another newbie

[Momma5]

Hello all!

I have been lurking here for about a week, and have to thank you all for your collective wisdom! You really helped me out a LOT adjusting to being a hose-head I had problems with mouth leaks (I'm taping, sounded horrible, works great, and I AM a "medical professional" although certainly not a respiratory specialist. If I had to throw up, I would be rippppping that tape off FAST. I'm asleep, not anesthetized). Also with the aerophagia.... Found a soft squishy pillow that accomodates my gear and lets me keep my chin up. Not sleeping with three pillows any more!!!! And as a wise soul said, it isn't fun, it's therapy! It SURE beats being in a fog all the time! And falling asleep in the middle of a day at Disneyland! or missing your kid's school program because you fell asleep

I kept hearing, oh, you are tired because you work nights, because you are depressed, because you have five kids (two step, three the easy way), etc. I had a sleep test to appease my doctor, who I went to because two years of tweaking antidepressants was not working. He asked if I snore, and well, yeah my husband has mentioned that I do (he said HELL YES you snore- hadn't complained, bless his heart, apparently it was awful if he didn't fall asleep first). I was surprised when they called me back after the test.... 96 apopneic (did I spell that right?) events in four hours.... well, NO WONDER I'm exhausted!!!

A couple of questions:

What's up with my mouth inflating during the night? I woke up a couple times last night feeling like Dizzy Gillespie. With the tape on, it had no place to go.... well, better there than my stomach, but it is pressure lost from the airway? or does the machine compensate? I don't even know if I have a data card on my machine, it seems pretty basic.... just a CPAP with a cool air humidifier and a nose-mask....

How long does it take a typical DME to supply another mask if you have a problem with yours? I have been rolling along feeling better and cannot imagine having to wait a week or two to get a new one if something happened to this one. Do you-all typically buy an extra one or try to get the DME to supply an extra one for the just-in-case scenario?

And is my humidifier not working if I don't have water in my tube? I keep seeing things about rain-out, and I have not seen any in my tube; the water in the humidifier did decrease in level.

Thanks again for the collective wisdom. They had us go to a class at the DME, but did not come near addressing many concerns I had.

Trish

[JP]

Being another newbie with 4 days (nights) of experience on an APAP I can't offer much advice, but I don't have any humidifier condensation in my hoses either. Nothing, not a drop, not even a slight fog visible through the hose. That's with the H3i humidifier on my ResMed S8 Vantage set to 4 out of 6.

Either I'm lucky, or I'm doing something wrong. I haven't had any dry throat or dry nasal cavities problems, and I sure did in my sleep test before they turned the humidifier on.

[oldgearhead]

What's up with my mouth inflating during the night?

Aha, you have been attacked buy the dreaded 'Blowfish'. There are 4
weapons that may be effective in this battle:
1) A full-face mask
2) An Ace bandage over your head and under your chin to keep the cheek from inflating. Some say a chin-strap may work.
3) I use Micropore paper tape and I can expel the excess pressure through it.
4) C-Flex, ERP, or Bi-AP.

[oldgearhead]

And is my humidifier not working if I don't have water in my tube?

Condensation (rain-out) is a bad thing. It usually only occurs when the room air is a few degrees cooler than the humidified air. If you don't have it, good. If you do have it get the Aussie Heated Hose (about $100) or
a hose cover.

' '

[oldgearhead]

How long does it take a typical DME to supply another mask if you have a problem with yours?

DME? I never use them....less stress..

[snoregirl]

I find I get more blowfish with a full face mask than with my swift. So I guess I can't be as helpful here. But I do agree that the ace bandage under the chin and over hte head is good for a lot of things. Looks funny but who cares, certainly not I.


Which brand of machine/humidifier are you using? I have read that the ResMed's are less powerful at lower numbers (info gleaned from previous posters, not my personal experience) so maybe someone with a Resmed can tell you what number you need to be some recognizable level of humidification. I have Respironics and with 2 I can feel the heated air. Others with Resmed machines have asked the same question (Is it working?) and the answer as I recall was turn it up a bit.

