Another frustrated newbie

[MushCreek]

A few days in trying a CPAP, and I don't see how this is going to work!

Some background- 67 years old, very good shape for my age, exercise regularly, excellent diet and blood work, keep very busy on our 8 acres. I complained to the cardiologist about some breathlessness sometimes. We got to talking about OSA, I did an at-home sleep study, and here we are. My AHI was 16, and my blood oxygen got as low as 76%(!) I don't really have any other symptoms; I sleep about 5-6 hours a night, wake up rarin' to go, don't have episodes of sleepiness during the day. No morning headache. I find it hard to believe my oxygen could be getting that low; isn't that like in the hospitalization range? I have a cardiologist because I had a stent put in almost three years ago. Lots of minor problems began with that, including breathlessness and PVC's. I had a virtual meeting with a pulmonologist, but haven't had my breathing analyzed yet.

Back to the CPAP. They gave me a ResMed Airsense 10, with a full mask with a nose pillow. The people who fit you were useless. It was leaking like crazy (I have a beard) and they said, "You just have to play around with it some." It seemed like they just wanted to get me out the door.

I can't get to sleep with it on, not even close. It makes me more awake, like a cup of coffee. I start out tired, drowsy, ready for bed, but as I go on, I'm more and more awake. I can feel my pulse pounding. After an hour, I give up. Then, it takes me another hour to calm down and get to sleep. Normally, I drop off in a few minutes. In the morning, I'm tired, and short of breath, almost like my body misses the added pressure.

I'm going to stay with a while longer. I frequently have congestion, so I can't use a nose-only mask. I'll stick it out with this mask for a week. It's very uncomfortable and leaves red marks on my face. Loosening only makes it leak more. If no luck, I guess I'll go back down there and see what else they recommend. There's a very good chance I'll just return the whole thing at the end of a month, and take my chances without. If it weren't for my wife's nagging, I wouldn't have gone this far! Thanks for listening!

[Slartybartfast]

Sounds like anxiety is your enemy.

A friend, who I knew used a CPAP, once told me that when he got his machine, he knew the risks associated with untreated sleep apnea: increased risk for heart attack, stroke and dementia, among others. He told me he knew some people have trouble adjusting to life at the end of a hose, but he said he was determined to make it work. Because the alternative was rather dire. So, with that attitude, he got over his initial anxiety and relaxed and learned to sleep soundly using his CPAP. He said that, as with many things in life, attitude is everything.

I adopted the same attitude as my friend, having read on this board that lots of people have trouble adapting to CPAP. I mean, what's the use of coming here if everything's working perfectly? I learned to relax and just breathe normally, and I quickly got used to it. Twice in the past 12 years I've not had access to my machine. Once, when I was caught by bad weather on a road trip, and another time, when my first machine died and I was waiting for a replacement. Once you've slept for a while using CPAP and you go off it, you realize how poorly you had been sleeping previously.

Re: the congestion, my sleep doc, a pulmonologist, told me to get a saline nasal spray at the pharmacy and before retiring for the night, spray saline in each nostril until you can taste the salt water running down the back of your throat. It worked for me, and I have never had a problem with congestion, even when I've had a cold, which has been much less frequent since I've been using my machine.

Hope this helps.

[boxofrain]

Please please do not give up. I am fairly new (CPAP July 2020) and I will tell you that it took MONTHS for everything to fall into place. This forum has helped me an incredible amount. I had terrible mask problems at the beginning. I guarantee there will be one that works for you. I would recommend nasal breathing exercises. Believe it or not, when you "exercise" your nasal breathing, you will find that the congestion will start to go away. Mouth breathing long term is unhealthy. Google around and you will easily see what I am talking about. Use this forum to get answers from the true experts. I am not one of them. I am just a regular guy who was in your position seven months ago. Now I do not even know my mask is on, that's how comfortable it is!

[Miss Emerita]

Welcome, MushCreek! You have an excellent machine there, but a not-so-excellent equipment provider.

Your mask should not be leaving red marks on your face. Before you try a different style of full-face mask, try watching video on line about fitting your particular mask, and also see whether Pad-a-Cheek has mask liners that might work for your mask.

But finding the right mask can be challenging. Each of us has a unique contour to our faces, and what works well for one person may not work at all for another. So keep searching.

I think you would benefit from setting your machine up outside your bedroom during the day or evening so you can use it while you watch TV or read, without any associations with bedtime. This will help you speed up your acclimation to the new experience.

