Tips for Falling Asleep with CPAP

By Admin

The most important thing to remember when diagnosed with any disorder is to maintain a positive attitude. But for sleep apnea patients in particular, the most likely treatment of Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) Therapy will begin with a period of adjustment that will take time, patience, and some trial-and-error learning experiences before you reach a natural state of compatibility. While there are numerous CPAP tutorials available online, many of them cover only the basics of CPAP assembly and functioning. For a more comprehensive list of CPAP best practices and solutions, you will need to do more thorough research, and perhaps more specific recommendations from a sleep specialist or healthcare provider. For quick reference purposes, the following descriptions and links should give you some good tips on how best to meet your needs when using CPAP. But remember, when it comes to health and sleep, more information is always better. Use these tips as stepping stones on your journey to full CPAP compliance, and in time, the long-term benefits will far outweigh any short-term difficulties of adjustment.

How to Begin?

To begin, let’s ask the largest CPAP device manufacturer in the country, The company ResMed provides a comprehensive library of instructions and tips on how best to use and maintain their products. As a leading researcher of sleep apnea therapy devices, ResMed sponsors numerous studies at annual sleep science events, often raising the bar for best practices in the screening, diagnosis, and treatment of sleep apnea. For more general-use purposes, ResMed also provides some basic CPAP tips for new patients, focusing primarily on the importance of the adjustment process. In their words, you should “ease yourself into your sleep therapy.” Don’t try CPAP for a night or two and give it up because you can’t sleep well with it. There are things to consider, and practice will bridge the gap to comfortable sleep if you are certain to follow the right steps. Begin using CPAP for short periods of time when doing other things such as taking a nap, reading, or watching television. These beginning steps will take some of the pressure off of making what may seem like a drastic change in your routine. The slower you ease into regular use, the more natural and less threatening it will feel.

Mask Comfort

ResMed’s second suggestion is to “make sure your CPAP mask is comfortable.” Obviously, you will get nowhere if your mask does not fit right and creates leaks that jeopardize your treatment results. You may need to adjust the mask straps and headgear until you get the right fit. There are also special therapy-use bed pillows available that are shaped to accomodate the devices and tubes. The most common problems with CPAP therapy involve improper mask fits, especially for new patients. For example, if a mask is too big, the straps will need to be pulled too tightly to make it fit, causing irritation. On the other hand, if a mask is too small, it will not seal properly and air will leak, causing loss of pressure and uncomfortable air spouts from sides of the the mask. Bottom Line: Get the Right Mask for your preferences and features. These days, there is a very wide range of CPAP mask styles to choose from, many of which are tailored to meet the needs of specific body types and facial profiles. There are also full-face masks and nasal masks. Preferences vary, but in general, those who experience a lot of movement during sleep tend to gravitate toward the security of a full-face mask, while others prefer the freedom of movement that nasal models allow. If you aren’t sure, always check with a specialist who can help identify the best options for your particular condition.

Sleep Hygiene

Proper sleep hygiene starts with spending time in bed. This doesn’t mean laying in bed with your eyes open or staring at a television. The first step to good sleep hygiene is having respect for your sleep space. When the sleeping hours arrive, your bedroom should be dark, cool, and distraction-free. This means that any devices, phones, or screens should be put aside. Yes, it’s OK to watch TV for a while before bed, but leaving the TV on is a huge distraction and very unhealthy. The National Sleep Foundation (NSF) recommends limiting screen viewing to an hour before bedtime. This will help you discipline your nightly activities in the interest of better sleep. And when CPAP is involved, discipline is extremely important. You will also want to optimize comfort and convenience within your sleep space. A cluttered bedroom makes for cluttered sleep. And according to the NSF, clutter and discomfort in the bedroom can actually elevate stress on an unconscious level, contributing to more tension and less sleep. Other recommendations for good sleep hygiene include the limiting of naps, alcohol, or stimulants during the day, avoiding heavy, rich, or spicy foods, and choosing relaxing activities in the hour or two before bedtime. This last point should be emphasized: bedtime routines are so important for sleep that they are often included as primary recommendations for those with sleep difficulties. What you do in the hours before sleep can be just as important as what you do in bed, especially in the early evening hours after eating a meal. Nighttime exercise is also important for the stimulation of restful endorphins, as well as for health in general. While morning exercise is just as effective for general health purposes, evening exercise, at least two hours before bedtime, will allow for a calming period that lowers stress and aids in comfort and relaxation.

