Can I vent?

[Bama Ryan]

It should be noted that tonight will only be my 7th night (not counting the sleep clinic 2nd night) on CPAP. My first night sleeping with the machine was a week ago tomorrow. My first night was great -- I only woke up once with a slight leak around my eyes and when I woke up Saturday morning I felt refreshed and rested for the first time in AGES!

Each night after the next has gotten worse. I've had a harder time each subsequent night falling asleep and staying asleep. Leaks on my mask, mask too tight, condensation in my mask and the hose, etc. When it gets cool I like to sleep with my windows open and here in Lower Alabama it doesnt' get cool often. I like a cool bedroom -- my dog doesn't mind lol.

But last night really frustrated me. The cooler it got the more condensation got into my hose. And I ended up just taking the mask off because every breath I took -- in and out -- I could hear the water moving up and down in the hose making a sort of zipping sound.

I'm really desperate to get better sleep. I workout at the gym hard and try to eat clean but I'm gaining weight. I'm depressed. I'm grumpy. I'm in a certification process for a new job and if this goes much further I feel like I'm going to go in and bomb the test because I can't sleep and my mind is just not all there sometimes.

I'm only 34 years old yet I've had health problems of someone twice my age -- ruptured gallbladder, kidney stones, OSA to name a few. I just want some damn sleep, is that too much to ask?!

This seems to be a supportive board. Thanks for letting me vent.

[Bama Ryan]

I understand there's some i guess you could call it insulated sleeves (I refuse to call it a cozy lol) that i could put on the hose to perhaps keep the condensation problem under control. Does that work?

[nanwilson]

Yes the hose cover does work. You can use old tube socks, cut out the toe and string them along the hose...or a towel, roll it around the hose and secure with elastics or ties. Take a look at padacheeks.com and you will see what one looks like. I make mine out of fleece sewn into a tube and threaded onto my hoses. You also may have your humidifier turned up a tad too much. You will have to experiment until you find the fix that works. It took me a month of "tweeking" to get things down to a comfort level that I liked. You can do a search above on rainout, (thats what we call condensation in the tube) or hose cover or anythinbg else you want to know in a hurry. And of course you can always "vent", that is what we are here for.........to help each other out.

[RomeinDNVR]

Bama--

Sorry to hear it is getting worse each night for you that sucks

Some advice I can give (I have only been doing this for a week as well) purchase a hose huggie, I got one and all of the condensation has stopped. Here in Denver it gets down to 30 degrees at night and I always sleep with my window open a crack, when I get up in the morning it is about 58 to 61 degrees in my bedroom. The hose huggie has kept the condensation from forming in my hose and make it much more comfortable if the hose it touching your face, body etc.

I also purchased some fleece strap covers from the same place that I got the hose huggie from. It makes it much more comfortable on your cheeks and I found it stops the straps from moving as much causing leaks.

I went on Ebay and did a search for cpap hose cover and came up with a company called MARS, very affordable and offer free shipping. I think the hose huggie and pads cost about $18 combined and they shipped immediately.

Hope this helps!

Rome

[Meowser]

Sorry to hear about the issues... been battling rainout myself, but think I have it down to a science now... been at the cpap thing myself for about a month....

Few things... may have your humidity level too high and as Nan stated, play with it until you get tweaked just right. I myself have my level set at 5 because anything lower I get dried out and feel like crap...

Another note, invest is hose cover but until then, (dunno if you are doing this) but put your hose under the covers with you. Its helped me out alot and make sure your machine is below your head.

Hope this helps and best of luck!

[Ticman]

I had a big problem with rainout when I got my new machine. I ordered a hose snuggy but it wasn't completely stopping the rainout. My daughter looked at my setup and suggested a dual layer snuggy. She good at sewing so it was easy for her. She cut a old velour blanket in two long pieces. The first piece was just like the hose snuggy, maybe even a little tighter fitting. The second layer was longer and tapered with the big end going over the humidifier.

I run my hose up over my headboard and the big end sits on top of the humidifier. This way the heat goes up the big end as well as in the hose. With the same humidifier settings I get zero rainout now. Plus velour is really light weight as well. I wish I had done this years ago.