Most insurance pays for a new mask with headgear at 6 months and cushions at 3 months. Of course all are different. If you want a spare before you manage to accumulate masks every 6 months (assuming the old is still usable when the new one comes) don't buy from DME if insurance doesn't cover it. Much cheaper online. You don't say what you are using and what you are concerned about breaking so hard to address this specifically. Many folks have more than one mask in their collection. This web site host doesn't charge shipping on orders over $100 so if you buy a mask it may be free shipping and if not quite, throw in a spare hose or spare filters or whatever you need and you are there.

[krousseau]

Rainout may not happen if the temp difference of the air in the tube and the walls of the tube is not great. As long as the water level is going down. It doesn't get very hot.

The DME would be happy to supply you with a spare mask-insurance may or may not pay. If it is a different type of mask (change to nasal or pillows or full face) and you need it for a specific reason insurance will probably pay-especially if your doc writes an RX for it. If you pay-get it online. Otherwise find out how soon insurance will pay for a replacement and get one as soon as "allowed"-save it until you need to open it. Don't discard the old when you get a new mask save it as your backup (if it is still in OK condition).

[caty]

I have the ResMed S8 Vantage with the heated humidifier. The humidifier doesn't warm up until the 4 or higher setting. I didn't have any problems with rainout using the Swift with the humidity at 4, an occasional drop or 2. If the water level is decreasing, you are getting humidified air. If you start getting rainout, as mentioned by others, get a hose cover or the heated tube.

[rested gal]

A couple of questions:

What's up with my mouth inflating during the night? I woke up a couple times last night feeling like Dizzy Gillespie. With the tape on, it had no place to go.... well, better there than my stomach, but it is pressure lost from the airway? or does the machine compensate?

Hi Trish...welcome to the board!

Except maybe for the nano second when some of the air took a detour into your mouth, you didn't lose any treatment pressure. The machine didn't have to compensate for it. That air that got into your mouth and puffed your cheeks out was contained in the loop just as surely as air coming out the mouth is contained by a full face mask. As long as the tape was holding it back, you were getting full benefit of your treatment. And the tape was obviously holding it back...thus the blowfish cheeks. Sure sign that you would have been losing treatment air had you not been using tape.

Oldgearhead's suggestion of an Ace bandage (I'd probably use a softer type of homemade strap) around the head to keep the cheeks flat would be the way I'd go. That is, if the blowfish effect was bothersome. If it doesn't really bother you and you were only concerned about whether it interfered with treatment pressure -- no worry and no strap needed.

If you're awake when the cheeks puff out, there's a way to work the air back toward the entrance to the throat. Imagine yourself trying to drink a very thick malt through a straw...suck your cheeks inward and work the air backwards by rolling your tongue along roof of mouth until you've moved the pocket of air to the entrance of the back of your throat. It will get caught by the air being breathed through the nose, and be whisked on down the right way. Might take a little practice to do that, but once you've figured it out, it takes less than a second to get the excess air moved back and sent on its way...the right way.

[Guest]

the blowfish syndrome can be lessened if you try and keep your tongue planted into your hard palate. Eventually you can train yourself to keep it there even during sleep. The difficult part comes when you hit REM, lips part, mandible drops and air leaks. If you can keep the lips sealed and tongue planted your results will be better.

[Offerocker]

Hello all!

......I kept hearing, oh, you are tired because you work nights, because you are depressed, because you have five kids (two step, three the easy way), etc.

Am curious about this: WHAT IS the "easy" way???

...... I don't even know if I have a data card on my machine, it seems pretty basic.... just a CPAP with a cool air humidifier and a nose-mask....

Look at your machine, Trish, and get all the info you can, then fill out your 'Profile' - that will help us know what type of cpap machine and humidifier you have. You 'may' have a heated humidifier! If not, consider getting one now and not later, from your DME.

And is my humidifier not working if I don't have water in my tube? I keep seeing things about rain-out, and I have not seen any in my tube; the water in the humidifier did decrease in level.
Trish

LUCKY YOU!!! Round One has been WON!
I'd bet that many of us had a chuckle over your 'worry'!! As Rested Gal suggested, "It's a Good Thing"!

The oncoming cooler weather "could" change that, depending on the setting, if you use the heating feature of your humidifier. In that case, IF you have any rainout, try a coverying for it before spending a lot of money for the heated hoses. There are many options. (I don't know if insurance would pay for a heated hose).

Welcome, and visit often!