First Night!

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
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BuckarooBanzai
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Re: First Night!

Post by BuckarooBanzai » Sun Jan 02, 2022 2:36 pm

Actually, I am now using the CPAP 8 hours every night. I like it. But I HATE the full face mask; it is bulky, leaks, interferes with sleeping on my side, and I cannot wear my glasses with it on. AND it puts pressure on my nose, making it difficult for me to breathe.

I think that, if I get a new mask and hold to proper sleep hygiene (especially by not taking naps and holding to a firm bedtime), I will make it. I just need a little more time to adapt.

Can anyone tell me, regarding Resmed pillows, how long it took you to get used to having air shooting straight up into your nostrils? Also, do they irritate the nose?

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Julie
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Re: First Night!

Post by Julie » Sun Jan 02, 2022 3:17 pm

Last answer first - everyone's different as are their settings.

But - maybe go to Cpap.com (forum sponsor) and look at the variety of masks they have (huge) to get ideas for what you might find more comfortable - plus you can order there and return them if they don't work out (there's a protocol, so see what it says).

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Pugsy
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Re: First Night!

Post by Pugsy » Sun Jan 02, 2022 3:31 pm

I used nasal pillows from the very first night where I had the in lab titration sleep study.
It wasn't the greatest of nasal pillow masks (headgear was too big for my head) but all they had.... but I got it done and once I got a better mask that fit me and there was no looking back.
And my pressures were a lot higher than yours and I didn't use the ramp or exhale relief either. :lol: :lol:

I have never used a full face mask...not in 12 plus years on cpap.
I tried a couple over the years but all it did was reaffirm my first thoughts....I don't like and won't use a Full Face Mask.
I don't even own one.

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BuckarooBanzai
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Re: First Night!

Post by BuckarooBanzai » Sun Jan 02, 2022 4:23 pm

Apria is my DME provider. They do the 30 day warranty try/return as well. I must get a new prescription, though, to try something else. Have appointment with sleep people tomorrow.

Believe me, if I could just logon there at CPAP.com or the like and buy one straight out, I would.

Cannot stand the one I have. It's not just irritating, it's pure trouble.

No more full face! I am a little worried about trying a nasal mask, one that covers the nose, lest it put pressure on my nose. And this all causes me to lean toward pillows. Just not your bleep pillows, Pugsy, 'cause they look vicious.

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Re: First Night!

Post by Janknitz » Sun Jan 02, 2022 5:13 pm

BuckarooBanzai wrote:
Sun Jan 02, 2022 4:23 pm
Apria is my DME provider. They do the 30 day warranty try/return as well. I must get a new prescription, though, to try something else. Have appointment with sleep people tomorrow.

Believe me, if I could just logon there at CPAP.com or the like and buy one straight out, I would.

Cannot stand the one I have. It's not just irritating, it's pure trouble.

No more full face! I am a little worried about trying a nasal mask, one that covers the nose, lest it put pressure on my nose. And this all causes me to lean toward pillows. Just not your bleep pillows, Pugsy, 'cause they look vicious.
Actually Crapria is NOT your DME, they are the DME supplier. Kaiser is actually your DME--Crapria just fills the orders. When it's Kaiser Advantage there is a very specific replacement schedule which is the Medicare schedule, but other Kaiser plans may have differing levels of coverage (my Covered California/ACA plan has NONE), although they all probably follow the Medicare replacement schedule just for convenience sake. That means you couldn't get a new mask for 6 months from Crapria.

BUT . . .

Talk to the sleep techs. They may be willing to GIVE you a sample nasal mask to try out, and if that doesn't work, they have other samples at well (at least this is how it worked before COVID), and once you settle on a mask they will change your prescription. Even before Covid they didn't take the trial masks back if they didn't work out, so I had quite a collection until I found masks that worked for me.

And my experience has been that there is no sensation of "air shooting up your nose" at all with a nasal pillow mask. It's pretty comfortable, even at higher pressures. But in light of your recent surgery, you may be a little more sensitive. My quibble with nasal pillows was that there was condensation on the surface of the pillows that touched my nose and I hated always feeling like I had a wet dog nose. Part of this was the Philips Respironics machine I had in the first few years had a known manufacturer's defect (good law school exam question!) and stopped working so the ice cold air against my warm nares caused condensation on the tips of the nasal pillows.

