Can I have my own thread?

[SleepingUgly]

Bactroban is stronger than polysporin isn't it?

I don't know, but Bactroban is prescription, so possibly (I'm using generic mupirocin).

Since then I have used it as soon as it starts to get painful and it clears up within one day. I am talking about sores on the inside of my nose, not the outside.

These sores are on the border between inside and outside (not sure how to describe it). Quite visible from the outside, but on the more sensitive inner tissue. I wonder if I could use bactroban with the pillows... It wouldn't surprise me if there is some kind of petroleum jelly in it, though, although I could be wrong about that. I don't think I have the prescription insert anymore.

[Rebecca R]

Bactroban is stronger than polysporin isn't it?

I don't know, but Bactroban is prescription, so possibly (I'm using generic mupirocin).

Since then I have used it as soon as it starts to get painful and it clears up within one day. I am talking about sores on the inside of my nose, not the outside.

These sores are on the border between inside and outside (not sure how to describe it). Quite visible from the outside, but on the more sensitive inner tissue. I wonder if I could use bactroban with the pillows... It wouldn't surprise me if there is some kind of petroleum jelly in it, though, although I could be wrong about that. I don't think I have the prescription insert anymore.

I used mine with the pillows and the doc specifically said it was okay. Maybe that was because it was only for a short time. Yup, that hard to describe place. It certainly hurts like crazy!

[SleepingUgly]

I used mine with the pillows and the doc specifically said it was okay. Maybe that was because it was only for a short time. Yup, that hard to describe place. It certainly hurts like crazy!

Not to gross anyone out, but did it turn into something like swollen pimple with a head? That is what I had the first go around with pillows about 1.75 years ago, and it turned into a major sore that was extremely visible, painful, and stuck around for a long time. When I saw these were forming heads, I knew I had to nip this in the bud lest I go down that path again.

[Rebecca R]

Not to gross anyone out, but did it turn into something like swollen pimple with a head?

Been there!

That is what I had the first go around with pillows about 1.75 years ago, and it turned into a major sore that was extremely visible, painful, and stuck around for a long time. When I saw these were forming heads, I knew I had to nip this in the bud lest I go down that path again.

Best to treat it ASAP. I found that it stung almost as much as when I had my nose cauterized and the freezing wore off!

r

PS You got a Viagra spam on your other thread!

[robysue]

....if I take many more nights...

I'm very uncomfortable with THAT language as well. Mentally you have ALREADY allowed for that possibility. Slippery slope, my friend...

Maybe SU would benefit by hearing anecdotes from other posters who found getting used to CPAP to be a huge challenge. What tricks did you use to stick with CPAP? I'm sure there are plenty of newcomers who will benefit from hearing your advice for SU. Sound off!

Help SU and others get back on CPAP!

Just now catching up with this thread having spent all day long making potting soil for the veggies I grow in pots because the only sunny spot in our yard is the driveway ...

Wish I had an inspiring story. But truth be told? The principle reason I've used the hose every single night since Sept. 23 is that I'm absolutely petrified of that slippery slope that -SWS mentions: Time and time again I've told myself late at night that if I don't put that (lots and lots of not-very-nice words) hose on even though I really don't want to do it and I do wind up sleeping "just fine" (not great---just fine---as in the Pre-CPAP days), then I know I'll find that putting the hose on the next night will be a 100 times harder.

[Bright Choice]

Hang in there! I wish you had a ffm you could fall back into! Not so?

How is it that some can't sleep with their xpap and some can't sleep without it? Not fair! Some day technology will catch up.

Hope you went someplace fun that got you all muddy!

Hope to see you papping soon!

[Slinky]

SHUCKS! I'm not into the nasal pillows masks but thought I might have a full face or nasal cushion that you could try - no charge, just extras I tried and didn't decide to stick with. Ah well, the road to heck is paved w/good intentions, etc., etc.

[idamtnboy]

SU, I can relate quite well to your struggle to keep with it, especially when you have to skip a night or two for valid reasons. My struggle isn't with the CPAP, it's with the treadmill. It's the only real exercise I get. I know I need it to help reduce my weight and keep a lid on my diabetes. But it's a damned boring pain to walk it every night, even when I've got a computer set up on it so I can surf or whatever while I'm walking. I've also got a TV signal plugged into the monitor so I can watch all the boring stuff on Dish, or a DVD if I prefer. I've got the treadmill program set up so I walk for 1 hour, on an incline, and burn up 520 calories, so every night when I'm done I know I accomplished something! I know it has an effect on me because I have hunger pangs before meals now. But I regularly skip one or two nights because I don't like doing it! So, in the interest of my health I tolerate the damn thing, but say to myself that 5 nights a week average is success. More than that is super achievement.

