Intro, and rough night P10

[CMorri]

Hello, I've been a lurker an cpap user for about 5 months. I've been meaning to jot down my experiences soon. It's been a love/hate experience.

I've been struggling with masks, again lol, and per something I read here I decided to try a nasal pillow only, when I previously thought I wasfr sure a mouth breather.....

Well, my new P10 came and it is very comfortable and liberating, until I tried to sleep!
It felt like water-boarding, I imagine,* not to minimize that torture
Here's how it went-
3 hours goo, with chin strap, then whoosh! Wake myself with mouth open
Start over... Can't keep mouth shut, tried tape
Condensation starts in the short flex tube, so water up the nose! Gasp for air through mouth! Choke on air pressure release! Head nods in sleep, eyes close,
Repeat!
Water- gasp- choke- nod off- repeat!!!
ugh. Can't decide if I'll ever try again.

[CMorri]

Hello, I've been a lurker an cpap user for about 5 months. I've been meaning to jot down my experiences soon. It's been a love/hate experience.

I've been struggling with masks, again lol, and per something I read here I decided to try a nasal pillow only, when I previously thought I was sure a mouth breather.....

Well, my new P10 came and it is very comfortable and liberating, until I tried to sleep!
It felt like water-boarding, I imagine,* not to minimize that torture
Here's how it went-
3 hours good, with chin strap, then whoosh! Wake myself with mouth open
Start over... Can't keep mouth shut, tried tape
Condensation starts in the short flex tube, so water up the nose! Gasp for air through mouth! Choke on air pressure release! Head nods in sleep, eyes close,
Repeat!
Water- gasp- choke- nod off- repeat!!!
ugh. Can't decide if I'll ever try again.

And the tapa talk app wouldnt let me fix all those ipad typos so reported.

[Pugsy]

What machine are you using and does it have a heated hose? and if it does what temperature are you using?

[lliann]

What machine are you using and does it have a heated hose? and if it does what temperature are you using?

Tis the season for rainout.

Can one do anything about it if they don't have the heated hose?

[Pugsy]

Tis the season for rainout.

Can one do anything about it if they don't have the heated hose?

Yep, things can be done to reduce or eliminate rain out. We used non heated hoses for many years and dealt with it.

I sort of covered most of the options in my "bumps in the road" thread.
viewtopic/t94035/Pugsys-Pointers-3Deali ... -road.html

First thing to do though is figure out exactly where the condensation is occurring and why. If it is only at the mask level then the most likely culprit is moisture in our own exhaled breath and fixing it there is going to take a different approach than if it was just in the long hose. People often tell rain out sufferers to just put the machine lower than the bed and let gravity help. That works great for moisture in the hose but doesn't help one bit for moisture in the mask because water can't flow up hill and almost every mask worn involves some upward positioning of the short hose before it gets to the long hose.

[CMorri]

Pugsy! oh wow, you're like a celebrity on here *blush
well, I've delt with condensation before, with full face and hybrid masks.
Specific to this mask,

the P10 comes with a non-detachable thin flex tube,

I normally have a heated tube with cozy and a PR system One. humidity at 3 and heat at 3?
The settings are a bit confusing because the heated tube is an add-on, in the menu it has 3 levels humidity and 3-5 levels heat (dont have in front of me to look at the moment)
So, I can probably make an impromptu fleece cozy for the uncovered flex tube tonight.

Humidity wise, I live in Texas. September thru December I had no trouble.
December with central heating, I couldn't get enough moisture. So I got the heated tube, which helped a bit.
sometimes it seemed a choice between hot and dry or cold and dry.
Since March, it's been better again, until I tried this nasal mask.

Also, any advice for convincing myself that having my mouth shut doesnt mean I'm drowning or choking? Obviously water in the nose didnt help this lol.

Thanks again to everyone and I'll writ more about all my masks in another thread. This forum has been invaluable, if for nothing else than to show that we have to keep trying, and everyone is different!

[chunkyfrog]

Have you tried a chin-up strip? The tape does not cover your mouth, but makes it awkward (but not impossible) to open your mouth.
refer to my post here:
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=97395&p=902435&hili ... og#p902435
Your waterboarding simile is a bit shocking,
but it graphically shows why some people have such trouble adjusting to therapy.

[Pugsy]

You can try increasing the heat from the heated tube from 3 to 4 or even 5...see if that helps keep the incoming air from cooling at the nasal pillow level.
I had to do that yesterday myself with my ClimateLine heated hose.

Nasal pillows ...the barrel where the bulk of the air is located is really very small and this just simply makes it easier to cool down to the point the air releases the moisture it contains...it's more concentrated in that small space between the incoming humidified air and the moisture from our exhaled breath.
Maybe a little more so with the P10 pillows but not horribly greater than with the Swift FX. It just happens.

A sock with the toes cut out would make a good short hose cozy. Just feed it up from the bottom of the short hose coupling since it can't be removed from the nasal pillow holder. Secure with rubber bands or my favorite...bread ties.

Though I think if you increase the heated air temp from 3 to 4 or 5 that might be enough.

[CMorri]

Thanks for pointers everyone!
I think for my sanity I'm going to my old fav, the liberty hybrid, for tonight to kinda forget the bad experience for a night or two..
When others here have described mouth leaks, I don't recall any as drastic as my above description, but seriously- how do people sleep through mouth leaks when in fact it is high pressure air, plus maybe water, bursting forth from the mouth at the slightest opening?

chunky Frog- I like your diy, and the actual product might be worth ordering.
Why painters tape and not medical tape? I'm worried about my delicate skin?

I will follow up thread in a few nights!

[Julie]

And just in case something's staring you in the face so you haven't seen it... is the machine (with humidifier) somewhere lower than your face? As in ... water can't run uphill?

[CMorri]

And just in case something's staring you in the face so you haven't seen it... is the machine (with humidifier) somewhere lower than your face? As in ... water can't run uphill?

good point. It is only about 6" below mattress, so maybe the next try I will put on the floor?

[Julie]

Oh, I think 6" is ok... it's only if it were higher that it would matter.