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carbonelThis is what happened tonight. It matches what happens too many other nights.
Around 11:30, I take a couple of low-dose melatonin, and read and play Candy Crush until 12:30, when I'm falling asleep over the iPad.
Turn APAP on.
Try to adjust nasal pillows so I can breathe through them, without adjusting other headgear. Succeed.
Now to adjust straps attached to them so they stay in place.
Top strap is flopping on forehead. Tighten it.
Now the nasal pillows have moved, and I can't breathe through my nose.
Readjust bottom straps. Seems to be okay.
Turn off lights and lie down, adjusting pillow pillows (the real ones).
Everything is slightly off. The nasal pillows are leaking air and blowing on my face. Try to get things adjusted with minor tweaks. Fail.
Turn lights on again. Take off headgear and try to readjust straps.
Put the whole assembly back on.
The Velcro on the bottom straps doesn't want to attach properly. Fiddle with it some more. Can't get anything right.
By now am wide awake. Also crying in frustration. Which means my nose is plugged, which is decidedly less than optimum for using the nasal pillows.
This is the fourth night in a row that I've had this fight. One night I gave up and slept without APAP (lose). One night I managed to fall asleep with it, but woke up around 4 am with nasty cramps and spent the next hour in the bathroom (not the fault of the APAP, I suppose). One night I triumphed, and slept seven hours. What will it be tonight?
Statistics seem to indicate that if I keep fiddling and adjusting, eventually I will be able to fall asleep with the device on. But it shouldn't be a nightly struggle. There has to be a better solution, but I'm damned if I know what it is. I've tried the two major brands of nasal pillows on the market, and neither one works terribly well for me. I really dislike the full-face mask -- one major reason I had surgery this year was so I wouldn't need that. Maybe a nose-only mask would work -- I haven't tried that since the surgery.
All I know is that right now it's 1:15 am, and my alarm will go off at 7:30. In between now and then, I'd really like to get some good-quality sleep. But I guess right now, I'll play some more Candy Crush.
Around 11:30, I take a couple of low-dose melatonin, and read and play Candy Crush until 12:30, when I'm falling asleep over the iPad.
Turn APAP on.
Try to adjust nasal pillows so I can breathe through them, without adjusting other headgear. Succeed.
Now to adjust straps attached to them so they stay in place.
Top strap is flopping on forehead. Tighten it.
Now the nasal pillows have moved, and I can't breathe through my nose.
Readjust bottom straps. Seems to be okay.
Turn off lights and lie down, adjusting pillow pillows (the real ones).
Everything is slightly off. The nasal pillows are leaking air and blowing on my face. Try to get things adjusted with minor tweaks. Fail.
Turn lights on again. Take off headgear and try to readjust straps.
Put the whole assembly back on.
The Velcro on the bottom straps doesn't want to attach properly. Fiddle with it some more. Can't get anything right.
By now am wide awake. Also crying in frustration. Which means my nose is plugged, which is decidedly less than optimum for using the nasal pillows.
This is the fourth night in a row that I've had this fight. One night I gave up and slept without APAP (lose). One night I managed to fall asleep with it, but woke up around 4 am with nasty cramps and spent the next hour in the bathroom (not the fault of the APAP, I suppose). One night I triumphed, and slept seven hours. What will it be tonight?
Statistics seem to indicate that if I keep fiddling and adjusting, eventually I will be able to fall asleep with the device on. But it shouldn't be a nightly struggle. There has to be a better solution, but I'm damned if I know what it is. I've tried the two major brands of nasal pillows on the market, and neither one works terribly well for me. I really dislike the full-face mask -- one major reason I had surgery this year was so I wouldn't need that. Maybe a nose-only mask would work -- I haven't tried that since the surgery.
All I know is that right now it's 1:15 am, and my alarm will go off at 7:30. In between now and then, I'd really like to get some good-quality sleep. But I guess right now, I'll play some more Candy Crush.
