Getting ready for my first night

[bdivine]

Its been a hectic day. I had my appt with the doc. I explained to him that I thought an APAP was more appropriate because the titration study ended up with only 2 hours of sleep. He was not sure what the difference was between a CPAP and APAP (he's a GP not a sleep doc). When I explained the difference his statement was 'wow, it sounds like its a much better approach'. He wants to monitor my progress on the apap and possibly tell the sleep lab he uses to uses concider apap on his patients.

I then went to a DME that I found from searching this forum and the BCBS site (to make sure they were in network). The recomendation I found turned out to be good. They were also on board with the APAP and got the M-series auto with a-flex, heated humidifier and quattro mask. They did a good job fitting and had a good amount of variety in masked. Fitted both sitting and laying. Insisted that I roll and switch positions to make sure it didn't leak.

Now I just have to make it through the first night.

Thanks for everyones help both directly, and indirectly through the various posts on this site.

Brian

[fuzzy96]

cool

sounds like you got your duckies in a row.

don't be suprised if it takes a while to get used to(for that the ramp button is a good thing.)

spend a little time setting your "station"up so you can reach the buttons and try puting your mask on in the dark.

being scuba i'm sure you know the drill.
good luck


ps fill out your profile when ya get a chance

[ChipsXJ]

I read it on this board here some where.................."just remember, it is a journey." Take it one day at a time and think about how much better you will soon feel!

Good luck.

[GumbyCT]

Sounds like you are indeed off to a good start. If you can't sleep all nite with the mask on, don't worry - just go back to sleep then try again tomorrow. Give yourself an early start the 1st few nites, so you can adjust your mask at full pressure. Keep a log of how things go and keep us posted.

Good Luck

[bdivine]

Well, I made it through, not the best sleep. Was trying to fine tune the mask fit. I tend to turn from side to side at night and sometimes it would start to leak. Because I am a mouth breather as well, I tend to drool. once I got enough, it would leak in the corners of my mouth. Had to wipe it out a few times to get it to stop leaking. When I did sleep, I felt like it was deeper then usual, so that is very good. I can see after a week or two to get adjusted/aclimated it should help a lot.

[GuyK]

I've been on the hose since last September -- same mask as you, beginning in late December. I also tend to favor one side and found that I can sometimes control leaks with how I use the pillow to wedge the mask. Not too tightly, because that might cause leaks on the other side.

From the start, I haven't had problems with mask comfort -- I can only think of one night where I felt the mask hurt. Within a day or so, I was developing broader symptoms of a sinus infection, so facial pain made sense. Also, I do get some redness on the bridge of my nose, but it doesn't really bother me.

Anyway, from last September, my strategy has always been the same. I concentrate on breathing comfortably and deeply. I've fallen asleep within minutes every time. No problems there at all.

In colder weather, I've occasionally had rain-out incidents, which is kind of a rude awakening, but it doesn't go on all the time. I do find, at times, that my sleep is kind of shallow because I become aware of mask leaks. I also have some problems with aerophagia -- I don't have problems with abdominal pain, but I do have problems with upper back pain (which I think is due to the aerophagia).

Guy

[SharkBait]

Well, I made it through, not the best sleep. Was trying to fine tune the mask fit. I tend to turn from side to side at night and sometimes it would start to leak. Because I am a mouth breather as well, I tend to drool. once I got enough, it would leak in the corners of my mouth. Had to wipe it out a few times to get it to stop leaking. When I did sleep, I felt like it was deeper then usual, so that is very good. I can see after a week or two to get adjusted/aclimated it should help a lot.

Numbers, man, I need Numbers!!!

Sounds good. If you can breathe through your nose and don't have real thin slots, you might consider something along the lines of nasal pillows and tape. I always thought that taping sounded a bit on the weird side, but I'm kind of sold on it now. It sounds like it would be a perfect fit for you. You don't have to be able to breathe through your nose great, the CPAP helps with that in a big way. Just a thought if the mask/drool thing turns out to be an on going problem...

And hang in there. I know in the middle of the night these things can be a real downer when they aren't behaving. But it does get better.