So stick with it, feel bad when you fall short, but for God's sake, don't beat yourself up for falling short. We all do it. What's that old bit of wisdom? Falling is not failure, failure is not getting up and getting going again. This of course presumes you can get up again if you choose. So how many nights off the CPAP constitutes failure? We don't know, because we don't know how many nights we will be off it before we put the mask back on. And as soon as the mask goes back on, there is no failure. But the longer one doesn't put the mask on, the more effort is required to get it back on. The 'slippery slope' is real. I was off the treadmill for close to 4 years. But I had a good "excuse" for two of those years. I was spending hours at first, and then hours and effort, in designing, planning, and then building my home. After I was finished It took two years of talking to myself, and seeing my weight creep up, and having a heart stent put in, to finally get me to get back on the treadmill.

So SU, allow yourself to stumble, and to cry because it hurts to fall, but get back up and start going again. You already know how good success feels. You will feel it again and again, I just know it.

[Bright Choice]

Hi SU -
I just posted this to one of madalot's threads but I was thinking of you as well - particularly the videos from Dr. Krakow in the link below - perhaps you have seen them. I thought about you when I watched them in terms of having trouble with nasal pillows. It occurred to me that perhaps the nasal sores are from post nasal drip. It's a problem for me and my nose gets sore even without the mask on. Dr. K talks about the difficulty with xpap compliance until one gets the nose under control. As you are probably aware, LPR can cause or aggravate post nasal drip. I know you have been working on the "nose" issue. Here's what I said to madalot - take it for what it's worth.

Maddie -
I am way too new at this to give any advice but I think I'm like you - I don't like to leave a stone unturned in my quest for an answer. I have been thinking of you often and please bear with me if you have already touched base with what I am going to comment on, or if it doesn't relate to you. I just like thinking "outside of the box".

I too have had frequent awakenings and have (like you) been very diligently digging for information here on cpaptalk. I don't have an issue with AHI since obstructives, hypopneas are really not present. So, my focus has been on working with "UARS" and flow limitations , which I guess everyone has to one degree or another.

So, me being the noob that I am, I just decided to "go for it" with info gleaned here. #1 thing that I did was recognize that I probably have laryngopharangeal reflux (LPR) - or silent reflux. I was totally unaware of this syndrome until I learned more here. I have / had many of the classic symptoms. So, I started myself on Prilosec (I wouldn't advise self prescribing for anyone else - please check with your doctor). But, my awakenings have gone from 2-4 per night to 0-1 in the past week. I have been on the Prilosec for about 3 weeks. One night I slept 9 hours straight without awakening once - I was shocked! (I also put a wedge for elevation under my mattress.)

The other eye opener was a series of Nasal Breathing videos on the internet by Dr. Krakow. I just watched them today and it was tremendously informative. It supported the recent conversation on a thread relating to an inverview with Dr. Parks and Dr. Gold on nasal breathing. What they are promoting is that one can't really have successful xpap therapy without first addressing the nasal breathing issue. Here's the link http://sleeptreatment.com/allergy-video-series It also providea an interesting approach to insomnia for anyone who needs to address that issue.

This may have nothing at all that relates to you but I just wanted to post this.

Blessings!

[SleepingUgly]

I will have to listen to those videos. I don't think I have reflux, although I'm still on Dexilant and staying on for now just so I don't introduce another variable. I have been doing well since I added Nasonex recently on top of my surgery from last summer... Until last night when I had tons of post-nasal drip. I was OK during the day but now that night is coming, I am coughing a bit and my throat is irritated and drippy. Maybe I am coming down with a cold. In the worst case maybe it's allergies that are rearing their head above the Nasonex.

I am not sure about the whole LPR business... I think if someone has significant reflux, they can get that, but I don't know if silent reflux would cause that. I don't know much about the subject, truthfully.

[Bright Choice]

I am not sure about the whole LPR business... I think if someone has significant reflux, they can get that, but I don't know if silent reflux would cause that. I don't know much about the subject, truthfully.

I'm not sure about it either. But, being my own diagnostician , I do know that since I started more intensive neti pot, Prilosec, nasal strips and head of bed elevation I have fewer awakenings, cough is just about gone, the drip on the end of my nose has almost dried up. and I am sleeping with 0-1 awakenings, hoarseness (which was rare) is gone, and my chest no longer feels wheezy, scratchy. Prior to this protocol, I had absolutely no thought that I had GERD - something that I am watching really closely in my dh. Yeah, I thought that he was the one that had sleep apnea too...

