day 3 wild & crazy

[pranayama]

Slept 3 hours last night; can't remember the last time I slept so little. Woke up 3 am calm & alert. Didn't feel sleepy until 7 am. Took 2 hour nap in middle of day. Thinking this weirdness is part of my adjustment.
Spent time fussing with my masks (have two of same mask, one from sleep study, one from Apria). Noticed soft plastic part seemed to be fitted into wrong side of hard plastic part. Looked carefully at photo on packaging and changed them around.
Took a while to get comfortable for my nap. First few days, I was too tired to care. Now I'm noticing:
- soft leaks - where seal touches face, and where tube fits onto mask
- trouble breathing out. Turned flex setting from 3 to 1.
- burping - from swallowing air?
- nasal discharge after mask in place, take off, wipe nose & start over.
- wearing mask gives me headache
- velcro on chinstrap sticking to hair
I know - picky, picky.
Questions:
- Is some leakage normal? How do I assess?
- how do I see info. my machine is collecting about me?
Thanks!

[Pugsy]

Check your other thread for information on obtaining the data that the machine gathers.

For these issues.

- trouble breathing out. Turned flex setting from 3 to 1.

Try all the settings and use the one that feels the best to you. Even off.
Actually the 3 setting offers the greatest amount of potential reduction during exhale but it may be more of a timing issue than just exhaling against the pressure so try all of them to see which one feels the best.
If none offer improvement more information is necessary..like exactly what is the problem...is it actually exhaling or general comfort and a suffocation type of feeling that you are experiencing.

- burping - from swallowing air?

Called aerophagia...
wiki/index.php/Aerophagia
fairly common and if it is too much of a problem there are some things that can be done to reduce the problem

nasal discharge after mask in place, take off, wipe nose & start over.

Is this immediately upon putting the mask on or later?

- wearing mask gives me headache

Straps too tight maybe? Using a chin strap that is tight maybe?
Sometimes just the strap placement itself will do it even if not too tight. I get massive headaches pretty fast with any mask that has that lower strap that goes around the back of the head near the base of the skull and upper cervical spine. I have a bad neck and for this reason I don't use any mask that uses that sort of lower strap because the headache comes fast and hurts bad.

- Is some leakage normal? How do I assess?
- how do I see info. my machine is collecting about me?

Yes...some leak is normal coming out the vent holes. It's needed to flush out the mask so that we don't keep rebreathing the air that we exhale that contains a lot of carbon dioxide. Leak around the seal that is touching the skin isn't normal though and is unwanted....so it depends on where you are feeling the air leak.

[BlackSpinner]

Woke up 3 am calm & alert. Didn't feel sleepy until 7 am. Took 2 hour nap in middle of day. Thinking this weirdness is part of my adjustment.

Yes. For years your mind has been standing on guard to keep your from dieing in your sleep. It may have a hard time believing you are now safe when asleep with this strange thing on your face. Salute it and say thank you for keeping you alive, tell it that it can retire now. It may take up to month, according to my sleep doc, for it to learn to trust the mask. Spend some time watching a good movie on tv and show it that life is good with it on.

[library lady]

When I started this therapy in Feb. 2014 I had trouble with leaking all over my mask, up into my eyes, and it was only when I came to this forum looking for answers that I learned about mask liners. They help a good deal with the unwanted/unnecessary leaks, also help to protect your face from red marks and sores or other reactions. Also be sure to wash your face really well before you put the mask on, and don't use moisturizers, etc. at bedtime. If you need moisturizer put it on earlier in the day and then wash it off. Skin oils, etc. can prevent your mask from getting a good seal.

If you want to try mask liners, Karen at Pad-A-Cheek makes nice ones, go here: http://www.padacheek.com. I use liners that I get from my DME, RemZzzzs, which are are also available from our forum sponsors at https://www.cpap.com. If you go to the RemZzzzs website I think they still offer a free sample pack that you can try before you buy a whole package.

The liners were a game changer for me, and I've started making my own from old t-shirts

[pranayama]

Thank you pugsy, BlackSpinner and library lady. I appreciate it.
day 4 better. No headaches or grogginess.