Throwing in the towel?

[mapsedge]

I had high hopes for the CPAP  machine, but I'm sleeping worse with it than without it. The constant physical nagging of the mask, for want of a better metaphor, is waking me two and three times a night. That's right on a par with how I sleep without the thing, so there's not a whole lot of benefit there.

I tried the nasal "pillows", and found two problems. My mouth would drop open, waking me, and condensation would build up inside the silicon form and either run down my face or, worse, get snorted up into my sinuses causing burning and irritation. 

I tried the nose-to-chin mask. My face must be built oddly because the mask would cut in just below my cheekbones and cause soreness after a while. In the middle of the night the mask would begin to slip, and the leaking air would wake me.

I made a cotton/lycra chin strap to hold my mouth shut and went back to the nasal pillows. The strap worked, but I'd forgotten about the condensation: I got a snoot-full sometime around 3:00am, so off it came. For some reason, also, my nose feels like I've been punched, hard. Must've been the way the thing was sitting overnight, I don't know.

Here's what I do know: I'm grumpy as hell this morning because I slept badly.

There's going to be a CPAP machine for sale soon, if anybody wants one.

Comments

[bleuberi21.livejournal.com]

My mom had a lot of the same issues with the masks...she finally was referred to a dentist, and now uses something similar to a retainer. It helps her a lot more than the mask ever did.

Other options

[iarraidh.livejournal.com]

I am looking into intra-ocular devices as discussed Here

Also a guy I worked with as well as 2 current friends had the laser surgery to reduce the uvula and soft palet as discussed Here. All 3 swear by it. I will probably go that route if the dental device is not successful.

If something covers my face when I am sleeping, I'll wake up in a dead panic. the mask won't work for me, I can guarantee.

[motherpockets.livejournal.com]

Every time I tried to wear the mask, if I moved at all, I got those sucking noises, which would wake me up. So I tried to sleep without moving, which caused not only poor sleep, but also excruciating back pain. So my cpap has been sitting on the floor by my bed for the last 3 years.