Hey there,

I just finished my second night with a CPAP (Resmed Elite Pillow) and when I lie down, I was not able to fall asleep and need to take my Restoril (sleeping pill).  Does anyone else take medicines to fall asleep along with their CPAP?  Last night I slept from 10:30pm - 4:00am straight and had dreams.  I woke up and went to the bathroom and sort us went in and out of sleep until almost 6am.

Still getting used to CPAP, I am.

Thanks,
Aarondawg

Hi Aarondawg - I use an over-the-counter sleep aid. I don't use the benadryl type as those don't do a thing for me.

I only use a half a tab as a full one totally knocks me for a loop.  I have found this helps me to stay asleep through things such as my husband getting up in the night, the dog changing positions, etc.  

It has made a huge difference in my ability to maintain compliance as in the past, when something would wake me, I had a very hard time going back to sleep.  Most of the time I would take off the mask and then doze - which we all know is not a wise move at all.

Good luck in your cpap journey.

I've been using whatever I can get my hands on to help me sleep, and I would kill right now for an Rx sleep aid like restoril or ambien. I've been using melatonin in conjuction with trying to reset my internal clock to get me to bed earlier, but I've also been taking xanax most nights except friday night when I ran out. I've also taken benadryl and on friday I had a really hard time falling asleep with it I took a benadryl and a vicodin left over from my deviated septum surgery.
(DISCLAIMER: This was a very bad a idea! When I woke up and realized what I did in my desperation I was horrified! Some of these combinations can be deadly if you have OSA.)

The biggest thing that helps me sleep I figured out is it being cold enough in my room. Ideally 68deg, and in SoCal it's really hard to do that with out cranking the AC. when I do that though my roommates complain that they're freezing to death. I got a fan to put in my window this weekend which seems to do the trick.

Thanks for your responses.  I will continue taking something until I guet used to my CPAP, 3 nights on it thusfar.

Regards,
Aarondawg