I just received my CPAP machine today, and I’m very eager to use it tonight. I was diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea a few months ago, and it’s been a hell of a trek getting to this point. During my sleep study, I had 38 arousals and during CPAP titration, 0.
I’m not an obese person… maybe 40 lbs. overweight, but I’m stuck in a vicious cycle of weight gain → chronic sleep apnea → insufficient sleep → weight gain.
Please share with me your experiences, stories, tips, tricks, etc. Thanks. 
Moving to IMHO, at the agent’s request.
I use a CPAP nightly. Not overweight at all, 115 to 119 pounds, and very healthy and fit. I think I didn’t gain weight like so many people with sleep apnea because I work out with a vengeance and monitor my diet so closely.
I kept going to different doctors for my extreme fatigue, was told repeatedly there was nothing wrong with me. One doctor finally suggested a sleep study. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the results. They had to show me portions of the tape. I forget what my numbers were, but they were OMG I could drop dead any minute high. Really bad. I felt real fear when I got the results.
The machine has been a blessing. Exhaustion is not my main emotion any more. The mask is not the sexiest thing in the world, but it doesn’t bother me one bit. I had no problems adjusting. I use nasal pillows, and tolerate them well. I like them because I can still see to read or watch tv before I fall asleep. I use a 6 foot hose because I am a toss and turn sleeper. My mask also allows me to unhook the hose if I have to get up, rather than remove everything.
Keep everything clean and wash it daily. I have an attached humidifier and the water bin gets washed and changed daily. I replace all disposable parts every 10 weeks or so. They really do deteriorate.
Well, there’s your problem right there! Maybe you could take care of that before you go to sleep.
All the best advice I got was from the techs who initially helped me pick out / fit the mask.
They told me to expect to pull it off in the middle of the night at first. A lot of people get frustrated and think it’s not doing any good, because they’re not wearing it all night. Then they quit even trying because, y’know, what’s the point.
As these nice ladies said “hey, 4 hours (or even 2) of good sleep is better than none”.
And they were right. I did pull it off every night for the first week or so. Sometimes I’d wake up and pull it off because it was driving me nuts. Others I wouldn’t even wake up, but it would be on the floor in the morning.
After a while, I got used to wearing it, and it stays on all night. Mostly. I still wake up with it on the floor every once in a great while.
The other thing they told me was to put the mask on early. (Actually I got nasal pillows, because the masks precluded glasses, and I can’t see to read without glasses.) So I put on the mask when I get into bed, then read until I’m ready to sleep.
It actually seems to put me to sleep these days (after several years of practice). If I want to sit up and read for a while, I don’t put it on, because as soon as I do I get sleepy. But in the early days, it was easier to go to sleep if I’d had it on for a while and had a chance to get used to it before I tried to sleep.
If you’re wearing a mask, just unplug the mask hose from the main hose if you have to get up at night. Much easier than undoing the mask and then trying to get it back on right in your sleep.
I came into this thread for two reasons, and I see that I’ve already been beaten to one of them. 
On review, I wish I’d phrased that differently. :smack:
Anyway, I’m about to start Round 2 of having a CPAP. I had one maybe six years ago, and just couldn’t stand it. I’m a little bit more motivated about my overall health right now, so I’m hopeful I can make it work this time. I wanted to wish the OP the best of luck!
Thanks for the well-wishes and advice so far. Last night was a little bumpy… I woke up a few times to mess with the mask, but I never took it off. Besides, a handful of arousals is better than 38.
Question: Do you wear the mask when taking, say, a 1-hour afternoon nap?
Yes.
It took me a couple of days to get used to using the CPAP. What worked best for me was, on a couple of nights I didn’t have to worry about getting up early I went to bed a little early and got the mask on and machine running. Then I watched TV or read for a while. Being able to consciously work with the machine made breathing with it soooo much easier. After doing that for a couple of nights, I slept easy with the mask and haven’t looked back since.
Now I’ve used CPAP for a couple of years, and can’t stand to even think of sleeping without it. (And yes, even for those short naps if at all possible.) I also work in the sleep medicine field (as a medical assistant at our physician clinics), and the one piece of advice I give new users is that the single best thing you can do to make this a good experience is to make sure you’ve got a comfortable mask.
I know the medical supply company that we work with most often will do free mask switches for the first thirty days, and that seems to be fairly common around here. So, if you feel like this isn’t the mask for you, or after a week feel like it may be giving you sores or something, talk to the people who got you our equipment and they should be able to find a better one for you. I have the advantage of working at the sleep labs, but I’ve gone through 4 or 5 styles before finding my favorite.
