Avner Shanan

Spacesuits for Sleeping: CPAP Machine Resources

Many people could benefit from sleeping with a CPAP machine. Fewer people actually do. Of those who have and use their CPAP machine, even fewer actually maintain it on the recommended schedule. That’s… not great. As someone who has both a CPAP machine and ADHD, believe me, I understand that last one! It is a struggle to stay on schedule. In addition to the items I’m going to list below, there are a couple of really important hurdles I had to overcome in order to start using mine consistently.

“It’s not a life sentence”

For some people, the difference between sleeping with and without CPAP support is like night and day. That was a lot of what I heard from doctors, as well as from my dad and other CPAP users when I was in the process of getting mine. That did not turn out to be the case for me. Don’t get me wrong, it’s helpful, but my sleep apnea is fairly mild. Whatever the case is for you, whether it feels great or merely good, you may still feel—as I did—a certain amount of resentment. Even though it helps me sleep better, gives me access to proper rest, and improves my relationship with my wife, I couldn’t help but feel a frisson of opposition every time I had to put it on. It was my dad who helped me get past that feeling by pointing out, from his own experience, “it’s not a life sentence.” And he was right—I don’t have to use it every night, and I don’t¹. But on most nights I choose to, because I feel better when I do. Being able to transition from “I have to” to “I choose to” was probably the hardest part of acclimatizing to sleeping with a CPAP machine.

Find a framing that works for you

I’ve come to jokingly but mostly lovingly think of my CPAP machine as my spacesuit for sleeping. The image came to me in a fit of resentment—how much my life had changed that I needed a damn life support system just to go to bed, like, here I am not even 40 and I’m putting on a spacesuit to go to sleep? Luckily for me this bit of hyperbole happened to trip over decades of interest in sci fi and fantasy, conjuring up an image of an enterprising oneironaut working through their preflight checklist (clean mask…check… distilled water…check… comforter…check!) before boldly venturing into the unknown depths of Dream Space. The dissonance between the resentment that created the image and its inherent silliness turned out to be a useful tool, helping me take a step back and examine the way I was framing my situation. While it’s true that sleeping with the CPAP machine is part of how my life had changed, it was far from the biggest, and yes it was supporting my life, by helping me get better sleep. That’s a good thing! Since then I have tried to be a little more aware of how I think about my relationship with it, what frame I’m using, and if it’s serving me.

When it comes to CPAP machine maintenance, the framing that has worked best for me so far has been to think of it as self-care. It may not be as fun as a massage or cathartic like therapy can be, but it is in a very literal sense taking care of myself to take care of this machine. I have also found some success treating CPAP maintenance as a “house chore,” (though it’s one that only I do). Having it on the schedule with other house chores makes it easier for me to keep up with the various cadences of care required by different parts. If those frames don’t work for you, don’t despair. Keep trying, and I hope you find one that works for you!

Resources

A note on e-commerce links: I don’t really link linking to Amazon, so whenever possible I usually try to provide links to make purchases elsewhere. When that isn’t possible (or practical) I’ll fall back to Amazon. If you have an alternative suggestion, please send it my way! I will happily replace the link (or add to this list) and credit you.

• Tube wrap - I got one of these because the tube can make a lot of noise as it slides across furniture in the night, but it also just makes it feel more deluxe.
• Mask wipes - These are the wipes I use. I keep them by the bed and usually either wipe my mask down in the morning after I take it off or at night when I’m changing the water.
• Hooks - Necessary infrastructure, in my opinion. IMO it doesn’t really matter if you use these ones or or regular ol’ hooks from the hardware store, as long as you have a place to put your mask when you’re not using it that isn’t flopping about on a surface.
• Mask liners - An alternative to wiping your mask, if that’s something you want.
• Replacement Schedule - More details at the link, including signs to look out for, but this screenshot has the main timeframes to pay attention to:
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Thanks to Deana for reviewing an early draft of this and to Matt who gave me the idea to write this post in the first place.