Survived first night with few near drowning episodes

[Pekoepup]

Made it through last night with the new equipment but had a few issues. I had tons of rain out in the tubing and literally drowned myself several times in the night. This is a very rude way to be awakened, having tons of cold water pouring into your nostrils and dripping down your face. I did not have this problem on the Resmed machine I used for my titration study. I have already ordered a hose cover for this new machine but it has not arrived. I lowered the humidifier temp in the night from 2 down to 1. The machine already sits lower than my bed. I guess I will have to play around with the settings and set-up until I find some combo that works.

The other annoying issue I had was that the mask and chin strap kept slipping all over my head. I have very fine, slippery hair and I could not get the straps to stay in place. When I tried to tighten things up, they were too tight and I would start to have pain. The loaner Swift II wasn't sliding around all over the place. Does the head gear get less slippery with time? Is there something I can do to rough it up a bit on the surface that touches my hair? This is my first time using a chin strap so this is uncharted territory for me.

I am proud of the fact that I figured out how to access the set-up portion of the machine. My DME had only given me access to a few of the info screens. I was not able to see mask leak or AHI. I have now enabled those. It showed my mask leak was 15.6 lpm and my AHI was 1.9. I thought those looked pretty good. I am not sure what is an acceptable mask leak for the Swift II.

I hope tonight is a little smoother. Maybe my hose cover will arrive.

[sleepycarol]

Jerry (6ptstar) has suggested using some velcro on the masks straps to help with slipping. Use the sticky side out (not the tape side but the side with the little nubs on it) and staple on to your headgear. It will "catch" your hair. But you might want to try it first. I find it tangles in my hair and is a nightmare to remove as it pulls it when removing from my hair.

Rainout can be helped with a hose cover. They can be made from fleece for a reasonable price or purchased.

[roster]

......... I have already ordered a hose cover for this new machine but it has not arrived. I lowered the humidifier temp in the night from 2 down to 1. The machine already sits lower than my bed. ....

Pup,

Congratulations, you did the first three things I would recommend. What is the room temperature?

Regards,

Rooster

[carbonman]

The other annoying issue I had was that the mask and chin strap kept slipping all over my head. I have very fine, slippery hair and I could not get the straps to stay in place. When I tried to tighten things up, they were too tight and I would start to have pain. The loaner Swift II wasn't sliding around all over the place. Does the head gear get less slippery with time? Is there something I can do to rough it up a bit on the surface that touches my hair? This is my first time using a chin strap so this is uncharted territory for me.

I would suggest a Pap-cap w/chin strap.
It could solve the headgear on the hair problem,
and the chin strap works well and is comfortable.

It was worth it for me, just to keep the headgear off my hair.

Good luck!!

[roster]

......... I have now enabled those. It showed my mask leak was 15.6 lpm and my AHI was 1.9. I thought those looked pretty good. I am not sure what is an acceptable mask leak for the Swift II.

.....

Here is the vent curve for the Swift II:

Pressure/Flow
(± 6.0 L/min)
4/20
8/29
12/37
16/43
20/49

What is your pressure? Your leak is strangely low. It could be an error in the machine's data or do you have part of the exhaust vent blocked?

[Pekoepup]

Sorry I didn't respond sooner but I have been out all day.

Carol: Thanks for the velcro suggestion. I will try the velcro but I think it is going to tangle my hair but I won't know till I do it. I am waiting for my hose cover to arrive. Should be here tomorrow.

Rooster: The room temperature is about 68 degrees or so. I have an APAP machine and it is set for a pressure range of 4-10 cm H2O. The machine said that the 90% average for last night was only 5.5 cm. This is really low since during my titration, my 90 % average was like 10.6 cm H2O. Maybe this is why the leak was so low at 15.6 lpm??? I do not have any of the exhaust vents blocked that I know of. I felt the air blowing out of the Swift II all night. Maybe the huge amount of water in the tubing affected this number. I had a column of water where the tubing curved behind my headboard. My AHI during my titration was in the high 7 range too but only 1.9 last night. I thought everything was strangely low.

Carbonman: I haven't heard of the Pap-cap but I will try to find one. The Respironics chin strap is not working for me. It is too wide for my chin, itchy and it just pops right off my head. I tried wearing it under the Swift II and over the Swift II. Nothing worked.

Here I go for night number 2. I hope I don't drown tonight. Arrghh.

[roster]

Pup,

68 seems cold for a room temperature during the summer. What is your geographical location and current temperatures and humidity or dew point? The hose cover may solve your problem. In the meantime, if possible, route your hose tonight so rainout does not collect but runs down into the humidifier tank. Can you straighten out the curve behind your headboard?

I think most members on the forum will say a pressure of 4 is too low. If it were me I would try a range of 6 to 10 for tonight. You might want to see if there is some insulating fabric around the house that could cover the hose until your hose cover arrives.