Could you tell us what your pressure settings are? They are probably a range, from a minimum to a maximum, and you may or may not have Expiratory Pressure Relief (EPR) turned on.

[zonker]

A few days in trying a CPAP, and I don't see how this is going to work!

welcome to the zoo!

something you may want to try. at some point during the day or evening, try wearing the mask. don't even connect it to the machine. wear it while engaged in some other activity. whatever it is you do around the house.

right now, your poor lizard hind brain is screaming at you in fear. it's saying "there's an alien on my face! get this thing off, it's trying to kill me!!". it's been used to sleeping a certain way for many years and truly resents having something attached.

so you want to show your poor brain that all is well. give it some time to get used to it. distract it with other things. it might take awhile, but you'll get there.

keep at it.

you can do this.

we can help.

eta: ah, i see the wonderful miss e is giving similar advice.

[MushCreek]

Thanks for the encouragement; I need it!

I don't know what the settings are on my machine, nor do I know how to find them. All I see is frowny or smiley faces for the seal and the humidifier. They just showed me how to plug everything in, and how to turn it on and off. As I said, I was underwhelmed by the place that provided the equipment.

I did try wearing it while watching TV, and it's fine at first, but once it ramps up, it's overwhelming. If I could figure out how to dial it back a bit, I would.

[zonker]

Thanks for the encouragement; I need it!

I don't know what the settings are on my machine, nor do I know how to find them. All I see is frowny or smiley faces for the seal and the humidifier. They just showed me how to plug everything in, and how to turn it on and off. As I said, I was underwhelmed by the place that provided the equipment.

I did try wearing it while watching TV, and it's fine at first, but once it ramps up, it's overwhelming. If I could figure out how to dial it back a bit, I would.

can you tell us exactly which model it is? what is written on the machine itself? there is also a tag on the bottom of the machine which give some model info.


make sure you have the humidifier out or empty before turning over the machine!

[cyberdreamer]

A few days in trying a CPAP, and I don't see how this is going to work!

Some background- 67 years old, very good shape for my age, exercise regularly, excellent diet and blood work, keep very busy on our 8 acres. I complained to the cardiologist about some breathlessness sometimes. We got to talking about OSA, I did an at-home sleep study, and here we are. My AHI was 16, and my blood oxygen got as low as 76%(!) I don't really have any other symptoms; I sleep about 5-6 hours a night, wake up rarin' to go, don't have episodes of sleepiness during the day. No morning headache. I find it hard to believe my oxygen could be getting that low; isn't that like in the hospitalization range? I have a cardiologist because I had a stent put in almost three years ago. Lots of minor problems began with that, including breathlessness and PVC's. I had a virtual meeting with a pulmonologist, but haven't had my breathing analyzed yet.

Back to the CPAP. They gave me a ResMed Airsense 10, with a full mask with a nose pillow. The people who fit you were useless. It was leaking like crazy (I have a beard) and they said, "You just have to play around with it some." It seemed like they just wanted to get me out the door.

I can't get to sleep with it on, not even close. It makes me more awake, like a cup of coffee. I start out tired, drowsy, ready for bed, but as I go on, I'm more and more awake. I can feel my pulse pounding. After an hour, I give up. Then, it takes me another hour to calm down and get to sleep. Normally, I drop off in a few minutes. In the morning, I'm tired, and short of breath, almost like my body misses the added pressure.

I'm going to stay with a while longer. I frequently have congestion, so I can't use a nose-only mask. I'll stick it out with this mask for a week. It's very uncomfortable and leaves red marks on my face. Loosening only makes it leak more. If no luck, I guess I'll go back down there and see what else they recommend. There's a very good chance I'll just return the whole thing at the end of a month, and take my chances without. If it weren't for my wife's nagging, I wouldn't have gone this far! Thanks for listening!

Please don't give up for your wife's sake. It's so awful to have apnea sufferers in the family who won't listen to our advice. You know they are heading to the edge of the cliff but they just won't listen and you have to hopelessly watch the whole thing.

Right now, I think you should focus on positive actions instead of dwelling on the bad things even though it is hard. Some tasks for you:

- Find the exact machine model. We need to know if you can use OSCAR with it to adjust your therapy at home.
- Find the mask model so others can give advice on mask fit.
- Download OSCAR so you can share our therapy results here.
- Get a SD card reader for your computer if you don't have one so you can use OSCAR.

[MushCreek]

I had better luck last night. I wore it a total of 7 hours.

