OK, first night on my CPAP

[Lydarose]

Well, my CPAP was delivered and tonight is my first night. I'll let you know how it goes.

[pdean44]

Good luck

[dave21]

Congratulations and good luck. Hopefully you'll be able to take to CPAP like a duck to water and start feeling more energetic night after night!

Thanks
Dave

[elena88]

oh wow, hope you wake up refreshed!

[tony72]

happy cpapin!

[Lydarose]

Well, it has been nearly a week and I DO find that I am sleeping better. No longer am I waking up in the middle of the night and staying awake for 1-2 hours. Thanks for the encouragement.

Just a question..... the inside of one of my nostrils has developed a sore. Any suggestions on what to do?

[redback]

Hi lydarose,
I had exactly the same problem. I resolved this by loosening the straps slightly around my nose.
It depends on the type of mask you have but I would suggest a bit of experimentation with loosening the straps will resolve your problem.
I found if the straps were too loose the air leaked out of the mask, too tight and I got sores on my nostrils and the bridge of my nose.

Its early days and some settling in will be needed. I am into my second month of cpap and the red mark on the bridge of my nose is just about gone.

Stick at it. I bet you are finding you are more alert and not needing naps.

[Janknitz]

Use a little Lanisoh cream (medical grade lanolin, available in the baby aisle of your local drug store) to soothe the sore, and a little saline mist spray to keep the tissue hydrated.

It's probably from the nasal pillows being a little too tight, as Redback suggests, but make sure you have sufficient humidity--if you feel dry elsewhere in your nasal passages or throat you might want to turn the humidifier up just one notch.

[brazospearl]

Lydarose, glad it's going well for you. If the nose sore doesn't heal up quickly, the next step would be a different mask. But the lanisoh and strap adjustments should help!

[Breathe Jimbo]

The avatar to the left is what my nose looked like after two nights of CPAP with a Comfort Gel nose mask. Last night, I wore a bandaid and my nose was better in the morning. I will go to SleepMed tomorrow morning to see what they can do.

After only three nights of CPAP, I feel a lot better. I do, however, seem to have a big "sleep debt" and find myself wanting to take a nap right about now. Instead, I'll walk over to CVS to see whether I can find some 3M micropore paper surgical tape, as one member suggested.

I am quite excited about receiving the diagnosis of severe sleep apnea and starting CPAP. The only issue so far appears to be the skin on the bridge of my nose. Exhalation against incoming pressure is not a problem; indeed, I have woken up several times wondering whether the airflow had stopped (it had not) because it seemed too easy to exhale. If need be, the pressure could be increased significantly.

[elena88]

hi there,
I cut and paste my replies from a thread by sleepymama called WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

Some tips on nose pillows and how to keep them from jamming into pillows and leaking etc:
sleepymama wrote:what do you do now elena that's different to make them work? i don't like how it feels like someone is jabbing me up the nose. it only feels like that when i sleep on my side which is my favourite position to fall asleep in.


I used to have a ton of leaks too.. every time I turned on my side, disaster..

Most important is to hang your head OFF your pillow so the nose pillows dont get crushed..

I also learned to use two or three bed pillows to make a resovoir, a space for the nose pillows.. I leaned to turn on my side, get all situated,
and then even hold the pillows gently with my hand resting on them as I fell asleep.. I told my self there was a little snowflake on my
nose, and I had to protect it..
I pillow between your knees will keep you on your side longer too...

when I turn, I think now when Im alseep I protect the pillows with my hand, until I get situated again..

It took a long time, but I think its working. I also used to tape my mouth a lot, but I think I have learned to not have
to use it every often.. my trap is moe used to staying shut, which makes my husband ever so content




Re: what would u do?
by elena88 on Sat Sep 11, 2010 11:01 am

hi again sleepymama,

I just remembered some more tips to make the nose pillows work...

I noticed when I went to sleep last night, that if I cup my hand like Im holding an ice cream cone under my chin, this
provides an area of protection for the pillows so they dont get dislodged and leak..
I seem to do that on my right side.. on my left side I place the back of my right hand on the pillow next to my nose pillows, and make
a pressed space for them.. so all this stuff is right handed protection..

I would imagine it youre left handed you could do the same.. I do it without thinking now.. and why I noticed it is when I was sleeping
awhile without my apap, my hands were in the same position protecting nose pillows I wasnt wearing!

it has really helped my leak rate... and I dont breath out of my mouth so much after taping for a couple months.. havent taped in a while...
no dry mouth anymore!

[Lydarose]

Thanks for all of your suggestions. I started playing around with the cpap machine today and found out that the humidifier was not even on. I thought that the respiratory tech would have taught me how to adjust it. I just took out the manual and started playing around with the buttons. The humidifier is now on and I've adjusted the straps as best as I can. Hopefully tonight will be a better night.

[Breathe Jimbo]

The SleepMed tech allowed me to make a warranty exchange of the blue gel nose mask for the nose pillows listed. I'm sure they will make a big difference. Much less intrusive, I expect.

[Beachmeezer]

Thanks for all of your suggestions. I started playing around with the cpap machine today and found out that the humidifier was not even on. I thought that the respiratory tech would have taught me how to adjust it. I just took out the manual and started playing around with the buttons. The humidifier is now on and I've adjusted the straps as best as I can. Hopefully tonight will be a better night.

Sadly you'll probably be suprised about how much they didn't tell you about your machine.- Kim

[lowpsi]

Thanks for all of your suggestions. I started playing around with the cpap machine today and found out that the humidifier was not even on. I thought that the respiratory tech would have taught me how to adjust it. I just took out the manual and started playing around with the buttons. The humidifier is now on and I've adjusted the straps as best as I can. Hopefully tonight will be a better night.

Sadly you'll probably be suprised about how much they didn't tell you about your machine.- Kim

Are you using Medi Home? Cory at there Chesapeake office is great. He takes as much time as you need and knows his "stuff".