Nasal cradle masks don't do that, and are very comfortable for me.
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Julie
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Re: First Night!

Post by Julie » Sun Jan 02, 2022 5:18 pm

I steered you to Cpap.com to see possibilities - most of which can be bought from other dealers all over... I don't shill for the forum's hosts.

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zonker
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Re: First Night!

Post by zonker » Sun Jan 02, 2022 6:29 pm

BuckarooBanzai wrote:
Sun Jan 02, 2022 2:36 pm


Can anyone tell me, regarding Resmed pillows, how long it took you to get used to having air shooting straight up into your nostrils? Also, do they irritate the nose?
well, the air does NOT shoot straight up your nostrils, for one thing. keep in mind that the purpose of cpap therapy is merely to hold your airway open. and it should do that at the lowest possible pressure.

i use the p10, if that's what you're referring to. and it's not trouble at all as far as pressure goes. and my pressure is set to 18.4 as min and 20 as max.

many of us have used a product called Lansinoh. this is lanolin cream. it's used by nursing mothers to soothe their sore nipples. if it works for them, someone smart person figured it work as a bit of a barrier between the pillows and the nose.

works a treat!
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BuckarooBanzai
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Re: First Night!

Post by BuckarooBanzai » Sun Jan 02, 2022 9:25 pm

I am a Medicare beneficiary, so I have Kaiser Advantage. Excellent coverage. I didn't pay a penny for my new Resmed AirSense 11 Autoset or any of the associated paraphernalia. Given that, I would not mind paying out-of-pocket for a second mask. For instance, if Kaiser insists on a full face or hybrid ('cause they are convinced that's best for me), but I want an AirFit P10, I'd like to have a second script for the latter so I can buy it out-of-pocket. Would be best if Kaiser would just give me a sample or two, because trying to choose a mask without ever meeting my MD or tech, and without ever actually seeing or trying a mask, is for the birds.

Do hope Kaiser can somehow get me a better mask soon, like this week. I am now sleeping 8+ hours per day with the CPAP, and this mask is truly problematic.

Julie, I understand you are not CPAP.com's shill. Not to worry.

Do you all use some of sort of product, like the lanolin cream Zonker mentioned to soothe your nostrils? How about Bag Balm? Do you put it on before setting up the mask, or just when you get up in the morning as an after-the-fact treatment?
Last edited by BuckarooBanzai on Mon Jan 03, 2022 3:04 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Pugsy
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Re: First Night!

Post by Pugsy » Mon Jan 03, 2022 1:08 am

BuckarooBanzai wrote:
Sun Jan 02, 2022 9:25 pm
Do you all use some of sort of product, like the lanolin cream Zonker mentioned to soothe your nostrils? How about Bag Balm? Do you put it on before setting up the mask, or just when you get up in the morning as an after-the-fact treatment?
You want to be careful of ingredients in various stuff that you might apply to the mask or your nose or both.
Avoid anything with petroleum products because petroleum products can degrade the silicone and they are bad for your lungs if you happen to inhale them. There's a thing called "lipid pneumonia" that while it's rare...you don't want to risk it unless it's unavoidable. Not something you want to be using very often for sure.

The Lansinoh lanolin ointment/cream that we recommend so often here is pure lanolin and contains no petroleum products.
It's safe enough for babies to come in contact with it from their mom's nipples while breast feeding.
Bag Balm has lanolin in it but it also has a petroleum based jelly in it.

How to use these products to help protect and/or heal the nostrils if they get a bit angry from the silicone touching the skin.....usually sparingly right before putting the mask on and if needed during the day to promote healing use as much as you want.
Don't use a lot of it right before you mask up. The body heat will cause the lanolin to melt and the pillows might slide around all over the place and end up in your ear.....I had that happen to me once.

