first time poster long time victim of apnea

coonface · Post by **coonface** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 10:41 pm

Ill get my sleep study results as soon as my doctor gets back from his vacation as well as to start the the fun phase of this, seeing as Ive had apnea so long I have to go to a cardiologist to find if there has been any damage done to my heart. I feel normal I guess, so hopefully everything is fine.

is there anything else I should be checking for after having apnea for so long?

mindy · Post by **mindy** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 10:45 pm

I've heard rumors that the surgery tends not to work for those of us who have sleep apnea related to weight, but there is *supposedly* a higher success rate with those who are thin and have apnea. Don't know if that's true or not.....

m

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 10:55 pm

coonface wrote:I was prescribed a setting of 12, so I set it at 6min 14 high and last night it stayed pretty steady at 14 so tonight ill set it at 20 max and see where it falls

Coonface, you'll do fine working on your treatment yourself. Glad to hear you've got the software to monitor how it goes. If it were me.... I'd set the autopap range at 10 - 20. See how that looks for a few nights.

Gerald's suggestion about getting hold of a recording pulse oximeter to see if your O2 is staying up nicely all night is a very good suggestion.

I've been a "treat-it-yourself"er for over 4 years. Works for me.

Good luck!

P.S. Here are some useful links to tuck away:

viewtopic.php?t=17435

http://www.smart-sleep-apnea.blogspot.com/

Types of machines:
viewtopic.php?p=56836
"Whats the differences in BIPAP, XPAP, APAP, CFLEX"

Common abbreviations and definitions:
viewtopic.php?t=14902
"Learning lexicon of cpap terms"

coonface · Post by **coonface** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 6:52 am

well another night down, and sadly my little Comfortcurve cant take the pressure. at most pressures I'm doing real good but 12 and above is just too much for the Comfortcurve, and seeing as I stay above 12 while sleeping I'm going to have to try a different mask.

I think Ill try the ComfortGel But I REALLY would like some suggestions on other people's experiences.

Gerald · Post by **Gerald** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 9:58 am

Coon......

My honey is experiencing the same problem.....but just on a smaller scale.

We've talked about it.....and I think I understand the reason. My nose is shaped so that I can use the little nasal pillows found on the Aura mask.

She tried to use the Aura, but found she couldn't because one of her nares is different from the other. She had to change to a mask that covers her whole nose.

She is continually fighting leaks......and it's primarily because the "whole nose" mask covers a larger area than a mask that seals against the small area around (2) nares.

It's sort of like what we were taught in Science Class about how hydraulic jacks work. A small pressure on a tiny piston will raise a large piston a small distance. Said in reverse, a large pressure pushing on the big piston can be easily resisted with a small pressure on the tiny piston.

Still another way is to look at the problem is like the proverbial story of the kid who saves Holland by putting his finger in a tiny hole on the dike. However, he can't hold the dike in place if he is pushing against a large hole.

Where I'm going with all of this is the idea that nasal masks pushing against the small area around our nares can probably handle much more pressure than larger masks.....that have to seal against larger areas of our face. Pressure pushing against a large mask can easily push it (the mask) away from our face....defeating the seal.....and air escapes.

Because of the relatively high pressures you're running, it may be necessary that you try a nasal mask.

My second mask was the Comfortlite 2.......followed by the Breeze....followed by the Aura (the one I'm using now). I got the idea of using the Aura by following Rested Gal's lead......and usually, in almost every case, we can't go wrong by following what she does.

I hope all this made sense.......

Gerald

_________________

CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): breeze, Aura, seal

sleepycarol · Post by **sleepycarol** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 10:05 am

I have tried the Comfortlite and the Breeze and the Breeze wins hands down at this point.

My nares are two different sizes and with the Breeze I can use different size pillows. At this point I am using a large and a medium and my leak rate is where it should be and fairly stable.

I know some people don't like the headgear on the Breeze, but it doesn't seem to bother me. There are some posts on how to modify the headgear.

coonface · Post by **coonface** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 7:46 am

well night three, and after HEAVY modifications my comfortcurve is leaking no more. My AHI score dropped to an average of 1, but my VS spiked to a 20, and I had a little bit of a flow limitation from time to time. My average pressure was at 18cm.

I still can't export my encore data to this site, ive tried sending it to photobucket but it does not recognize an .xps file

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 7:48 am

Hi,

Glad to hear things are going better. Instead of an export from EncorePro, just create the PDF file and select the part you want and save it as a JPG file. Then upload that....

Mindy

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 11:34 am

coonface wrote:well night three, and after HEAVY modifications

My ears perked up!!! Sounds like a new lab rat has been busy!

Please describe in detail your modifications to the Comfort Curve. And please email me pictures of what you did to it. Check your Private Messages (button at upper right of this page) for my email address.