Day 4 results so far.......questions

[Mike081376]

HI ya'll,

Ok so last night was my 3rd night using the M Series Pro with Humid. Again, my setting is on a 10 and humidifier on a 2. My biggest problem so far is the rainout in my tube the last 2 nights. I keep my room VERY cold and added a tube cover 2 days ago..still getting water in my tube (woke me up at 3am last night). I guess my Humidifier setting at 2.5 is too high so 1 is going to be the setting. I also called my Dr. yesterday and told them the 1st mask they gave me on Monday was killing me, Mirage Micro Nasal. I had to drive 50 minutes yesterday to there other office to exchange. I wish id gone to this office in the first place, the tech was VERY helpful, didnt rush me and let me ask any questions I wanted..unlike Monday where I felt like they couldn't get rid of me fast enough. I opted for the Mirage Swift LT Nasal Pillow CPAP Mask with Headgear with the over the head attachment for the tube. This mask is TEN times better than a full nasal mask for me....the pillows are a little different, only complaint is I feel like they shove your nose into your brain! haha Anyone else feel like its cramming your nose??

Ok and lastly (sorry for the long thread) as most of you know, the M Series digital screen give you a 7 and 30 day average on your leak rate and AHI. Me leak rate since Monday has been 33.5. Reading the manual it said that since the c flex allows exhalation, this can account for a higher leak rate??? Still seems high to me, I dont think im having any mask leaks.....maybe mouth breathing??? Also my AHI is 4.9 since Monday, this seems to be ok?

Thanks for the thoughts ya'll!!!

Mike

[Pad A Cheek]

Hello and welcome to the land of the hose heads. If you feel the pillows are cramming in your nose, you have it too tight. You should just have the pillows seal on the outside of your nares. If you feel that they do not fit well, try the next size larger. It is kinda counter intuitive that you would go larger, but that often helps.
I hope you can get these adjusted to work for you.

As far as rain out, there are some very insulating hose covers that are 3 layers thick that should help. I kinda know about these on a personal basis.

Good luck,
Karen

[Mike081376]

Hi Karen,

Yeah I bought a Resmed Tubing wrap at a local DME 2 days ago because I didn't want to wait for cpap.com delivery! Its blue and has a zipper the whole length of the tube.....its VERY thick, almost too thick I think because the flexibility is almost nil. I do have to say that the LT Swift II is soooo much more comfortable than the full nasal....your right, ive been playing around with it this morning and loosened up the straps, this seemed to help. Also when I hang the hose behind my head board I dont seem to get the "tugging" on the mask....I think I will go with a different cover for my tube, maybe even get a longer hose because I have a "sleigh" styly bed and the back headboard is VERY high!!!!

Any thoughts on from anyone with an M Series and my AHI/Leak rates???

Thanks!!!

[Mike081376]

Bump for leak rates/AHI!!!

[SleepyInIndy]

The documentation that came with your mask should show you a table or graph that shows anticipated leakage vs pressure. Usually you will have to interpolate as rarely do the lines correspond. If your measured leakage on the machine is close to the nunber on the table, you are probably OK. If it significantly higher, you have some leakage issues to track.

Every mask has a different leakage rate so you need to know what is the 'anticipated' rate for the mask. This leakage is the venting that all masks do to ensure we are eliminating the carbon dioxide we exhale.

[Mike081376]

SleepIndy....

Thanks I just read my manual for my Swift LT...it says that if I have a pressure setting of 8-12 (mines 10) you should have a leak rate of 28-33 (mines 33!!) So im right on par for the standard exhalation leak rate...no wonder I felt so good this morning, even though I woke up at 3AM because of some minor thunderstorms in my tube/mask! haha

Thanks again ya'll, you guys (gals) make this journey so much easier!!!

Mike

[SharkBait]

SleepIndy....

Thanks I just read my manual for my Swift LT...it says that if I have a pressure setting of 8-12 (mines 10) you should have a leak rate of 28-33 (mines 33!!) So im right on par for the standard exhalation leak rate...no wonder I felt so good this morning, even though I woke up at 3AM because of some minor thunderstorms in my tube/mask! haha

Thanks again ya'll, you guys (gals) make this journey so much easier!!!

Mike

We've got pretty similar conditions, I'm on a Respironics w/ heated humid. setting at 10, using a Swift LT and getting about a 33 leak rate and it's working very well for me. Only difference is that I get NO rainout. I use the huggy, but I don't think that should make a difference vs your cover. I like to use my hose pointing down, so I run the hose straight from my APAP to my knees, and then take a left up to my face with about 3-4 feet of it running under the covers and close to my body. I also have my A/C / Heat thermostat on ~69, though the room feels a little colder than that.

[Gerald]

Mike.......

Here's how to get out of most of the trouble......

Set Humidifier on "1"
Put cotton string wick inside nosepiece (breath condensation is probably the cause of your rainout)
Use Lansenoh Lanolin (for nursing moms) on your nares - use 3/8" ribbon to do both nares before putting on the mask
Purchase Viewer software and a card reader from CPAP.com (you're "flying" without instruments)
Hose probably shouldn't be longer than 10' (long hose may make it harder for machine to react to your needs)
Adjust nosepiece so that it's comfortable on your nares

Gerald

[BeanMeScot]

I like my room very cold as well. I turned down the humidifier to 1. At first I was waking up with a dry mouth but I seem to have gotten used to it and there isn't nearly as much moisture in my mask. I also have a hose huggie. You can also try a Reptile Cord. The 15 watt one won't harm your hose but you can warm the hose. Most of my issues are caused by moisture from my breathing, though, so the reptile cord didn't help as much as I thought it would.

[dieselgal]

I live in Texas and it is not particularly humid in my area but with the M-series auto I usually can only use my humidifier on setting 1. Even then sometimes I get rainout. It seems that I do better with the humidifier off much of the time. However we went on vacation back in November and went to the Davis Mts which is a lot dryer. While there I used my humidifier at 4 and 5 every night so it definitely makes a big difference where you live! So when I travel I will never leave my humidifier behind.

[sleeplessinaz]

Hi --You might want to go to PAD A CHEEK website---there are wonderful hose covers on there that are micro fleece!!! No rainout and I have my setting on 2 for the humidifier. The prices of these hose covers are very reasonable too--they also have different lenghts--even 10 ft.

Carrie

[ozij]

Get a cover for the masks narrow tube as well.
Me, I use a heated hose (it comes with its own cotton covering), a fleece hose cover on top that, and a fleece cover for the narrow hose as well.

O.