djam's therapy thread

[palerider]

i like your idea better. but i think what i'd do is maybe tie the hose to my bicep with string, as i don't sleep in clothes.

Well...heck...you mean that attaching that little clip to your nipple isn't all that appealing????
Can't imagine why you guys wouldn't want to do that.

Zonker's a wuss, remember?

and the thing is only eight bucks!

as the old commercial went "hey, let's have mikey try it!".

Wuss.

absolutely! every chance i get.

besides, it looks like it just may be "hey, let's have djams try it!"

[palerider]

Remember those "pros and cons that come with ALL masks"???

Hope my post this morning didn't come off as complaining about the P10 mask.

bitch bitch bitch, gripe gripe gripe, that's all we ever... er, what?

The problem was clearly me.

Oh, well then, carry on.

[zonker]

i like your idea better. but i think what i'd do is maybe tie the hose to my bicep with string, as i don't sleep in clothes.

Well...heck...you mean that attaching that little clip to your nipple isn't all that appealing????
Can't imagine why you guys wouldn't want to do that.

Zonker's a wuss, remember?

and the thing is only eight bucks!

as the old commercial went "hey, let's have mikey try it!".

Wuss.

absolutely! every chance i get.

besides, it looks like it just may be "hey, let's have djams try it!"

200.gif

[djams]

Big improvement on the leaks last night. I wasn't able to use Jay's suspender clip idea. I *know* I've got a pair of suspenders around here somewhere, darned if I can find them. The session from 5-7:30 is without my lips taped. An experiment to see if I'm ready for that. I'm not.

Both the OA and CA are post-arousal SWJ after waking up from the large leaks. I still haven't had an obstructive or a hypo since using the pillows. Yes, I'm counting.

Had something new to me last night. When I woke up at 5, I had a lot of moisture in the pillows. My tape had been reduced to a gummy slimy mess. So I took it off went back to sleep. With my present settings, I'm just asking for rain out, I guess. Climate control is Auto, hose temp is OFF. Bedroom temp is 64 degrees, humidity 35%. Was wondering how long it would be before I experienced rain out. I feel more "initiated" now.

Going to try humidity at 1 or 2 tonight.

[Pugsy]

You can still get condensation in the pillows from the moisture in your own exhaled breath even if you turned the humidifier totally off.
I would add a little heat to the hose air myself...doesn't have to be hot or uncomfortable...maybe something like 70 degrees would help out and not feel too swampy hot.

At some point if it's still a problem and you still don't like the warm hose air....once you figure out which mask...barrel cozy will help a lot even without added heat to the hose.

[realshelby]

Big improvement on the leaks last night.

Was that with the lanolin or did you go without it?

[djams]

I would add a little heat to the hose air myself...doesn't have to be hot or uncomfortable...maybe something like 70 degrees would help out and not feel too swampy hot.

If that's what you'd do, then that's what I'll do. Just a tad more experience.

[djams]

Big improvement on the leaks last night.

Was that with the lanolin or did you go without it?

This was without lanolin. Meant to mention that in the post. Thanks for prompting me!

So far, there's no need. Only been 2 nights though.

[djams]

Well my wife's cough has gone away. I just moved all my "stuff" back into the master bedroom, and I've got my hose management system back for tonight. Boy have I missed it! Since I've been prattling on about it, I took a picture. Here it is - simple but effective.

20190105_141213_resize.jpg (49.78 KiB) Viewed 3652 times

[zonker]

Well my wife's cough has gone away. I just moved all my "stuff" back into the master bedroom, and I've got my hose management system back for tonight. Boy have I missed it! Since I've been prattling on about it, I took a picture. Here it is - simple but effective.

20190105_141213_resize.jpg

wouldn't it have been cheaper to buy a command hook instead of a wall lamp?

[djams]

Ha! The lamps came with the house. Circa 1975 probably.

Most likely superior to command hook because I can extend it out from the wall. It's made to order, really.

[djams]

More progress on the leaks last night, but not as good as I expected. This is all mask leak, none of it can be attributed to hose-tug on the mask. This is with the P10.

Here's what I have done to solve the tugging issue. I fastened a suspender clip about halfway down the mask hose with a rubber band. At bedtime, I fasten the clip to my nightshirt at my chest leaving a bit of slack in the mask hose from the clip to the pillows. Now, as I move around, the CPAP hose tugs on my nightshirt but not on the mask.

I used the clip last night. I tested it extensively during the day yesterday (even trapping the hose under pillow). This is a genius idea. It works great.

Even though none of this woke me up, I'd sure like to get it looking better. I can see an arousal in my flow rate chart at every vertical line in the leak chart - where the leak rate drops back down to near zero. Also, I couldn't miss the obvious relationship between the clusters of FL's and the large leak periods.

Still feeling great, waking up refreshed and ready to go.

[Pugsy]

There was time (long ago) and I also might have said "I had this little leak BUT wish it was better".
Numbers and pretty graphs meant a lot to me. Validation I guess that I was doing well and I seemed to need that mental evaluation to prove to myself I was doing the best I could do.

With lots of time and experienced I learned that pretty graphs and nice numbers didn't necessarily mean that I was doing the best I could do because my goals changed.

