1st night with cpap..looking for advice..

Hello,

I finally got my machine tonite. I felt like the DME kind of rushed me through the whole set up and demonstration. I am a little confused about the whole ramp feature. How or when do I use this? My insurance is only covering 1 extra set of nasal pillows for the first 3 months. Aren't these supposed to be changed more often? Also, how do I set up sleepy head so that I can follow my therapy. And one last question I promise!! How do I know what humidifier I have so I can change it on my signature?

Thanks in advance! Any other suggestions, advice, and comments welcomed.

The ramp feature is usually used when you first put on the CPAP mask, to give you time to adjust to the mask and breathing with it at a low pressure. What is the CPAP pressure or pressure range that was prescribed for you? If I recall correctly (from 5.5 years ago), my initial ramp pressure was set to around 5 or 7 and I was initially prescribed a constant pressure of 13. The ramp gradually moved up the pressure.

On your first night, I would use the ramp, try to get used to the mask, and try to get as much sleep with it as possible. There is an adjustment period in starting CPAP therapy. Just take things slow and easy, relax, and ask questions here. It's a shame you feel like the DME rushed you. I hope you got enough information on how to set up your your machine and attach your mask and hose and try to sleep with the Mask and CPAP on. Those are the first steps. If you have trouble getting used to the mask, air pressure, etc., don't worry. Adjustments often need to be made to find your comfortable sleeping pressure and mask, so if things don't go perfectly from the start, don't get stressed or give up.

For me, a constant pressure of 13 was too high and I felt like i had a vacuum cleaner hose on my head, not something I could breathe with. The ramp was too low to sleep / breathe with and the prescribed pressure was too high. It would have been even worse if I had just turned the machine on at a pressure of 13. In my case, I got a doctor to prescribe a variable pressure of 10-16 on a machine capable of auto titration (APAP) within a few weeks after starting CPAP therapy and asking lots of questions here, and my CPAP/APAP experience has been pretty smooth since then. I wore out my CPAP/APAP machine after 5.5 years and am getting a new model of CPAP machine today, so tomorrow night I may be feeling like a newbie again, trying to figure out how to use the new machine.

Good luck and try to get a good night's sleep!

It appears that the humidifier is specified in the name of the CPAP machine you got, so you don't need to list a separate humidifier.

I have used the Airfit P10 nasal pillows mask with the same set of nasal pillows for the last 1.5 years, although insurance would allow for replacement nasal pillows more often and I did get an extra set during that time. I found the nasal pillows for the Airfit P10 to be durable over that period of time and could still use the first set of pillows that came with that mask. With other nasal pillows masks I've tried, I have had to get new nasal pillows (or ditch the mask because the nasal pillows were so flimsy) within a month. You can work out the frequency of supplies by finding out from your insurer how frequently they will pay for them.

I will be starting to use the Sleepyhead software when I get the new machine, so am no help there, but you don't NEED it the first night. Focus on getting comfortable with using the machine and mask, and hopefully get a good night's rest.

MarylandCPAPer wrote:It appears that the humidifier is specified in the name of the CPAP machine you got, so you don't need to list a separate humidifier.

I have used the Airfit P10 nasal pillows mask with the same set of nasal pillows for the last 1.5 years, although insurance would allow for replacement nasal pillows more often and I did get an extra set during that time. I found the nasal pillows for the Airfit P10 to be durable over that period of time and could still use the first set of pillows that came with that mask. With other nasal pillows masks I've tried, I have had to get new nasal pillows (or ditch the mask because the nasal pillows were so flimsy) within a month. You can work out the frequency of supplies by finding out from your insurer how frequently they will pay for them.

I will be starting to use the Sleepyhead software when I get the new machine, so am no help there, but you don't NEED it the first night. Focus on getting comfortable with using the machine and mask, and hopefully get a good night's rest.

Thank you for responding and all of your helpful information, I really apprecise it. Yeah, it was pretty difficult to follow the DME, and what she was saying. My concentration and memory are already in the dumps, and when you add in her rushing along in her heavily accented voice it made the whole experience rather unpleasant. I did manage to get the machine all set up, so I will see how it goes tonite. My ramp is set at 4cm and my constant pressure is set at 8cm. I will check with my insurance and see how often I can get replacement pillows. Thanks again.

mzdawn74 wrote:My insurance is only covering 1 extra set of nasal pillows for the first 3 months. Aren't these supposed to be changed more often?

