Very New to CPAP, A Bit Overwhelmed...

[sulaco]

I'm a 39yo male and was diagnosed with hypopnea (OSA? Not sure how that works) due to a sleep study about two years ago. I had a MAD made and wore that but recently it hasn't seemed to be helping as much as I thought originally was.

Some background,

I am overweight (I weigh about 260lbs and should weight about 200lbs, maybe a little less).

I have one gigantic tonsil. I was going to have them removed but chickened out at the last minute. It's always been this way so no worries there, other than possibly causing me some breathing issues, I dunno.

I have a deviated septum. I was going to have this fixed w/ the tonsil, see above. I can't breathe out of my right nostril much at all so I'm a mouth breather.

I have bad allergies so I'm sometimes stopped up pretty good.

I grit my teeth and wore an occlusal guard during my sleep study so I'm sure that affected the results. My sleep specialist told me to wear it. I'm not sure now that was such a bright idea since it actually pushed my lower jaw backwards when I gritted.

I do snore loudly and I guess due to the hypopnea I have real short, shallow breaths when I am sleeping. I've noticed I do this during the day some now as well. I'm sure being lethargic doesn't help.

I have the results of my sleep study but they mean nothing to me at all. I don't know anything about any of this stuff but I'm trying to learn.

I have a ReMed Airsense 10 Autoset, ResMed heated hose, Airfit 10 mask and an Amara View mask. I also have a Quattro FX I think? It's the full face mask with the pad on my forehead. The Quattro works the best, least leaks, but it gives me a wicked sore spot on my nose and forehead so I can't use it. I really like the Amara View but I sleep on my side and toss about a bit and it leaks like crazy. It's possible I don't know what I am doing with it. The Airfit 10 mask is okay too, but it seems to leak more than the Quattro.

Sorry this is all over the place, I am just trying to give as much info as I can.

My MyAir reports are always really good, like 85-100 and usually closer to 95 or so. But I can tell the nights I sleep soundly and don't. I've only been doing this for about a week, ten days now.

My sleep specialist and my local medical supply company are horrible. My insurance is too. I just pay for this stuff myself so I REALLY need to get it right.

My plan is to use the CPAP therapy to get enough good sleep to start working on diet and exercise again. Once I get that worked out I want to get my tonsils and septum sorted and see where that leaves me with the CPAP thing.

Any help is greatly appreciated with any aspect of all of this stuff.

Cliffs: I'm a CPAP newbie who knows nothing and I really need to get my machine set right and my mask to seal up good without causing me severe soreness.

Thanks!

[Dirk Gently]

First of all welcome.
Firstly you have a great machine, if all the reviews and comments I read are true. and you are trying to get on with it. I know at least 2 people who just didn't try for more than a week so great start. I've been using a basic machine, s9escape which records nothing but I am still using it religiously. My first few months I changed mask several times, had red marks on my face and either had the mask on too tight or made farting noises every time I moved and my mask leaked ( which still happens). I now use a Quattro fx and am pretty happy with it. I can even wear my glasses with my mask on if I am reading or watching tv as I fall asleep.
You picked a good place to start here. This group is excellent. Be patient, read lots and ask lots of stupid questions. Get comfortable and then you can put the rest of the plan into action.

[sulaco]

Thanks alot Dirk. I wasn't sure how folks would take that massive "data dump", but I was at the office and felt like I just needed to get it all out there for people to look over. SInce posting I downloaded SleepyHead on my Mac and am looking it over. My AHI is 19.1 and corrected it seems to be around 1.5-3.5 or so. I guess the machine is working. I do feel better, I'm just stressed a bit b/c I know I can't "solve" this issue with effort on my part. I hate relying on things like medicine and machines to help me. But it may just be I need to get used to that.

Thanks!!

[BlackSpinner]

You are doing great.
Now that you have sleephead you are in control of the situation.
There is lots to learn but for the first little while just get comfortable with sleeping with the mask.
When you feel like it there is lots of information in the cpap wiki (the light bulb at the top of the page)

[KayakKid]

My plan is to use the CPAP therapy to get enough good sleep to start working on diet and exercise again. Once I get that worked out I want to get my tonsils and septum sorted and see where that leaves me with the CPAP thing.

Just my two cents. I had a deviated septum and enlarged uvula. After my sleep study and before going on CPAP I had my septum straightened and uvula shaved. Both did absolutely nothing to help with OSA. I regret doing them. Make sure you look at all your options before going under the knife

[zoran]

"have one gigantic tonsil. I was going to have them removed but chickened out at the last minute. It's always been this way so no worries there, other than possibly causing me some breathing issues, I dunno."

My best mate had sleep apnia as well as myself. After many years of not worrying about his super huge tonsils he went to a specialist who told him that taking them out would cure the apnea. I did not believe this ! I told him your wasting your money but he went ahead and did it anyway . Just as well he didnt listen to me, he was off the machine within 24 hours and is completely cured of apnea and hasnt looked back

[sulaco]

Last night I used the Amara View mask and used some instructions I found on this forum for how to properly adjust it. It made a huge difference. I haven't parsed the data yet, but I'm fairly certain I experienced minimal leakage. I did end up with the hose wrapped around my neck and had to untangle myself, but that's my fault for eating spicy food which makes me toss and turn!

Is there a method you folks use to share your SleepyHead info? It has a ton of PHI/PII associated so I wasn't sure.

[Scarletwitch93]

I have been on the same machine you have for about 6 months now. I use the Airfit F10 full face mask and have found that every night is a different experience. I was told after getting on this machine I would feel like a new person this hasn't happened yet but I still hold out hope. There are things you can do to help with the masks and the hose. For example there are RemZzzs Padded Full Face CPAP Mask Liners this will help with the leaks and the discomfort of having silicone on your skin. Also, there are hose clips you can use to position the tube and keep it from strangling you in the night.

I wish you the best in finding the comfort needed to sleep well with cpap. Best advise don't give up..

[CJfalk]

Does anyone in this thread have a comment on the REmzzzs full face ask liners vs Pad-a-Cheek anti-leak straps? I switched to full face (F&P Simplus) about a week ago as I finally figured out I'm a mouth sleeper (sleep doc never suspected it for some reason). My issue so far is leakage no matter how I adjust mask and I've been on Cpap (and now Bipap) for about 2 years so I'm not new to fitting a mask correctly. The seal starts off at night fine but around 2-3 AM I'm spewing multiple leaks and hard to get it back under control so I tend to get irritated and take it off entirely. My girlfriend says I fidget around in my sleep so maybe it's related to my moving around, though the leakage seems to happen even when I wake up on my back and can tell I've been in that position for awhile. Thank you for the feedback!

[Julie]

Being on your back completely changes your face - it falls away from the mask (and apneas are also increased), so try to keep from doing it.

And maybe keep a couple of baby wipes next to the bed so when you wake up you can wipe your face and the cushion to renew the seal.

Have you tried Padacheek.com liners?

[CjFalk]

yes curious about effectiveness of padacheek vs REmzzz mask liners. Thank you!

[sulaco]

I've tried mask liners (all of them) and they all cause leaks for me. Tonight I plan to try the ResMed Gecko on my AirFit F10. I'm really hoping it works.