First week on machine, few problems

[mikeb33]

Well it's now my 5th day with my own machine. They gave me a Remstar auto and LT Swift For her(does that make me gay?). While the headgear is pretty comfortable, I am having problems. When I put it on and lay down and start breathing, I have the feeling of not enough air. Like hyperventilation. My heart rate increases and I feel like I need to pull it off to breath, though I am taking plenty of breaths. I wonder if I am re breathing my exhale air? Where does that air go anyway? On my mouth piece there is an area with many pin sized hole that air comes out all the time. When I exhale, it doesn't seem to come out any faster or more? So where does the exhale air go? This isn't psychological or panic response, I am totally relaxed and comfortable.

Also I found a few nights that the machine started making noise on my breaths and woke me up. A loud HMMMM timed exactly as I breathe in. Twice I just turned it off and when back to sleep. In the morning I turn it on and wear it and it is silent again. Any ideas? It seemed like the pressure was way up at this point, if I opened my mouth, and lot of pressure released. Since the machine automatically adjusts pressure, I assume it thought it should be higher, but at this point I was wide awake and breathing normally, but it was still loud and high pressure. Is this normal? Should it get noticeably louder, enough to wake me and my Wife?

Thanks for everything,

MIKE

[Pugsy]

What settings are in use on the machine? Do you use ramp? If so what are those settings? What is your therapy pressure settings? Do you use the exhale relief feature?

If ramp settings are low, it could account for feeling like there isn't enough air. More information about your settings is needed for anyone to offer good ideas.

The exhaled air goes out through the little vent pin holes. No you won't feel any difference if you put your hand over the pin holes because the pressure that is flowing is greater than your exhaled pressure. Essentially the exhaled air gets pushed out of the vent holes by the incoming air under pressure from the machine.

[sheep1234]

Hi Mike,

I had the same exact problem with feeling like I wasn't getting enough air. I have the same mask as you. I also wanted to yank it off of my face, but knew that was not going to help so I stuck it out and was very frustrated.
My ramp was set to start at 4.5 and my cpap pressure is 9.0. So I would put my mask on, hit start, and feel like I was hyperventilating! I was like, "Oh, this cannot be right! How is this helping?!" Plus the ramp was set for 20 minutes!!! So I moved the setting to 5 minutes and still felt the same.
I finally decided to just eliminate the ramp feature and now it goes straight to cpap mode. Voila! No more trying to take deep breaths from air that is not there.
Try it, it may just make the difference for you! But try it when it's not bedtime so you can test it and not be strapped for time.

Also want to add that my EPR is set to 3. Do you know what your's is set at?

[Julie]

Those little holes are the vents for CO2, and you must not cover them as you'll inhale the CO2 back in - not a good thing at all. I think you have your bottom pressure set at the machine default low of 4, which would make anyone choke. If you're using the ramp feature (rather than just going straight to your prescribed setting of e.g. 8 or 10, etc. than try not using it - most of us don't bother with it after a short time unless our prescribed settings are very high (15-20). Your prescribed setting is the number your doctor wants you to be breathing at all night, not just the acclimatization ones of the ramp, or it would be the number the ramp stops at, having reached it over whatever time you've told it to take.

[mikeb33]

The guy that came out didn't tell me much about settings, other than that Doctor decided the settings. I think he said something about 5-15? And I think the Doctor said during my study, 11 was good for me.
I don't even know how to make changes, but I haven't looked at the manual yet. Hopefully I will stop the ramp up, but what about when it gets loud at night?

Thanks,

MIKE

[jweeks]

The guy that came out didn't tell me much about settings, other than that Doctor decided the settings. I think he said something about 5-15? And I think the Doctor said during my study, 11 was good for me.

Mike,

That is how this scam works. They keep you in the dark, and try to make you afraid to ask questions. It is good that you have decided to get involved with your treatment.

If they know that 11 is good for you, then why did they set it to start at 5? 5 is hardly enough air to breathe, let alone have any likelihood of providing treatment value. Then if you do have an event, the machine takes forever to ramp up from 5 to 11 (or whatever you need), so you have a bunch of events before the machine gets caught up. You might want to tighten up this range a bit. One would need to look at the plots from a few nights to know where to start, so I am not going to go further out on a limb and suggest a number. But maybe 8 or 9 would be a good place to start.

