28 Days into CPAP-Routine

[MikeRinCA]

Ok so here it is, I have been on CPAP for 28 days now. Mostly successful. Here is the regimen I have trialed and errored since I began:

Neti pot AM, sometimes pm
Claritin 10 mg AM
Use nelimed nasal gel 1-2 times a day or AYR aloe gel
Lanisoh in nares before bed
benadryl 25 mg before bed

I feel from what I have read here that I have been relitivley successful with my CPAP therapy. I feel better and generally feel much more awake and alert everyday and rarely feel like I need a nap anymore. I have ran into a few problems mainly some days my sinuses drive me crazy, sneezing and irritated all day...I believe whenever I forget to take my benadryl before bed the next day I have hell to pay with my sinuses. Anyone else have a similar regimen or an alternative?

I guess it is not so bad to take benadryl everyday, sure beats the irritation and sneezing the next.

[rested gal]

I feel better and generally feel much more awake and alert everyday and rarely feel like I need a nap anymore.

That's a great progress report, Mike. Sounds like you're working out all the problems very well. Good job! Please keep us posted.

[Gaga58]

Do you use any humidity and if so do you know on what setting? I'm almost 2 months in now and have a lot of trouble with sinuses as well. Since starting the cpap I haven't had any problems, seems to keep me more open than I've even been in my life! I just started using the swift fx for her this past week and noticed by the 4th night I could feel some pressure in my head when I woke up. Yesterday morning I woke up with sneezing fits and light headache. I thought perhaps I needed more humidity, but when I checked my setting I realised I had left it up from when we had a cold spell, so I turned it back down...woke up this morning with clear sinuses and no pressure! So it could be either not enough humidity or even too much...if you're on the low side you might try going up 1, if you're on the high side, trying going down!! I use a neti when I feel too congested during the day and claritin d for the bad spells...good luck!

[Coffeelover]

What is Lanisoh?

[nanwilson]

Lansinoh is the cream that nursing mothers use to keep their nipples from drying out and cracking.....its 100% safe for nursing babies, so safe for us. We use it on our nares to keep them supple. Can be purchased in the baby isle at Walmart for about $10.......one tube lasts a year. Do not use anything that contains petroleum jelly..like vaseline..it will degrade the silicone on your mask.

[Perrybucsdad]

Mike... what has your AHI been lately?

[MikeRinCA]

Yes I use humidity it is set at 3. I am in the desert here so it is normally dry. My sinuses/congestion is usually not an issue unless i forget the Benadryl then i sneeze all day, and feel irritation that drives me wild..then no matter what i take that day to stop it nothing works.

Looking over my report my AHI is 2.4 average for the last 28 days. So from what I read here it is great.

I have to say after the first night of CPAP in the sleep lab for my titration test I felt great and forgot what it was to feel so good. I could not wait to get my orders and my machine and have been using it religiously ever since I am determined to make it work.

[MikeRinCA]

Oh and another thing......how do I tell if I have leaks? My report says average large leaks 8.8%. I have to say I always thought I was a mouth breather (always woke up with very dry mouth) but when I was at the sleep lab I could not resist how minimal the Swift FX looked So I asked if they could try it..That was the one and only mask i tried they said it worked great for me. I did purchse a face mask for the just in case but have only used it once.

How can i tell if I open my mouth while using the FX? I feel like i find it difficult to open my mouth with the FX on. I no longer wake up with a dry mouth so should I assume I keep it closed all night?

My pressure is at 12. Thanks.

[Pugsy]

how do I tell if I have leaks? My report says average large leaks 8.8%

Well......the fact your machine is showing any Large leak percentage means the leaks are big enough to be a problem.
Since the onscreen data is just an average we can't tell for sure when, where and did it hurt much.

Let's get you some software so you can see for sure if the leaks are a problem and if so, how much on a single night basis.

You have some software options explained here with some examples.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=64906&st=0&sk=t&sd= ... re+options

SleepyHead is available here. http://sourceforge.net/projects/sleepyhead/

If you wish to try Encore Pro send me a private message.

Once you get a report you can post it here and someone will explain any items which may be unclear. Use a recent typical night.

To get images of reports like I did with the examples above, this is how I do it.
Open the image to full size so it is easily read.
I use Vista snipping tool to create a screen shot and crop the image at the same time.
Prt/scr key will also take a screen shot if using XP. If laptop is used sometimes the Fn key has to be pushed at the same time as the prt/scr key
I think windows 7 Home Premium has the snipping tool, Basic may not.
Once the screen shot is created save it in jpg format.
Upload the image to a host site. I use Photobucket it is free, there are others.
Once the image is uploaded then copy the ENTIRE IMG address. Be sure to include the opening and closing IMG in brackets. Paste that copied address into a post here.
Use the preview button. If you can't see the image try again because if you can't see it we can't.

[MikeRinCA]

http://s1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd3 ... 8-2011.jpg

Here is a sample from last night.

[Pugsy]

You only had a huge bad leak for a relatively short period of time roughly at 5:40 AM.
Putting the report here so I can see it while I type.
Your baseline is around 34 L/min. Respironics doesn't flag a large leak till you hit around 90 L/min.
You get close to 62.9 L/min quite a bit which is probably just a little more than I would want to see if it were me but it is still within acceptable limits per Respironics. If you are mouth breathing it doesn't appear to be huge or for long periods of time. That one large leak might be 20 minutes.

While your leaks could stand a little work, they are within the capabilities of the machine to compensate for leaks except those above 90 L/min. We all have them from time to time and leaks are a war we never completely win.
There is no way to know for sure if the leaks seen here come from mouth breathing. If they are... they certainly are not huge and are short lived. I would continue to monitor the reports and do any mask adjustments to help limit the leaks. I don't see any need for other than normal stuff to try to limit leaks. This report may not have a beautiful leak line but it doesn' have a horrendous leak line either. For just starting out.. acceptable. I have seen much worse.