(Possibly) Stupid Newbie Questions

[Zessa]

I've been at this whole CPAP thing for about a week. Still trying to figure a few things out.

My first thing, is acne. Even after a week I can tell that's gonna be a pain to deal with. What is everyone's experiences with it? I know some of the recommendations are going to be "go nasal" but I get allergies, I work at a school so I'm always fighting some cold type thing off, and I'm a bit of a mouth breather. So nasal masks are a no go right now. I'm leery of just slathering on the Clearasil (benzoyl peroxide products) because that just can't be good for the silicone. What do you all do to prevent/treat?

I drool in my mask. Which to be honest, is just kinda gross. Ideas on THAT one? Or is it just something I gotta get used to?

Leakage by the nose, any suggestions for alleviating some of that? I'm almost at the point that I want to just, duct tape it to my face. Well, not actually that bad but you get my point.

My last question is less practical and more 'is it working?' I've noticed since I started the sleep therapy that I wake up groggy. I used to not do that. In fact, this morning I actually put my cellphone alarm on snooze without realizing it. I'm taking this as a good sign since that's usually indicative of being in a deeper sleep right?

[Pugsy]

Get a mask liner.
http://www.padacheek.com/PAC_Maskliners.html
Should help with drool, leaks and hopefully the acne since your skin won't have to be touching the silicone.

For therapy itself...and the grogginess...how many hours of sleep are you getting and are those hours of sleep fragmented with frequent wake ups for any reason?
Is your therapy even optimal? Use the software to see...links in my signature line

[jencat824]

Zessa,

About the drool part of your question, my hubby experienced that a lot when he began, but it tapered off eventually. In the meantime, he used Kleenex folded & tucked inside his full face mask, just below his mouth. Once you get the mask liner you may not need the Kleenex.

Jen

[Denial Dave]

+1 for Pad-a-cheek liners..... they work awesome for absorbing drool and solving my leaks

[Zessa]

I'm definitely looking into the pad-a-cheek liners, I'll see how they work. If they work well, I'll probably start making my own since I have fairly crafty relatives.

I finally got sleepyhead working and figured out a way to get the data off of my CPAP. (copying it from the card to a USB on someone else's computer then onto my compy oh boy.) Still suffering from data overload, oy.

My #'s
AHI .79
Obstuctive Index .18
Hypopnea .14
Clear Airway, .4

with a .40% time above leak rate threshold, been using the cpap for about 16 days.

I've been averaging about 6 hours a night.

I have been getting up, but it has been things like bathroom trips and at times I wake up because of the nose leakage. Or at least I think that's what's getting me up. I fix the leak, read something random on my phone for a minute or two and I'm back under. It can't have been more that 1-2 times a night, maybe 3 on a bad one.

Hopefully that's not TMI. So much new terminology to learn.

[englandsf]

If your pressure is fairly high (8-10) then you might be surprised how well you can breathe through your nose even when partly congested. I got horrible claustrophobia with an FFM so had to figure it out...

[Zessa]

Actually, I had the opposite problem. I've studied for years as a classically trained singer. You grow up being so very very aware of your breathing and how it feels. So during the sleep test NOT having control (or at least feeling like I didn't with a nasal pillow) REALLY freaked me out. Like, I'm the person that walks into the doctor and goes "yeah, I have a respiratory infection and something in my lungs" because as a singer you just get that good and knowing your own breathing. They always give me funny looks and then get quiet when I'm right. It's amusing actually.

In any case, the face mask fools my instincts into thinking that it's all good. Like, I actually felt like I was being choked by the nasal pillow. So weird but I did.

[englandsf]

I get it, I tried a mouth hybrid mask and it killed me. We are all different and finding the mask that works is job 1. Good luck