If your equipment listed is correct, you are using the same exact machine and mask I do. I sleep on my stomach 95% of the time with the other 5% on my right side but normally only for a short period of time before I end up back on my stomach. I really never sleep on my back.Sleeplessintulsa wrote:...
Are there any other options? I see three possibilities. First, find a way to get used to sleeping on my back. Second, find a way to make it impossible for the mask to slip off, even sleeping on my stomach. Third, find a way of treating my central sleep apnea with a means other than BiPAP. However, from what everyone has told me so far, BiPAP is the only known treatment for central sleep apnea. Every other potential treatment that I've heard of is for obstructive sleep apnea, so that doesn't help me. Regardless, neither my doctor nor I have been able to find a means of utilizing any of the three options, so I'm stuck in limbo right now.
I use a buckwheat hull pillow so that I can shape it so I can sleep on my stomach and have the mask hang off the end without touching the pillow (almost at a 45deg angle towards the bed). I actually sleep with my hand (left hand) holding the mask while resting on the mattress. Doing that, basically eliminates the leaks and movement of the mask. If I have a leak, I simply shift the mask with my hand and it is gone. I do this while actually sleeping without actually waking up.
It took me about 2 months after I started CPAP to figure out that I could sleep on my stomach after being told I had to sleep on my back or side. I had slept on my stomach all of my life, wasn't something I could adjust away from. I've been using CPAP now for more than 8yrs, though back then, used a small pillow that I literally crushed to the shape I needed.
I rarely have great numbers (under 1), but more often than not sit somewhere between 2 and 3, but that is more due to my CHF issues and my strange method of dealing with pain, most of which is while I am actually awake... but I get 8+ hours sleep on average and have good results with lots of energy and mental freshness to do my job which is fairly technical.