I take Ambien every night and have a fan and air purifier for noise. The noise of the machine still bugs me on occasion. By the way, good sleep is just as addictive as any drug. The feeling you woke up with is pretty text book for a night on Ambien. I am now on 10 mg a night and don't know when I will be stopping, if I will ever be stopping. My girlfriend started taking 5 mg every once in a while, she is now taking 5 mg a night. Its the progression, Ambien is addictive, dont let anyone tell you differently.

This brings me to another point, if you don't take ambien, you most likely do not need 10 mg. Cut the pill in half, or get the CR's

I have been on CPAP now for 2 months. One of the things I have added to my nightly regimen is earplugs. These have helped tremendously in getting/staying asleep. Like others, it was the anxiety that was proving to be the problem. It takes a while to relax with the CPAP on. Other than the earplugs, the only thing I need to do is soak my feet (they get cold; keep me awake).  

Funny you mention cold feet. That will keep me awake too!

I have a heated mattress pad, love that warmth from underneath instead of electric blanket over top.  It has a hotter zone for feet and that is really nice.

Even so, during the coldest part of winter the mattress pad isn't hot enough for my feet unless it's too hot for the rest of me.  So I added an extra-large sized heating pad for my feet.  Wonderful.

Nowadays the heating pads have auto-shutoff in an hour or so for safety reasons.  That's not so great for nighttime use, though.  I found that if I unplugged the heating pad and plugged it back it, it would go on again.

Perfect.  I found an inexpensive mechanical appliance timer (like the ones you can buy for turning coffee pot or lamps on and off etc.) at a hydroponics supply store.  This one is in 15 minute increments round the clock, good enough for me.  (There are digital ones that go to the minute, but they were a lot more $$$).

My heating pad shuts off every hour, so the timer gives the pad one hour of juice, then turns the power off for 15 minutes, then on again for an hour, then off 15 minutes etc.  The pad doesn't cool down that quickly in 15 minutes so I never notice!  Works a treat and I just shut the pad off in the morning.  

Hope this is helpful to you or someone else reading here.

Blessings,
--pseudonym

I just picked up my new M series and haven't had a good nights sleep yet. I found this forum while looking for a way to disable the c-flex setting.
 I am not a newbie (well, I am to this forum), having used a c-pap for nearly twelve years. I have been through it all. Started with a Sullivan, with  mask that had a pad that would eat a hole in your head. I discovered recently that they still use those suckers!
 When I got this classy little M, I thought this will be great! That was until I had to use it. Those lights are a joke. And the noise! I read a lot of advice about radios and fans and white noise.....This is a two thousand dollar machine. At least that's what my supply company is charging my insurance company!
 It seems to me that this machine was built by.........well, lets just say, the lowest bidder....
 I am going to exchange it for another machine this afternoon, but after reading your posts, I don't hold out much hope. I think I may have to try to get my five year old RemStar repaired. At least the lights went off when I turned it on. Uh, good to be here, thanks for letting me rant....

I don't know if Ambien is such a good idea.  With all the bad side effects from that medication, I think that's the last thing you want to try with sleep apnea.  JMO.

You guys are starting to scare me...

  I have not yet gotten my M Series machine with Cflex... but will soon.   Now, when went for titration, they had some big machine about the half the size of a carry on bag... I found the sounds of that machine to be somewhat soothing... sounded kinda like a quite ocean near me...  

  You guys make it sound like these M Series boxes are more like a washing machine sound/loudness.

   Anyway, after reading several of these threads about how people find these M Series boxes loud and annoying, I've started making plans in my head on how to build a box that I can put the thing in to keep the sound muffled enough for me to get to sleep...


   I am typically kind of annoyed by external sounds when I try and get to sleep, once I get to sleep, there's very little that will wake me (including stopping breathing 59 times a hour :) ).  So, I am concerned about how loud this M Series thing is... and then from what I've read... they are relatively quite for a home CPAP machine...  

 Back to my box idea... I'm surprised no one sells some well built box that a person can put one of these machines in to muffle the sound... Perhaps when I build mine, I'll have to market the thing....

The sound is something you will have to learn to deal with. I returned the machine I picked up a week ago, noticing that it had 70 hours on it when i got it, and got a loaner until they could get a new machine for me. I am assuming the first one they tried to give me had been returned by someone else because of excessive noise. The loaner was a good deal quieter. I have a new machine waiting for me.....we'll see.
 I hate to sound cynical, (I dunno, maybe I do like it) but it seems like the M series is being pushed pretty hard. My med supply person told me there was a quieter machine out there, but said hardly anyone uses it. I'm sure that is the case, when a consumer walks in and a M series is set in front of them as if there is no alternative. In any other industry, this would have me assuming that the M series has the highest profit margin (or kickback percentage) If there are any medical equipment people out there who would like to share, it would be great. I am not saying that a profit should not be made, I'm just wondering if the people we must trust with our health and well being are looking out for us or just their bottom line....