PLEASE wish me luck!

[Lee Lee]

My poor hubby finally hit the wall this morning, and realized that his OSA is real , and that just by going to bed on time , he will not get better.
He has just now allowed me to "hose him up" for a nap.
For those of you that have not read my constant posts, hubby had half a sleep study three or four years ago, but walked out during titration, and patently refused to go back.
He sees me getting treatment and how much better I am, but he has been stubborn about refusing to get help.
I have an APAP, and through the great suggestions here, I'm going to try to titrate him myself. I have two machines and and an FP HC432 full face mask for him.
I'm so excited right now, I can hardly type. I'm PRAYING he will like it and will sleep.
I set the machine to 6-10cms and helped him with the mask, which was leaking a bit, but he's on his back and gave me a "thumbs up" on the comfort of the pressure. I'm pretty sure he needs more pressure, but maybe I can get some numbers from his nap. And maybe he'll try it all night.
Please send good vibes!!
Maybe we can have a happy life again, machines humming away in the night.
I wish I had 3 or 4 FFM's for him to try..but I'm getting ahead of myself. One thing at a time..
More later...

[tattooyu]

Excellent, Lee Lee. You're a good wife. If he can get used to... well, you know how he'll feel.

[Lee Lee]

Hey, Kenny..you're a guy...let me ask you something..
Before you got treatment, did you have to get up in the night to go to the bathroom?
This is what's happening over here. Hubby gets up and then he's awake for the night.
I understand that if you aren't fully asleep (due to Apnea, etc.) you get the urge to "go" much more often.
And it's worse with men than women. '
And if so, did that go away with treatment?
Lee Ann

[DoriC]

LeeLee, Before he gets to "like" it, I'll pray that he just accepts it. Even if he doesn't get through the whole night a few hours is a good start and then you can start tweaking the settings. My husband was getting up 3-4x a night pre-cpap and the Dr did explain that because of the apneas he was never in a deep restful sleep and therefore always had the urge to urinate. Now 7months on cpap and he only gets up 1x a night. BTW, He does have an enlarged prostate and takes meds.
Good luck, Dori

[Wulfman]

Hi Lee Ann.

Glad to read you're making some headway with him.

I'm guessing he has high blood pressure, too. That's one of the things that contributes to the frequent urination. As he settles into his therapy, the nightly trips to the bathroom should subside.

Best wishes,

Den

[BleepingBeauty]

I wish I had 3 or 4 FFM's for him to try..but I'm getting ahead of myself. One thing at a time..
More later...

Hi, Lee Lee. Your hubby's doing a great thing. I sincerely hope his nap goes well and he'll be more inclined to try getting therapy all night. Good luck!

I have a Medium-sized Ultra Mirage FFM that I don't use. I also have the CD and the manual that came with it. I'll be happy to send it to you if you'd like it for hubby. (If so, PM me with your mailing info.)

The mask has been sitting in a Ziploc bag in my closet for awhile now, and the silicone has yellowed a bit (from age, I guess), but it's still very pliable. It was a DME demo mask that was a "gimme" when I chose my nasal mask, to be used as a backup if I got congested, so I don't know how "used" it was prior to my acquiring it. I used it a few times when I first started therapy, but not since. And I should mention that I have pets (dog and cats) in case allergies are an issue.

Let me know if you'd like it. Cheers, and best of luck with hubby!

[Orionstarr]

Best of luck Lee Lee I'll be sending him white light and positive energy. It took me 5 years to accept the fact that I needed to be on the machine and my health suffered greatly during that time, I paid consequences I really didn't have to had I just complied from day one, sounds like he's catching it before anything major has happened to him and that is awesome! It's just such a blessing and so exciting that he is at the point where he is now willing to try!! It's the most important step. I know he'll do awesome... besides, he has you to help him, how can he fail??

[Lee Lee]

Hubby just woke up from the 1 hour and 27 minute nap.
Results are:
Pressure 10.0
Leak 0.34L
AHI 9.6
AI 2.7
HI 6.9

So, clearly need more pressure here.

[Lee Lee]

Bleeping,
You are a bleeping angel. PM on the way.

[MurphysLaw]

Good luck to both of you Lee Lee.

My hubby used to get up about 4 times each night. We thought for sure that he had prostate problems. Now he rarely gets up. I think that alone is one of the reasons he likes CPAP so much. I, on the other hand, rarely got up to go and now get up once most nights. Go figure.

Keep us posted. I can't wait to hear how things progress with him.

[tattooyu]

Hey, Kenny..you're a guy...let me ask you something..
Before you got treatment, did you have to get up in the night to go to the bathroom?
This is what's happening over here. Hubby gets up and then he's awake for the night.
I understand that if you aren't fully asleep (due to Apnea, etc.) you get the urge to "go" much more often.
And it's worse with men than women. '
And if so, did that go away with treatment?
Lee Ann

Lee Ann,

I never really did have to get up to go to the bathroom during the night. Maybe once in a GREAT while. Then again, I'm on a diuretic, so I may not have had to go during the night. Funny thing is, last night--my really BAD night--I did have to pee once or twice. I think that was from the stress hormones/panic attack though.

[tattooyu]

Hubby just woke up from the 1 hour and 27 minute nap.
Results are:
Pressure 10.0
Leak 0.34L
AHI 9.6
AI 2.7
HI 6.9

So, clearly need more pressure here.

Not necessarily. I'd try to get the leak rate down first.

[Lee Lee]

Kenny,
I am so sorry about your panic attack last night! You were probably too scared to pee!
Tonight will be better, I just know it.

[yardbird]

My suggestion if you are trying to home-titrate him would be to open up the range a bit. 6 is a little low for a bottom number but not terribly so, and 10 is really low for a high end starting out. Open up the range and then narrow him down as you see where his 90% line is. I'd say go 7 to 14 and see how much time he spends at the high end. Let the machine do the work and you should be able to narrow it down pretty easily.

Good luck... and good luck to your husband. Some people have a hard time adjusting to this for a variety of reasons. Others take to it like...That's it? That's all I have to do to feel this good?" And away they go.

As far as getting up to pee...

If I fall asleep watching TV in bed at around 10 without my mask on... and wake up at 12 or 1 to shut off the TV, I have to get up and go. If I put my mask on at 10:30 (after the news) and go to sleep, I don't have to get up to pee at all during the night.

[boston]

Lee Lee, over the past 2 years before I started treatment, I was getting up 1 time on a good night and most nights 3 - 4 times to use the bathroom.
Since starting treatment I have gotten up 1 time on 2 different nights. Thats it, twice in 6 months. And pre-treatment I had tried everything from not drinking after 5 pm, drinking very little during the day, no soda, only water, I tried anything I could think of. Nothing worked, until I hosed up.
But, now, within 5 minutes of getting up, I have to go.
Also, if you havent already I think its important that you let him know that it may take a few weeks, or even months to feel better.