Fat old guy - fifty days in

Background – 61 yr old overweight male with AHI of 40 in sleep study and great health insurance coverage. Side sleeper, wake 1-3 times per night to pee.

Equipment – ResMed S9 with H5i humidifier and Climate Line hose – finally using AirFit p10 mask with large pillows. Set APAP 10-20 cms, averaging about 11 with AHI around 1 and 8 hours on mask or better most nights.

Experience –

Started as a self-diagnosed mouth breather so went with AirFit F10 to start. After two weeks it became increasingly hot, humid and downright claustrophobic but getting good leak control and reasonable AHI – but only 5 hrs per night on mask, 2-3 hours off.

Researched nasal rinsing in CPAP and went crazy (as pointed out by our esteemed board member palerider) devising a regime – summed up here:

I use a Waterpik Classic Water Flosser with a SinuPulse tip on highest but one setting. I also used a NeilMed Sinugator at times (not bad, less pressure and pulsing) and travel with a NeilMed squeezy bottle.

Tried home made solutions, but now use any one premade isotonic saline sachet product with 8 ozs distilled water and 1-2 tablespoonfuls of Alkolol. Neilmed or Walgreens own saline.

I rinse once upon waking, blow clear then spray Veramyst (Flonase derivative) twice up each nostril. I rinse again mid to late afternoon but no spray.

I run my humidifier on low (2 out of 6) with no heat at all and no ramp. I use distilled water only and am testing adding fake non-dissolving ice cubes to my reservoir. Cool, dry air is very good for my sinuses here in TX. If we have my daughter’s dog to stay or pollen is high, I sometimes need Zyrtec 10mg at bedtime minus 30 mins for allergies.

Now I can use very minimal nasal pillows (Nuance first then P10) which are not claustrophobic at all and very stable on normal pillows for a side sleeper. Found bigger pillows open my nares up too.

Hope this helps any other newbies with claustrophobia or congestion issues.

Now that's a nasal rinsing regime! CPAP-ers are keeping NeilMed in business.

Congrats on your excellent progress.

Yep, he's selling salt and bicarb at ridiculous margins - but it works for me and I am lucky enough to be able to afford my $3 a month habit.

I am just so glad I found the way out of the FFM hell I'd built for myself... I only hope if I get a cold I can stomach it for a night or two.

englandsf wrote:Yep, he's selling salt and bicarb at ridiculous margins - but it works for me and I am lucky enough to be able to afford my $3 a month habit.

I am just so glad I found the way out of the FFM hell I'd built for myself... I only hope if I get a cold I can stomach it for a night or two.

Never tried a FFM but I assume I will need one when I'm sick. The DME probably wouldn't just give me one for that purpose if I asked nicely, would he?

BTW, I kinda wish I had $$$ to invest in some NeilMed, ResMed, PR or other CPAP stock. What with the aging of the boomers and all . . .

My DME gave me two masks from his Resmed samples (F10 and Quattro Air - AirFit was kinda new at the time) and my insurance paid for the P10. I also bought three more from CPAP.COM on my dime - Innomed Hybrid (blah), Breeze (odd and blah) and a Nuance (good spare set up but gel pillows do not wedge my nares open right).

CPAP is the next diabetes - subscription income from a medical condition common amongst an aging population. Like you said, probably a great investment opportunity...

BuddhaCat wrote:Never tried a FFM but I assume I will need one when I'm sick. The DME probably wouldn't just give me one for that purpose if I asked nicely, would he?

DMEs don't often "give" away anything. Most likely they would want you to wait till next allowed mask replacement with your insurance and then "sell" you one...or they would sell you a FFM for full retail if insurance isn't being use.

People often think that they just HAVE to have a FFM mask for those time they are ill. Usually ill with upper respiratory infection which involves nasal congestion to the point that they simply have to mouth breathe or suffocate. It all depends and depends on a lot of factors. Some people find that the humidified air actually helps reduce the congestion associated with the common cold.
In the 5 plus years I have been on the machine I have had 3 or 4 common colds where I had some congestion but I haven't ever been to the point that I couldn't use my nasal pillow mask. It might not be perfect and sleep might not be perfect but when you have a crappy cold sleep in general is crappy anyway.
There are things we can do to help reduce nasal congestion associated with the common cold. Treat the symptoms just like you would if you didn't use the machine. When I have had a cold...I always wake up breathing better through my nose than when I started so I work on just getting the nose opened up a little. The humidified air helps take up the slack. Think hot steamy shower and how it helps when you have a cold.

If you want to have a full face mask for backup...just in case. Watch the forum members posts. Sometimes you can pick up a new or gently used mask for not much money at all. Or wait and use your insurance and let your DME sell you a FFM.
Sometimes I have FFM donated for situations like this. My inventory of FFMs is quite low at the moment though. Been busy sending out stuff.
Go to cpap.com and take a stroll through the full face masks to see if you spot one that looks interesting to you that might not be too overwhelming for your claustrophobia issues. Get an idea what you might like and size and watch the forum.
I have a Small FitLife total face mask that was donated. I will try to look at my stash later today to see if there is anything else in FFM line that I might have...the FitLife isn't a mask I would recommend for a newbie with claustrophobia though.

Thanks for the information and inspiration!!

Pugsy wrote:

BuddhaCat wrote:Never tried a FFM but I assume I will need one when I'm sick. The DME probably wouldn't just give me one for that purpose if I asked nicely, would he?

DMEs don't often "give" away anything. Most likely they would want you to wait till next allowed mask replacement with your insurance and then "sell" you one...or they would sell you a FFM for full retail if insurance isn't being use.

People often think that they just HAVE to have a FFM mask for those time they are ill. Usually ill with upper respiratory infection which involves nasal congestion to the point that they simply have to mouth breathe or suffocate. It all depends and depends on a lot of factors. Some people find that the humidified air actually helps reduce the congestion associated with the common cold.
In the 5 plus years I have been on the machine I have had 3 or 4 common colds where I had some congestion but I haven't ever been to the point that I couldn't use my nasal pillow mask. It might not be perfect and sleep might not be perfect but when you have a crappy cold sleep in general is crappy anyway.
There are things we can do to help reduce nasal congestion associated with the common cold. Treat the symptoms just like you would if you didn't use the machine. When I have had a cold...I always wake up breathing better through my nose than when I started so I work on just getting the nose opened up a little. The humidified air helps take up the slack. Think hot steamy shower and how it helps when you have a cold.

If you want to have a full face mask for backup...just in case. Watch the forum members posts. Sometimes you can pick up a new or gently used mask for not much money at all. Or wait and use your insurance and let your DME sell you a FFM.
Sometimes I have FFM donated for situations like this. My inventory of FFMs is quite low at the moment though. Been busy sending out stuff.
Go to cpap.com and take a stroll through the full face masks to see if you spot one that looks interesting to you that might not be too overwhelming for your claustrophobia issues. Get an idea what you might like and size and watch the forum.
I have a Small FitLife total face mask that was donated. I will try to look at my stash later today to see if there is anything else in FFM line that I might have...the FitLife isn't a mask I would recommend for a newbie with claustrophobia though.

Thanks, Pugsy. As you say, with luck I might not need the FFM at all. That would be cool! But I'll start looking online. I keep assuming that since Resmed makes stuff that I like, I might also like their AirFit FFM. Maybe that's not true, though. [Didn't mean to highjack your thread with talk about FFMs, englandsf ]