Comment by drivers99

> I can breathe through the CPAP exclusively for hours but then as soon as I try to go to sleep I feel like I’m being smothered and my heart starts racing

I felt the same way when I was prescribed a CPAP about 20 years ago. I'd be set to go, get panicky, take the mask off and not feel like trying again for longer periods of time until I gave up. Then about 2 years ago I decided to get a doctor again, talk about my sleep apnea, get a new set of sleep studies done, try to get a machine (it took forever!). I got prescribed a similar machine called an ASV.

For me, the thing that works is a breathing technique the technician at the sleep study told me, which was breath in manually, but then just relax to breathe out rather than forcefully breathing out. Currently I do that by breathing in manually, and then relaxing while counting to three as I let it out. I don't know if it's just a mental way to relax or what, but it works for me. Also, when I was taking the sleep study, I was determined to complete the test, so taking it off wasn't an option, even if I got anxious. So I did the breathing thing, and they were able to get enough data to proceed.

I go to sleep when I'm very tired; that might help. As far as I remember, I fall asleep very quickly. If I wake up in the morning, I can't really get back to sleep since I just notice the mask too much while not falling asleep; I guess I'm not tired enough any more at that point. 7 hours is good for me, but often I'll get 5-6 hours.

Edit: oh yeah, my number of sleep events (when you stop breathing) went from 120 to ~1 per hour. For comparison, >5 is mild, >15 is moderate, >30 is severe.