Sufferers of sleep apnea know how important a healthy night’s rest is to your quality of life. The condition is known for causing snoring, but also leads to exhaustion, restlessness, and frequent waking at night. Generally, sleep apnea is treated with Continuous Positive Airway Pressure therapy, and users say that they feel more rested and energized after starting treatment.
However, if you’re still having trouble falling asleep with your new CPAP machine, you might be wondering how others integrate CPAP use into their lives. The answer for many is finding and adhering to a standard bedtime routine.
A Good Night’s Rest Begins the Day Before
The morning is the best time to start a routine for the next night. Make your bed and participate in a cleaning routine with your CPAP. Although warm air humidifiers are a great addition to any CPAP system, the moist environment they create may breed bacteria, which is why it’s so important to take the proper steps in freeing your system of moisture every morning.
Empty your humidifier and dry it out. You can refill it with distilled water before bed the following night. Next, wipe your mask with disposable CPAP mask wipes or a mild detergent and lay your mask and tubing on a clean surface.
Practice Healthy Habits
A study published in the journal Mental Health and Physical Activity reports that engaging in physical activity for about two and a half hours a week improves sleep and daytime drowsiness. Schedule time to exercise every day and make sure it’s an exercise you love! The more you like to engage in physical activity, the more likely it is that you’ll stick with it.
Try cutting out excess caffeine from your day and try switching to non-caffeinated teas after a cup or two of coffee. You may also want to avoid carbonated beverages with caffeine in them. In the evening, avoid alcohol within a few hours before you normally lay down and limit your alcohol consumption whenever you drink.
An hour or so before bed, turn off screened electronics that produce artificial light. The bright lights emitted from these electronics can stimulate your brain into thinking it’s daytime again and disrupt your normal circadian rhythms making sleep nearly impossible.
Find a calming activity to tell your brain that it’s time to quiet down. Some people enjoy taking a hot bath or reading a relaxing book just before bed.
Ensure that you’re turning in for the night at a reasonable hour. Research shows that sleep apnea sufferer’s who get to bed earlier are able to adhere to their treatment better. On top of increasing the level of compliance to treatment, going to bed earlier increases the effectiveness of your sleep apnea therapy. One study showed that CPAP users who received adequate amounts of sleep at night had less daytime sleepiness and overall better outcomes in therapy.
Quality CPAP Supplies Make Treatment Comfortable
Another way to promote optimal sleep is by only purchasing quality sleep apnea supplies. At Breatheeasycpap.com, you’ll find premium and effectively designed sleep apnea masks and accessories. Finding a CPAP system that makes you comfortable will keep you treating your sleep apnea for the long haul, and get you great sleep while you’re at it!
