Deviated Septum - who knew?

[Patth9]

This morning, about 4:30am I realized I was only breathing though one nostril; the left one was taking a break, and I don't have a cold. Hum, I think it's been taking a break since I was a kid and at 65, that's a long time. Now I know why the nose pillows don't work for me. I kept saying that the left nostril was blocking up, but I thought it was due to the pillow folding over. I've always known that if I had a cold, and was stuffy, I could lay on my left side and the right nostril would open up fine. It never, never occurred to me that the left nostril wasn't pulling it weight; I had no idea what deviated septum was. I Googled and leaned a lot after I got up around 6:20am.

I've been using the VPAP for 12 nights and have been able to keep the apnea fighter on all night, though sometimes after about 4/5 hours, I've been known to take it off and continue sleeping. But the Swift for her mask with the nose pillows has been a fight, though I like parts of it, IE, it's lite and the hose goes over the top of the head. I used my husband's mask mostly, which he never liked or used; it is a Resprironics ComfortLite 2. There are parts I really like about this mask too, such as taking the hose over the top of my head and using Velcro to stick the hose to the wall, and so many small adjustments, but the head brace comes down my head and ends at the eye brows, and after about 4 hours my head begins to itch and get hot. Why do manufactures think everyone has the same size head? A slightly different design would help this ugly thing, like the head piece being made out of a mesh so air could circulate and being able to re-size the length. So, I have to find me another mask.

I've learned how to reset my VPAP. Can't imagine who better to get the correct settings than the person using it. I haven't touched the RESP rate, but I've played with the other settings.

I have a problem with the nose pillow (CPAP mask simple cushion). When the air comes rushing in and I inhale, before I can get the air completely into my lungs, the bi-level part drops down and there is a slight suction on the edge of the cushion. If this suction had a sound, I would call it a click. If I put my fingers on either side of the cushion, I can feel the click and of course, my face always feels the click a lot. If I'm really tired, I can fall asleep and it doesn't bother me, but if I'm trying to fall asleep, the anticipation of the "click feel" keeps me from falling back to sleep. What would cause this?

A second question: Now that I can read my data, what does it all mean?

Haven't written in a long time. Though it's only been 12 nights with my sleep buddy, it seems like months since I first posted. Often I find help by just reading what others have written.

So, Hi to everyone, and thanks for being there.

Patt

[Patth9]

I figured out what makes my mask feel like it's breathing. Apparently, it's the according effect which is typical with a bi-level PAP device.

I still don't know how to read the full data that I can collect from my device. Is this information somewhere on this terrific site, and I just haven't found it?

Patt

[ozij]

I figured out what makes my mask feel like it's breathing. Apparently, it's the according effect which is typical with a bi-level PAP device.

I still don't know how to read the full data that I can collect from my device. Is this information somewhere on this terrific site, and I just haven't found it?

Patt

Center top part of the screen, yellow light bulb called "CPAP Wiki".

[gasp]

Hi Patt!

Welcome : )

There is a lot of information to sift through in the yellow light bulb "CPAP Wiki", but it's worthwhile to take the time to get through it. However, if you have any questions (none are dumb : ) be sure to post them here. Sometimes when we first start it's nice to get a quick answer.