Just got back from titration study...

And I'm very positive about the experience! I went in with a head full of questions and the sleep tech. was knowledgable and was able to answer them all. The hospital had three masks from which to choose; two were nasal and the other a full face. She held all three up to my face and applied a bit of pressure so I could guage how they would fit and choose one. One of the nasal masks was the comfort gel and the other, the one I ended up choosing, was a Resmed Active Cell. The nasal mask worked well for me. The only discomfort I had was that the mask was undoubtedly too large. The forehead piece also created pressure points because it didn't really adjust well enough to fit my head. The headgear was also made for a FF mask and that made it a little more uncomfortable than it probably should have been. I asked the sleep tech. to losen the straps just a bit once and that helped. The air comeing in from the machine wasn't a bother at all! I started to kind of like it. I slept fine, but did wake up a couple of times, I think due to the mask pressure and the awkward headgear. My max. pressure was 13. The sleep teach said she would like to have gotten me up to 14 but time ran out on us. She told me though that my doctor is famous for choosing an autopap and that he will probably raise the high end number a couple more notches.

Overall not a bad start! Five minutes after she woke me up, I was awake and alert almost fully! The next thing that happened was that I noticed I was starving! I normally don't like to eat until lunch time, I guess because of the gorgginess, etc but this morning I was ready for some breakfast!

The only side effects I could tell were from the not-so-well fitted mask and headgear. My eyes were a bit watery, I think because of my small face the mask ended up touching the corners of my eyes. They didn't use a HH but my nose wasn't excessively dry. The air at first was cool, which was actually pleasing, since I'm hot natured. Thankfully there were no leaks. That mask did adjust well and had kind of a bellows feel to it.

Now it's just a matter of getting back in the doc's office, getting the insurance stuff worked out, and hopefully in a few days I'll have a system to use at home. I am going to request to try on some nasal masks with no forehead piece and with a range of sizes. I'm also going to push for a machine with full data. The sleep tech. told me that they don't often perscribe those, for fear that people will study their numbers and worry needlessly if something changes. I think at this point in my medical experiences I can keep things in perspective and think that patients have a right to the info needed to help manage their therapy.

Overall, two thumbs up!

If you do get an auto... chances are it will have the capability to have full data... whether or not they turn on that capability is another matter.

Ooooh! Thanks for the heads-up! I'll make sure to address that if it comes up.

Also, I forgot to ask this earlier, but are there any good suggestions for nasal masks that don't have a forehead piece? If I havea list, then when i get to actually try on some masks I'll know what to gear to. Thanks!