[SharkBait]

If they didn't set it to do so, you can set in clinician's mode to have the machine display your leak rate (7 day and 30 day average) and your AHI (7 day and 30 day average). Having numbers kind of helps you keep going some nights. I remember my second night when I woke up and my machine seemed to be stuck on 12 with no A-Flex/C-Flex (has not happened since), I turend off the machine andI was very annoyed and just sat there staring at the machine for about 2 minutes with some serious consideration of just going back to sleep without my mask. The reporting function acting as a tattle tale was probably the only thing that kept me off that slippery slope...

Of course, I'm a big proponent of the card reader and software...

[ChipsXJ]

I agree with sharkbait about the reader and software. You can pick up a reader for $54.00 ( http://www.cpap-supply.com/Mako-DT3500- ... dt3500.htm ) and pick up the software pretty easily . It is great to look at the data to help you tweak your settings.

I too roll/toss around........I went out and bought a full body pillow in a funny c or g shape. One like the expectant mommies use..................Last night was my first night and while it is going to take some getting used to.......it kept me one one side for most of the night.

Good luck!

[bdivine]

Numbers, man, I need Numbers!!!

Ok, these are from memory and just from the display
Leak Rate 33l/m (its around here somewhere Again I am going from memory here, I looked on the mask leak rate and it seemed inline with that)
AHI 7.1 (started out at 20 in the PSG, so down, but not perfect)
Min = 8, Max = 20
90% = 11
was titrated at 10, but was only about a 2 hour sleep, so dont trust it except as a starting point.
Humidity started at 2, was up to 5 before the night was over. That seemed much more comfortable. I'm sure I'll need a hose cover or heated hose before long.
A-flex - 3

Sounds good. If you can breathe through your nose and don't have real thin slots, you might consider something along the lines of nasal pillows and tape. I always thought that taping sounded a bit on the weird side, but I'm kind of sold on it now. It sounds like it would be a perfect fit for you. You don't have to be able to breathe through your nose great, the CPAP helps with that in a big way. Just a thought if the mask/drool thing turns out to be an on going problem...

Normally I cant breath much through my nose. They started me out on a nasal mask during titration. That lasted about 5 minutes, just cant get enough air through my nose.

And hang in there. I know in the middle of the night these things can be a real downer when they aren't behaving. But it does get better.

I'm not even close to giving up. Actually the night went much better than anticipated. I kept the mask on all night. took it off once to fully clean out the drool, but that was it. Was actually on for a bit over 8 hours. I have quite a bit of fine tuning to do. I'm giving the current min/max a few more nights before I tweak them. Would like the min a little closer to avg, but need to figure out if that is actually 11, or was last night just first night oddities.

I plan on getting the reader as well. Just needed to make sure everything was good machine-wise before I did. So far I like the machine

Brian

[DyannaK]

I am glad you got thru your first night One night at a time

[Babette]

Brian, check your email. I mailed it the AM from work, so it might be in your junk mail folder.

BTW, I've been on since April 2007, and I still have moments when I have to either wipe up the drool or take the mask off and wipe out the condensation. No perfect 100% fix. It doesn't happen often enough for me to change my setup, however. When it DOES, that's when you gotta change something - mask, chinstrap, size of something, pillow, humidifier setting, whatever.

Get yourself a cozy for your main hose. That should be standard equipment for everyone. It will help reduce "rainout" - but not completely eliminate "breath condensation".

Cheers,
Barbara

[SharkBait]

I'm not even close to giving up. Actually the night went much better than anticipated.
Brian

You da man! I don't like to "assume" that everyone is gonna chunk it, but we're all too familiar with the dismal success rates of CPAP compliance, so I usually throw in some encouragement...

Remember you can reset your AHI/Leak numbers to 0.0 if you want to see what you did in a particular night. But yeah, the software is definitely the way to go. I don't want Brad Pitt to scold me and I do understand if that's not someone's bag then it's not their bag, but man I don't understand how someone would NOT want to see a detailed picture of what their therapy is doing... But I digress...