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Please help me get back on track
#1
Please help me get back on track
Hi everyone,

I was diagnosed with OSA in 2012 and started CPAP. I wore it faithfully and did well right away. I fell off track for about a month in 2013 but quickly got back to it. Now I am off track and having trouble restarting. In September I had a horrible bout of insomnia and got off track with CPAP because I was in and out of bed all night. I'm trying to follow good sleep hygene rules and am familiar with those. Ever since then I have not been able to get back to using my CPAP regularly. I've almost developed an anxiety around it related to that episode of insomnia (I think I connected the two somehow). For awhile I was using it and taking it off after an hour and not remembering. I don't have a data capable machine so I don't know what was happening and my doctor didn't think it was anything. Now I put the mask on my face and just can't get to sleep for the life of me. I get anxious and end up giving up. I know eventually I"m just going to have to leave it on and get out of bed when I can't sleep and maybe eventualy I'll fall asleep with it on but I'm so afraid of another episode of insomnia that I haven't gotten the courage to do it. I know there might not be any more answers for me, and I just have to put the mask on my face and do my best. I just thought I would put this out there and see if anyone could help.

Thank you. I really want to make this work.
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#2
RE: Please help me get back on track
Hi beth2507,
Do I understand your post correctly? You stopped CPAP for about a month in 2013? Have you been using it from 2013 until now, or are you saying you haven't used CPAP all this time?

We would love to help you get back on track. Nothing is more important than your health and well being. Have you talked to your Doctor about your anxiety and insomnia relating to CPAP use?

Did you have a sleep study in 2012, and do you have any information you can share with us as to your AHI numbers?
OpalRose
Apnea Board Administrator
www.apneaboard.com

_______________________
OSCAR Chart Organization
How to Attach Images and Files.
OSCAR - The Guide
Soft Cervical Collar
Optimizing therapy
OSCAR supported machines
Mask Primer



INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE.  ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA.  INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
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#3
RE: Please help me get back on track
I did stop for a month in 2013 and then used it from 2013 until last September or October.

I have talked to my doctor, just saw her last week. She says I just have to put the mask on and use it and eventually I will sleep. She also said to make sure I'm practicing good sleep hygiene and I am re reading a book about that. She said there wasn't much more to do, and that I just had to stick with it.

I had a sleep study in 2012 and my AHI was 17.

Thank you so much.
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#4
RE: Please help me get back on track
Beth, if I'm understanding correctly, the insomnia seems to be a direct result of your CPAP treatment, or was it a problem for the period(s) when you were off the machine and/or before you ever began CPAP treatment? I'm wondering if insomnia in your case is or is not related to CPAP usage.

David
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#5
RE: Please help me get back on track
Initially, the insomnia seemed to start as an unrelated thing. I was still using CPAP at the time. Initially I continued to use CPAP but was sleeping so little and so frustrated with it that I just stopped using the machine. My sleep hasn't been perfect ever since, although it improved with practicing sleep hygiene. I am waking up more than I used to and having trouble getting back to sleep, but I know that the untreated OSA is a component of that. Then when I tried to get back to CPAP after I was sleeping better I got so nervous about the CPAP (I know it sounds crazy) that I threw myself back in to another few weeks of insomnia and gave up again. Now I do feel less nervous about the machine because I have been sitting with it during the day and "practicing" for at least 30 minutes, but now I'm wondering if I am associating it too much with being awake or something because when I lay with it at night I just lay there and get frustrated. So initially I think it was not related to CPAP but I think I have now associated it somehow with CPAP.... Thank you so much for your responses.
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#6
RE: Please help me get back on track
(03-02-2016, 02:08 PM)beth2507 Wrote: Initially, the insomnia seemed to start as an unrelated thing. I was still using CPAP at the time.

So, you were having problems with insomnia before your sleep study and start with CPAP in 2012?
I'm sure it's easy for our brains to associate a problem like insomnia with something we don't like very much, in this case CPAP, but it might be helpful to discover whether insomnia existed prior to your sleep study and start of CPAP.
One possibility is that the insomnia began before your sleep study as a result of apnea events that were waking you during sleep. Which leads me to OpalRose's question about any sleep study data or description.

David

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#7
RE: Please help me get back on track
(03-02-2016, 01:13 PM)beth2507 Wrote: Hi everyone,

I was diagnosed with OSA in 2012 and started CPAP. I wore it faithfully and did well right away. I fell off track for about a month in 2013 but quickly got back to it. Now I am off track and having trouble restarting. In September I had a horrible bout of insomnia and got off track with CPAP because I was in and out of bed all night. I'm trying to follow good sleep hygene rules and am familiar with those. Ever since then I have not been able to get back to using my CPAP regularly. I've almost developed an anxiety around it related to that episode of insomnia (I think I connected the two somehow). For awhile I was using it and taking it off after an hour and not remembering. I don't have a data capable machine so I don't know what was happening and my doctor didn't think it was anything. Now I put the mask on my face and just can't get to sleep for the life of me. I get anxious and end up giving up. I know eventually I"m just going to have to leave it on and get out of bed when I can't sleep and maybe eventualy I'll fall asleep with it on but I'm so afraid of another episode of insomnia that I haven't gotten the courage to do it. I know there might not be any more answers for me, and I just have to put the mask on my face and do my best. I just thought I would put this out there and see if anyone could help.

Thank you. I really want to make this work.
Hi beth2507,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
Hang in there for more suggestions.
Much success to you and hopefully, you can get to where you are using your CPAP mask and machine all the time.
trish6hundred
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#8
RE: Please help me get back on track
beth2507,
I know you have a Cpap that doesn't give much in the way of data or using software to gauge your apnea, but when you were using Cpap last, were you able to get an AHI reading from the Cpap?

I just want to say that when I first started Cpap, I also suffered anxiety. Of course, I had insomnia prior to therapy, so coupled with being anxious about using Cpap, which I knew nothing about, didn't make it easy.

But I decided early on that I had to make it work, and little by little was able to overcome those feelings. Practicing good sleep hygiene does help too.

Does your mask fit well? If that is the problem, try a different style mask.

It work be beneficial to you if you could find a way to get an updated machine in time, like a fully data capable APAP.
OpalRose
Apnea Board Administrator
www.apneaboard.com

_______________________
OSCAR Chart Organization
How to Attach Images and Files.
OSCAR - The Guide
Soft Cervical Collar
Optimizing therapy
OSCAR supported machines
Mask Primer



INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE.  ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA.  INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
Post Reply Post Reply
#9
RE: Please help me get back on track
Hi everyone,

I never struggled with insomnia prior to CPAP. I went for a sleep study because my mom has OSA and I was having trouble losing weight so thought it may be connected. My first sleep study was in May of 2012. It showed prominent sleep fragmentation, moderate obstructive sleep apnea consisting mainly of hypopneas, minimum desaturation of 89%. I am not sure if my machine will tell me my AHI. I will look in to it. My mask seems to fit fairly well, better than any of the others I have tried. I would love a new machine and think an APAP would probably be more comfortable/better. I will be due for a new one in about a year, but my insurance won't cover it unless I can demonstrate compliance with this one.
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#10
RE: Please help me get back on track
Beth, I just checked with an older posting by Paula02 and it confirms what I had thought. Unfortunately, the S9 Escape only records hours used; nothing more. So, to see data such as AHI, you'd need an S9 Elite or Autoset, or a newer AirSense 10 Elite or Autoset in the ResMed line.

David
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