I just went for a sleep study and was found to have severe sleep apnea....they put a cpap machine on me in the middle of the night....I am also clausterphobic (sp?) and when they put the full mask on i felt the need to freak out! I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions as to how i can get used to the full mask if that is in fact what the Dr suggests??? I was able to calm myself down and breathe but it was difficult to sleep bc i was concentrating on my breathing more than i prolly needed to. I don't know that i really have any choice in the matter as the technician told me i had stopped breathing on avg over 100 times an hour! So I go to the Dr today and hopefully he has my results in hand so I can discuss this with him, but if yall have any suggestions i would greatly appreciate any and all!

My Dad has that and wears it every night. The best way he gets through the night is to breathe real deep and slow to calm you down. He has anxiety attacks and he has learned to do this over the years. When he breathes too fast, it ends up in another anxiety attack. Good luck and I'm sorry to hear you have that.

Amy,
Good for you for going in and getting it figured out. My husband has that also and can't sleep without his machine hardly at all. He too had a really tough time getting used to wearing it, but once he did was a piece of cake. Good luck and get some sleep. My husband was suprised to find that in an 8 hour night he was actually only sleeping 1 1/2 hours. That makes it pretty hard to be productive during the day.

ALL are different. I was also a sleep apnea and told I needed the Cpap. Got it used it for 5 months---gave it back. I have insomia and have for the past 25 years I average about an hour or maybe 4 sometimes. I just "deal" with it and the only thing I found that will get me to sleep is zanax. I have been taking that for the past 10 yrs and I am 73 and do pretty much what I like to. I was thinking "if you have to take meds to sleep" or u don't sleep at all, what is the difference if u have sleep apnea?

MY SIS COULDNY USE THE FULL MASK SO THEY GAVE HER JUST A NOSE ONE. SHE & HER HUSBAND CAN FINALY SLEEP TOGETHER! LOL

My husband and I both have the nose masks....makes for a real romantic night, ya know?!?(hoses flying all over the place, etc.!!!) Actually, I'm in the testing phase now...tried the test at the sleep center and could not sleep that night for the life of me!!!! So they had to set me up with the at-home machine for testing...now I can't sleep without it! It's my best Bud!!! I can feel my airway closing up, so I get very little sleep. That explains why I'm zoning out at work and am so tired all the time. I do feel better using this machine, though. So see if you can use the one that covers only your nose.

Thanks for the replies! I am defintely goin to look into different types of masks...I have to do this, bc i SO want to feel better....being tired all the time, having headaches daily and such is very tiring, and i have let this go on to long....

Good luck Amy!

Well I wish i had an update...but I don't! STILL waiting on the doc to call and tell me what the next step is...i'm even MORE frustrated right now bc i have been up every hour since i went to bed...which makes for a looong night! Ughhh so tired of this!

I HAVE SLEEP APNEA ALSO. LIKE YOU, I FREAKED OUT WITH THE FULL MASK. COULDN'T EVEN IMAGINE TRYING TO SLEEP WITH THAT CONTRAPTION ON MY FACE. SO I OPTED FOR THE NOSE TYPE TOO AND I SLEEP LIKE A BABY! MAYBE YOU SHOULD TALK TO YOUR DR. AND SEE IF THAT COULD BE AN OPTION FOR YOU! WITHOUT MY CPAP, GIRL I AM UP EVERY HOUR OR LESS. IT CAN GET VERY FRUSTRATING! WHEN I TRAVEL, THAT BABY GOES WITH ME FOR SURE!! IT AIN'T PRETTY AND CAN SOMETIMES PUT A DAMPER ON YOUR LOVE LIFE....BUT HEY, I FIGURE BEING ALIVE IS MORE IMPORTANT TO ME AT THIS POINT! LOL!

So true Vicki...being ALIVE is way more important, I have two kids i wanna see grown and i wanna be a grandma someday!! LoL I have found a sleep apnea msg board and they are saying the same thing to try just the nose mask....as i am STILL waiting on the Dr to call me to see what the next step is i am def gonna bring up that and see how that works!

LoL on a funny note...On all our Gary trips me and the girls love to take pics of shows and before and after...i told them there will be NO pics of me looking like a freak show with my mask! As I will be taking it with me bc i know i wont be able to sleep without it once i get used to it!

Yikes...sending my prayers your way. I'm so glad they are spending more time researching sleep apnea. I hope you and your doctor can find something comfortable to treat you with. The nose one shouldn't be a problem for you...and I am sure if you explain you are more comfortable with it..they would be moer willing to try it

KEEP US UPDATED!!!

To update ya....after much work on my own and being a lil on the B****y side i finally found out that my Dr did in fact have my results in their hands since the 10th! So i made them do what they should have done and call in what i needed to the medical supplier....the med supplier should be callin me with an appt today to get my cpap...soooo hopefully i wil be on the road to feeling better VERY soon!

Hope all goes well for you.

Trini

UPDATE....I am starting CPAP tonight!! Very nervous and maybe even a lil excited too...when i went in to get the machine they put it on me and started out at a low pressure which was fine, but then they put it on full pressure so i would know what it felt like...WOW...it felt like i was in a wind tunnel!!! now THATS gonna take some getting used to for sure!

On the upside...having very severe apnea the nurse said that i should start feeling better pretty quickly, as opposed to some people that take a few weeks or months to start feeling better...so that is the part that makes me excited about using it, bc i have felt bad for sooooo long i cannot wait to feel so much better!

THAT'S GREAT GIRL! TRUST ME, YOU WILL GET USED TO IT AND THEN YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO SLEEP WITHOUT IT! THINKING OF YOU!

Well...I DID IT!!!! I survived the first night and have more confidence now that i CAN do it! It wasnt nearly as bad as i thought it would be!! I am so excited!!!

So glad you finally have some relief Amy! Thinking about you!

Just a lil update....I have been sleeping longer than normal which is good but i developed the flu a few days ago so i am not feeling up to par...if it isn't one thing its another! Hopefully once i get rid of this darned flu i will be feeling much better! Thanks to everyone for your support/prayers and thoughts...they are truly appreciated!

Sorry to hear that. Hope you feel better soon.

When we lived in the midwest my husband suffered from that. He wore the mask everynight. Since we moved to arizona he has'nt used it at all. I don't think it's even unpacked.Maybe it 's the dryness here.

Well, I hope you are over your flu and your c-pap is working for you okey! Rest well!!!

I am another one that use the nose mask. I couldn't get use to the full face one, but have no problems with this one. Also make sure your machine has the vaporizer on it. That really helps in the winter with the dry weather or if you get a cold.

I am actually used to the full face mask now...i just set my mind to it and overcame! I am doing better now still get tired through the day but nothing like it was...i guess it just takes time to pay off the sleep debt!

I'm glad you like it and use it! Mine is my best-bud....can't sleep without it. I still get a little drowsy during the day, but nothing like I used to be. I have much more energy too!!

Glad you are adjusting and starting to feel better.