how many masks did your tech try on you?

[polysomno-man]

Just curious. Most techs try on 1-3. I try on 5-8 per patient.

[Slinky]

3 my first titration, 2 nasal cushions, one nasal pillows. Switched in the middle of the night my second titration, nasal pillows to nasal cushion. Used my own mask my third titration. Last titration the tech took one look at me and suggested a particular mask. Used it half the night then switched to my own mask.

[MidnightOwl]

At titration one nasal mask to start. Switched in the middle of the night to a full face mask and tried three sizes of one model to eliminate leaks.

[KevinMWHM]

At my sleep study - they were very good at explaining the process and the therapy but knowing what I know now, I wish I had done more research. They tried me with a nose mask (unsure the brand). I hated it so when they came to set me up, I opted for the nose pillows. That took about a week to THEN find out that I sleep with my mouth open and could not fix it. Two weeks later I was able to convince them to give me a full face.

It wouldn't bother me that much but the time it took was insane.

Doctor visit to 1st sleep study - 1 week
1st study to 2nd - another week
2nd study info back to the Doc - week and a half
Doctor to Supplier then to my house - week
Supplier back to y house with the full face - 2 weeks

And I bitched and moaned the whole time. I actually felt like I was getting worse sleep having known that there was a solution on the way almost 2 months later!!!

[polysomno-man]

At my sleep study - they were very good at explaining the process and the therapy but knowing what I know now, I wish I had done more research. They tried me with a nose mask (unsure the brand). I hated it so when they came to set me up, I opted for the nose pillows. That took about a week to THEN find out that I sleep with my mouth open and could not fix it. Two weeks later I was able to convince them to give me a full face.

It wouldn't bother me that much but the time it took was insane.

Doctor visit to 1st sleep study - 1 week
1st study to 2nd - another week
2nd study info back to the Doc - week and a half
Doctor to Supplier then to my house - week
Supplier back to y house with the full face - 2 weeks

And I bitched and moaned the whole time. I actually felt like I was getting worse sleep having known that there was a solution on the way almost 2 months later!!!

We are trying to work on the time lapse. CMS is doing alot of things right now to encourage split night studies. This will give the patient the opportunity to see the doc, and within 2 weeks getting their machine. Right now the lab I work at has an agreement with 2 DME's to give patients their CPAPs before the doctor reads the study. If the doctor wants to change the pressure, then the patient brings the machine in to get changed. Any good sleep tech will find the pressure a patient needs though. I think this will be common practice soon. You are right, people definately notice how tired they are once they realize how poor they are sleeping. Sorry it took so long for you to get treatment.

[goose]

Well for my polysymography they came in about 2am and put a nasal pillow thingie like a swift which kept me awake the rest of the night leaking....
For my titration they used one similar to the ComfortGel and it went all night. Slept GREAT, felt absolutely fantastic in the morning and all day - then waited 4 weeks for my machine .
I was issued a ComfortGel Medium (the titration mask was a medium - different brand mask though) which I eventually made work, but it just wasn't right -- leaked a lot especially around my nose into my eyes...not good. I did learn not to crank it down and to let the membrane inflate to create a good seal (it turns out it was a good "learner mask"). On my own (no help from DME or anyone else really) I bought a small interface and it solved my issues!!!! Issued the wrong size!!
I switched up to a Headrest based on reviews and posts here, and it was the mask that worked best for me once I got the XL cannula - it's been my "success" mask ever since.
Now all that said - Recently I tried an Activa and love it!!! It probably won't replace my Headrest, but the ComfortGel is now #3 in my collection and the Activa will be my "backup".....
I will have to say that I was never discouraged in my treatment, just determined to make it work.....I had a great neurologist working with me (she retired to add to and take care of her family) - she prescribed me an Auto machine so I could titrate myself since the titration test was totally wrong (even the way I felt there was no way I could have been titrated at 5.....I can't breathe until 7 and my numbers are best at the range 11-15). At that range, I rarely ever go over 13.....