Nasal pillows shouldn't really cause anything more than maybe very minor discomfort though. If they do then it is usually because the person has used the wrong size or improper fitting which 99% of the time means headgear too tight.
People equate "tight" being a better seal producing trick and it actually isn't.

Now the skin around the nostrils isn't used to having anything touch it so it might get a little tender with the first use of a nasal pillow but they should not cause skin abrasions, blisters or anything more than minor tenderness. If it does....something is wrong.
I usually tell people to take the nasal pillow all by itself and put it up against the nostrils GENTLY and breathe in and out...that really is all the tension needed to keep the pillows in place and sealed. You don't squish them up tightly against the skin and you sure don't cram any part of the pillow inside the nostril. That inner cone tip that is just barely inside the nostril....it is NOT touching anywhere inside the nostril and if it is....way too tight or too small.

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BuckarooBanzai
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Re: First Night!

Post by BuckarooBanzai » Mon Jan 03, 2022 10:55 am

Great advice Pugsy, which I am going to put into use soon as Kaiser just approved and ordered the AirFit P10 Nasal Pillows! Should have them within two weeks, at the outside. Also, Kaiser approved and ordered a heated tube. And a hardcopy prescription is being mailed out to me so that, if I am happy with the P10, then I can take the script to Some Place Other Than Apria and buy a second P10 for back-up.

I am so spoiled.

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BuckarooBanzai
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Re: First Night!

Post by BuckarooBanzai » Mon Jan 03, 2022 10:58 am

Boy, they do boldly market that Lansinoh lanolin cream to women! I will have to hide the container under my bathroom sink. :lol:

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zonker
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Re: First Night!

Post by zonker » Mon Jan 03, 2022 12:05 pm

BuckarooBanzai wrote:
Mon Jan 03, 2022 10:58 am
Boy, they do boldly market that Lansinoh lanolin cream to women! I will have to hide the container under my bathroom sink. :lol:
well, yeah.

until we men folk can breast feed, ain't no good marketing US.
:lol: :lol: :lol:

(hope nobody tells you about the airsense 10 FOR HER model.)
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BuckarooBanzai
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Re: First Night!

Post by BuckarooBanzai » Mon Jan 03, 2022 12:41 pm

Zonker, I see you have a new CPAP machine. Cute flowers.

I'll tell you what's funny. In my bicycling blog, guys talk about jock itch/athlete's foot cream and complain about buying those tiny tubes at an exorbitant price. So, one guy opens his bathroom cabinet to find his wife has a HUGE tube of vaginal anti-fungal cream with the same active ingredient. Yes: the manufacturers market HUGE tubes to the women for the same price as the little tubes they market to guys. So, now all my cyclist friends just steal from their wives.

Well, guess who doesn't have a wifey to steal from? So I had to go the GYN section at my local Walmart to buy the stuff. Boy, did I feel weird. And I got the strangest looks. :roll:

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Pugsy
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Re: First Night!

Post by Pugsy » Mon Jan 03, 2022 1:11 pm

Here's a hint about using the pillow mask....or any nasal mask really.

Put it on and then turn the machine on. It's hard to explain but the force of the air blowing without your having the mask at least partially sealed is likely to freak you out a bit. It's going to be perceived as a hurricane force wind but it really isn't all that forceful when the mask is sealed on your nose.

I ordered the N30 cushion which is similar to the P10 and just got it and tried it and noticed the air flow when the mask wasn't on my nose and when it was on my nose. Feels hugely different and I can see where it might freak a person out that didn't understand how that pressure actually works with a sealed circuit vs open circuit.

_________________
Machine: AirCurve™ 10 VAuto BiLevel Machine with HumidAir™ Heated Humidifier
Additional Comments: Mask Bleep Eclipse https://bleepsleep.com/the-eclipse/
I may have to RISE but I refuse to SHINE.

If you want to try the Eclipse mask and want a special promo code to get a little off the price...send me a private message.

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BuckarooBanzai
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Re: First Night!

Post by BuckarooBanzai » Mon Jan 03, 2022 2:04 pm

Makes a lot of sense, Pugsy. What do you think of the N30 versus the P10?

I ordered the P10.