Good luck,

Rooster

[Pekoepup]

Rooster: I am in the SF Bay Area. It has been rather cool here this summer. Our high was 59F yesterday and it is supposed to be 61F today. It almost always cools off at night even if it is hot during the day. The humidity is 78% and the due point is 54F per the Weather Channel. Our house stays around 68-70F when it is this cool. We have the furnace off for the summer.

I had much less rain out last night with the humidifier at 1. My numbers were somewhat different too. My 90% average for pressure was 9.8 cm and my AHI was 4.4. My leak was 18 lpm. I put my hair in a pony tail and that helped somewhat with the mask slippage. The chin strap continued to slide off my head. I must have an odd shaped head. Maybe I am a bad egg!

Anyone use a CPAP pillow? I am finding that my regular pillows are not working well with my mask. I have to carefully reposition everything when I turn and then I end up waking up completely.

[bobby_tee]

Pekoepup,

I have the same equipment as you (I think!), and I have been on for about a month. Never had the rain-out issue at all, so I'm not sure why that is happening.

As for the chinstrap, are you sure you need it? I had to have one during my titration because I was mouth breathing. But the tech said that was because they had to make sure they got correct readings. I figured I'd need one at home too, but since starting, I keep my mouth shut and no snoring or mouth breathing. It's a little funky at first, but once I got used to it, it seems like the air pressure actually keeps my mouth closed on its own, as long as I start with it closed. I've heard you can kind of train yourself and maybe that's what I did.

Good luck

bobby

[Guest]

I second the PapCap. I've been using mine with a Nasal Aire II and it is a GODSEND. I've rigged the tubing directly to the PapCap, so no excess headgear or straps. I don't need the chin strap for my mouth (never been a mouth breather), but it holds everything firmly and comfortably in place. Light, unobtrusive, it's a WOW from me.

I use a good quality feather pillow. If I lay on my side, it's easy to push it around where I need it to be around my "gear". It stays nicely and works great.

[roster]

Rooster: I am in the SF Bay Area. It has been rather cool here this summer. Our high was 59F yesterday and it is supposed to be 61F today. It almost always cools off at night even if it is hot during the day. The humidity is 78% and the due point is 54F per the Weather Channel. Our house stays around 68-70F when it is this cool. We have the furnace off for the summer.

I had much less rain out last night with the humidifier at 1. My numbers were somewhat different too. My 90% average for pressure was 9.8 cm and my AHI was 4.4. My leak was 18 lpm. I put my hair in a pony tail and that helped somewhat with the mask slippage. The chin strap continued to slide off my head. I must have an odd shaped head. Maybe I am a bad egg!

Anyone use a CPAP pillow? I am finding that my regular pillows are not working well with my mask. I have to carefully reposition everything when I turn and then I end up waking up completely.

........

Pup,

I believe Mark Twain said, "One of the coldest winters I ever spent was one summer in San Francisco." Wonder what he would have said if he were here with me last week when the dewpoint was 74.

Many years in the month of October ago I drove an RV into a park beside a skyscraper in downtown SF for my first visit. It was 11:00 p.m. and I asked the attendant what the temperature was. He replied, "68 degrees". I asked him what the high would be the next day and he replied, "68 degrees". I thought he was putting me on but found out the next day he wasn't. That's nothing like North Carolina.

In general the human head seems odd shaped to me. Start observing your friends it will drive you crazy.

Many people have problems with chin straps. I tried several and eventually went to a ff mask and like it much better.

If your nasal airway is not dry with a humidity setting of one, then the hose cover may solve the rainout problem.

Eventually you will want to get that AHI down some more but overall you seem to be doing well for a beginner.

Good luck tonight,

Rooster

[6PtStar]

Jerry (6ptstar) has suggested using some velcro on the masks straps to help with slipping. Use the sticky side out (not the tape side but the side with the little nubs on it) and staple on to your headgear. It will "catch" your hair. But you might want to try it first. I find it tangles in my hair and is a nightmare to remove as it pulls it when removing from my hair.

Missed this one! No No don't use regular velcro with the sticky stuff. Get "One Wrap" velcro. It has loops on one side and fuzzy on the other. Only sticks to its self not to the hair. NO glue. I got mine at Lowes in the electric dept. They use it to wrap around wires and cables to hold them together. I have seen it in Michaels and some sewing stores but they don't always have it. I don't want to be responsible for losing any hair!!

Jerry

[Pekoepup]

Rooster: Mark Twain had it dead on. San Francisco is cold in the summer and this summer in particular. Brrrrrr. i just came back from my son's soccer game and I am frozen solid.

Bobby: I am going to try the chin strap for a few more days and see what happens without it. The sleep MD suggested it because my titration study showed that had was leaking from my mouth and that this leaking was causing an increased AHI. I have heard that you can train yourself to keep your mouth closed and maybe I will be able to in time. I hope so because the chin strap and I aren't liking each other.


Carbonman and Guest: I found the Pap Cap website and it looks really intriguing. I am going to order one and see if it works for me. Thanks for the suggestion. I had never heard of them before.

Jerry: Thanks for the warning about the velcro. I think I will try the Pap cap first and then I will try the velcro suggestion if all else fails.