1. Control humidification (this is your job; you must learn how to do this; your Respiratory Company can’t correctly set this for you; they don’t know the humidity level in your bedroom)
2. Master headgear use (get right fit; test at pressure needed; during sleep time – don’t tighten mask, just reposition)
3. Prevent leaks (causes of leaking – bumping mask [fix pillow], pulling mask [fix hose], friction between headgear and pillow [pillow slip, sliders], mask fit [get proper mask], give your brain time to learn how to move)
4. Teach your brain to ignore this “thing” on your face
(don’t take it off in the night for the first week; there will be some discomfort – if you keep it on and battle through the first few nights, you will quickly adjust to it; when going to the washroom take hose off and leave mask on your face; this fourth skill is the critical one for you to acquire; you win or lose your mastery of your PAP this week; you either train your brain to ignore it (you win) or to focus on it (you lose)). If you don’t train your brain to ignore it now, you will have to do it later, when it will take longer. You will keep on waking up, frequently, for weeks or months. You will probably give up CPAP, blaming the discomfort of the mask / headgear, leaking, or noise. You will not recognize that you have trained your brain to wake you throughout the night. Just bite the bullet on those first 5-6 days and keep it on. You can know with your mind that this system is going to help you; your throat will not collapse, you will get a lot more oxygen. Your brain does not know this. Your brain dislikes anything that covers your breathing orifices. Your brain wakes you up to check on whether you want to keep this weird thing on your face or not. As soon as you take it off and go back to sleep without it, your brain says, “Aha! I must keep on waking you up because you are going to take it off. Ok, I’m a helpful brain. I can do that for you.”
Your brain is a friendly, co-operative sort of organ. It will follow your training. Train it well and it will serve you well and you will master the PAP machine quickly.