I’ve been a hose-noser for three years or so now. It has made a tremendous difference in my life.
I recently switched to a different nasal arrangment which doesn’t have the hose running up one side of my head (this one, to be specific). Now I can easily turn and sleep on either side.
The only drawback is that I can’t snuggle with SWMBO any more as we go to sleep. She claims it’s like spooning with Darth Vader. 
Welcome to the HoseNose Club!
I’ve had mine for about 14 months now. Had a number of sleep studies in the early Oughts, that did not show enough apnea to be worth treating, had another one in early 2010 that did (not severe though, my AHI was maybe 19 an hour during REM and much lower the rest of the time). Titration was a pain - no attempt to fit me with various masks and see what worked, just “Here. Wear this for a bit and get used to it”. I made a note of the model so I knew NOT to let them stick me with that one!!
The DME provider actually suggested a different, much lower-profile mask (the Swift FX). Very easy to put on and take off. The disadvantage is that if I jiggle the hose the wrong way it can make it leak, but since I’m not usually jiggling the mask while sleeping it hasn’t been an issue.
I used Ambien for the first couple of nights I had it, assuming I’d have trouble getting used to it. I still don’t love it, but didn’t need sleeping meds after that.
I do generally use mine if I’m napping, unless it’s one of those accidentally-falling-asleep naps. It’s easier since I’ve gotten slack about emptying / drying the reservoir every day, means the thing is always ready and I can grab it easily. Otherwise I would probably not bother.
The downside for me is that it hasn’t helped. I’ve got multiple sleep issues going on (RLS, apnea, excessive daytime sleepiness) and each time I get treatment for one, I’m still feeling like shit. RLS treated, better dreams at night meaning I’m getting more REM, but don’t feel better. Apnea treated, ditto. EDS: Well, I take a very expensive medication during the day, then am crashing and stumbling by dinnertime. Oh well.
I’m assuming you have a unit with a heated humidifier, if not see if you can have one added. Makes it a bit bulkier but improves comfort.
I’ve found my teeth are harder to clean when I go to the dentist - my mouth tends to hang open (with my tongue providing a barrier so air doesn’t escape) so the teeth get dried out, and more tartar forms or doesn’t get washed away or something.
I do travel with it. I’m actually wondering what to do in a couple of months, when I’ll be escorting a bunch of Girl Scouts on a trip - will I use the thing while sleeping in a roomful of 13 year olds? Possibly I won’t bother - my apnea isn’t that severe, and I won’t be driving.
heh - Typo and I both use CPAP machines; in fact ours look identical so he labeled his with his name; our settings are different and mine has autotitrating while his does not. We call them Darth and Ella (or Babar and Celeste).
Also a long-time user. What? Maybe 10 years now? 8? Long time.
Yup - use it all the time, take it camping (it has a 12v input & a I have a spare car battery) & use it for naps. It’s almost a Pavlovian reaction to fall asleep when I feel it clamp over my face.
They’re hard to use at first but I can vouch for their effectiveness.
My wife makes “Darth Vader” comments, too, but she’s so used to the sound that she says she has a hard time sleeping when I take it with me on business trips.
Have been using mine about 16 months now. I had 74 arousals per hour without, and wouldn’t think of sleeping without it. If I start to nod off without it, maybe while reading, I quickly wake up holding my breath.
One tip: keep a roll of 1.5" or 2" wide masking tape next to it, and use a piece to remove any bits of hair or lint or dust from your face before putting it on, so the tickling doesn’t make you crazy.
Another tip: rinsing the mask and hose in hot water does a fairly thorough job and is way easier to do frequently than using soap, which you have to fiddle with forever to completely rinse away.
A third tip: the hoses often have tightly curved areas because of where they were bent to package them in a bag at the factory. Filling the hose with hot tapwater while holding it out straight or in a long curve (so the water doesn’t run out) is surprisingly effective at erasing those curves.
A fourth tip: The most nicely made and most expensive hoses are heavier and more obnoxious to move around in bed when you want to roll over. The cheap, crappy hose that comes with the masks they use for sleep studies (the masks nobody actually wants to use) is actually the most pleasant to sleep with, as it is light and bends more easily. It also has a short section at each end where the ribs have been pressed smooth, rather than a nice sturdy fitting attached to the end, and those nice sturdy fittings just put rigid extensions on the parts of the hose that jut out from the mask and tend to tilt it sideways. The crappy hose just stays out of the way better. I haven’t had one of the crappy ones kink or otherwise fail yet.
Wait. That’s a bad thing?
Huh.