Welcome to CPAP! If you’re reading this, chances are either you plan to start CPAP therapy or you’ve already started and need some pointers. Adjusting to CPAP therapy can take some time and it’s important to remember to give yourself time to adapt while setting realistic goals so you can measure your success.
In this article, we’ll provide useful CPAP adjustment tips geared towards first-time users from our medical staff. We’ll also explore how using the right CPAP mask and practicing good sleep hygiene improve your treatment outcomes.
How Do I Adjust to CPAP Therapy?
The first thing I recommend for easier CPAP adjustment is to set up all of your CPAP equipment during the daytime. Figure out how to connect your CPAP mask to your machine and how to use your CPAP. Most machines come with quick start guides, so there’s no need to read the entire user manual at this stage. At some point though, it’s really in your best interest to familiarize yourself with the user manual. At the very least, look over the machine troubleshooting section and cleaning and maintenance information.
If you prefer a more visual guide to CPAP equipment cleaning, our CPAP mask, tubing and humidifier cleaning video below provides all the information you need to know.
Once you’ve got everything set up, you should try it out for a bit! Using the machine during the daytime when there is no pressure to fall asleep will help make your first night of therapy go much smoother.
Tip #1: Use CPAP While Doing Something Relaxing
In general, the best approach to CPAP adjustment is to use the machine while you’re engaged in a relaxing activity, such as watching a movie or a hockey game. By practicing for a couple of hours with a distraction, you allow yourself to acclimate to the machine’s function. If your attention is solely focused on your breathing while using the machine, you’re more likely to start hyperventilating due to the increased pressure. Once you’ve gotten accustomed to your new breathing rhythm, you won’t need to do something else while on CPAP to distract yourself.
My favorite suggestion is daytime practice before the first night. Pop on a football game and just use the machine for a couple hours when you don’t have the pressure to fall asleep. That will let your body acclimate to the CPAP and make the first night go better.
Anne, RPSGT
Tip #2: Set Small Goals to Track Your Progress
As with anything new, there is an adjustment period. It can take time to get used to your machine, but do not fear, you can get there. Any time you can use your machine is going to benefit your health. Keep trying every night and do not give up!
Our next tip is setting small goals to track your progress. For example, start off by using your CPAP for 20 minutes. After you’ve adjusted to the sensation of breathing on a CPAP, aim for one hour. If you had a great night, then increase your goal for the following night to either 2 or 3 hours. If you find you can consistently manage 3 or 4 hours on CPAP without any discomfort and you don’t wake up feeling more exhausted than prior to using CPAP, you’re ready to attempt a full night on CPAP.
Remember that your progress may not be linear. There might be nights where, despite regularly managing three hours, you revert to only being able to tolerate your CPAP for one hour. Do not lose faith. You can still get there! Just keep at it.
Anytime you can spend on your CPAP has a positive effect. You can gradually increase the time every week.
Ashley, CPSGT
Some users find it hard to progress past the initial acclimatization stage. Daytime CPAP use can help you to a point where you can use the machine comfortably enough to fall asleep but it will not help much after this point. If you have an auto CPAP machine, you’ll likely notice that you have no trouble falling asleep but you tend to wake up in the middle of the night as your CPAP increases pressure. This is perfectly normal.
A strategy for adjusting to CPAP therapy is to focus on consistency over extending usage time. For example, if you are only able to use your CPAP for three hours each night, set a goal for only three hours/night for the next few nights. You’re not trying to extend your usage time, but rather you’re focusing on replicating your success over a period of time.
Tip #3: Be Consistent
So how long does it take to adjust to CPAP? Some people get comfortable after a night or two of use. For others, CPAP adjustment can take a few weeks or months. When you’re still not accustomed to therapy, it can be tempting to miss a few nights of therapy. From adjusting CPAP machine settings to adjusting CPAP mask, each night feels taxing and tedious.
But remember: consistency is key in therapy. While skipping a night occasionally may not have significant long-term effects, it can cause major disruption, particularly during the CPAP adjustment period. Adjusting to CPAP use is similar to establishing any good habit—it requires both time and regular practice.
