new to full face mask

[Tino]

Hi. This is my second time posting at cpaptalk. I was dx'd with OSA in '08 and gave up trying cpap back then because I just couldn't adjust to my nose-pillow system which blasted me awake all night. Now, I am forced by poor health to try again, this time with a face mask, since it seems I'm a mouth breather after all. Adjusting to my new mask has been a piece of cake, almost too easy. Sometimes I get the sensation that there is NO air pressure in the mask, but every time I test it, there is lots of pressured air in there. I don't understand why the face mask feels like "nothing", almost, when the same NPillow setting practically blasted me out of bed. Maybe it's now irrelevant...

I have no idea what anyone is referring to when they talk about getting software to get their own readings. I believe there is some chip or card in my machine, but my recollection from '08 is that the folks at the oxygen supply were the ones who could read my results for me and tell me how I am doing... I am not very computer literate and have no funds for any CPAP related purchases at present. I think I'd better get these results asap, but I am too sick with many ailments & w/o transportation to head out and get everything done when I want to.

I am perceiving a fair-to-good improvement in energy after only 2 wks on the new mask, but am really hoping it gets better than this. (I hope I'm not causing leaks by rolling around while I sleep, but I just don't know.) I think my big puzzlement at present is that the full mask is such a piece of cake for me -- I am guessing my pressure may be a bit low, because sometimes I still choke as I go to sleep. One big bummer for me is that I have unpredictable sleep patterns that don't respond to any meds, and the sleep centers in town can't accomodate my "schedule", I would have to travel to a metropolitan area to have someone accomodate my weird hours. In '08 I drove 5 hrs to Stanford Univ just to have the overnight test. Now I can't even afford to get to Stanford. Oh well, at least progress has been made. Any helpful comments on this scenario? (I use remstar auto m series w/ cflex, and a quattro fx full face mask (for her). Thanks!!!

[TinoR]

PS -- I guess I better call the oxygen co. jokers tomorrow. They are not remotely helpful, because they only care about the Sale, period, and act like their selling widgets, not oxygen/breathing equipment. They milk medicare and the whole nine yards, but at least I'll get a response (which is more than I can say for this waste of time). Feel free to delete my question!!!

[zoocrewphoto]

Welcome to the forum.

I am relative new, one month now. I Have two masks, a full face mask and a hybrid face mask (nasal pillows with mouth area enclosed). I like both, though I prefer the regular full face mask (quattro fx). I found even within the first few days that I was not sure if the air was blowing. I would have to wave my hand in front of the vent to feel the air flow. I guess it is sometimes easy to get used to. I also had it shut off on me one time, and that did wake me up. I also turned off the ramp feature since I felt it wasn't enough air. It started at 5 and would slowly go up to 11. My prescribed range is 11-17.

There is a lot of help you can get here on the forum. To start with, check the top left of the screen, underneath teh searc bar, and click on user control panel. Add your machine and mask info. If your machine uses a data card, you can download free software to access your data. The DMEs and some doctors will tell you that it is not accessible, but they just don't understand that we can learn and understand our data and use it to improve our therapy. I would never change my actual prescription without discussing it with the doctor. But it is helpful to see how the machine is working for me. I can see my sleep data, how well I am breathing, if certain times of night are worse. I can look for events that correspond to waking up a lot. I can make sure my mask is doing well and not causing excessive leaks,etc.

I am not sleeping through the night yet, usually in 2-3 hour stretches. But I feel better, and I know it is helping me a lot. I can also see that my pressure goes up almost to my limit on occasion, but has only hit the limit a couple times. So, until the doctor looks at the data, I see no reason to worry about my prescription. I have seen other people post where clearly their machine was hitting the upper limit too much and really should be changed to allow it fully work and help the person. It is definitely a good thing for people to see their own data. My mom is also a cpap user, and she doesn't have a data capable machine. She is hoping to get a new one soon after a new sleep study. She is envious of the data I can look at.

Once you post your equipment, you will get lots of helpful advice with how to access your data.

[tony72]

If you were a mouthbreather when you started,you should've had a fullface mask in the 1st place.I mouthbreather,so I have a fullface mask.