I'm a dentist treating myself! CPAP Results... Advice please?

[ChicagoGranny]

I'm tempted to sell my machine

Keep it as a backup if you don't already have one. If your AirCurve 10 VAuto should suddenly fail, using the APAP for the night is much better than nothing.

[nee]

Well, well, well!!

I got a little hasty and bumped the minimum pressure up to 13 cmH2O...

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Woke up about 6 hours into sleep with a couple of leaks on the Bleep, so I switched it out, turned the machine back on, stayed up for a little while chillin' and watching some Youtube in bed before falling back asleep. I felt refreshed the first time I woke up, and not when I woke up the second time... I was probably in the middle of some deep sleep cycle when my alarm interrupted me.

I think my nose is large and "pliable" so it really balloons up with air pressure and causes the Bleep to lose its adhesion over the whole night. When I put new Bleeps back on last night, I additionally placed a strip of tape running from one side of my nose to the other, and I think it helped. Man, I look funny...

So what do you all think? Stay at 13 cmH2O minimum?

[zonker]

So what do you all think? Stay at 13 cmH2O minimum?

for what it's worth, i'd say keep riding this pony for a bit to see how she goes.

we'll now sit back and see what the experts say.

[Pugsy]

So what do you all think? Stay at 13 cmH2O minimum?

I see no reason not to stay at 13 for a while and see what happens.

Let your body be your guide....how you sleep and how you feel. That's really why we do all this stuff anyway isn't it?

I did try the Bleep briefly once with pressures of 25 inhale and 18 exhale. 30 minute test...no way could I sustain that all night.
Mainly it was to see if it would hold...it did for at least 30 minutes.

[Okie bipap]

If you still want to try a bi-level machine, lsat has three of them available at reasonable prices. Several people here on the forum have purchased from him with no problems.

[nee]

for what it's worth, i'd say keep riding this pony for a bit to see how she goes.

Sounds good!

I see no reason not to stay at 13 for a while and see what happens.

Let your body be your guide....how you sleep and how you feel. That's really why we do all this stuff anyway isn't it?

I agree.

If you still want to try a bi-level machine, lsat has three of them available at reasonable prices. Several people here on the forum have purchased from him with no problems

I've been in touch with him and have utmost faith in him. Just gotta sort finances... all these accessories are adding up!!

[nee]

I'd like to mention a few observations:

1. There has been an observed link between sleep disordered breathing and clenching/grinding at night. When I was solely in my mandibular advancement device (with no APAP), I would wake up every morning with sore teeth. Now, with the APAP, that soreness is gone. My hunch is that, as I get more oxygen during sleep, my body isn't struggling to get more air and clenching, and my teeth feel better. The MAD simply wasn't therapeutic enough for me.

This is why I'm hesitant to throw night guards at my patients that have severe wear on their teeth. If I see, or the patient reports, evidence of sleep disordered breathing I do not necessarily want to put something in their mouth that will take up even *more* valuable airway space. With that being said, some patients LOVE the night guard and report that they can't sleep without it. What that is suggesting to me is that it is opening up their bite so that it helps them breathe. Others say that they absolutely cannot tolerate it, which to me suggests that it makes breathing more difficult for them. I have spoken to other dentists who say they are frustrated at their patients who won't wear their night guards, and I have tried explaining that it might be due to their airway, but it usually falls on deaf ears. It's interesting, and I'd like to research more on the factors that make it so night guards help one person, but make things worse for another.

2. I have had psoriasis on my face since 2013 (an autoimmune condition that causes rapid skin cell growth/turnover... similar to eczema), which has been managed by Cerave moisturizer, but I have to apply it every morning and night or else it gets really bad. About 6 months ago, a new patch appeared on my chest. I recently realized that I haven't been applying the moisturizer to my chest because it didn't feel itchy... the patch is gone! So I tried not applying it to my face as well, and so far there is no itchiness or scaling or anything like that. Just some slight redness. Perhaps with the APAP my body is finally getting some rest and undoing the damage.

Anyone have any stories about autoimmune disorders, or inflammatory disorders that improved by controlling sleep disordered breathing?

My girlfriend has had chronic stomach problems for as long as she remembers (heartburn, diarrhea, stomach pain) and I notice she has shallow mouth breathing during sleep and scalloping on her tongue. It has been immensely difficult to motivate her to get a sleep study done, but I have a feeling that if she gets diagnosed and treated, that she'll feel better. But, it could be nothing as well.