Taking a break will set back your progress in building the habit of using it every night. Your brain and body need time to adapt to the sensation of breathing with the CPAP machine and how it feels to fall asleep while it’s in use. For those nights where you just can’t seem to fall asleep with the CPAP, remember that every minute you spend using the machine makes the next night easier.
This CPAP Mask Might Not Be for Me
The abundance of CPAP masks on the market is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it’s advantageous because it ensures there’s a suitable mask for every user. On the other hand, the vast selection is overwhelming, particularly for new users or those considering a change in their current equipment. This brings us to tip number 4.
For people that are quite claustrophobic, I usually recommend wearing the mask alone without any pressure as a start. When they are more comfortable with the mask, then I suggest introducing the pressure.
Anh, LPN
Tip #4: Find the Right CPAP Mask
Finding the right mask is the #1 indicator of CPAP success. If the mask is uncomfortable, patients are considerably more likely to take it off in the night, struggle with using the mask for the whole night, experience difficulty falling asleep, and ultimately discontinue CPAP therapy. It is important to really try to acclimate to the mask, but it is also important to give yourself some grace and allow yourself to get some sleep.
It is important to be patient with yourself and let yourself sleep, even if that means not using the CPAP for the whole night when you’re struggling.
When patients are taking it off in the middle of the night, I like to recommend that they try it twice each night. If you want to take it off half way through, give yourself a minute to reset and then try again. If it happens again, put it aside for the night. That way, they aren’t just giving up, but they also aren’t struggling all night and getting frustrated.
Anne, RPSGT
For instance, if you spend the entire night adjusting your CPAP full face mask, you will be far less likely to attempt the following night when you are even more tired than you were the night before. It is more important to try using the mask every night than it is to make it through the whole night at the cost of quality sleep.
Sleep Hygiene – A Good Clean Fight
We all have a routine when getting ready to sleep. We brush our teeth. Put on pajamas. Turn off the lights and tuck ourselves into bed. Some people turn off their electronic devices. This routine of preparing ourselves for sleep is called sleep hygiene. Having good sleep hygiene will not only help you sleep better, but also help you become more successful in adjusting to a CPAP machine.
Tip #5: Make CPAP a part of your sleep hygiene routine
Incorporating your CPAP into your sleep hygiene routine will increase your success in using the machine. Putting the water in your chamber when you brush your teeth, putting the mask on once you’re settled into bed, washing the mask cushion in the morning when you are washing your face. All of these little habits will make CPAP adjustment a smoother process and your therapy easier to stick with.
Patients sometimes report falling asleep without it on. For those, I recommend putting it on as soon as you are in bed. It will not hurt you or affect your therapy if you put your mask on and start using the CPAP while playing on your phone or reading a book as you fall asleep. This way, when you do fall asleep, you’re already set to go.
Anne, RPSGT
Tip #6: Recruit your bed partner
Having an accountability partner can also help you adjust to therapy. Encourage your bed partner to participate in your therapy journey. If you tend to forget to put your mask on, ask your bed partner to remind you if they notice you’re not using it or hear you snoring.
Set an alarm on your phone close to bedtime to remind yourself to put on your mask. Another strategy is to put your mask inside your pillowcase after you get up in the mornings so that when you go to bed, it is in your way, and you are reminded to put it on.
Tip #7: Let the professionals help you
Modern CPAP machines are very advanced and provide a lot of data to clinicians. Such data allows the clinician who is tracking your sleep therapy to locate issues like mask leak, pressure over titration, low pressure apneas, poor mask fit, mouth venting etc. All these issues can be fixed by making pressure changes on the machine, adjusting a CPAP mask or selecting a different mask.
If you do not have a therapist monitoring your therapy and analyzing your data, RespShop’s data and compliance service can help. If your CPAP machine can transmit data remotely, our medical staff can view your response to treatment and make recommendations to improve your therapy.
The Takeaway
Remember why you’re doing this. Whether the reason is heart health, spousal satisfaction, or just to feel better, having that motivation in the forefront of your mind will help. Understanding the risks and rewards can help, but ultimately, your own motivations will outweigh anything you can be taught.
In the end, it is your therapy and only you can put it on every night!
