Back to CPAP square one!

[CPAPSteve]

Hi CTB ~~~

As I mentioned before, I did braces with the dreamwear nasal mask.

I never thought to focus on finding a new mask, I focused on making the braces more comfortable so I could wear the DW mask that I liked.

I have taken your advice.THANK YOU! Using lots of good wax and have gotten past the first painful days. The braces for some reason just let my lips slip open and then I have to deal with the mouth leaks that disturb my sleep so badly. Thanks for the encouragement!

The brackets and wires from your braces will cause your lips to bulge out a tiny bit. It is just what comes with orthodontic treatment. Try training your tongue so that it keeps your throats back door closed to prevent mouth leaks. Lip closure I believe is far less important than keeping the throat’s back door closed. It takes time to get used to things and having orthodontic treatment thrown into the mix just makes for an unpleasant combination of OSA and ortho treatment.

You will get the hang of things

[clenchingtobreathe]

Glad to hear that going back to the basics has helped.
Good job.

Now let's hope I can get more sleep tonight myself...been fighting my own demons lately.
The only thing cpap related though....condensation in the mask and hose with the cooler temps lately. I didn't adjust the heated hose temp upwards soon enough. Fixed that a couple of nights ago.
The other non cpap stuff...it's a crap shoot every night. I used to average nearly 8 hours every night..now I can't even seem to average 6 hours (and those hours are fragmented at that which sucks) and I definitely feel it. I am a tired grouchy old bitch.

Well, I bragged too soon! You and I could've stayed up and talked on the phone last night!
Lordy lordy. Couldn't fall asleep worrying about my daughter's cat that is missing. Then just woke up at 3 for no reason and again couldn't get back to sleep for HOURS!!! Bet I slept a grand total of 5 hours and that was sketchy. How I miss my youth (for MANY reasons) when I could sleep for 8 hours without even rolling over! These days every night is like a wrestling match!
BTW....is there any way to get cool humidity from our machines? And do you use the "Climate Control?" I'm accustomed to using a cool air humidifier in my bedroom during the winter and I keep the heat vent almost closed. The cool air seems to help more with stuffy nose. Sometimes I wake up from CPAP and you couldn't drive a hairpin up my nostrils with a hammer!

[Pugsy]

You should have called...I was up. Oh wait...at 3 AM I think I was just finally just asleep.
And now we have DST change to mess with our already fragile sleep. I don't work so it doesn't matter I suppose but it sure does seem to affect me.

I like a cool/cold bedroom too but my nose needs water and lots of it or I get some nasty rhinitis symptoms.
Unfortunately that's a recipe for condensation big time and while condensation doesn't hurt you it is sure highly annoying and again messes with sleep. Hard to sleep through all the racket in the mask or hose from the water and that's assuming the cold shower out the vent holes doesn't wake you up.

So I do use the heated hose and I have to try a working balance between humidity needs for my nose and my own personal comfort with the air temp and rain out prevention. It's a fine line to walk for me.

First thing you have to determine is what humidity level your nose needs. Some nasal mucosa just like drier air and some nasal mucosa (like mine) would prefer to snort water if they could.
What settings are you currently using now and with or without the heated hose?

[clenchingtobreathe]

You should have called...I was up. Oh wait...at 3 AM I think I was just finally just asleep.
And now we have DST change to mess with our already fragile sleep. I don't work so it doesn't matter I suppose but it sure does seem to affect me.

I like a cool/cold bedroom too but my nose needs water and lots of it or I get some nasty rhinitis symptoms.
Unfortunately that's a recipe for condensation big time and while condensation doesn't hurt you it is sure highly annoying and again messes with sleep. Hard to sleep through all the racket in the mask or hose from the water and that's assuming the cold shower out the vent holes doesn't wake you up.

So I do use the heated hose and I have to try a working balance between humidity needs for my nose and my own personal comfort with the air temp and rain out prevention. It's a fine line to walk for me.

First thing you have to determine is what humidity level your nose needs. Some nasal mucosa just like drier air and some nasal mucosa (like mine) would prefer to snort water if they could.
What settings are you currently using now and with or without the heated hose?

