New User With Some Concerns

[SavageAnimal]

Hello everyone, my name is Nathan and I am 27 years old. Last night was my first night using a xPAP machine. I have been living with OSA for at least 7 years untreated and finally just recently got it diagnosed and have just begun therapy with my PR System One BiPAP Auto Bi-Flex with ResMed Mirage FX Nasal Mask. My AHI from my sleep study was quite high at 118 and Oxygen down to 54% (really bad I know). They have my machine set to use 22/18 pressure settings which was quite interesting getting used to last night, also keeping my mouth closed, I found that when I would start to drift to sleep at first i would open my mouth and it would wake me, but once I got to sleep I slept like a rock, and apparently I was able to keep my mouth shut because I do not recall waking up, also my Machine reports 0% Large Leak and an AHI of 6.8. I slept for about 6 and a half hours. I woke up feeling immediately wide awake and well rested, however I had some mid to lower back pain that lasted about an hour or so after getting up, also when I woke up I smelled a kinda burnt smell, I assume from the heated tube which i only had set on 1, is this normal? I am also a bit confused about the heating for my humidifier, it apparently has both a heating plate and a heated tube, are both being used? and is that normal?

I also have a history of intentionally popping my ears with air pressure (like plugging your nose and trying to inhale or exhale until your ears pop), which I know is not good and I try not to do it but they pop pretty easy these days on their own like while swallowing, i guess from having done that for so long. Anyway an issue I am having while on my machine is my ears will pop a certain way when I swallow and I can then hear my breathing and the machine in my ear if that makes sense (kinda hard to explain) it is very annoying and prevents me from falling asleep, and only way to stop that usually is to get them to pop a different way like back to normal, which I was having trouble doing with the pressure, I kept having to take the hose off my mask and get my ears to pop back to normal and then put it back on and try not to swallow to make them pop again to that weird state. I hope that makes sense to you. Has anyone experienced anything like this?

Thank you for reading, and any tips or advise will be much appreciated.

[rdfry]

If the water in the humidifier evaporates it will give off a burnt smell. I would lower the temperature.The heated hose is to help prevent the moist air from the humidifier from condensing in the hose and running into your mask.

[cowgirlzooom]

If you get in the habit of putting your tongue in a certain position when your mask is on. Sort of, paste your tongue to the roof of your mouth and create a suction so, even if your jaw drops some it stays put, should resolve your issue.

I used to use a chin strap and was able to rewire myself and keep my mouth closed with this method.

It took me 6 months to even START to tolerate my cpap. Good luck to you!

[sawinglogz]

...was quite interesting getting used to last night, also keeping my mouth closed, I found that when I would start to drift to sleep at first i would open my mouth and it would wake me, but once I got to sleep I slept like a rock, and apparently I was able to keep my mouth shut because I do not recall waking up, also my Machine reports 0% Large Leak and an AHI of 6.8.

Congratulations on ending up with no large leaks given that pressure. I tried a nasal mask but the pressure kept leaking out of my mouth. If you find this becomes a problem, there are a variety of masks to cover both nose and mouth.

I slept for about 6 and a half hours. I woke up feeling immediately wide awake and well rested, however I had some mid to lower back pain that lasted about an hour or so after getting up

I've had a few odd aches and pains since starting therapy. At first it was due to being so still in one position all night long. Occasionally now, it's clear that I'm trying to get into positions to avoid leaks and/or aerophagia, and those positions aren't ideal.

For you it's more likely to be the new "exercise" of exhaling against that much pressure all night long. Lots of people report abdominal muscle soreness until their muscles are accustomed to it.

also when I woke up I smelled a kinda burnt smell, I assume from the heated tube which i only had set on 1, is this normal? I am also a bit confused about the heating for my humidifier, it apparently has both a heating plate and a heated tube, are both being used? and is that normal?

As someone pointed out, this will happen if you don't put water in the humidifer; I don't know if that's what happened to you.

You can choose what kind of humidification you get in the settings menu if you actually have a heated tube. Does the tube click into the humidifier, or is it just a friction fit (like on the mask end)? A heated tube humidifier works just fine with a non-heated tube.

If you have the heated tube, the machine will automatically recognize it and give you the option of using "heated tube humidification". If you turn that off, I think it will act like the heated tube is a normal tube, and then 0-5 controls just the heat applied to the humidifier. If you turn it on, then there's a (70%-90%?) setting for humidification and then 1-5 controls how much to heat the tube. (In this mode, 0 turns both off, annoyingly.)

Anyway an issue I am having while on my machine is my ears will pop a certain way when I swallow and I can then hear my breathing and the machine in my ear if that makes sense (kinda hard to explain) it is very annoying and prevents me from falling asleep, and only way to stop that usually is to get them to pop a different way like back to normal, which I was having trouble doing with the pressure

Mine don't pop quite that easily, but I definitely "manually" pop them when flying. I've occasionally had my ears pop due to CPAP pressure and heard the loud breathing you describe, and I quickly held my nose and inhaled to unpop them. That mostly worked, or at least made it a little better.

I found what helped the most was to sit up for a minute as my breathing gets accustomed to the pressure each evening. For some reason, doing that before relaxing horizontally helps.

You might also want to look at a hybrid mask for this reason, since then the pressure is distributed between your nose and mouth, which reduces the tendency for your ears to pop.

[SavageAnimal]

Thank you for the input and advice.

Now here's a little update; the 2nd night seemed much less stressful even though I did have a harder time falling asleep, not for any apparent reason other than just not being able to fall asleep and the newness of this thing on my face and the pressure, it probably took me about 40 minutes to fall asleep which is very rare for me.

