My CPAP Treatment Journey

[Heart Jumping]

Don't worry about how many hours you sleep with the mask. Just make sure that the number of hours you sleep without it is zero.

That's exactly what I'm doing. I don't care if I sleep 6 or 8 hours, I just want to be able to sleep in comfort with CPAP.

What are your current settings, by the way.

Which ones ? The mains ones are:

Range: 7 - 13
Ramp: Off
EPR: 3

FWIW I think the main issue right now is just getting used to moving around, the most difficult part is just constantly adapting my position for the tube and so that I'm not somehow pushing or pulling against the mask and making it leak.

[Pugsy]

I assume you mean some other thread than "this thread" but don't see a link

I meant to include the link to this thread.
viewtopic/t94035/Pugsys-Pointers-3Deali ... -road.html

I woke up to a bit of condensation in my nasal pillows this morning despite using a heated hose set to 80 degrees and automatic humidity of 80%. It's because the house cooled down a lot last night. Haven't been using the house furnace much but looks like will be cranking it up tonight.
The ambient room temp plays a big factor in whether a person gets condensation at the mask or in the short hose (if the mask uses one) even with a heated hose. The heated hose may be condensation free but if the short hose or mask cools down enough you can still get condensation if the air cools down enough.
For me normally using the max 86 degrees is what I do in the cold months to keep the condensation at the mask level away.
It all depends on how cool you keep your house at night.

[WindCpap]

Are those settings the ones from your prescription? Was the EPR prescribed?

For the hose, I hang mine from the headboard using the waste band from a bathrobe in about the middle position of where I sleep. It makes it easier to not have it tug on the mask when I roll around. Also, my wife crocheted me a soft cozy for the short hose that goes from the long hose to the mask. That way, if I roll over, I can leave it lie on my face or neck, on not always have to be moving it.

[Heart Jumping]

Are those settings the ones from your prescription? Was the EPR prescribed?

7 - 13 is what was on the prescription. EPR was not, I chose the 3 setting because it seemed the most comfortable.

[Heart Jumping]

I signed up for the Resmed myAir site yesterday just to see what it showed. It's pretty much a joke though I can see how it could be very useful for people less involved in their own treatment. The website seems to think last night was my first night of therapy. Is that normal? I figured it would pull the last 4 nights data off.

How many days or months of data does the ResMed store, I assume I'll be able to easily pull it all off at once with Sleepyhead? I have not connected Sleepyhead to it yet, that's for this weekend.

Thanks

[WindCpap]

Consider changing your epr to ramp only. It may help your ahi. and if you use autoramp, let you know when you fall asleep. I use sleepyhead but I found my air encouraging for the first few weeks. Your SD card will hold at least 2 weeks detailed data and a ton of summary data. Not sure the exact number.

[Heart Jumping]

This will be a little long but here's when I am at.

1. Getting easier to sleep with it, not waking refreshed, but sleeping OK enough that I'm not waking exhausted either.

2. This is the big one. Being bothered by the pressure on exhale is now much less of an issue. BUT, I am feeling as though maybe the P10 air pillows are not working well for me and am wondering if I should try a different mask? Leaking doesn't seem to be an issue, however slight movements seem to have a big effect on how much air I feel coming in, and how much resistance I feel on exhaling. I'll just give little pushes to the nose piece, or maybe even give the hose a tug, or slightly change the position of the head band and the next thing I know I feel air flowing in freely and almost no resistance. I find myself doing this repeatedly throughout the night and I think it's what is stopping me from experiencing restful sleep and full benefits. Would appreciate hearing from Pugsy on this as I know she has the same mask. To be clear, it's mainly about moving them tiny bits, the pillows are fully expanded and not collapsing, I think it's about how my nose and/or nasal passage is shaped.
Sleeping on my back, which I'm now finally able to do without fear, seems to be the easiest way to have the pillow fits perfectly, the air then flows in great and I feel almost no resistance. The problem is, I've been a side sleeper all my life, only moving onto my back during sleep, and it's almost impossible for me to fall asleep on mu back!

3. I am still seeing a fair number of AHI's, last two nights have averaged 7 and 8. Still better than 40 though! I'd like to see these get lower, but don't know if that means trying other masks or playing with other settings.

4. My current settings are:
Pressure 7 - 15 (I bumped max up from 13 just to try it)
EPR on full time and set to 3 (from what I read changing this is unlikely to affect AHI for most people in any significant way so I see no reason to mess with this yet when it seems to be the single biggest setting that allows me to be comfortable)
Ramp Off (I have no issues easily adjusting to 7 so I see no need to ramp)

I'm going to spend some time experimenting while awake today to see if I can figure out why such small movements to the P10 make such a big difference. I may switch to the Mirage Gel mask tonight and try that, now that I'm having an easier time sleeping and observe the results of that. The only other mask I was able to try when I bought the two I have was the ResMed Airfit N10, which felt hard on my face and I had an immediate negative reaction to. So if I try another mask the question is which one to try. Not sure if I am at that point yet or not.