[Snuff-L-Reddy]

But last night really frustrated me. The cooler it got the more condensation got into my hose. And I ended up just taking the mask off because every breath I took -- in and out -- I could hear the water moving up and down in the hose making a sort of zipping sound.

Are you using a climate line ? If so you may have to adjust the temp if on auto or tweak settings on manual to prevent rainout.

[Uncle_Bob]

Bama

Welcome to the board. First thing i would do is return your machine ASAP and request the S9 Autoset which is fully data compatible and can run in both auto and CPAP modes. It is billable under the same code as the POS that someone has given you so they can make maximum profit on the deal.

[Pugsy]

There is a heated hose available for your machine. The Climateline hose as someone has mentioned. It is usually not supplied standard issue with the machine. It will allow for much more heating of the air going up the hose and thus greatly decrease chance of rain out. Check with your cpap supplier about getting one if you don't have it.

Also, ditto on what UncleBob has said about the Escape you have showing in your profile. It offers zero data to help you monitor your therapy. Yes, it does have a SD card to gather data but the only data the Escape will gather is how many hours you use the machine so your insurance company is satisfied. Cheap basic machine. There is software available for full data machines so you can see for sure if your therapy is optimal or if you are having leak problems or whatever.
The Escape won't show you a darn thing if you run into any problems.
ResMed S9 Elite full data straight CPAP machine...
ResMed S9 AutoSet full data auto pressure machine..can be used in APAP mode or CPAP mode. 2 machines in one.

ResMed S9 Escape...only hours of use data...compliance only
ResMed S9 Auto Escape...it is an auto pressure machine but the only data it will show is pressure and AHI so not full data.

Full data...leak...pressure...flow... AHI...number of events....classification of events (apnea, central, hyponea)...
duration of central and apnea events....snores.

[Uncle_Bob]

Actually to be fair i think the S9 escape does give an AHI score as well as hours used. But no efficacy data (leaks, flow, AHI breakdown etc)

[Pugsy]

Actually to be fair i think the S9 escape does give an AHI score as well as hours used. But no efficacy data (leaks, flow, AHI breakdown etc)

The S9 Escape Auto does give AHI (no breakdown) and pressure.

The S9 Escape which is the plain straight cpap doesn't give anything except hours of use.

At least that is what I found on last visit to ResMed site.

[Uncle_Bob]

Actually to be fair i think the S9 escape does give an AHI score as well as hours used. But no efficacy data (leaks, flow, AHI breakdown etc)

The S9 Escape Auto does give AHI (no breakdown) and pressure.

The S9 Escape which is the plain straight cpap doesn't give anything except hours of use.

At least that is what I found on last visit to ResMed site.

Thats right according to the side by side comparison on the resmed site

http://www.resmed.com/us/products/s9_se ... =dealers#s

[Bama Ryan]

Thanks for all the advice. I'm going to certainly look for a hose huggie. But honestly I had no idea that I might have had a substandard machine. It's the machine that the sleep clinic sold me. I did have a weird glitch with it yesterday when I kept getting a message "humidifier fault, replace humidifier". I took it apart (the machine and the humidifier) and left it unplugged for a couple hours and it solved it. Curious...

[JohnBFisher]

I won't get into the discussion about machines. Though a data capable machine helps, it does not directly address a couple of your concerns.

First, I highly recommend a hose cover from Pad A Cheek. I have no interest in her business, other than as a VERY happy user of her products.

Second, I really do understand your frustrations. I had to go on Long Term Disability due to neurological issues. I sure would rather continue to work. No fun. Like you, I was diagnosed with OSA at about 34.

But you know what? I find I appreciate life and friends more than I might without these frustrations. There is always a silver lining. You often just need to look for it.

Here is hoping you will find your silver lining to make your Journey a little easier!

[jabman]

Thanks for all the advice. I'm going to certainly look for a hose huggie. But honestly I had no idea that I might have had a substandard machine. It's the machine that the sleep clinic sold me.

Unfortunatly that is all to commin with the DME"s, they do this because they can make (save) more money by giving out only data compliance machines. I would run to your DME and return the one you got and ask for the S9 AutoSet.