Comfort Features

The majority of complaints about CPAP therapy involve comfort issues. Masks moving or leaking, blowing too much air, being too heavy on the face, blocking vision, making noise, irritating the skin, congestion, all of this can be corrected with fairly simple adjustments. To begin, using a ramp feature is always recommended. Ramp features start the machine at a low pressure setting and gradually increase to your prescribed level as you begin to fall asleep. Next, add a humidifier. This is a good idea anyway for comfort purposes, but if you have any issues with congestion or dryness in the throat or nose, a humidifier will help a great deal. Many CPAP devices have a heated humidifier as well, which allows you to breathe warm, moist air that soothes during sleep. Saline spray or decongestants can also be used for congestion issues. And if the problem is caused by a nasal mask, a full-face option can be a solution for some individuals. Ensuring that your mask is the correct size and style, as mentioned above, should prevent skin irritation. But for some CPAP users, this can remain an issue. If this is the case, there are other measures you can take, such as using another layer of cushioning, soft adhesives, or anti-oil cosmetics. Sometimes cleaning the mask can help in this regard as well. Routine cleaning is not an option but a necessity for CPAP therapy, and should never be neglected. To cope with CPAP noise, a white-noise program can be used on a phone or speaker system. Earplugs are another option, but today’s CPAP machines are extremely quite and getting quieter. Noises caused by pressure changes are brief and only disruptive if it occurs with regularity. If this is the case, there may also be settings issue causing problems. Consider taking your device to a professional for an assessment.

Making CPAP Part of Your Routine

The website Sleep Education.org has a list of CPAP therapy sleeping suggestions that are very similar to those provided by ResMed. As with ResMed, Sleep Education begins with small steps to help patients get used to the idea of using the device. But what Sleep Education emphasizes most is the incorporation of CPAP into your nightly routine. This means that your CPAP therapy becomes part of your sleep hygiene commitments. After the adjustment period, a decision needs to be made at some point to begin a full compliance schedule. Once this point is reached, there should be no casual decisions about whether or not to use CPAP during sleep. For at least the minimum hours required for compliance, the device must be used regularly and without hesitation. If therapy is to save your life and your health, it should be become like any other evening habit.

Professional Help and Guidance

If these tips and adjustments do not work for you, there is always the option of talking to a sleep specialist or calling a local sleep center for advice. These people can answer all your questions about your CPAP device, and can even give you more thorough tips and recommendations for your CPAP adjustment process. There’s always the chance that you need a different type of CPAP mask or machine, or that you may need a simple adjustment to your settings to provide better comfort and make your device more effective. Some people can also benefit from CPAP counseling or cognitive-behavioral therapy. These forms of supplemental therapy can help patients through their sleep or CPAP-related problems and direct them toward the best options for their needs. In the meantime, when you’re waiting for your next appointment with a specialist, support groups and networks are available to get you in touch with others going through similar experiences. Through support networks you can get good tips and advice from the patients themselves, and in some regards this can be just as useful as professional help, since the patients know the machines well and have been through the same period of adjustment.

Don’t Give Up

This is nearly every sleep professional’s most salient point when it comes to CPAP advice. Practice, along with the right support, the right mask, and a positive attitude, will ultimately lead to relaxing, restorative sleep with a CPAP device. All you have to do is address your problems and keep at it, and before you know it, CPAP therapy will not only be a normal part of your life and routine, but will improve your sleep and prevent sleep apnea events, night after night.