Introduction

blacknebula · Post by **blacknebula** » Sun Dec 31, 2017 10:31 am

Hi everyone! Just joined and thought I would do a quick intro.

I was diagnosed with mild/moderate OSA at the beginning of December. Got my machine (airsense 10 autoset for her and heated/humidified nasal mask) on Dec 22. Paid $200 to rent for a month, at the end can either apply this to purchase or return the machine with no obligation. I have no clue what my 'numbers' are... the machine is currently set up to send data to the doctor from the sleep clinic so he can adjust if necessary.

The good: I'm feeling way more rested and energetic. Typically I go to bed around 10. In the past, on days when I didn't have to set my alarm I wouldn't get out of bed until 9 or 10 the next morning and still not feel rested. This morning I woke up at 6:45 and after laying there for a few minutes decided that I was ready to get up! Noticed around night 4 that I was starting to dream much earlier in the night. The inside of my nose is loving the humidity (I live in a very dry area). Hubby says sometimes he can hear me mildly snoring (nowhere near what it used to be!) but then it stops. I know the machine is supposed to adjust automatically, so I guess it's increasing the pressure in response to that?

The bad: I'm still waking up (enough to be aware of it) at least a half dozen times a night. Once I'm awake I can't go back to sleep until I go to the bathroom (nothing physically wrong with the plumbing, it's totally psychological). I've just been unplugging the mask from the hose when I get up, but then the noise wakes up my hubby. Is it ok to turn it off or will this mess up the settings? Also, by midway through the night the humidity inside the mask is to the point where it's actually making my nose wet on the outside. I'm assuming it's because of difference between inside the mask and the ambient room humidity (which is very low, because that air is coming from outside before it runs through the furnace and it's -30C right now so it has no moisture whatsoever). It's supposed to warm up next week so I'll see if that helps, if not I'll call the doctor and ask him to lower the humidity a bit I guess. Hate tube wrangling, but found that tucking it between my pillow and the headboard works reasonably well to keep it in place.

There is no question in my mind that I'm buying this baby when the month is up. It's a major PITA, but even after a week my mood is so much improved that I can't imagine living without it again. However, I do have some questions about a few things. I assume I should probably keep this in my carry on luggage when flying? We also camp during the summer, and while we do have a trailer we sometimes don't have power connection. Hubby is talking about buying an inverter which would run the machine. Anyone with experience in this regard as to what size it would need?

Thanks all,
Christine

Julie · Post by **Julie** » Sun Dec 31, 2017 10:39 am

Hi, couple of things - why can't you lower the humidity setting yourself?

And plumbing-wise - a big marker for OSA is needing to use the bathroom many times at night - and if your therapy is adequately programmed (your min. pressure setting is likely a bit low - very common when starting out) then that stops happening almost immediately... it's not psychological.

AMK · Post by **AMK** » Sun Dec 31, 2017 10:49 am

I can't answer the travel questions, but I can tell you that turning down your humidity is easy and something you can do yourself if you just press the button on the front and look at settings. Also yes, do turn your machine off for bathroom trips.That will not affect the data. Re tube wrangling, I use this:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0086 ... UTF8&psc=1
Yes, it's expensive, and yes, it's worth it.

Pugsy · Post by **Pugsy** » Sun Dec 31, 2017 10:56 am

blacknebula wrote: by midway through the night the humidity inside the mask is to the point where it's actually making my nose wet on the outside. I'm assuming it's because of difference between inside the mask and the ambient room humidity

Actually the condensation in the mask or hose is from the ambient bedroom temperature and not the ambient humidity.
See this thread posts number 2 and 3 for various options for dealing with this annoyance.
viewtopic/t94035/Pugsys-Pointers-3Deali ... -road.html
It's called "rain out" and usually fairly easily remedied.
Do you have the heated hose with your machine or the non heated hose? If you have the heated hose...just increase the hose air temp.
If not, you can get one later or for now make a hose cover/cozy out of some old socks or something.
You do have several options though so read those 2 posts I made explaining the various options.

Reducing the humidity setting may or may not help with the wet nose because some of that moisture on your nose could be coming from the moisture in your own exhaled breath that is condensing in the mask. I know people not even using a humidifier at all who get rain out in the mask from the moisture in their own breath.

Read this manual...explains more about your options and how you can get to menus where you can change something if you want to.
https://sleep.tnet.com/home/files/resme ... -guide.pdf

Oh...if you get up in the middle of the night just turn the machine off. Either way doesn't hurt the data but we don't need hubby's sleep being disturbed to. Hurts nothing to turn it off and then back on.

Get the available software
https://sleep.tnet.com/equipment
so that you can make sure that those bathroom breaks are in your head and not as a result of sub optimal therapy.

blacknebula · Post by **blacknebula** » Sun Dec 31, 2017 11:29 am

Thanks everyone. I will turn it off from now on when I get up. I was told not to touch anything except the on/off button....