-john-

[diboja]

I am a "newbie" and am into my 6th week with CPAP

I felt like I was smothering for the first few weeks and then I went to obtain my permanent machine after 4 weeks of trial period.

After the tech reviewed my results which were good I explained that I needed a machine with C-Flex as the smothering was getting to me.

My max pressure is 10 and my Ramp was set at 3 - I had them increase the ramp to 6 for 15 minutes rather than the original at 3 for 25 minutes. What a differnce - particularly with the C-Flex which made my exhalations normal rather than fighting with the air.... my C-Flex is set at 3.

Good Luck.

[mikeb33]

Can I make changes myself? I am going to read the booklet tonight, but I wonder how the programming is done?

[jweeks]

Mike,

I don't know anything about the machine that you have. In general, a few settings can be changed by the patient, but most of the key settings are in the clinical menus. On my machine, you hold down 2 keys and plug the unit in to get to the clinical menus. You can try doing a search here, or in google to see if you can find a clinical manual. Otherwise, post again here. Maybe with a new subject that asks specifically if anyone knows how to program your model of machine.

-john-

[Julie]

It gets loud because it's a naturally loud mask, and why it's handed out to every newbie I have no idea, but you can get another mask - there are tons of them out there (go look on Cpap.com).

[mikeb33]

Maybe that's why he started me at 5? At 5 it is quiet, but when it ramps up to be effective, it is noisy.

Last night I found the menus and made the minimum 7, it also said my ramp was .5. So when I first got into bed, I wasn't suffocating. But around 12:30 AM I woke up from the noise and pressure feeling. I really wanted it to work so I waited and kept repositioning the mask. But the noise was so distracting and my Wife was tossing and turning, it must have bothered her. Finally after an hour I took it off and fell asleep. But what's the point then?
I need to call the supplier and complain, but I am not sure what to say exactly? I would like to try another mask, but part of my problem is when the machine increases pressure to where I need it, it makes noise and I have this awful high pressure in my mouth. What a weird feeling to just move my lips a little and a burst of air comes out. Is there and cure for this?

[Muse-Inc]

I'll suggest you need a quieter machine. The Resmeds are the quietest one on the market right now. If you're renting and in the first 30 days, you can likely get it exchanged (sometimes ya gotta fight for it). I've used these machines since I started CPAP therapy in Aug 07. Taken 'em to conferences and roomie wasn't even aware it was turned on. I use ResMed's AutoSet II set 6-15 with exhalation relief set to 1 (drops pressure 1 cm H2 on exhale) with no noticeable change in sound as it changes between inhale & exhale or at different pressures. Oh, I use the Resp Care Hybrid mask which cover the mouth and has nasal pillows, used to use the Respironics OptLife pillow mask (my fav). Your mask has been reported to be a noisy mask...never used it. Just my $0.02 worth .

[desert rider]

Where is your CPAP located? Is it on the nightstand next to your head? I'm only two nights into this, so weigh my advice accordingly, but I bought a little plastic step stool at Home Depot yesterday to set my CPAP on next to the bed. It's about a foot off the floor, so I'm not sucking in the dust bunnies from underneath the bed. I couldn't believe the difference in sound. I woke up in the middle of the night and had to lean over to see if it was still running (duh - it must be running if the mask is still breathing for me).

I'm glad I got my nightstand back.

[misslizzy10]

You should try out a new product called RemZzzs it greatly reduces or even eliminates noisy and annoying air leaks. Go to RemZzzs.com Good luck hopefully you will soon start to dream again.

[jweeks]

What a weird feeling to just move my lips a little and a burst of air comes out. Is there and cure for this?

Mike,

Please note that with a nasal mask, you cannot open your mouth with the machine running. Doing so will let the pressure out, and you will not get effective therapy. You need to find a way to keep your mouth closed, or move to a full face mask. A chin strap works for some people, while others tape their mouths shut. I don't like the idea of the latter, but many people are successful doing it.

BTW, I do know the feeling--it is like a hurricane coming out of your mouth when you open your lips even a little.

The Swift LT is a noisy mask, but I find that the comfort level that it offers is well worth the noise. There might be other nasal pillow masks that make less noise. If the mouth thing turns out to be a problem, there are masks called a "hybrid" that might work for you.

-john-