[SleepingUgly]

[quote="Bright Choice" I do know that since I started more intensive neti pot, Prilosec, nasal strips and head of bed elevation...[/quote]

What mask are you using with nasal strips?

[Sleepy Taz]

SU,

Isn’t aerophagia cause by swallow too much air? At a pressure less than ten I would think that what is causing the problem isn’t too much air, but maybe you are not breathing out hard enough. When I use my Cpap I listen to my breathing pattern and sometimes take longer on the intake and shorten the out going. If I do this while awake there may be a chance that I am also doing this while asleep. If you take in more than you expel then you will have problems. It sounds like a more advanced machine that will help you breathe properly is what you need. You can also try what I always suggest to new people on Cpap sitting up and either reading or watching TV while wearing the mask with the power on. This will help you acclimate to the pressure and you can even try it at your titrated pressure. As far as the mask goes, it sounds like you have used mostly Res-Med’s products and I would suggest branching out to other mask suppliers. I tried the swift masks with nothing but problems so I changed to the Opus 360 and found that the pillows were sturdier and that I did not have to wear them as tightly as the Swift line and the sores that I had went away. By the way my pressure is at 17 and with EPR of 3 I hardly feel the air blowing up my nose.
Now to the point of not using the Cpap!!!!!!! I had a sister who the doctor told me would still be alive if she used her Cpap properly and every night. She was 49! This may not happen to everyone but just that chance would make me stay on it. I have not gone 1 night without therapy for almost 24 years except when I had my tonsils, adenoids removed and my uvula pallet trimmed in the hopes of stopping therapy. And that was 22 years ago. Stay vigilant so you can find that sweet spot and enjoy life instead of fighting just to survive. Remember

“Man often becomes what he believes himself to be. If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end by really becoming incapable of doing it. On the contrary, if I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning.”
- Mahatma Gandhi

[Bright Choice]

I do know that since I started more intensive neti pot, Prilosec, nasal strips and head of bed elevation...

What mask are you using with nasal strips?

I'm still using the Swift LT. But, looking forward to checking out the new Activa FX nasal mask since the Quattro FX did a good job for me as a ffm.

Do you have a ffm that would work as a backup when nares are sore?

Today, oh my gosh I feel good!

Would it be true that everyone needs to "conquer" a UARS component even after getting AHI under control? I believe that the above protocol plus not eating anything 3-4 hours before bedtime has helped me tremendously. I never would have thought that nasal breathing or reflux was a problem for me, but now that I have learned more and have done some experimenting I can see that those two components of therapy are more important than I ever understood.

Sleepy Taz makes a good point - I hope you get over your hurdles. Have you considered whether or not you might benefit from some form of bipap? I'll let you know what happens for me next week.

Keep at it!

[robysue]

Catching up again on this thread.

A couple of pages back:

Remember that while sleeping without the mask may lead to a deeper and more restorative sleep for you, it also sets you up for major health issues in the future. Those health issues, such as diabetes, heart disease and dementia will lead to less sleep and poor quality of life. Even if you don't feel the immediate benefits of CPAP now, you are protecting your brain and body.

That is true for people who desaturate. I don't really desaturate, so there's no real danger for me to not use CPAP, except that it is delaying my attempts at quality of life improvement...for which I'm very motivated.

I ask this as another person who does NOT desaturate according to my diagnostic test: What exactly is the medical reason for prescribing xPAP to folks who have obstructive apneas and hypopneas but whose apneaic events are NOT associated with oxygen desaturations? Or do the numerous arousals in and by themselves pose a health risk the way the O2 desats do? I ask these questions sincerely: Is there a known valid medical reason? Or is it just CYA? In other words, do the docs just assume that we will eventually start to desaturate someday in the (possibly far) future? Is there any "proof" that we will eventually start to desat? Is there actually a good medical reason for insisting that someone with moderate apnea based on AHI or RDI but with few or no daytime symptoms and NO O2 desats use xPAP---even when the attempt to adjust to xPAP triggers a significant DECREASE in quality of life?

Please keep in mind that I am NOT looking for an excuse to ditch my BiPAP (yet). And that I have been 100% compliant right from the start. And that slowly my quality of life is getting back to something approaching what it was before I started this adventure. But I can't say "BiPAP is wonderful because it's made a POSITIVE difference in my life!" I'm still at the stage of using it out of fear: Fear that someday (when I'm 60? 70? 80? 90?) I *might* develop a comorbidity of OSA. And I'm longing for a more positive reason to keep using Kaa, my PR System One BiPAP Auto.