djam's therapy thread

[Pugsy]

Well......there is the old Polident strip stuff. Tastes nasty though.
Yes, I tried it and that's how I know what it tastes like. I keep forgetting about your beard...sorry.
Polident adhesives strips were one of the things that people used to try to seal the lips. Surprisingly...fairly effective.

[djams]

Well......there is the old Polident strip stuff. Tastes nasty though.
Yes, I tried it and that's how I know what it tastes like.

That sounds... icky! But as I said earlier, everything is in play here. It's going on the list of possibilities. If I get to that point, I'll be back asking how this works. Maybe I'll like the taste - who knows?

I keep forgetting about your beard...sorry.

Just don't let it happen again! Really, no apologies necessary here. You help lots of people.

Last night, I used the lip tape + scunci. Took a unisom sleep aid, which I probably wouldn't have needed, as I experienced none of the light sleep noises with the tape in place. I changed the tape application method and it worked better and held up longer. The tape was still completely in place when I took the bathroom break little after midnight. So I'm thinking any leakage before this time is mask leak. The leaks around 3:30 and 5:30 both woke me up, and in both cases I was on my back with my mouth open. Rolled onto my side and immediately fell back asleep. Maybe the combination of higher pressure and my droopy jaw broke it loose at 1:45.

These sleep aids kick my butt right to sleep. So I didn't get much awake evaluation of the situation.

I forgot the Lanisoh. I'll try that tonight. Although still no nose soreness this morning. Thanks for the fitting tips Pugsy!

This 0 AHI situation is interesting. Two nights in a row with the min pressure set 3cm lower than what I use for my FFM. Not even any RERA's. I'm considering lowering it further, to see if it helps with the falling asleep, maybe the tape would last longer(?). Would like to hear thoughts on this. I'm VERY comfortable at 9 (was very comfortable at 12). The thought about lowering the pressure further is only to see if it'd reduce the pwits and hisses.

[DreamDiver]

Wow, it also looks like you fell right to sleep too. Great sleep session. AHI 0!

[Pugsy]

There's just something about being on our backs and jaw drop combined that just happens no matter what we do.
If those big leaks didn't wake you up...you know what I say.
Eventually the brain can learn to sleep through a lot of big leaks...that's both good and bad.

Nice report...almost too good to be true and makes us wonder "what's up".
But it can happen and like you...I would be having that "what if I could go lower with the minimum" thoughts in the back of my head.

What you didn't have last night was your usual really big and fast spikes in pressure that you sometimes have.
Did the reason for the spikes just not happen....or did the nasal pillows way of doing things prevent it from happening????? That's a big unknown.

Good job. I predict a nasal pillow convert in progress...and if you like the Swift FX you are really going to love the freedom of the P10 and maybe even the Bleep when it comes out.

The Lansinoh...if your nostrils aren't sore there's really no need to use it. Keep it for when you try the P10...

[djams]

Wow, it also looks like you fell right to sleep too. Great sleep session. AHI 0!

Thanks! I did fall right to sleep, but I cheated.

There's just something about being on our backs and jaw drop combined that just happens no matter what we do.
If those big leaks didn't wake you up...you know what I say.
Eventually the brain can learn to sleep through a lot of big leaks...that's both good and bad.

The leaks woke me, but didn't keep me up - for now, I'm satisfied with that.

Nice report...almost too good to be true and makes us wonder "what's up".
But it can happen and like you...I would be having that "what if I could go lower with the minimum" thoughts in the back of my head.

What you didn't have last night was your usual really big and fast spikes in pressure that you sometimes have.
Did the reason for the spikes just not happen....or did the nasal pillows way of doing things prevent it from happening????? That's a big unknown.

Yesterday was basically a carbon copy FL and pressure-wise. I made a mistake and posted the chart Auto-Fit, instead of having the Y axis scale set to the range of min/max pressure settings. So it was very misleading. I've fixed it if you want to take a look: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=171979&p=1281898#p1281898

I've got what I've seen called a "weak chin" to start with, and I believe that losing the lower mask straps is accounting for a lot of the wonderful changes I'm seeing so far. Time will tell for sure. I've gone a couple of back to back nights with lower pressure needs using FFM, so we'll see.

Good job. I predict a nasal pillow convert in progress...and if you like the Swift FX you are really going to love the freedom of the P10 and maybe even the Bleep when it comes out.

The Lansinoh...if your nostrils aren't sore there's really no need to use it. Keep it for when you try the P10...

Thanks! And you couldn't be more right about this! I plan switching. Unless something really goes south, it's basically a done deal. Can't thank you enough for helping me get started on the pillows.

[zonker]

Yep... Zonker, check out aerophagia on this forum. That's the mini belches you talk about.

