First Night With Machine

[Tired Linda]

Picked up my equipment yesterday afternoon, and I felt like all went well. Got exactly what I wanted. Many, many thanks to the people here, otherwise I wouldn't have had any idea as to what was going on.

I had a terrible night at the titration study. Last night, I put on the mask, read for awhile, and fell asleep. Woke up coughing with a tickle in my throat, got some water, and went back to bed. Next thing I knew the alarm was going off. I consider myself very lucky, but I am determined to make this work, and can be stubborn as hell if need be.

When I went to empty out the humidifier this morning, I hadn't used any water. I'll need to investigate that tonight. I also found out that I'm going to need to use chapstick or something before bed, as my lips got really dry...or maybe if I get the humidifer working right, that will resolve itself?

My software has been ordered, and it should be here today or tomorrow. I asked the tech at the DME if I could go out and buy another SD card just so I'd have an extra one...she told me no, it had to be formatted. Is that correct? (see I don't trust anyone else!)

I was somewhat concerned about my husband's reaction to all of this equipment. As a kid, he had a terrible experience in a hospital, and he comes from one of those "if I don't ask, then I don't have to know" kind of families. He gets white and shaky just walking into a hospital room and being around all that stuff. And when I came home with my equipment and was showing it to my daughter, he sort of conveniently disappeared into the man cave. Now don't get me wrong...he's the one who has put up with the snoring all these years and suggested my forum name should be "KicksInBed" because I've gotten him good more than a few times. He's 100% behind me getting treated, but the mask and hose were a little intimidating when he first saw them and realized it was going to be in bed next to him. Bless his heart. He came to bed last night, snuggled up and went to sleep. (Well, he did as me if it was "working"...and I told him the machine was turned on!)

Thanks again, everyone!

[Tired Linda]

Oops, another question.

I have the results of the titration study. The doc basically says I functioned best with a pressure of 11. My prescription (and my APAP) are set for 7-15. Isn't that a pretty wide range?

My machine starts at 7 (I had her turn the ramp off, it seemed useless to me) and to tell you the truth, that seems a little low when I breathe.

Thanks,
L

[Tired Linda]

Oops, another question.

I have the results of the titration study. The doc basically says I functioned best with a pressure of 11. My prescription (and my APAP) are set for 7-15. Isn't that a pretty wide range?

My machine starts at 7 (I had her turn the ramp off, it seemed useless to me) and to tell you the truth, that seems a little low when I breathe.

Thanks,
L

[PetrusKy]

Hi Linda, my script is for 11 too. I set mine 8-12. The pressure hovers around 10.5 on the average.

[BleepingBeauty]

Picked up my equipment yesterday afternoon, and I felt like all went well. Got exactly what I wanted. Many, many thanks to the people here, otherwise I wouldn't have had any idea as to what was going on.

I had a terrible night at the titration study. Last night, I put on the mask, read for awhile, and fell asleep. Woke up coughing with a tickle in my throat, got some water, and went back to bed. Next thing I knew the alarm was going off. I consider myself very lucky, but I am determined to make this work, and can be stubborn as hell if need be.

Good! Patience and determination are key, so you're doing great.

Re: the tickle in the throat, it could be that you're mouth-breathing with your nasal mask (not a good thing). When you receive the software, check your data re: the reported leak to be sure it's not overly high. You want the leak to be within the expected leak rate of your mask at your pressure setting(s), and the line on the leak graph should be as flat as possible.

When I went to empty out the humidifier this morning, I hadn't used any water. I'll need to investigate that tonight. I also found out that I'm going to need to use chapstick or something before bed, as my lips got really dry...or maybe if I get the humidifer working right, that will resolve itself?

Do check your humidifier settings. Even on the lowest one, you should be using some water. With a nasal mask, the humidifier setting won't have any impact on dry lips.

My software has been ordered, and it should be here today or tomorrow. I asked the tech at the DME if I could go out and buy another SD card just so I'd have an extra one...she told me no, it had to be formatted. Is that correct? (see I don't trust anyone else!)

Smart girl. You can certainly purchase an additional SD card (see https://www.cpap.com/cpap-software/cpap-data-cards.php). And no, it doesn't need to be "formatted" in advance. DME's...

I was somewhat concerned about my husband's reaction to all of this equipment. As a kid, he had a terrible experience in a hospital, and he comes from one of those "if I don't ask, then I don't have to know" kind of families. He gets white and shaky just walking into a hospital room and being around all that stuff. And when I came home with my equipment and was showing it to my daughter, he sort of conveniently disappeared into the man cave. Now don't get me wrong...he's the one who has put up with the snoring all these years and suggested my forum name should be "KicksInBed" because I've gotten him good more than a few times. He's 100% behind me getting treated, but the mask and hose were a little intimidating when he first saw them and realized it was going to be in bed next to him. Bless his heart. He came to bed last night, snuggled up and went to sleep. (Well, he did as me if it was "working"...and I told him the machine was turned on!)

Just wondering what your sleep study had to say about limb movements during sleep. Sometimes, those problems are resolved with xPAP therapy. If they're not, additional treatment options should be investigated.

Oops, another question.

I have the results of the titration study. The doc basically says I functioned best with a pressure of 11. My prescription (and my APAP) are set for 7-15. Isn't that a pretty wide range?

