CPAP questions

[Scout26]

I went through something similar with my Dialysis machine.  Contected to a loud machine.*  Couldn't sleep/roll around like I had liked or I would pinch the hose and then the machine would alarm.

Two things happened.  

1)  I got it that if I didn't use this thing, I would die.  Ugly, painfully, horrific, death as the poisons in my blood would build up.  

2)  I got a new mattress.  One of those memory foam ones.  Does't get hot in the summer, and stays warm enough in winter.  I also don't roll around in my sleep anymore.  The position I fall asleep in the one I wake up in 6-8 hours later.  Usually on my left side, as I get a more fluid removal from sleeping that way (has to do with the catheter.)   The down side to that is the occasion puddle of drool on my pillow.  But that's why I have several pillows and two washers/dryers.  

Go back after it.  The testimonials here on APS echo every one I've heard from people in know IRL that are on a CPAP machine.   It makes a huge difference.  It simply takes time to get use to the mask and machine.




*- When going on campouts with my son's Boy Scout Troop, I've had other CPAP users complain about the noise my machine makes.  I sleep through it.

[K Frame]

All I can say is,keep trying.

The difference in your life will be incredible.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

[T.O.M.]

I just replaced all of the major components...mask, hose, water tank, filter.  Had to fiddle with the mask to get it right. Silicone isn't broken in like the last one I had for two plus years.  Issue for me is that thanks to stupid laws and insurance rules, my prescription has expired. Sleep doc won't write me a new one without a new sleep study.  So, no more insurance supplied parts, so buying from Amazon.  Machine quits, and I'll have to do another study.

[Boomhauer]

One thing you might want to try is taking a sleeping tablet in conjunction with the cpap. I use melatonin since it works well for me

I love my cpap. Mask could be better but it works for now i dont pull it off most nights

I used to fight falling asleep driving all the time. Now, so long as i use the cpap and get 6 hours of sleep i am good to go for 16+ hours of being awake with 8 of those at a  strenous job

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[Hawkmoon]

Yeah, I know I should give it another try. I'm pretty certain I've nailed the psychological reason why I resist -- I just need to make myself work through that block. When I first got the machine I was gung ho to try it, and I fully expected it to transform my life. Each time it didn't work, it was a little harder to make myself try it again.

[MechAg94]

I wouldn't say mine made great changes in the way I felt, but I was falling asleep all the time during the day before.  The sugar highs and lows from drinking soft drinks were pretty pronounced.  The first year I had it, my boss remarked that I had a really good year.  I didn't feel I was really all that productive, but not falling asleep all the time and being able to maintain focus and concentration helped me be a lot more consistent in getting things done. 

Just a curiosity, what type of mask to y'all use?  I use the full mask that covers the nose and mouth.  I figured I slept with my mouth open when I got it, but I always swallow air when I do so I am not sure it matters.  My boss said he uses just the nose plugs.  What do y'all use?

[zxcvbob]

What do y'all use?

I was using a ResMed Swift FX nose mask.  But the headband wore out after a year (I think you're supposed to replace them more often than that) so last time I replaced it (I kept the old one) I got a different model.  ResMed AirFit P10.  

I liked the AirFit better at first, but its head strap is wearing out a lot faster than the Swift did, so I'm thinking about getting some 3/4" elastic (like for waistbands) and making my own strap to go on the Swift headgear.

[Hawkmoon]

Full mask, but I don't remember what brand. After all, I'm on the third mask. I don't even know if the masks were all the same brand, but they all came from the VA hospital sleep clinic, so I suppose they're probably all from the same supplier.

[T.O.M.]

I know it's a ResMed. Full face (mouth and nose). I think it's called the Mirage.  I nose breathe until I'm sleeping,  then I'm a mouth breather.  (Insert joke here about mouth breathing lawyer.) 

[K Frame]

Mine is the Philips Respironics Nuance Gel Nasal Pillow mask.

It can be a bit of a pain to get settled at first, but it's not bad.

My insurance covers a new mask every 6 months, and that's about how long it takes for them to wear out, or at least get to the point where the adjustment point velcro starts to wear out and slip at night.



"Issue for me is that thanks to stupid laws and insurance rules, my prescription has expired."

Yep. Got to go at least once a year for a follow up to keep the prescription in play.

[41magsnub]

I also use the airfit P10.  Only issue I have is occasionally my nostrils get irritated and scab up.  I do replace the rubber bit regularly.   I used to have a full face but the beard made that impossible to get a good seal with.  I want to find some kind of full face that would work for cold season.

[K Frame]

"Yeah, I know I should give it another try. I'm pretty certain I've nailed the psychological reason why I resist -- I just need to make myself work through that block. When I first got the machine I was gung ho to try it, and I fully expected it to transform my life. Each time it didn't work, it was a little harder to make myself try it again."

Yeah, I get that. I'm struggling with that right now after falling off the non-smoking wagon a few weeks ago.

I was doing so well, and then the *expletive deleted*it just started to rain down on me and I turned back to cigarettes as a coping mechanism.

Now I'm trying to psych myself up to quit again, and that little voice in the back of my head keeps saying "first time success was just a fluke. You can try to leave again, but you'll be back."

Keep at it, Hawk. We both need to keep at it.

[brimic]

Once you get it down, you won't want to sleep without it.
I can usually judge the quality of my sleep by the vividness (or even presence) of dreams.
I've found that if I sandbag myself in a semi-fetal position with lots of pillows, I get nearly the same benefit, if not better, than with a cpap, for times when a Cpap can't be used.

[Hawkmoon]

Once you get it down, you won't want to sleep without it.
I can usually judge the quality of my sleep by the vividness (or even presence) of dreams.

Many years ago, I used to dream a lot, and remember them. I kept a dream notebook, and wrote them down. The gal I was seeing at the time did the same thing, and we'd help each other interpret the dreams.