[prodigyplace]

I have spoken to other dentists who say they are frustrated at their patients who won't wear their night guards, and I have tried explaining that it might be due to their airway, but it usually falls on deaf ears. It's interesting, and I'd like to research more on the factors that make it so night guards help one person, but make things worse for another.

Perhaps mentioning your CPAP experiences mught help sway them.

My girlfriend has had chronic stomach problems for as long as she remembers (heartburn, diarrhea, stomach pain) and I notice she has shallow mouth breathing during sleep and scalloping on her tongue. It has been immensely difficult to motivate her to get a sleep study done, but I have a feeling that if she gets diagnosed and treated, that she'll feel better. But, it could be nothing as well.

If you try a bipap, perhaps you can convince her to try the APAP.

[nee]

Well last night I had my best results yet...lol! The funny thing is, the mask hadn't been ripped off when I woke up to find the mask off early this morning. It seems like I gently disconnected the nose vent things from the air diffuser during my sleep

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I actually woke up this morning feeling ready to spring out of bed.

[Pugsy]

You used the Bleep last night?
I have had the hose come off the vent thing only a couple of times. All related to my laying on it weird and creating torque but palerider use to have it happen a lot. If it becomes a habit I would tape that sucker on with duct tape.
Or maybe using some sort of hose management system...which I don't do.

[nee]

You used the Bleep last night?
I have had the hose come off the vent thing only a couple of times. All related to my laying on it weird and creating torque but palerider use to have it happen a lot. If it becomes a habit I would tape that sucker on with duct tape.
Or maybe using some sort of hose management system...which I don't do.

Yep, I bleeped last night! This is the area that became detached overnight, I'm still not sure how. Is this what you're talking about as well?

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[Pugsy]

No that's not what I was talking about.

Yours came loose because it wasn't quite clicked in solidly and it didn't get really loose it until you happened to put it in a bind some how and it came off.
What I do to avoid the chance of this happening is put the end of the hose in the palm of my hand so the tube is essentially blocked and then I try to breathe in and out....If I can move much air at all...I missed a little click in that area...there is actually 4 clicks per side but you can't always hear them click in. I remove it and put it back in and do the palm of the hand thing until I can't move air.

The area I was talking about is where the white part of the little hose connects to the clear silicone part right below the vent holes.

[nee]

No that's not what I was talking about.

Yours came loose because it wasn't quite clicked in solidly and it didn't get really loose it until you happened to put it in a bind some how and it came off.
What I do to avoid the chance of this happening is put the end of the hose in the palm of my hand so the tube is essentially blocked and then I try to breathe in and out....If I can move much air at all...I missed a little click in that area...

I do this every time since I saw your advice, and last night was no different - everything was clicked in well and sealed. Maybe I did something funny in my sleep because I took a bunch of NyQuil? Or maybe it's the aliens I've seen you post about!?

By the way, Stuart sent me some goodies after I talked to him about some of my Bleep woes. What a great guy and I wish him all the success in the world.

[Pugsy]

On a very rare occasion I might have that area pop off in bed....but it's very rare now....wasn't so rare when I first started with the Bleep.
With time and experience you will get to that point also.
Remember...I have been using it for over a year now.

Probably was just one little clip thingy didn't quite lock. Not enough to really impact the air flow during the test but you probably got in some sort of position to tweak it just enough to dislodge it.
Or the aliens were screwing with you again. They love screwing with newbies.

And yes, Stuart is awesome. He just really wants people to be happy and successful with their cpap therapy...that's all he wants.
He's been using a cpap for over 20 years himself.
He knows the Bleep isn't for everyone but if someone wants to make the Bleep work for them he will bend over backwards trying to help them be successful.

I am the same way....I don't really care what mask someone wants to use. I just want them to be happy and successful with their mask no matter which one they prefer.

Couple of weeks ago I ended up using the P10 for about 5 nights...that was when I was in the middle of the bad BPPV attack and I couldn't even stand up to look in the mirror long enough to attach the ports to my nose. It was just to difficult to do in the middle of dizzy spells. I definitely noticed that I slept a little more poorly with the P10 just from having to fiddle with the head straps.
Wasn't horrible.....but I do sleep better with the Bleep and nothing else to screw around with.

[Dreaming1]

Get a tube maintenance system to keep the tube out of the covers and bed. You’re probably getting tangled up and yanking it lose.