First night for newbie!!!

[EarlyBird]

Ok, so I got my machine and mask fitted so tonight will be my first night.. Should be interesting as I'm looking forward to not feeling tired tomorrow if this works.

Now little unrelated.. I tried to put my equipment on my profile, my machine does not show up even though I have it selected, mask and humidifier is showing, not sure how to fix that..
Not a clue on what to select for software.. One more question, I have a Kinetico reverse osmosis water system for filtered drinking water (well water), is that filtered enough to use in my humidifier or not, I hate to have to buy distilled water if I don't have to..

[EarlyBird]

Here is my machine but I can't get it to show up in my posts..

https://www.cpap.com/productpage/respir ... iflex.html

[Pugsy]

Look on the bottom of your blower unit for a 3 digit number.
The machine you selected is model 750 but your humidifier points to a 60 series machine which won't work with a model 750 machine.
The model 750 was replaced by the model 760 which would work with the 60 series humidifier.
The links to the discontinued, no longer sold equipment are broken and that's why it doesn't show up.
I suspect your machine is the model 760 which is a PR System One 60 Series BiPap Auto (like I have in my profile).
If you have the 760 then you just need to choose the current model.

Don't worry about selecting the profile software because those choices are all old discontinued software that used to be sold at cpap.com.

You can use SleepyHead or Encore. Links in my signature explaining your choices. You can use both if you wish as long as you have a Windows computer. Encore is strictly Windows. If you have a Mac you can use SleepyHead as it has both a Mac and Windows version available.
If you want to try Encore send me a private message and I will send you some information on how to get it.

[EarlyBird]

it has 760P on the bottom and the humidifier has DS6TFLG

[Pugsy]

Yeah, you just chose the wrong machine.
You can go in and edit the equipment profile page and choose the
PR System One 60 Series BiPap Auto with BiFlex
and it will show up just fine.

[Ontario CPAP]

I've been using a CPAP for around a year now -- first an auto unit for 2 months and later a fixed pressure unit.

Recalling the first few nights, an early challenge was getting used to having positive pressure inside your nose and throat. At first my cheeks would expand like a chipmunks until I learned how to block the pressure at the back of my throat using the back of my tongue. I also found letting the pressure out through my mouth and blocking it again a few times helped me get used to the unnatural feeling of having air pressure pushed in through my nose.

Another early technique I had to learn was to concentrate on relaxing. At first, I found it quite difficult to breathe normally with the mask on and air pushing in. I had to focus on making slow, deliberate breaths to counteract the pressure -- having a PR with C-flex+ turned on helped as the machine would back off the pressure when I breathed out. After several minutes (10?) of deliberate breathing I would surprise myself and realize I was no longer thinking consciously about the pressure and almost breathing normally. The next trick was to work at keeping my mouth closed...

I was able to go 6+ hours each of the first few nights, but not all at once. I would wake up mid-way and had to really work at wanting to keep the equipment hooked up. It would have been very easy to give up and pull it off. More than once in the first month I would do just that.

Along the way, I had some great nights (8h with an AHI < 0.5, even some with 0.0) and some lousy nights (couldn't get past 2 hours) but now that a year has gone by, if I am away from my CPAP for a few nights (I use a mouth guard as a not-nearly-as-good backup) I look forward to getting back to it.

That didn't happen overnight, however (pardon the pun.)

Bottom line is: getting used to the CPAP is not easy, but also it's not hard. It's something of a mind game. Stick with it -- in the long run it's worth it.

[EarlyBird]

Thanks for the positive thoughts, I'm actually more worried about sleeping so well I don't hear/see my TV come on and I sleep through my iPhone alarm.. I'm guessing it will help to be in my own bed ( unlike the test ) and to not have 8 million wires on my head, legs, and finger and to not have to ware a bunch of cloths to bed..

[EarlyBird]

Ok, the first night was not too bad, I recall about 3 or 4 wakeups after I finally got settled, mostly trying to flip sides and then get my head positioned so my mask wouldn't leak, still trying to get the right adjustments.. Also trying a few of my pillows to see which one works good.

So far on this mask the only thing I can see as an improvement change would be the end of the Velcro straps, the tips (last maybe quarter inch say) needs to not stick so you can get it up with your thumbs to undo and re-adjust it.

So question for the group, all you side sleepers with full face masks, did you order a special pillow for sleeping?? My DME offered to sell me one for like $60, I figured I could find something to fit me on my own of get it some other place..

[chunkyfrog]

Ah, yes, the barely aware mask dance. I remember it well.
It gets easier with practice. Good going. You will be fine.