[Diagnosis] Am I just an apnea wannabe?

[Ratchick]

Yep, I'd agree with Dave here. If it's just the odd flag, and it's prefaced with some jagged breathing (especially if there's a particularly big spike that suggests you took a larger than normal breath) but on either side of that there's happy, regular sleep, I'd not worry about it. Congrats on feeling so much better!

[redvinesfamily]

Over the last few weeks, I have continued to feel good and have found some settings that work very well for me. I am forever grateful for whatever this magic machine does for me (the thread on flow-limited breathing has gone well past my ability to comprehend, but I'm assuming the answer is in there somewhere.)

But. I still do not psychologically enjoy having a thing strapped to my face while I sleep. Call me crazy.

Today I feel like crap after almost 10 hours of sleep because I took the mask off after 2 hours with a promise to myself that I'd put it back on "later". (If I sleep with the mask on, I usually wake up feeling good after about 7 hours of sleep, which is a true miracle for me after so many years of sleeping so many hours.)

Has anyone found a good solution to the demon of the night personality undermining the intentions of their angelic daytime self? I am considering writing myself a note to put on the bedside table.

[jbcasler]

When I got my 1st CPAP they gave me a face mask with straps etc. For a week I went to sleep fine, woke up in the morning with the mask on the floor and feeling lousy. Apparently I took it off in my sleep. Talked to my sleep doc and she switched me to nasal pillows & I have used them ever since. For the last year I have been using the Philips Respironics DreamWear Silicone Pillows. They are made of silicon, are very light and gentle, the hose attaches at the top and the exhaust is at the nose level. Before that (until they were discontinued) I used the predecessor Dream Seal pillow system.

Understand that I have used nasal pillows for many years and have never had any problem just breathing through my nose and never through my mouth. I understand this is not true for all folk but if you can sleep without mouth breathing this is a dream solution (pun intended)   

+Jay