Going on 7 months, no luck with a mask

[Andrew08]

I have tried:

- Mirage Activa
- Mirage Liberty
- Mirage FC Nasal
- Quattro
- Quattro FX
- Swift FX
- Pilairo
- F&P Simplus

No luck so far. I can't even really articulate why either...I wake up after around 2 hrs and cannot fall back asleep unless the mask comes off. I have tried getting up for a break and ramping down.

Any advice for a side-sleeper would be greatly appreciated. I know masks like the comfortlite 2 are starting to be discouraged but does anyone have experience with this? Im thinking this may be the only one that may work.

Thanks
A08

[chunkyfrog]

If you have not yet read this fitting guide, please do; it may help:
http://maskarrayed.wordpress.com/taming ... e-quattro/
I find that Re$Med's Full face profile is incompatible with mine, but the Swift FX works fine.
Another company's masks may work better with your face shape.
Have you tried the SleepWeaver Advance or Elan? Great for side or even tummy sleepers; these fabric (nasal) masks
afford a greater level of comfort, once one learns the unique fit and wearing process.
You could also try a mask liner, like Pad-a-cheek, with one of your current masks, for a different feel.

[49er]

Andrew,

As one who is in a similar position, my advice would be screw the experts. If you think the comfort lite2 may work, go for it.

Unfortunately, I have zero experience with it.

49er

I have tried:

- Mirage Activa
- Mirage Liberty
- Mirage FC Nasal
- Quattro
- Quattro FX
- Swift FX
- Pilairo
- F&P Simplus

No luck so far. I can't even really articulate why either...I wake up after around 2 hrs and cannot fall back asleep unless the mask comes off. I have tried getting up for a break and ramping down.

Any advice for a side-sleeper would be greatly appreciated. I know masks like the comfortlite 2 are starting to be discouraged but does anyone have experience with this? Im thinking this may be the only one that may work.

Thanks
A08

[Denial Dave]

how about posting the type of machine you have in your profile along with your pressure settings

it might help folks give you better suggestions

[Andrew08]

Thanks chunkyfrog. My DME has a sleepweaver and offered it to me to try but I declined. Maybe I'll reconsider.

49er- Thanks for the reply. I like my DME a lot but you're right- I need to go with what will work for me.

Denial Dave- Thanks for pointing this out. I selected my equipment but it was not in my sig. I think it should be posted now.

[Kiralynx]

Any advice for a side-sleeper would be greatly appreciated. I know masks like the comfortlite 2 are starting to be discouraged but does anyone have experience with this? Im thinking this may be the only one that may work.

I'm a side sleeper, and I use the CL2. Why is it being discouraged, and by whom?

The CL2 has major advantages -- it can be a nasal mask or a nasal pillow mask. It also has the direct seals, which I found more comfortable, though they're similar to nasal pillows.

All other masks have crappy straps all over the head and face, especially the cheeks. I can't stand them. I'm claustrophobic to begin with, and the straps make it worse.

I went through a period when I would wake up and have trouble going back to sleep. I taught myself to lie there with my eyes closed, and count my breaths. If I lost count, I started over at one. I lost count a bunch, because I kept dozing off. But I kept counting, and eventually, I would drop completely back to sleep again.

This did a couple of things -- I really DID get more sleep than I thought I did, and it taught me not to expect to wake up and be able to take the mask off.

[jdm2857]

I'm wondering if trying Ambien for a short time might help you get past the two-hour mark. Just be
sure that you have 8 hours before you have to be alert.

I would not suggest long-term sleep aid use.

[Xney]

Ignore the experts - the only expert on your face is you!

[BlackSpinner]

The big question is "Why are you waking up after 2 hours?" What is happening in your data?

The other question is why do you chose to "reward" yourself after 2 hours by taking the mask off?

[Andrew08]

The big question is "Why are you waking up after 2 hours?" What is happening in your data?

The other question is why do you chose to "reward" yourself after 2 hours by taking the mask off?

With all due respect, who says it is a "reward"? That is not the reason at all why I take it off. It is more in frustration.
Quick update, tried the comfortlite 2, did not stay on the whole night but lots of progress and I see this being the one for me.

[49er]

The big question is "Why are you waking up after 2 hours?" What is happening in your data?

The other question is why do you chose to "reward" yourself after 2 hours by taking the mask off?

With all due respect, who says it is a "reward"? That is not the reason at all why I take it off. It is more in frustration.
Quick update, tried the comfortlite 2, did not stay on the whole night but lots of progress and I see this being the one for me.

