Can I vent?

The ResMed S9 Escape is a good machine as far as delivering therapy as it is set. Not substandard in that regard.

The problem with the machine is that if for some reason you don't do well, don't feel well, don't show any improvement then you don't have anything to look back on to see if something needs improvement. You only have "how you feel to go on" and it may already be painfully obvious that you don't feel well. Not everyone will have the most perfect therapy as prescribed in the titration study for any number of valid reasons.

What if your mask is leaking....leaking enough to compromise therapy? What if it doesn't wake you up so you don't realize there is a leak? Standard response from many DMEs and unfortunately doctors also is "give it time" "it takes time to see the benefits" "pay off sleep debt"...etc. Unfortunately no amount of time will fix a bad leak or perhaps and ineffective pressure setting.

Yes, there are often other reasons why someone doesn't feel like they are seeing improvement but without any data a person has no where to start looking. We have to start somewhere and checking the software reports and looking at data is just the first step. Some people are lucky, they slap the mask on, get right to sleep and never have a problem and feel like a new person the next day. Guess what? The reason this forum exists is that there are a lot of people who don't feel any improvement. There is a reason that they say 50% of cpap users will bail on the therapy and put the machine in the closet. They just say "OMG, I still feel like crap...this machine isn't doing a darn thing so why go to all the trouble" and packed away it is.

I was one of those who felt horrible with my initial prescribed pressure settings. If I had not had a data capable machine I would never have know that the AHI was still in the double digits and all I needed was a bit more pressure to get them under control. I guarantee if I had not figured that out, I would have quit because I felt horrible and I sure would not have gone to all this trouble to only feel horrible still.

You may never need the data, you may never really care to follow your data...choice is yours...what will you do if you do not see improvement? Hmmm let's go spend another couple grand on a repeat Sleep study to see why and still maybe not know or get a full data machine to start with and have a fighting chance to see what is going on.

Also if I could get the gal with the sleep clinic on the danged phone I'd be a lot happier!

I mean is it true what the suppliers and doctors say about "sleep debt" and taking time to start to feel the effects? I feel like I know my body pretty well and I'm not feeling it. I have an uncle who has been on CPAP for about 15 years. He was in his late 30's/early 40s when he started. When I told him about it he just sang the praises of CPAP and how well I'll sleep.

My first love is writing and the writer's rule of thumb is "show me, don't just tell me." Show me this is going to work or am I'm just going to have the rainout problem/mask fit problem and just feel like I'm spinning my wheels.

I know I'm a newbie. I'm open minded and willing to try anything. But I want to know this is worth my time for my health.

Bama Ryan wrote: I mean is it true what the suppliers and doctors say about "sleep debt" and taking time to start to feel the effects? I feel like I know my body pretty well and I'm not feeling it

Yes there is some truth to sleep debt and "it takes time" BUT please reread my post above.... you have no way of knowing if something needs fixing that could be affecting how you feel. There is more to feeling better than "give it time". Some things no amount of time will fix.

About the mask leak,

masks do change some with use permanently, but some of the change is from exposure to your face oils. I would clean your mask and I would wash your face where it contacts the mask or swab it with a cleanser that has very little residue (if you can find one) before putting on your mask.

Cleaning the mask will help restore some of the properties back to new.

Also some headstraps seem to have a break-in period, I've found. They'll stretch out overnight and relax back a little during the day. Takes a little while for some of them to stabilize. A few weeks to a month. After I break one in, I keep it through 2 or more additional mask replacement cycles to avoid additional break-ins. Although they don't last forever either and will start to wear out, giving a similar problem with changing around on you that you can get when they're new.

You have a Quattro FX which is similar to my Liberty and the straps are more critical since they not only control the amount of retention force against your face, but have much more influence over holding it in position vs. the masks with a forehead piece.

Bama Ryan wrote: My first love is writing and the writer's rule of thumb is "show me, don't just tell me." Show me this is going to work or am I'm just going to have the rainout problem/mask fit problem and just feel like I'm spinning my wheels.

I know I'm a newbie. I'm open minded and willing to try anything. But I want to know this is worth my time for my health.

The trouble is that sleepiness and being tired is only ONE symptom of OSA. The rest are hidden from view - they will only show up years from now in the form of heart problems, stroke and brain damage(dementia). Plus there is correlation with diabetes and other auto immune diseases.

The other thing is that your brain has to get used to allowing you to sleep deeply with this thing on your face. IT is saying "Show me! Prove that I won't die if I go of guard and sleep" It can take weeks for this new habit to form.

Im a bit like your self , got a host of conditions that will annoy me for life but not enough to kill me, just torture me and cpap is the bottom of the list but thats another story.

I have found that by turning off the humidifier and taping my mouth shut stops any dryness since your breathing through your nose only. Dont remove the humidifier though but just use it turned off with or without water as you still got the flow over effect.

find a top quality surgical tape just a bit wider than your lips, cut a hole in the middle to insert a straw if you need water later at night.

you will need 6 pieces of tape if your a heavy breather.

1 across your lips then 2 in a cross fashion over corners of the mouth and a small piece to cover the hole for a straw.

talk about DRAMA lol

Pugsy wrote: Yes, there are often other reasons why someone doesn't feel like they are seeing improvement but without any data a person has no where to start looking. We have to start somewhere and checking the software reports and looking at data is just the first step. Some people are lucky, they slap the mask on, get right to sleep and never have a problem and feel like a new person the next day. Guess what? The reason this forum exists is that there are a lot of people who don't feel any improvement. There is a reason that they say 50% of cpap users will bail on the therapy and put the machine in the closet. They just say "OMG, I still feel like crap...this machine isn't doing a darn thing so why go to all the trouble" and packed away it is.

I was one of those who felt horrible with my initial prescribed pressure settings. If I had not had a data capable machine I would never have know that the AHI was still in the double digits and all I needed was a bit more pressure to get them under control. I guarantee if I had not figured that out, I would have quit because I felt horrible and I sure would not have gone to all this trouble to only feel horrible still.

And I represent the other end of users who need that data in order to get and remain compliant.

Like pugsy, after starting CPAP I felt lousy---for months. And I felt far more lousy--for months---than I had before starting CPAP. The great crash and burn of Fall 2010 really did have me (and my supportive hubby) asking, "If I'm feeling this much worse on therapy, then what's the point?" And there is no doubt in my mind that if I'd had a compliance data only machine, it would have been packed up and sent to the closet or returned to the DME about 3 months into therapy.

What kept me going was that the data indicated that the machine WAS working----in the sense of reducing my AHI from 23.4 (on my diagnostic PSG) to numbers ranging from 0.3 to 2.5 every single night. And the leak line data indicated that mouth breathing was NOT a problem: So there was no need to add trying to sleep with a chinstrap or FFM to my misery. The data kept me from chasing after "fixes" for problems that simply did not exist. And that let me focus on the real problem: My highly sensitive body needed months to desensitize itself to all the stimuli coming from the machine. And the resulting insomnia from the sensory overload was the problem, not inadequate pressure settings.

You may never need the data, you may never really care to follow your data...choice is yours...what will you do if you do not see improvement? Hmmm let's go spend another couple grand on a repeat Sleep study to see why and still maybe not know or get a full data machine to start with and have a fighting chance to see what is going on.

Agree 100%!!