I've installed Sleepyhead but I'm too scared to fool around with an SD card that isn't mine (remember rental).

zonker · Post by **zonker** » Sun Dec 31, 2017 11:35 am

hi,blacknebula and welcome to the forum!

glad you are doing so well adapting to your therapy.

when flying, take your equipment with you as carry on. it's medical equipment and the airlines do NOT count it against your carry on limitation.

Pugsy · Post by **Pugsy** » Sun Dec 31, 2017 12:25 pm

blacknebula wrote:I've installed Sleepyhead but I'm too scared to fool around with an SD card that isn't mine (remember rental).

Don't be afraid...you can't hurt it and looking at the data doesn't mean that you just have to change anything anyway.
Hurts nothing at all to look.

MrsRinPDX · Post by **MrsRinPDX** » Sun Dec 31, 2017 1:25 pm

zonker wrote:hi,blacknebula and welcome to the forum!

glad you are doing so well adapting to your therapy.

when flying, take your equipment with you as carry on. it's medical equipment and the airlines do NOT count it against your carry on limitation.

Hello and welcome! You can purchase a luggage tag on ebay for a few dollars that states all of the regulations loud and clear. Search Hi-Viz-Yellow-Carry-On-Medical-Device-Bag-Tag.

nanwilson · Post by **nanwilson** » Sun Dec 31, 2017 2:05 pm

Hi there
Looks like we live or have the same climate Its -32c today and sunny, with next week going way up in temp. I use nasal pillows with a temp of 10 to 15 with my humidifier at either 1 or 2 with no rainout ever. Its a matter of getting used to .. or at least telling your brain that this thing on your face is now the normal you it thinks you are introducing an alien to the mix. Keep up the good work you have a great attitude about this therapy and will do just fine.
Cheers and welcome
Nan
PS. I camp too, and when I am forced to go without power I have a 12volt deep cycle marine battery with an inverter. Since you have a Resmed machine (if that's the one you will keep) you will need a special cord to connect to along with a battery, check out the specs at cpap.com (our hosts) and you will see what the cord for your machine is. You should be able to get one from your supplier that will do the job.

blacknebula · Post by **blacknebula** » Sun Dec 31, 2017 2:40 pm

Okay, I pulled the SD card. AHI is 1.06 over the last week, pressure min 5, max 10.2. Lots of LL that seems to coincide with a UA event. Is that because I'm disconnecting to go to the bathroom or am I bumping the mask, which causes the apnea, which wakes me up?

I took some screenshots, now just need to figure out how to post them....

blacknebula · Post by **blacknebula** » Sun Dec 31, 2017 2:41 pm

nanwilson wrote:Looks like we live or have the same climate Its -32c today and sunny, with next week going way up in temp.

Yup, I'm in Calgary. Guess I should go do my profile...

blacknebula · Post by **blacknebula** » Sun Dec 31, 2017 3:09 pm

Some pretty graphs that I mostly don't know what they mean....

Cpapian · Post by **Cpapian** » Sun Dec 31, 2017 4:44 pm

I am all about the money.

$200 rental for a month! Another Canadian was charged $150 and I thought that was expensive.

I got a free rental for 4 months. Masks included. I tried three different ones.

I believe Calgary machine prices are twice as expensive as Toronto prices. Your machine (and mine) cost $860 in Ontario.

You can check out an online supplier (Canadian so no customs or exchange problems)

http://www.cpapmachines.ca

They currently have package deals.

blacknebula · Post by **blacknebula** » Sun Dec 31, 2017 5:37 pm

Cpapian wrote:I am all about the money.

$200 rental for a month! Another Canadian was charged $150 and I thought that was expensive.

I got a free rental for 4 months. Masks included. I tried three different ones.

I believe Calgary machine prices are twice as expensive as Toronto prices. Your machine (and mine) cost $860 in Ontario.

You can check out an online supplier (Canadian so no customs or exchange problems)

http://www.cpapmachines.ca

They currently have package deals.

Wow, that is quite the difference. My husband's insurance is supposedly covering it 100% though. I will definitely bookmark that site for in the future when he's retired though!

C

Paul_H · Post by **Paul_H** » Sun Dec 31, 2017 8:03 pm

I'm not sure about rentals, but I believe that https://canadacpapsupply.com/ might have cheaper prices. I've used them for close to 4 years now. I can't say I've compared all prices, but I just ordered replacement pillows and headgear for my P10 mask, and both items were cheaper here than on http://www.cpapmachines.ca.

Regards,
Paul
Duncan, BC

Introduction

Introduction

Re: Introduction

Re: Introduction

Re: Introduction

Re: Introduction

Re: Introduction

Re: Introduction

Re: Introduction

Re: Introduction

Re: Introduction

Re: Introduction

Re: Introduction

Re: Introduction

Re: Introduction

Re: Introduction