straps have slipped off the back of my head and that the whole contraption is only being held to my face by the pillows in my nose.
Zzzzzzzzzz…