Hi Andrew,

I am so happy for you. How long did it stay on and why do you feel this mask worked when the others didn't. Just curious.

49er

[MagsterMile]

A word about Ambien. I have the generic version 'Zolpidem'. I took one full 10mg strength and slept for about 7.5 hrs. I cut the dose in half and take that and sleep for about 5 hrs. Not wanting to get 'hooked', I only took the 1/2 dose for about 5 days. I've not taken them now for about 1 week. A couple of weeks ago I only got about 1.5 hrs sleep and was totally miserable that day. Finally getting a mask that fits properly has helped me a lot too.

Since I've stopped the 1/2 dose, I'm sleeping anywhere from 4.5 to 5.5 hrs. Before taking a sleep aid, I was lucky to get 4 hrs. sleep. I'm finding that I do fall asleep much quicker and stay asleep longer even after taking the 1/2 dose for a short while. I won't hesitate to start taking the 1/2 dose again if I start slipping back on a regular basis.

My neighbor's insurance company decided to stop paying for Ambien for her and had her take something else in it's place (don't remember the name). She says she doesn't know why they did that. Does anyone have any ideas regarding why Ambien should stop being paid for?

[Kiralynx]

With all due respect, who says it is a "reward"? That is not the reason at all why I take it off. It is more in frustration.
Quick update, tried the comfortlite 2, did not stay on the whole night but lots of progress and I see this being the one for me.

I'm glad the Comfortlite worked better for you!

I dealt (and, to an extent, still deal, with claustrophobia. I cried for hours after getting the sleep apnea diagnosis, because the only thing I knew about were what I considered horrible, full-face THINGS that would be plastered over my nose and mouth, straps all over my head and face... coping with the idea was terrifying.

Lucky for me, I had been directed here, to CPAPTalk, by a friend, when I was researching something for my brother-in-law. She told me, "This Forum isn't your typical CPAP Forum, and the members aren't typical CPAP users... but they are what all CPAP users SHOULD be like."

Thanks to her, I called my sleep center and went in the day of my titration and spent hours trying on masks and testing them under pressure. It was during that that we determined that I could NOT breathe out against a standard CPAP pressure. I had to go bilevel from the start.

The Comfortlite ended up being my choice, and it still is.

I regret to say that Black Spinner is right about removing the mask being "a reward." You're frustrated, yes, because the mask is different, it's uncomfortable, you don't want it there, and you don't want to have to deal with the d@mn-fool machine. You just want to be able to climb into bed, put your head on the pillow, and SLEEP, dammit!

I never threw the mask across the room -- probably my awareness that the Dachshund Duo might turn my very expensive mask into a chew toy, and I didn't have the money to replace it -- but I did wake up with it slipped here or there until I learned how to rig it under my hair to hold it in place. (Masks and waist length hair often do not go together.)

It really WOULD have been a reward if I had let the mask stay off. So any time I woke up and the mask was not in place, no matter how much I wanted to ignore it, I put it back on, lay down, and did the breath-counting I mentioned.

Ironically, the DME set me up for some of it -- they didn't turn of the apnea and hypopnea alerts on my machine, so the first night, every time I had one, I was awakened by the machine beep-beep-beeping. That night, I did take off the mask. But the next morning, I called the DME and demanded to know how to turn the alarms off. Thereafter, no alarms, and if I woke up without the mask, I told myself very firmly that I needed it, put it back on, and did my breath counts.

It took me time to stop waking up -- I was accustomed to being awakened about every three hours by severe pain because of my apnea. As a consequence, I would start dragging myself awake. But with the BiPap, I did not have the pain.

You CAN do this!

Are you using the nasal mask or the nasal pillows on the Comfortlite?

[ellen1159]

May I ask, what problems did you have with the Quattro FX full face mask? Are you able to use either nasal or full face?

[Andrew08]

49er- I went from approx 2 hrs to 4. I know, it may sound small but I consider it a victory. It's incentive to stick with this mask for sure. RE: the reason why it worked, I think it may because the hose is attached to the top of your head as opposed to at the nose. This allows me more movement.

Kiralynx- Thank you for sharing your story. I will know who to come to as we seem like-minded. One issue I need to address are the size of the nasal pillows. They worked ok last night but could probably drop down to a small from a medium.

ellen- As described above, the comfortlite allows more movement for a side sleeper like me and doesn't shift much if you go to your side. I always thought I was a mouth breather but I guess I was wrong. The Quattro was just too bulky on my face.