The good:
I apparently slept for 4 hours straight, not bad for having an angry octopus stuck to your face.
I think I can get used to the air pressure.
I worked out for an hour this morning, and it wasn't any better or worse than usual.

The bad:
My face hurts, and my nose is still numb.
My mouth was very dry (one of the problems I was already having pre-CPAP).
It seemed to take a while to breathe regularly after I got up. Is this normal?
I'm tired.
The thing still leaks, mostly around my nose, blowing an annoying stream of air on my left eye. I can fool with it and get a good seal, but it only lasts a minute or two before it starts leaking again. I've tried everything from completely loose to very tight.

I think I need a mask that covers my nose, since I can't get the air pillow to stay put. 7 hours is about the longest I ever sleep; usually more like 5-6 hours. I looked at the machine, but don't see any kind of model number. On the front it says 'AirSense 10 Autoset'. I fooled around with it yesterday after looking at the manual (dealer didn't show me any of this stuff). I found it is set to 7.0-10.0, and the ramp and humidification are set to 'Auto'. The mask is a ResMed AirFit F30i Medium/standard. They had me try a 'small' at the office, which leaked like crazy, so they handed me a medium and sent me on my way (without trying it on).

Shouldn't the equipment provider ensure that the mask is a good fit before sending you on your way? I was the only person there, with no one before me or ahead of me, yet they only gave me a few minutes time with something I have zero experience with. It's an hour round-trip, so it's going to be a hassle to keep driving down there to try on different masks.

[MushCreek]

OK, I found a whole bunch of numbers on the BACK of the machine. There are 8 different numbers, none of which are identified as a model number. Which number am I looking for? I see a S/N, Ref N., Lot N., and Device N., plus other random numbers.

[Pugsy]

The model name is clearly stated on the face of the machine. No need to look for numbers.

On the front it says 'AirSense 10 Autoset'.

[zonker]

The model name is clearly stated on the face of the machine. No need to look for numbers.

On the front it says 'AirSense 10 Autoset'.

i have trouble remembering which machines give good solid oscar-worthy data. i have a link to the cpap wiki, where it shows all the machines in a chart and shows which do and which don't. however, like so much on this forum nowadays, that link is broken. i also can't seem to find the right combo of search terms to find it manually.

the short and more important question is, is this machine a full oscar data go?

the longer question for you or anybody is-
you got a list of machines you could share?

thanks.

[MushCreek]

I found it. The machine I have is listed as being fully Oscar supported. I googled 'Oscar-compatible CPAP machines', and the Wiki article is right on top. Alright, so my machine is Oscar supported. What's Oscar, and where do I get it? How do I retrieve the data from my machine? Remember, I'm an old-timer, and brand new to the whole CPAP world. If you sling a bunch of computer jargon at me too fast my eyes glaze over and I wander off.

[zonker]

I found it. The machine I have is listed as being fully Oscar supported. I googled 'Oscar-compatible CPAP machines', and the Wiki article is right on top. Alright, so my machine is Oscar supported. What's Oscar, and where do I get it? How do I retrieve the data from my machine? Remember, I'm an old-timer, and brand new to the whole CPAP world. If you sling a bunch of computer jargon at me too fast my eyes glaze over and I wander off.

excellent!

so, first things first. is there an sd card in your machine?

look on the left side of the machine. there should be a hinged cover. open that up. there should be a slot. see if it has an sd card in it.

many times, the machine won't come with one. if it doesn't have one, you'll need to buy one or use a spare one from another device, like maybe a digital camera.

you need this sd card for the software to write the data to.

so start with this before we go any further.

[Pugsy]

the short and more important question is, is this machine a full oscar data go?

the longer question for you or anybody is-
you got a list of machines you could share?

I have a list but it is in my head.
An easier way is to just remember which models aren't full data capable...with ResMed AirSense 10 it's the AirSense 10 CPAP model...the most basic of machines...it does record a little bit of data but it's a generic AHI and only the 95% number for leak...and OSCAR isn't compatible with it because it doesn't have the data files needed for OSCAR to even show the limited summary data. It's there but OSCAR won't be able to show it. Now ResScan will but it's essentially the same data that is available on the LCD sleep report and not worth messing with ResScan to get what can be seen on the LCD screen.

Respironics the same thing...the DreamStation CPAP machine...bare bones basic machine and no data at all I don't think. DreamStation model number DSX 400 and above...all full data.

If a machine is a bilevel machine...it will be full data if it is any sort of recent model no matter what the brand.
If it is apap capable...it will have full data available.
Now the other brands or the travel machines I have to look up.