Newbie help please!!

[rws]

I started using my 6 year old machine 3 weeks ago.... I stopped using it about 5 years ago as I experienced severe rhinitis and my doc had no solutions so I went to a dental apparatus.

I should be getting my new data capable machine in 3 weeks so until then, I can't provide the forum members with info other than my pressure is set to 10.

Last night I woke up in the early morning and started sucking for air!! It felt like my machine was turned off?? I took a couple of deep breathes and looked at my machine to see if it was still running. It took about 30 seconds before I began to feel somewhat comfortable and went back to sleep.

I'm just wondering if anyone as has experienced this "fighting for air" feeling when everything was working as should? My chin strap was secure, mask had a good seal.... now I'm feeling a little bit nervous, thinking my machine is faulty or something! Sorry for not being able to provide more data as of yet, but it is coming!

Regards, Rick

[Pendragon]

Rick, that's really strange you should post that, I had that happen last week, I woke up thinking my machine had stopped, but it was running fine, I removed my hose from my mask, and it was blowing like mad, yet I was still working for air, I removed my mask, and all was fine. I checked the inlet elbow on my mask and blew into it, it was fine. At this point I could breathe through my nose with only a very slight restriction. I set the mask back on, and I couldn't breathe again. I believe that I had a nasal/sinus blockage that was just in the right spot that the mask sitting lightly on my nose blocked it off.
I had a couple of sprays of Dristan, and voila, everything was good and I could go back to sleep.
Until this incident, my treatment has been text book and uneventful. Probably something in the BC air...

[rws]

Probably something in the BC air...

Actually, there is, Forest fires galore ... but I can't blame it on that.. lol! My nasal passages were not blocked, it just felt like the machine was shut off.

First time I've experienced it so I'm wondering if it was some type of apnea event?

Rick

[Julie]

Hi, has anyone told you that your mouth is open when you're asleep? It happens to a lot of us and we lose all the Cpap air that way, so wear full face masks, or tape, sometimes chinstraps (but they aren't supposed to work as well). I'm not saying that's your problem, but it's very common and you might want to think about it. Your machine is old, though if it was in good shape it shouldn't matter except was it well covered and clean when you opened it up again? Also, when you sleep, could you have unknowingly had the CO2 vent area covered by a blanket or something?

[rws]

Hi, has anyone told you that your mouth is open when you're asleep? It happens to a lot of us and we lose all the Cpap air that way, so wear full face masks, or tape, sometimes chinstraps (but they aren't supposed to work as well). I'm not saying that's your problem, but it's very common and you might want to think about it. Your machine is old, though if it was in good shape it shouldn't matter except was it well covered and clean when you opened it up again? Also, when you sleep, could you have unknowingly had the CO2 vent area covered by a blanket or something?

Good point Julie, I never thought about the vent holes being blocked! My machine only has about 1000 hrs and the filters were just changed so I think it's in good working order. I'm pretty sure my mouth was closed as my chin strap was firmly in place. Kinda scary thinking I could have starved myself of O2 by blocked vents!! I guess anything is possible.
Thanks all for your replies.

Rick

[Muse-Inc]

RWS, it could be the 'panic attack' aspect of apnea, on the other hand it could have been a bad dream (of suffocation) that woke you up and left you with that.

[cheekywil]

I had the same sensation you describe with my first night on CPAP at home. I woke several times sucking for air and thought that the machine had stopped. I opened my mouth and did not feel air rushing out. I began breathing through my mouth as I checked the machine. It was set properly and apparently operating. When I calmly attempted to take a deep breath through my nose after checking these things, it seemed like the machine suddenly started again and all was well.

I called my DME the next day. There had been thunderstorms in the area that night and they figured that perhaps there had been very short (a few second duration) power outages that had occured - not enough to reset the machine but enough to "pause" it momentarily. Maybe...I played around with the machine and turned off the "auto-start" feature that makes it start when it senses inhalation and turns it off when it senses the mask is not on. I have not experienced the problem again but I'm also adjusting pretty well (I think) to wearing all the gear and getting good sleep (day 10).

I do notice that when I turn my machine off (pressing the start/end button - machine is still plugged in) in the morning, it will continue to blow a gentle stream of air for some period of time. This eventually stops (maybe 15 minutes later???) on its own but I don't know if that is normal. I have the ResMed S8 Elite II with humidifier. The above symptom occurred with my first mask - the nasal mask Activa LT. Have since switched to nasal pillows and had different issue of not enough air but it seemed more like the mask was restricting flow rather than machine not delivering air. Have since adjusted to this.

Maybe it's just an issue of getting used to the therapy but I was certainly comfortable in my set-up when it happened to me.

I am still puzzled by it but glad it's not happening anymore.

Wil

[SleepyT]

Wil wrote, "I do notice that when I turn my machine off (pressing the start/end button - machine is still plugged in) in the morning, it will continue to blow a gentle stream of air for some period of time. This eventually stops (maybe 15 minutes later???) on its own but I don't know if that is normal. I have the ResMed S8 Elite II with humidifier."

Wil...the gentle stream of air is normal. It runs a bit to clear the hose and mask of moisture...nice little feature!

SleepyT