Good grief. The time change KILLS me! I have a terrible time adjusting to "falling back." It messes with my mind AND my sleep! I dread it.
I have bounced between 4 -6 on the humidity scale. Also have used the Climate Control and have no idea how it sets itself. Sometimes I drown at 6 (which I don't mind either) and anything below 4 feels like I'm breathing desert dirt. I can't seem to find a setting that keeps my nose from becoming a doorstop....if there is such a setting. I keep wanting moist COOL air. Wonder what would happen if I turned off the CPAP humidifier and ran my cool air humidifier near the machine. Wouldn't it suck in the already moistened air? Whatdoyathink?

[chunkyfrog]

The Airsense 10 Autoset for her has the regular autoset mode,
in addition to the for her mode, (and straight cpap).
Do not be tempted to trade your machine off to get features you ALREADY HAVE.

[nicholasjh1]

Back up and target primary goals first...the the main one is sleep because if you can't sleep none of this other stuff really matters.
Tackle one known problem at a time. Quit trying to fix everything all at once.
Use the mask you hate the least.
Use the pressure settings that at least let you sleep for quite a bit of the time.
Deal with the braces as best you can.
Get some sleep first...later we can try to fine tune things if needed.
If you mouth leak a bit...shrug your shoulders and move on. Unless you spend half the night mouth breathing with leaks well above 40 L/min...far from being the end of the world and I am betting the mouth breathing leaks probably are not all that huge or prolonged anyway.

Sleep....primary goal because if you don't sleep the rest of all this crap doesn't matter much.

Pugsy, I have done as you advised!! I went back to my DW Nasal Cushion. I dropped the max pressure to 8.8...kept low pressure to 7. I was still troubled with lots of mouth leaks, so I set the EPR back from 2 to 3 and that stopped MUCH of the mouth filling and leaking. I'm using a little tape on my lips to help them close around the braces so my mouth won't get dry from leaks. And guess what? My AHI is averaging about 1.6 for the last week and I am resting a good bit better as a result!! I still have other issues to deal with (like teeth clenching & stuffy nose ) but you have helped me solve the BIG problem for the time being and I can't TELL you how much I appreciate it! I'm going to give this another week or so and then I'll post a SH report for your review. Just wanted you to know how much you helped me get on track!

I use this blue pain free tape, then use white bandaid tape above and below it to keep the pain free tape in place. this way I don't flay my lips.

https://express.google.com/u/0/product/ ... j0QAvD_BwE

[Pugsy]

Wonder what would happen if I turned off the CPAP humidifier and ran my cool air humidifier near the machine. Wouldn't it suck in the already moistened air? Whatdoyathink?

It wouldn't be enough moisture for my nose....don't know about yours but you can sure try it.
Leave water in the water chamber though...it will add a little bit of pass over moisture.
I once just reduced the setting to 1...some years back. It took my nasal mucosa 4 days to get over that result and it was a miserable 4 days of the worst allergy like symptoms a person could imagine...
And yes...anyone wondering it was directly related to the lack of adequate moisture because over the years it returned every time I ran out of water during the night. I still occasionally forget to fill the water chamber each night but I don't want a repeat of those symptoms so I try to remember.
When I do forget...and I wake up sneezing....even hubby now recognizes the symptoms and will say "ran out of water last night huh?"

You might also use something like Simply Saline at bedtime especially. I always give my nasal mucosa a generous squirt right before I mask up and again first thing in the morning.

You have to figure out what it is your nose needs and then figure out the best way to get it with minimal negative repercussions.
I can't have moisture laden cool air....physics won't allow it...Cool air simply can't hold onto the water like warm air can.
My nasal mucosa demand moisture and lots of it...so I learned to be "happy" with the warm air from the heated hose or used a hose cozy before heated hoses were even around. If I didn't then I had copious amounts of rain out that disturb everyone including hubby from all the noise it makes. If it didn't make the noise or disturb my sleep I wouldn't care about the water....my nose actually likes the water.

This is just another one of those areas where you have to choose what you hate the least.
I am full of those aren't I?

[clenchingtobreathe]

I use this blue pain free tape, then use white bandaid tape above and below it to keep the pain free tape in place. this way I don't flay my lips.

https://express.google.com/u/0/product/ ... j0QAvD_BwE
[/quote]

Thanks for sharing this with me! I'm gonna try it out. I now have a drawer full of medical tapes all of which just about yank my lips off in the morning!