[Pugsy]

I sleep primarily on my side but I toss and turn a lot (back pain stuff) and I don't have a problem with the P10 moving out of my nostrils.
That said, maybe a different nasal pillow mask would be more stable for you. One of the negatives to the P10 is that it maybe isn't quite as stable as one of the other nasal pillow masks but I am okay with that because I prefer less on my face and head and will deal with a little instability to get the "less on my face" thing.

Have you tried some sort of hose management system to help with the hose tugging on the nasal pillow frame?
If you haven't I would suggest starting there because it can be done easily and cheaply with usually something laying around the house.
See this for ideas
viewtopic.php?t=10640

If you want to try a different nasal pillow mask...maybe look at the ResMed Swift FX nasal pillow mask.
The hose swivels and the headgear is more adjustable. I used it for a couple of years until something else came along that I liked better which was the Tap Pap...then the P10 came along and I started using it.

The Tap Pap uses a mouth guard to hold the pillows in the nostrils and routes the hose naturally over the head with no headgear at all.
So that was definitely covering the "less on my face" preference.
Those nasal pillows never moved out of my nostrils no matter how much moving around I would do.

I sleep in all positions and the nasal pillows rarely move. I don't use a special hose management system other than where I route the hose on the bed....it lays on the mattress and goes up around the bed pillow to come down to my face...so it is sort of overhead and thus I don't have the hose dragging on the mask.

The P10 hose doesn't swivel like the Swift FX and while it wasn't a deal breaker for me I can see where the swivel is a definite advantage.

[Heart Jumping]

I sleep primarily on my side but I toss and turn a lot (back pain stuff) and I don't have a problem with the P10 moving out of my nostrils.

Thanks. Quoting only this part because I just want to make sure I'm being clear - I don't feel as though they are moving out of my nostrils nor leaking, but rather moving just enough that the amount of both pressure and resistance seems to change. That in turn affects my comfort and more importantly I assume the effectiveness of the treatment. Will report back after reading more experimenting and checking out the discussions you linked to there.

[Ricochet]

I use the same mask and when I first started it it had the hose dragging on my pillow and laying on part of my face. When moving I had the hose pulling the mask ever time I moved. Not to pleasant sleeping that way What I have did was buy a dowel about 18 inches long and a small piece of oak 3/4 in thick. I then drilled a hole and glued a end of the dowel into it. Attached all of it to the wall using command tape. I then made a noose at the base to hold the hose next to the wall over my head. I then took a hose boss attached to the end of the dowel and ran the hose thru it to hang to the top of the pillow. This keeps the hose from touching my face and I can move from side to side that way. The hose boss also make it so I can move and it will retract when not needed. If you look on line you can find all kinds of hose management devices.

To stop the rain out from the short hose I bought a soft flannel hose cover and started it about a foot from the machine to about 5 inches from the nasal pillows. The cover keep the hose warm enough so I don't get any rain out. My machine is set for Auto on the heat and humidity..

[Heart Jumping]

Thanks, I'm checking hose management out. So far I have experienced 0 rain since changing the humidity setting to auto and the hose temp to 77 degrees.

[Ricochet]

My suggestion is something to make the hose to hang over your head. I do love the humidity it has helped so much being able to breath easily by keeping my airway open

[ChicagoGranny]

What I have did was buy a dowel about 18 inches long and a small piece of oak 3/4 in thick. I then drilled a hole and glued a end of the dowel into it. Attached all of it to the wall using command tape. I then made a noose at the base to hold the hose next to the wall over my head. I then took a hose boss attached to the end of the dowel and ran the hose thru it to hang to the top of the pillow.

How do hotels like you setting that up?

[Ricochet]

they never know because I use command tape to tape it to the wall. The tape comes off with no problems using the peel strip. take about 20 seconds to hook up and take down. The thing costs about 30.00 dollars The hose buddy is the most expensive part. Then about 5 bucks in lumber.

[Heart Jumping]

Last night before I went to sleep I cleaned my mask and the small hose and had some water in it, I also accidentally overfilled the humidifier, both resulted in water spraying out of the hose. I attempted to run the machine in full ON for a few minutes with the mask off, to blow most of the water out. Next thing I know the machine is reporting 30 AHI per hour and showing me the unhappy face. I checked to see if I could delete data from that episode in the clinicians menu, but that appeared to only be an all or nothing proposition.

Is there a way to run the machine and blow it out without having it screw up my data? "Mask Fit" maybe? This morning my machine said 10 AHI, but I don't know if that's real or because the 30 AHI from when I was trying to get water out of the tube polluted the data?

I'd also like a way to experiment and wear the mask while awake without polluting the "mask off" count that resmed supplies on the myAir site, as I find that useful information.

Thanks