Probably more info that you were really asking for, but......
cheers
goose

[polysomno-man]

Well for my polysymography they came in about 2am and put a nasal pillow thingie like a swift which kept me awake the rest of the night leaking....
For my titration they used one similar to the ComfortGel and it went all night. Slept GREAT, felt absolutely fantastic in the morning and all day - then waited 4 weeks for my machine .
I was issued a ComfortGel Medium (the titration mask was a medium - different brand mask though) which I eventually made work, but it just wasn't right -- leaked a lot especially around my nose into my eyes...not good. I did learn not to crank it down and to let the membrane inflate to create a good seal (it turns out it was a good "learner mask"). On my own (no help from DME or anyone else really) I bought a small interface and it solved my issues!!!! Issued the wrong size!!
I switched up to a Headrest based on reviews and posts here, and it was the mask that worked best for me once I got the XL cannula - it's been my "success" mask ever since.
Now all that said - Recently I tried an Activa and love it!!! It probably won't replace my Headrest, but the ComfortGel is now #3 in my collection and the Activa will be my "backup".....
I will have to say that I was never discouraged in my treatment, just determined to make it work.....I had a great neurologist working with me (she retired to add to and take care of her family) - she prescribed me an Auto machine so I could titrate myself since the titration test was totally wrong (even the way I felt there was no way I could have been titrated at 5.....I can't breathe until 7 and my numbers are best at the range 11-15). At that range, I rarely ever go over 13.....

Probably more info that you were really asking for, but......
cheers
goose

not at all. this is exactly what I want to know. I want to see what makes people noncompliant, and my first thought was that not enough masks are being shown to the patient. Typically I show 2 masks from the main 3 styles. these are my favs.
1. respironics- fusion
2. resmed-swift LT
3. respironics comfort gel full face
4. resmed- quattro
5. respironics- comfort gel nasal
6. resmed- liberty
7. resmed- Swift II

[bdp522]

Did polysomno-man delete yet another post?

Brenda

[polysomno-man]

yeah, i was going to delete all my posts, but gave up half way through. besides, I met some nice people here I want to talk to still.

[Wulfman]

yeah, i was going to delete all my posts, but gave up half way through. besides, I met some nice people here I want to talk to still.

There are LOTS of nice people here. (ALL of them, in my opinion) If you want to gain some credibility here, this erratic behavior of starting threads and then deleting posts is counter-productive.
If you really are a tech.....hang around.....do some reading.....try to understand where many of the people here are "coming from", and partake in the discussions in a civil manner. Your input may be helpful and people may grow to trust you.

Den

[polysomno-man]

you know wulfman, I would love to be able to come on here and just relax. But everytime I click on the refresh button, someone else is saying something else negative about me. Why is that? Seriously, what is the problem here?

[Paul56]

Time to get the popcorn, pull up a chair... and watch the proceedings.

Sorry Poly... but you are quickly sliding down the credibility scale.

[Wulfman]

you know wulfman, I would love to be able to come on here and just relax. But everytime I click on the refresh button, someone else is saying something else negative about me. Why is that? Seriously, what is the problem here?

Well, it's like one of the cliches that SAG listed......."You have only one chance to make a first impression."

When you start off on the wrong foot, and then keep compounding the problem, you can expect to get ripped by many of the forum members who have seen many, many "trolls" come through here and then leave. We also call them "drive-bys".

Since you started this behavior, it's going to be up to you to remedy it.......if you want to stick around. This is a pretty forgiving bunch of folks, but it's going to take some effort on your part.


Den

[polysomno-man]

so to put it bluntly, I have to let people say whatever they want, and just smile right? Just let people demean me right? Tell me, besides for nobody, who did I personally attack or demean? Nobody. THose who read my first post may not of liked it, but it was sound advice. Main message, you tape your mouth shut at night, and the power goes off and you don't wake up, Co2 will start damaging your brain until you wake up. If you don't wake up within the hour, you are dead. It freaks me out to hear people do that. Not freak like mad, like scared.

[Wulfman]

so to put it bluntly, I have to let people say whatever they want, and just smile right? Just let people demean me right? Tell me, besides for nobody, who did I personally attack or demean? Nobody. THose who read my first post may not of liked it, but it was sound advice. Main message, you tape your mouth shut at night, and the power goes off and you don't wake up, Co2 will start damaging your brain until you wake up. If you don't wake up within the hour, you are dead. It freaks me out to hear people do that. Not freak like mad, like scared.

You started this "adventure" with a fairly inflammatory post (the title at least since you deleted your first post).

But, think about this. If a person tapes their mouth shut, and the power does go off, they're going to wake up or breathe through their noses because the masks have anti-asphyxiation mechanisms. Prior to starting therapy, we were stopping breathing many, many times per hour each night and those of us still here, didn't die. CO2 is what drives the brain to make a person breathe. When it builds up, we're going to either start breathing or wake up.

Den