My machine starts at 7 (I had her turn the ramp off, it seemed useless to me) and to tell you the truth, that seems a little low when I breathe.

Thanks,
L

Most folks here think a range of 2cms above and 2cms below the titrated pressure is a good place to start. So you might want to adjust the range to 9-13cms. Keep an eye on the data (when you have the software) and see how things are going.

If you decide to change something about your therapy, change just one thing at a time and give yourself at least a few nights (a week is better) to acclimate to the change before you try something else. If you change more than one aspect of your therapy at a time, you won't be able to pinpoint which change is making a difference (either good or bad).

Hope that helps.

[Sleeprider]

Glad to hear all is going well. Dry lips could be some mouth breathing going on. You will know once you see some data if the leak rate is excessive. Keep the humidity as low as you can while being comfortable. Excess water and condensation are not fun. As far as changing settings, stick with your settings for a while, and you will eventually start narrowing the range based on your experience and data observation. There is some art to the science, and some of this is just based on "feel". If you're comfortable, its best not to change things quickly or frequently.

Good luck with it all.

[bailachel]

Welcome Linda!

With the PR1 it is possible that the humidifier was functioning and yet you didn't use any water. The PR1 senses the ambient humidity and compares it to the humidity level you have requested (set). If there is a lot of humidity in the air, it may not need to add any. This will vary by the climate conditions of the day, as well as by location. For example, I travel quite a bit. When I am in las Vegas, I go through a lot of water. When I am in Florida, not so much.

Chel

[snuginarug]

I am so glad your first night went well!!! I just popped on to say, Way to go, keep up the good work!

[jmcd]

I'm in the dry Sonoran Desert (Phoenix, AZ area) and noticed that the level in my humidifier water tank is not going down. I have the humidity level set at 2 as suggested by my DME's RT. He indicated that 2 is a good starting point and I could raise or lower as needed. Is 2 such a low humidity setting that the machine would little to no water? I'm very comfortable when sleeping and when I wake up in the morning so I don't feel I need to change the settings other than to experiment.

[jdm2857]

The amount of water the humidifier uses depends on both the setting and the ambient humidity in your room. If the ambient humidity in your room is high enough the machine may use no water. And keep in mind that the System One humidifier will cut back on the humidity if it needs to in order to prevent rainout (condensation in the hose.) So, it is very possible for your humidifier to be working properly and still use no water.

[elena88]

Hi Linda,

Im so happy you found this forum and were able to get what you want!

You have a great machine by the way!

nice nasal pillow mask too....

yes, dry lips, might be a little mouth breathing goin on there.. if your mouth is also dry, you may need to try taping it.

You dont have any congestion when you wake up though right?

I found my machine did not use a lot of water, hardly any at a lower number..

I started out on a big range on that machine 4- 20!
I had been titrated at home for a week, and my pressure was I think about 11..

then they downloaded it a month or so later, and my pressure was ten..

now my last ten day titration at home.. is in the 8 area, and Im not going above nine..

so my range now is seven to nine, my ahi is under one.. so you might find it will take awhile to find your
sweet spot range.. but if you have trouble breathing at the lower pressure, by all means turn it up one or two notches..

My software has been ordered, and it should be here today or tomorrow. I asked the tech at the DME if I could go out and buy another SD card just so I'd have an extra one...she told me no, it had to be formatted. Is that correct? (see I don't trust anyone else

I can tell you when I got that machine, and the dme set up it what I asked him.. " is there data in that machine that I can get to"?
he looked right at me and said, "NO"
LIAR LIAR PANTS ON FIRE!

the formatted business, not sure, but I imagine that is just filling out the patient information for you when you download the software.
Will you be mailing in your sd card or take it for check up reports? If you mail it in, you SHOULD have another sd card you can pop in your
machine while your card is away..

[echo]

A hose cover and some flannel mask covers will really help make the whole cpap setup less "clinical".

Check out the products from PADACHEEKS (one of our forum members - you can find the online shop by doing a search).

[elena88]

Hi Linda!

I wanted to show you what I have on my mask straps, these come in several colors, white, pink, aqua, etc..
You can get really cute hose covers too, I have one in rainbow sherbert!
My straps are this plushy pink, i love them!
I have hair scrunchies to match, so the whole get up is kinda colorful really.. I look like a colorful aardvark!
I hang a really pretty scarf over my machine and hose in the daytime too, so it looks pretty girly on my nightstand, not
like there is any medical equipment around at all..


strapsofties.com




also yes, padacheek has wonderful colors too! You can mix and match anything you want!

[elena88]

oh here is a pretty hose cover! mine is rainbow sherbert, this is orange sherbert!




and you can mix and match headbands too.....

[Tired Linda]

oh here is a pretty hose cover! mine is rainbow sherbert, this is orange sherbert!

I wanted to show you what I have on my mask straps, these come in several colors, white, pink, aqua, etc..

Geez, Elena, a regular fashion show!!!
Actually I have a burgundy/red snuggle hose cover, but my daughter pointed out it really didn't go with the bedroom decor...what can I say?

And I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of my new hybrid face mask tomorrow, for which I ordered some pad-a-cheeks. My hubby has taken to all this get-up quite well, and is extremely happy with the way HE's been sleeping! I've had sort of a rough couple of nights, but my sleep is getting better. I think the honeymoon is over and now the long haul starts!

Thanks for sharing.
L