Hello c-pap'ers.....

[irishdame]

I have been on cpap for about 6 months and still wake up 3-4 times every night. I am a mouth breather so I tried the full face mask and I HATED it! I couldn't get it to stop leaking, so I went back to my nasal mask and taping my mouth shut. When I told the people at the medical supply place where I get my equipment that I taped my mouth shut, they were apaulled that I was told to tape my mouth shut. I tried a chin strap, but I am going through menopause and my head is hot enough at night. I just couldn't wear it. So back to the tape I go. I use paper tape. Works good for me. I am still trying to be patient and I am very hopeful I will sleep a full night soon. Still very sleepy during the day. They printed out my results from my card and I was still snoring and stopped breathing 2-3 times a night. Hey better than 53! Love this site and love u all....Emily

[Wulfman]

Hi Emily,

Sorry to hear about your experience with the full face mask. Which one were you using?
Yeah, we've had some DME folks and Respiratory Therapists visit here and went ballistic over the mouth-taping thing, too.

Good luck with your therapy.

Den

[sharon1965]

emily
i don't have anything to add to your post other than the fact that i, too, hate the ff masks and have taped off and on since i started cpap 18 months ago

the reason for my reply is to say hello from one irish dame to another

[WhiteBeard]

irishdame have you tried the Hybrid mask or the Liberty mask? it is kind of a cross between a full face mask and a nasal pillow mask. It is not for everyone but some of us like them, anyway if you haven't tried them it might we worth giving them a try!
Also if your still snoring and stop breathing then it sure sounds like your treatment could use a little adjusting. Do you have OSA or are you also having Central Apneas too? If you have been on CPAP for 6 months and still having problems maybe you need another sleep study done. It sure might be worth while checking into anyway! Good Luck to You

[gasp]

I have a relative that uses the Chillow. She is going through menopause and says it has worked very well. http://www.chillow.com/

I see they advertise use for a pet. Hard to imagine the pet wouldn't bite or otherwise damage the pillow resulting in it springing a leak. For a human though, according to my relative, it works like a dream.

[Dennisla]

I have been on cpap for about 6 months and still wake up 3-4 times every night. I am a mouth breather so I tried the full face mask and I HATED it! I couldn't get it to stop leaking, so I went back to my nasal mask and taping my mouth shut. When I told the people at the medical supply place where I get my equipment that I taped my mouth shut, they were apaulled that I was told to tape my mouth shut. I tried a chin strap, but I am going through menopause and my head is hot enough at night. I just couldn't wear it. So back to the tape I go. I use paper tape. Works good for me. I am still trying to be patient and I am very hopeful I will sleep a full night soon. Still very sleepy during the day. They printed out my results from my card and I was still snoring and stopped breathing 2-3 times a night. Hey better than 53! Love this site and love u all....Emily

Hi Emily,
I've been in cpap two months now. The first was horrible. I was awake it seems most all the month. But this last month I've been doing better. I also hate the full face mask, they feel too restrictive to me. Like I am closed in or something. Now I use the Swift LT and kinda like it. Like you I was using chin straps. They seem to help some. I actually had one night that I had no leaks at all using an athletic strap. But that only lasted one night. I had read on here about others using tape which I thought was extreme and was surprised when I read it. But I gave that a try starting 5 nights ago first with a small strip not covering my whole mouth. It had positive results and was not all that a horrible experience. So I increased the tape to cover my entire mouth the last two nights. The results was amazing. It's not uncomfortable at all. Not like wearing a large chinstrap covering most of your head. And it works. Should I continue to do this? well thats the question I guess. So many seem to feel this is unsafe/unhealthy. But what is more unhealthy, poor cpap therapy or tape?

Here are the charts that show my results: http://kd1ca.net:82/cpap/
Dennis

[gasp]

I have been on cpap for about 6 months and still wake up 3-4 times every night. I am a mouth breather so I tried the full face mask and I HATED it! I couldn't get it to stop leaking, so I went back to my nasal mask and taping my mouth shut. When I told the people at the medical supply place where I get my equipment that I taped my mouth shut, they were apaulled that I was told to tape my mouth shut. I tried a chin strap, but I am going through menopause and my head is hot enough at night. I just couldn't wear it. So back to the tape I go. I use paper tape. Works good for me. I am still trying to be patient and I am very hopeful I will sleep a full night soon. Still very sleepy during the day. They printed out my results from my card and I was still snoring and stopped breathing 2-3 times a night. Hey better than 53! Love this site and love u all....Emily

Hi Emily,
I've been in cpap two months now. The first was horrible. I was awake it seems most all the month. But this last month I've been doing better. I also hate the full face mask, they feel too restrictive to me. Like I am closed in or something. Now I use the Swift LT and kinda like it. Like you I was using chin straps. They seem to help some. I actually had one night that I had no leaks at all using an athletic strap. But that only lasted one night. I had read on here about others using tape which I thought was extreme and was surprised when I read it. But I gave that a try starting 5 nights ago first with a small strip not covering my whole mouth. It had positive results and was not all that a horrible experience. So I increased the tape to cover my entire mouth the last two nights. The results was amazing. It's not uncomfortable at all. Not like wearing a large chinstrap covering most of your head. And it works. Should I continue to do this? well thats the question I guess. So many seem to feel this is unsafe/unhealthy. But what is more unhealthy, poor cpap therapy or tape?

Here are the charts that show my results: http://kd1ca.net:82/cpap/
Dennis

When I first began therapy I had to use a chinstrap. Somewhere along the way I learned to keep my mouth shut. However, I do understand how wearing a full strap isn't wonderful. To answer your question, poor cpap therapy is more unhealthy, however that one emergency where you may not be able to respond due to a stroke, or other such mishap, would be the prize winner of unhealthy : 0 Having said that, I support you fully in your decision and have no judgment around it at all. Everyone has to do what they have to do . . . : )