I've only had one dream that I was even aware of in the past year or so. That was just a few days ago .. and, of course, fifteen minutes after I woke up I couldn't remember it. I remember that I woke up being aware that I had dreamed, but I couldn't remember the dream.

[K Frame]

Friend of mine has been having worsening sleep problems. He does shift work too, which has only made the problem worse.

He finally got around to getting tested, and it came back he needs a CPAP. He went for the calibration study last night, and says this morning that after a night with the CPAP he feels a lot better.

I think he's now looking forward to getting the machine and using it.

[T.O.M.]

Friend of mine has been having worsening sleep problems. He does shift work too, which has only made the problem worse.

He finally got around to getting tested, and it came back he needs a CPAP. He went for the calibration study last night, and says this morning that after a night with the CPAP he feels a lot better.

I think he's now looking forward to getting the machine and using it.

For me, I was just dragging all the time.  Felt tired a lot.  I wrote it off to staying up late doing work and a schedule of chasing kids around to different activities.  When I started to fall asleep at work, I talked to the doc, who referred me to a sleep doc.  Did the sleep study, got the machine.  I didn't notice feeling better.  I just felt normal again.  And, that's been a good thing.

[K Frame]

I've recounted a number of times my getting written up at work for falling asleep on the job, and the jeopardy it put me in.

I was very aggrieved with the entire thing until I actually got on the CPAP. I've come to realize that it may have been one of the best things to ever happen to me because yeah, I felt awful all of the freaking time.

I just never realized it until I started feeling really refreshed when I got up in the morning.


My coworker, who got written up at the same time, refused to take responsibility for it and refused to go the medical route even though I begged him. He kept falling asleep at his desk, and he kept being caught. It finally snowballed, and he lost his job.

The only thing he didn't refuse to do, but did willingly, was blame everyone else for the situation, including me. When he lost his job he immediately texted me blaming me for ratting him out. I told him it was time for him to grow up and take responsibility for both his health and for his inaction because HE is the one who lost his job, and he did it all himself.

I never hear from him again after that.

He had a real victim mentality thing going, which in some ways isn't surprising given that he was openly, flamboyantly, and militantly gay.

[MechAg94]

I was nodding off at work pretty bad myself.  It has gotten worse over the several years prior.  My boss used a CPAP and was understanding.  He was pushing to get a sleep study for a while.  I finally did.  Like Chris, I didn't really feel a great deal better, I just no longer nod off.  On top of that, I was snoring badly because my nose always stopped up while sleeping.  I don't have an issue with that anymore.  The snoring and such seemed to make me vulnerable to sore throats and chest colds also.  I haven't had one of those since. 

The only down side is you do need to clean your gear, especially the water tray periodically.  You can end up getting mold and stuff growing in it which can cause sinus issues.  As long as I keep it clean, change filters regularly, and replace the hoses and such periodically, I am good. 

[MechAg94]

I was also thinking that if the mask you have bothers you a lot, you can try to pick up a different type to try.

[Hawkmoon]

I was also thinking that if the mask you have bothers you a lot, you can try to pick up a different type to try.

The mask doesn't bother me ... it was just that they didn't work. The techs set the machine to "ramp up" the pressure so I could fall asleep. That part worked great. I'd fall asleep ... and half an hour later I'd wake up to a freakin' hurricane blowing across my face. So they tinkered with settings, and they replaced the mask with a different type -- same problem. I'm now at the third mask and the fourth or fifth round of machine settings, and I just don't feel an urge to try it again. I should .. I KNOW I should. I just don't feel like it.

[zxcvbob]

The mask doesn't bother me ... it was just that they didn't work. The techs set the machine to "ramp up" the pressure so I could fall asleep. That part worked great. I'd fall asleep ... and half an hour later I'd wake up to a freakin' hurricane blowing across my face. So they tinkered with settings, and they replaced the mask with a different type -- same problem. I'm now at the third mask and the fourth or fifth round of machine settings, and I just don't feel an urge to try it again. I should .. I KNOW I should. I just don't feel like it.

Do you know how to get to the settings on your machine?  What about the clinician settings? 

You might want to change them; turn it down quite a bit at least until you get used to it.  It should also give you a report of how many episodes (or whatever they call it) per hour.  You don't have to get that all the way down to zero.

[K Frame]

"I just don't feel an urge to try it again. I should .. I KNOW I should. I just don't feel like it."

Do you feel the urge to have a stroke, a heart attack, or develop diabetes?

All possible outcomes for people who are chronically sleep deprived due to apnea.

How about falling asleep at the wheel and taking out someone? That feel like an urge?

Sorry, dude, but now you're just being whiny.

There are nights when I find that the entire hose/mask thing to be an enormous pain in the ass. There are nights when the last thing I want to do is put the *expletive deleted*ing thing on.

There are nights when I roll over and yank the damned machine off the table. There are nights when I wake up in pain from lying on the hose. There are nights when Seren hops into bed and gets tied up in the hose.

All of that's a pain in the ass. And I just suck it up and do it because I know it's FAR better than the alternative.

[41magsnub]

This:  https://www.amazon.com/Eliminate-Tangles-CPAP-Hose-Holder/dp/B003UAHWOE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1502385420&sr=8-1&keywords=cpap+hose+holder


Does wonders for hose tangles and such

[K Frame]

I've thought about one of those. But I'm not sure that it would really work for me.

I have my CPAP on the far side of my bed, which means I chew up a lot of hose going over "no man's land."

Putting it up on a pole like that would require that I get a double length hose or something else.

And, I have no doubt that Seren would decide in the middle of the night that it's a toy or some such.

[41magsnub]

In my and my wife's cases, works great.  We have one on either side of the bed as we each use one.