CPAP questions

[T.O.M.]

Hawk, I suggest you talk with your sleep doc.  There are other methods of treating apnea.  Need to find one that works for you, like a mouthpiece or something.

[Doggy Daddy]

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

Even if you don't put it on a pole, one of these will free you:
http://www.thecpapshop.com/standard-swivel-tubing-coupler?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Shopping%20-%20All%20Products&gclid=Cj0KCQjwiLDMBRDFARIsACNmiX8JZSpxAxyy5-TLkr16CfYp3h6BJuQmSUnztVIkOX2oQtqmublHJM0aAlKOEALw_wcB

[Doggy Daddy]

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.

Kinda sounds like your mask straps aren't tight enough.  Let the machine ramp up, then adjust the straps with the air coming out in force to where the mask does not leak.  If it's adjusted using no pressure or just early ramp pressure, I'm not surprised it would be a hurricane across the face when it gets up to speed.

[MechAg94]

Would the nose plugs be an option?

[Scout26]

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.

I takes at a minimum 20 minutes to setup my dialysis machine.  It takes about 10 minutes in the morning to enter in my vitals and then break everything down.

EVERY DAMN DAY.   

If it can't pump me full with 3000ml of fluid....ALARM !!!!
And if it can't draw off at least 3000ml of fluid....ALARM !!!!
So roll over and sleep on my right side....pinch the hose....ALARM !!!!

 

[K Frame]

Even if you don't put it on a pole, one of these will free you:
http://www.thecpapshop.com/standard-swivel-tubing-coupler?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Shopping%20-%20All%20Products&gclid=Cj0KCQjwiLDMBRDFARIsACNmiX8JZSpxAxyy5-TLkr16CfYp3h6BJuQmSUnztVIkOX2oQtqmublHJM0aAlKOEALw_wcB

Nice. Didn't know they existed. Need to get me one.

[Ex-MA Hole]

Also, you may want to shut the ramp thing off.  I hated it.  Once you shut it off, there is no more surprise.  You turn it on, you get air, you go to sleep.  I am on my second machine, after killing the first one after 10 or so years.  The guy I meet with is amazed- I average 99.9% compliance.  The .01 that I am not coincides with power outages.  I can't imagine my life without it.  I sleep better, feel better, have more energy, etc.  Mask is key though.  That swivel thing Irwin posted is also key.

[Hawkmoon]

Mask is key though.  That swivel thing Irwin posted is also key.

The CPAP clinic agrees. I was there last week, the clinician reviewed all three masks they've had me [try to] use, tested them all on me again, and agreed that they don't work. She called for yet another mask, which (of course) they didn't have on hand. It arrived on my door step today. We'll see. I don't know whether to try it with cautious optimism, or with s sense of impending doom.

[K Frame]

Also, you may want to shut the ramp thing off.  I hated it.  Once you shut it off, there is no more surprise.  You turn it on, you get air, you go to sleep.  I am on my second machine, after killing the first one after 10 or so years.  The guy I meet with is amazed- I average 99.9% compliance.  The .01 that I am not coincides with power outages.  I can't imagine my life without it.  I sleep better, feel better, have more energy, etc.  Mask is key though.  That swivel thing Irwin posted is also key.

Pretty much the exact same here. I can't imagine life without it, and I get pretty stressed at the thought that I might go away and forget it at home.

I generally run in the 98% usage range, and the only reason I'm not higher is because some nights I'm so tired I'm out before I get a chance to put it on.

[K Frame]

Second night went a bit better than the first. At least I was able to fall asleep. But I can't lie in any of the positions in which I usually sleep, because they put enough lateral pressure on the mask that it leaks. I guess I'll have to adapt to sleeping on my back.

Progress ...

Hawk, I just saw this from earlier in this thread some months ago...

I'm a side sleeper, and one thing that I found is that one of the memory foam contour pillows is a GREAT help in getting positions so that I can sleep on my side and not knock my mask off.

[Hawkmoon]

Kinda sounds like your mask straps aren't tight enough.  Let the machine ramp up, then adjust the straps with the air coming out in force to where the mask does not leak.  If it's adjusted using no pressure or just early ramp pressure, I'm not surprised it would be a hurricane across the face when it gets up to speed.

Straps were tight. Respiratory therapist agreed they were tight -- to the point of being too tight. She said it's not uncommon for people to go through four or six tries before finding the right mask.

I wish they had told me that at the start, so I wouldn't have been so discouraged when the first (and second, and third) mask didn't work.

[Sergeant Bob]

Have you tried a nasal mask? If you get mouth leaks, you can use a chin strap. I have a nasal mask, and use an athletic mouth guard. It helps keep me from air leaks out of the mouth. Also stops me from grinding my teeth. Frankly, a chin strap works for some, just not me.

Agree with Mike on the memory foam pillow.