I've been using the same set since august, still working, see no reason to throw away perfectly good pillows just because I can.

palerider wrote:

mzdawn74 wrote:My insurance is only covering 1 extra set of nasal pillows for the first 3 months. Aren't these supposed to be changed more often?

I've been using the same set since august, still working, see no reason to throw away perfectly good pillows just because I can.

Thank you for sharing that with me!! And your right, why waste money?!

mzdawn74 wrote:

palerider wrote:

mzdawn74 wrote:My insurance is only covering 1 extra set of nasal pillows for the first 3 months. Aren't these supposed to be changed more often?

I've been using the same set since august, still working, see no reason to throw away perfectly good pillows just because I can.

Thank you for sharing that with me!! And your right, why waste money?!

my partner's been using his since last june... so, what'd I'd do is get a few spares, and then stop having 'em sent to you... you may not need to change yours any more often than I have... or you may need to change 'em more often. only time will tell... but the cushions seem to outlast the headgear. and it's pretty durable too.

mzdawn74 wrote:Hello,

I finally got my machine tonite. I felt like the DME kind of rushed me through the whole set up and demonstration. I am a little confused about the whole ramp feature. How or when do I use this? My insurance is only covering 1 extra set of nasal pillows for the first 3 months. Aren't these supposed to be changed more often? Also, how do I set up sleepy head so that I can follow my therapy. And one last question I promise!! How do I know what humidifier I have so I can change it on my signature?

Thanks in advance! Any other suggestions, advice, and comments welcomed.

Someone else with more experience can help you set up Sleepyhead but with your machine you can sign up for MyAir which will give you info on your stats each day no where near as detailed as Sleepyhead but you just go online each day. You register here for it: ResMed.com/my/Air

cancun wrote:

mzdawn74 wrote:Hello,

I finally got my machine tonite. I felt like the DME kind of rushed me through the whole set up and demonstration. I am a little confused about the whole ramp feature. How or when do I use this? My insurance is only covering 1 extra set of nasal pillows for the first 3 months. Aren't these supposed to be changed more often? Also, how do I set up sleepy head so that I can follow my therapy. And one last question I promise!! How do I know what humidifier I have so I can change it on my signature?

Thanks in advance! Any other suggestions, advice, and comments welcomed.

Someone else with more experience can help you set up Sleepyhead but with your machine you can sign up for MyAir which will give you info on your stats each day no where near as detailed as Sleepyhead but you just go online each day. You register here for it: ResMed.com/my/Air

Thank you. I registered last night.

Welcome, mzdawn74! I hope you get as much relief from your therapy as many of us do. We are here to help.

Both ramp and humidity are considered "comfort features" and easily adjustable from the front panel. Did they give you the manuals for your equipment? If not, we can tell you where you can download them as pdf files.

Many people turn ramp off completely because it can be hard to breathe at the reduced pressure. You can try setting the ramp time to zero which means, in effect, no ramp. Or, as long a ramp as you like if you find the reduced pressure makes it easier for you to fall asleep and you can still breathe comfortably.

For humidity, you can pick the middle setting and then decide the next night whether you would like more or less humidity than the previous night. Some people get stuffiness from too much humidity and some from too little.

Our own Pugsy has written a wonderful guide to sleepyhead which you can find here: viewtopic/t88983/Pugsys-PointersSleepyH ... Hints.html

yaconsult wrote:Welcome, mzdawn74! I hope you get as much relief from your therapy as many of us do. We are here to help.

Both ramp and humidity are considered "comfort features" and easily adjustable from the front panel. Did they give you the manuals for your equipment? If not, we can tell you where you can download them as pdf files.

Many people turn ramp off completely because it can be hard to breathe at the reduced pressure. You can try setting the ramp time to zero which means, in effect, no ramp. Or, as long a ramp as you like if you find the reduced pressure makes it easier for you to fall asleep and you can still breathe comfortably.

For humidity, you can pick the middle setting and then decide the next night whether you would like more or less humidity than the previous night. Some people get stuffiness from too much humidity and some from too little.

Our own Pugsy has written a wonderful guide to sleepyhead which you can find here: viewtopic/t88983/Pugsys-PointersSleepyH ... Hints.html

Thank you for the link and the information. I am really overwhelmed at this point.