For me, it happens at any pressure over 12 cm H20. So I keep my max pressure there. For the S9, I also put my EPR at 3 so that it would further alleviate aerophagia. Have you got your EPR dialed in for your needs?

viewtopic/t52082/AHI-Sweet-Spot-and-Ast ... hitis.html

oh! i'm sorry, i didn't explain myself very well, good sir. (apologies if you aren't a sir!)

i've been through aerophagia. it held back my first three years of therapy. i couldn't tolerate a min of around 9. too much pain! the gas itself wasn't the problem. just that tightly bloated belly.

epr did NOT work for me. it was almost as though it was doing the opposite of what it's meant to do. it made it harder for me to breathe out. so i just settled down to having an ahi in the 2-3 range and thought i'd count myself lucky.

then, a few months ago, a user here posted to another user asking if they had tried "soft" mode. turns out, the poster has the same machine as me. i checked my settings, found "soft" and applied it. my goodness! what a difference it made. and i mean AT ONCE! no "getting used" to anything.

it was exactly what i needed. i'm now rocking a minimum pressure of 11.4 with the result of ahi of around 1. i'm so very happy about that. the only regret i have is that i don't remember who that user was who posted about "soft" mode.

anyway, those little bubbles i experience are few and far between and don't strike me as aerophagia. perhaps by it's very definition it is. but it's not enough to bother me in any way.

thanks for the advice, though!

we now return you to djam's therapy thread, already in progress....

[djams]

anyway, those little bubbles i experience are few and far between and don't strike me as aerophagia. perhaps by it's very definition it is. but it's not enough to bother me in any way.

If it doesn't hurt, it's not aerophagia! (well, maybe technically...)

we now return you to djam's therapy thread, already in progress....

And speaking of my therapy and aerophagia, it just dawned on me that I'm not walking around blasting gas for 30 minutes after I get out of bed with the pillow mask. It's a daily occurrence with the FFM. If this goes away, I'm going to miss it - my wife, not so much

Glad to hear the good progress you're making!

[zonker]

And speaking of my therapy and aerophagia, it just dawned on me that I'm not walking around blasting gas for 30 minutes after I get out of bed with the pillow mask. It's a daily occurrence with the FFM. If this goes away, I'm going to miss it - my wife, not so much

Glad to hear the good progress you're making!

oh yeah? that's good about less tooting. i wasn't on any other mask long enough to make the comparison.

and good YOU are doing so well. you seem to be making great strides in the six months you've been here.

continued good luck, sir.

[Pugsy]

Wives are funny about stuff like that.
God help me if my husband ever has to get on cpap and get more air in his gut...I shiver at the thought.

See....I told you lots of potential pluses for going to nasal pillow mask besides the freedom...now you can add less farting to the list.

[djams]

Wives are funny about stuff like that.
God help me if my husband ever has to get on cpap and get more air in his gut...I shiver at the thought.

See....I told you lots of potential pluses for going to nasal pillow mask besides the freedom...now you can add less farting to the list.

The improvements appear to be endless!

She'll have to find something else to roll her eyes at me about.

Looked on cpap.com and saw the p10 on sale for $80 - it's on the way. Seemed silly to pass that deal up.

[djams]

The 0 AHI run continued last night. I did get one RERA, so at least I know my machine's event flagging still works.

I dropped my min pressure 1cm to 8. I had 2 blocks of large leak. 28 minutes that topped out at 43L/min, and 5 minutes that got to 35L/min. Both of them woke me up to the point that I remember them. Doesn't bother me right now as I'm still figuring this out. Pressure maxed out around 12 again.

The 28 minute leak was fairly early in the night. This means that the lip tape failed on me pretty early on. It stayed on long enough to get me to sleep - that's what's really important right now.

Looking at me FL's, compared to previous 2 nights, I can see that 8cm min isn't as effective. Also felt a little starved for air at the beginning of the night. I'll be increasing the min.

[DreamDiver]

The 0 AHI run continued last night. I did get one RERA, so at least I know my machine's event flagging still works.

I dropped my min pressure 1cm to 8. I had 2 blocks of large leak. 28 minutes that topped out at 43L/min, and 5 minutes that got to 35L/min. Both of them woke me up to the point that I remember them. Doesn't bother me right now as I'm still figuring this out. Pressure maxed out around 12 again.

The 28 minute leak was fairly early in the night. This means that the lip tape failed on me pretty early on. It stayed on long enough to get me to sleep - that's what's really important right now.

Looking at me FL's, compared to previous 2 nights, I can see that 8cm min isn't as effective. Also felt a little starved for air at the beginning of the night. I'll be increasing the min.

Looks like you're well on your way! w00t!

[zonker]

Looks like you're well on your way! w00t!

consider the gif stolen!!

also, good work, djams!!!

[palerider]

consider the gif stolen!!

Sheriff! We've got an admitted thief over here! Do your duty!

[djams]

Looks like you're well on your way! w00t!

consider the gif stolen!!

also, good work, djams!!!

Thanks guys. We'll see if I'm able to stick the landing like that!