First night with CPAP

TomLI · Post by **TomLI** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 9:56 am

I just got my machine yesterday and went through my first night with it. It went pretty well, and I do feel better rested...I have a question regarding my mask though. It seems to have a leak, although I'm not sure if it's supposed to be there or not. There is an elbow L shaped joint in the front that connects the mask to the tubing. Where the elbow connects to the hose adapter (not the actual hose connection), I can feel air coming out. If i block it by hand, the air pressure of course, goes up slightly. Is this normal? Should I tape it off and seal it completely? Thanks in advance.

bap40 · Post by **bap40** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 9:58 am

There is a place on this kind of mask that has a place for air to escape so carbon monoxide doesn't build up. I use this same mask. All masks have this feature somewhere on them.

BarryKaraoke · Post by **BarryKaraoke** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 10:05 am

All masks leak by design. Since the air flow is constant and your breathing is not, the air has go someplace or the mask would blow off your face, continually making that mask-seal "fart" noise we all know & love.

Bigburd · Post by **Bigburd** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 10:18 am

This elbow could be helped with silicon tape. Do a search. My FFM has a hole pattern located between the nose and forhead for air escape.

Wulfman · Post by **Wulfman** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 10:25 am

bap40 wrote:There is a place on this kind of mask that has a place for air to escape so carbon monoxide doesn't build up. I use this same mask. All masks have this feature somewhere on them.

Brook,

It's Carbon DIoxide - CO2 (human "exhaust" air from breathing).
Carbon MONoxide - CO (like what comes out of a car's tailpipe)

Den

tangents · Post by **tangents** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 11:46 am

Hi TomLI,

Like the others said, all masks exhaust somewhere. In fact, that's one of the considerations when trying different mask designs - where is it going to blow? (Some you can use on hot summer nights instead of air conditioning!! )

Welcome to the forum, and congratulations on your first night on the hose! Hope your restful feeling keeps getting stronger and stronger. As questions come up, be sure to post them.

Take care,
Cathy

TomLI · Post by **TomLI** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 12:55 pm

Thanks for the responses all, I think it is the exhaust function. Glad to have such an active and supportive community!

Needsdecaf · Post by **Needsdecaf** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 1:29 pm

Wulfman wrote:
bap40 wrote:There is a place on this kind of mask that has a place for air to escape so carbon monoxide doesn't build up. I use this same mask. All masks have this feature somewhere on them.
Brook,

It's Carbon DIoxide - CO2 (human "exhaust" air from breathing).
Carbon MONoxide - CO (like what comes out of a car's tailpipe)

Den

Carbon dioxide comes out of your car's tailpipe too.

bap40 · Post by **bap40** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 8:33 pm

Den,

Yes I know I got it wrong... my mistake. I do know the difference.

TomLI · Post by **TomLI** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 8:34 am

ok, it's been almost a week, and a have a few issues and questions:

1. I'm a heavy sleeper, and at some point every night so far, I've been pulling the mask off. I have no idea how much time I'm getting with it on, but I do feel better. I think my issue is that I start mouth breathing at some point and then freak out subconsciously that I can't and rip the mask off ASAP before falling back out. I'm thinking something like the Zzz-Mask Full Face CPAP Mask should solve this issue and also not have the annoying forehead deal. Anyone have experience with this mask or situation that could confirm or dispute my theory?

2. As a result of insurance that stinks and wouldn't pay for any DME, I opted to go cheap and not get the humidifier option with my CPAP. A few mornings I've been pretty dried out and am regretting not having that. Wouldn't a normal room humidifier do the same thing for $40 instead of the $150 I'd have to spend now to buy it seperately?

Otherwise its been great and I feel immeasurably better and don't fall asleep at work anymore....or as soon as I get home from work, lol.

tangents · Post by **tangents** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 8:49 am

Hey, Tom.

Congratulations on your first full week. I've read lots of threads that describe newbies pulling off their masks in the middle of the night. While I can't comment from personal experience, I think the important thing is that you keep hosing up every night. One member described a method of repeating to themselves, 3 times every night before bed, that they will keep the mask on until morning. Maybe they will chime in, or you could start a new thread with "pulling off mask in middle of the night" in the topic.

Mouth breathing can be compensated for in many ways. Full face masks, polygrip strips, tape, and mouth guards are some of the common ways. Since masks are expensive, you might want to read up a bit before you buy a full face mask.

A room humidifier might do the trick for you, but I don't think it would provide enough moisture for me, personally. There's something about the rush of air that dries out my sinuses.

Good luck, Tom, and keep posting your questions!

Take Care,
Cathy

ksp · Post by **ksp** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 8:50 am

TomLI wrote: Wouldn't a normal room humidifier do the same thing for $40 instead of the $150 I'd have to spend now to buy it seperately?

The room humidifier may help but not sure it's the total answer. I had a m series integrated humidifier and traded it in for HC 150 and it works much better than the m series IMHO. The humidifiers for the cpap wil deleiver much more humidity than the room unit can do. But hey, it might be worth a try.

Pineapple · Post by **Pineapple** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 9:15 am

Too reasure you there is nothing "wrong" with you, many newbies take off thier masks in the middle of the night (some know they do it, some don't until they wake up) The first couple times I took my mask off I did reallize it until my "mask alert" (consist of my husband rolling over and swatting me - then telling me the therapy can work if the mask isn't on) After I started getting some results from my therapy, I was able to realize I was taking my mask off and start identifing why I was taking my mask off and work on correcting the problem. Alot of it is just convicing yourself the mask is not a foreign object.

It's good you are already starting to feel better, many newbies become fustrated because the therapy can be slow in taking hold, don't give you if you hit some potholes on the way, the body works on the inside first so sometimes it's hard to identify that there is improvement.

As for the humidifier, I tend to agree that I don't think a room humidifier will be enough, but I'm not a guru. I think that needs to be answered by someone more technically savy then me.

Mask	Humidifier