I also couldn't find a setting to change just the heat setting of the humidifier plate while the heated tube is enabled (yes i have an actual heated tube), so I disabled the heating tube and only used a setting of 1 for the heating of the humidifier, and changed the Humidity setting from 3 to 2 which used much less water than the previous night (not quite 7 hours used nearly the entire tank the first night), but STILL experienced the burnt smell after getting up this morning and it persisted for a few hours, not really a big deal as long as my machine is working properly and it's just something I will have to get used to.

Still 0% Large Leak and a further improved AHI of 2.0 however I did get 1% Periodic Breathing which I am assuming isn't a big deal?

Also, for the first time in a very long time, I had a dream! Although it was not very pleasant... I dreamt I was in the home I grew up in as balls of fire fell from the sky setting fires outside the house... pretty scary.

EDIT: Maybe that's where the burnt smell is coming from lol

[Pugsy]

1 % PB with a nice low AHI isn't anything to worry about.
Periodic Breathing by definition is just a waxing and waning of the air flow that lasts for a certain period of time. We all can have it from time to time and that's normal. It's usually not a concern unless it happens a LOT like double digit % of the time and full of centrals at the same time. Cheyenne Stokes Respiration CSR is a subset or type of Periodic Breathing and not all PB is CSR.
If the PB was full of a lot of Clear Airway events (centrals) then we would maybe worry a bit and if it happened a lot then a discussion with the doctor would be warranted.

Don't know what to make of the burnt plastic smell if your water tank hasn't run dry.
When you say the burnt smell persisted for a few hours this morning are you referring to the odor in your bedroom only or are you noticing it in every room of the house?

[SavageAnimal]

When you say the burnt smell persisted for a few hours this morning are you referring to the odor in your bedroom only or are you noticing it in every room of the house?

The smell is only in my nose/airway, not actually in the air. I suppose it may not really be a "burnt" smell but maybe just a heat smell if that makes sense, but it is definitely different from the plastic smell of the tube and machine and very noticeable as soon as I get up,turn the machine off, take my mask off, and breath.

[SleepWellCPAP]

Burnt smell?

Could be the pressures you are working with are causing an excessive amount of stress on your flow generator. Though motors are certainly rated to handle therapy pressures, you might consider asking for a warranty exchange.

If this weird smell persists, I don't think either your provider or the manufacturer will object to sending you another machine. In the past, whenever I have even mentioned the word "burnt" or "electrical" smell, tech support practically jumps through the phone offering to issue an RMA number. (A little insider info for you)

Good luck. Please keep posting, you have an interesting story for sure. By the way, with a pressure as high as you are working with, more humidity rather than less would be my recommendation.

[Pugsy]

I have read where some people have said that upon starting cpap therapy that their nose seems sort of hyper sensitive to all sorts of various odors. I don't think it is hugely common though. Wonder if that is what may be going on with you because you smell the odor for a period of time after taking the mask off. Or maybe residual off gassing of the plastic or mask......
Are you using both the grey foam filter and the white fine filter?
Did you wash the mask thoroughly before using it? If not you might try soaking it and giving it a good wash/rinse in good soapy hot water to see if maybe the odor is left over from the mask out gassing. Some people are known to be super sensitive to mask odors.

[SavageAnimal]

It is interesting that I don't seem to smell it until I take off the mask, and after several hours of use. I don't notice the smell when I turn it on and while using it, or after using it only a short time. I also don't detect that smell coming from the machine/tube/mask at all upon inspection both while running and off.

Yes I am using both filters properly.

I have not washed or cleaned anything yet. Maybe you can give me another opinion and advice on what to wash and how often, and with what kind of soap?

Thank you all so much for your time.

[Pugsy]

I have not washed or cleaned anything yet. Maybe you can give me another opinion and advice on what to wash and how often, and with what kind of soap?

Cleaning schedules and regiments vary from the minimal to never...to everyday total eradication of all possible germs.

I like nice aromas so I use a scented liquid soap. Other people don't handle such odors well so they tend to use unscented soaps.
I don't wash things all that religiously though. I only use nasal pillow masks so not much to wash and about once a week for the nasal pillows. My cleaning routine is mainly "when I think about it" and that isn't all that often.
J & J Baby cleanser is always good but some people use Dawn liquid dish soap because of grease/oil removal capabilities.

There are just amount as many cleaning routine preferences here as there are forum members.
viewtopic.php?p=567264#p567264

I do think it is a good idea to wash brand new masks though just to help reduce chance of any lingering odor from the materials.
Use whatever you feel comfortable using...just rinse really, really well.

I don't know if a good soapy wash with nice hot water will help your issue or not but it sure won't hurt to give it a try.

[chunkyfrog]

I like a little bit of scent; I use some of the products on this page:
https://www.cpap.com/cpap-comfort-clean ... p#/:::::20:

[Stormynights]

My first machine had a burnt smell. I never checked the hours on it because I didn't know how at the time. I told my DME and they said they didn't know what could be causing it. I let them take it back and got a used one. This one was well used and had no bad smell. My husband let his humidifier run dry and it was the exact same smell. I am sure now I got a used one that was run dry a lot.

[spotteddog]

I have noticed from the second night with my machine a certain smell when I take off the mask also. It's not a smell I can identify as to what it is but it only lasts maybe 3 to 5 minutes after I remove my mask. Mine was a new machine and new mask.

[chunkyfrog]

I let my tank run dry a couple of times.
The smell was enough to wake me up; it was kind of a hot funk smell, like armpit, microwaved.
Or what I imagine it would smell like, having never nuked a "pit".
Now, I keep a cheap hygrometer by my machine, which gives me an idea how much water I will use, even before I look.
And I look every night!