Though it is especially nice when we can see a leak graph like this one below. I had another one the next night just like it with 0.0 AHI and 0.0 leak numbers.
Yeah...the nice 0.0 leak line is sweet and it's nice to be able to pat myself on the back...and half that AHI of 0.89 was SWJ...but I only got 4 1/2 hours of sleep. That's simply not enough sleep and the lack of hours of sleep had nothing to do with cpap or mask or sleep apnea.
I felt decent enough but far from what I would have preferred to feel...I just can't feel optimal with 4 or 5 hours of sleep no matter how good the sleep might be.

The P10 is about as nothing of a mask as is out there...and the down side to it is that it can sometimes be easily dislodged ever so slightly. You know that there is a possible explanation to that little bit of mask movement...something I learned myself....when we have pain issues we tend to maybe do more tossing and turning and with that tossing and turning we are increasing the chances of more mask movement leaks. Comes with the territory IMHO. The night's where I remember more pain and more tossing and turning...are very often going to show me more mask movement leaks. Restless nights for more than one reason.

I think that you deserve to strain your arm giving yourself a pat on the back for last night's results. I know you wish it were "prettier" with no LL flag but it's actually an extremely good leak report considering you are so very new to this nasal pillow mask thing.
You will get to where you want to be...partly from experience using this type of mask and partly because with time and experience I imagine your goals may change ever so slightly once you realize that a pretty leak line is just a nice bonus and not critical to feeling good and sleeping good....which for me has always been my primary goal. Numbers and graphs take second place to feeling good.

Look what you have accomplished in a relatively short period of time.....great job.

Here's that nice leak report...sweet for sure but not enough sleep...I think related to the cortisone I got as part of the RFA procedure the other day. Cortisone totally trashes my sleep.

[djams]

There was time (long ago) and I also might have said "I had this little leak BUT wish it was better".
Numbers and pretty graphs meant a lot to me. Validation I guess that I was doing well and I seemed to need that mental evaluation to prove to myself I was doing the best I could do.

With lots of time and experienced I learned that pretty graphs and nice numbers didn't necessarily mean that I was doing the best I could do because my goals changed.

You're right of course. And I really am feeling great after 8 days using the pillow masks. There's a chance that I'd over-tightened the straps last night too. I made a "game-time decision" to put both of the straps close together near the top of my head. Wasn't in front of a mirror to check for piggy nose.

Though it is especially nice when we can see a leak graph like this one below. I had another one the next night just like it with 0.0 AHI and 0.0 leak numbers.
Yeah...the nice 0.0 leak line is sweet and it's nice to be able to pat myself on the back...and half that AHI of 0.89 was SWJ...but I only got 4 1/2 hours of sleep. That's simply not enough sleep and the lack of hours of sleep had nothing to do with cpap or mask or sleep apnea.
I felt decent enough but far from what I would have preferred to feel...I just can't feel optimal with 4 or 5 hours of sleep no matter how good the sleep might be.

This gives me severe leak line envy! ZERO's across the board in the left pane stats - it's perfect... I'd be thrilled if I could get halfway there.

The P10 is about as nothing of a mask as is out there...and the down side to it is that it can sometimes be easily dislodged ever so slightly. You know that there is a possible explanation to that little bit of mask movement...something I learned myself....when we have pain issues we tend to maybe do more tossing and turning and with that tossing and turning we are increasing the chances of more mask movement leaks. Comes with the territory IMHO. The night's where I remember more pain and more tossing and turning...are very often going to show me more mask movement leaks. Restless nights for more than one reason.

I am an "active sleeper", so this will probably be a challenge for awhile. But on the P10 in general - It's fantastic. I asked my wife if I woke her up last night. The leak at 1:30 did awaken her, but then she said "you make way less noise with that mask". Now THAT''s a huge pro. Just one night, but I was REALLY glad to hear that.

The P10 medium pillows seem like they were custom fitted to my nose. And as you've pointed out, the head gear is nearly non-existent. The venting is silent as far as I'm concerned, and no jet of air. I'm really liking the mask. Comfy cozy.

I think that you deserve to strain your arm giving yourself a pat on the back for last night's results. I know you wish it were "prettier" with no LL flag but it's actually an extremely good leak report considering you are so very new to this nasal pillow mask thing.
You will get to where you want to be...partly from experience using this type of mask and partly because with time and experience I imagine your goals may change ever so slightly once you realize that a pretty leak line is just a nice bonus and not critical to feeling good and sleeping good....which for me has always been my primary goal. Numbers and graphs take second place to feeling good.

Look what you have accomplished in a relatively short period of time.....great job.

You know, thanks for reminding me that I'm just getting started here. I guess I'll agree that I'm doing well on this and pat myself on the back. It feels good!

And I sincerely hope that the procedure helps you get more restful sleep! You certainly deserve it, with all that you do to help others do the same!

[djams]

You can still get condensation in the pillows from the moisture in your own exhaled breath even if you turned the humidifier totally off.
I would add a little heat to the hose air myself...doesn't have to be hot or uncomfortable...maybe something like 70 degrees would help out and not feel too swampy hot.

At some point if it's still a problem and you still don't like the warm hose air....once you figure out which mask...barrel cozy will help a lot even without added heat to the hose.

Forgot to follow up on this. I raised the hose temp to 72, no condensation and not at all uncomfortable. So thanks Pugsy!