New and feel like I'm being blown up !!!

[Suckingonleafblower]

Just want to say hi and THANK YOU

So glad to have found this space and wisdom people who have walked this path. Following instructions as best I can and learning from some of the great resources here. Struggling like crazy, more tired than ever and super hopeful, I too, will have a success story.

I literally wake up feeling like someone has stuffed a leaf blower into my mouth and the ache of my cheeks and space between my lips and teeth stretched so far out is just about more than I can tolerate.

Nasal pillow mask not work for a mouth breather like me. Can't exhale against the wind and mouth pops open when sleeping to release the tornado.

Closely watching the thread of "need a helping hand" and encouraged by the helpful compassionate gentle guidance of others as I struggle in the denial and intolerance steps of this journey (loved the outlay of progress thru the steps) and open to reading suggested posts identified for Newbies".

Just wanted to say hi to the community I hold capable and willing to help all who struggle (who are open to helping themselves)

[Janknitz]

This will get better!

Put your tongue on the roof of your mouth behind your front teeth. This is where your tongue needs to be when you are using CPAP. It will seal off your mouth from the rest of your airway, and you won't feel like you have to work so hard to hold the air in.

Practice all day, except when you are talking or eating. In a few days, you'll be able to carry it over to sleep.

We usually advise newbies to turn off the ramp function, because it can make you feel like you are suffocating from low air flow (you are not suffocating!) but in your case, you may want to make sure it's turned on and gives you a good amount of time to fall asleep before it reaches your high pressure.

Give those both a try and let us know.

[Miss Emerita]

Welcome! Can you tell us what your pressure settings are—min and max? And is EPR turned on? If yes, to what level?

You might benefit from using the machine during the day or evening. Set it up outside your bedroom and use it while you watch TV or read or use your devices. This will help speed up your getting used to the whole business.

[chunkyfrog]

Many people have the impression of gale force winds--at first.
Remember that a CPAP cannot even inflate a latex balloon--at FULL POWER.
It is indeed all relative.
Dogs joyfully hang their heads out of moving cars all the time,
happily scattering drool all over the car.
Channel your inner canine--love that air!

[Suckingonleafblower]

Thanks for the feedback - here are the outcomes: (sorry for the late response, I've had company over the long weekend, so just circling back now....

• Practicing using while not sleeping - has made me more comfortable. The hose off the top of the head is significantly better than off the front of my face.

• Practicing tongue on top of roof of mouth - while this does streamline the flow of air into my airway and lungs only through my nose.....it still doesn't stop the air coming into the mask from inflating my mouth. I have noticed though, that if I practice sucking my mouth closed - that does work for as long as it works, and when it doesn't and the pressure flow intensifies, I wake with puffed cheeks that ache. The humidification helps not leave me so dry - but the ache of been cheek stretched hurts.

• I don't struggle with the RAMP on, but rather find it helpful as I am not trying to fall asleep with the tornado blowing.

• The min/max pressures are 6 to 16. I think. I haven't managed to figure out the technical side of the unit. The operator manual isn't all the helpful.

I did manage to learn that it has an SD card spot - but no card in the spot. I've not figured out how to get the data of the unit using anything wirelessly - if that is even an option. Going to try to figure out what this OSCAR is all about, mentioned in other threads.....and see if I can get some night's data from it to send to you veterans.

[Steerpike58]

...

I did manage to learn that it has an SD card spot - but no card in the spot. I've not figured out how to get the data of the unit using anything wirelessly - if that is even an option. Going to try to figure out what this OSCAR is all about, mentioned in other threads.....and see if I can get some night's data from it to send to you veterans.

SD cards were very popular with digital cameras for years; I found 5 lying around in a box that were no longer in service.
There are two major 'features' to be aware of with SD cards - physical size/format, and data capacity.
Physical size/Format: Original SD cards are about the physical size of a typical postage stamp; 'micro SD' cards are about a quarter of that size (there were 'mini SD' cards as well but they are almost extinct at this point). My ResMed Airsense 10 takes the original SD card. Adapters exist to allow the smaller 'micro SD' cards to be used where standard SD cards are required. This page shows both the original and Micro variants: https://www.kingston.com/en/blog/person ... card-guide .

Data Capacity: older SD cards had limited capacity - 1 GB, 2 GB, 4 GB, etc. Current SD cards can have 512 GB, 1TB, etc - massive capacities. You don't need high capacity for the CPAP machine - even a 2 GB card will hold years of data. Technically, the different capacity cards can have different names (this is shown on the 'Kingston' page I linked to above) - "SD" = 2GB and under; "SDHC" = 2GB up to 32GB; "SDXC" = 32GB up to 2TB, and so on - but they are all generally referred to as 'SD Cards'. (they also have different 'speeds' and that gets into a whole other set of acronyms, like UHS-II, etc - but none of that matters for the CPAP machine).

This Wikipedia page does a good job of explaining the different types - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SD_card

There's some chance that a modern, high-capacity card may not work with the CPAP machine because it's too 'big' (others will have to comment on what works); ResMed recommend a standard SD card with 2GB capacity. 2GB cards are getting harder and harder to find as the higher capacity cards become cheaper. Here's one that's guaranteed to work with a ResMed CPAP machine:
https://www.cpapdirect.com/resmed-s9-an ... es-sd-card

This is what I'm using in my ResMed device:
https://www.amazon.com/Sandisk-MicroSDH ... ef=sr_1_10
It's an 8 GB 'micro' card that slides into the 'standard SD Card' adapter so it fits inside the ResMed device.

Next - you need to READ the data on the SD Card.

My 2014-era laptop came with an SD card reader slot built in. But my 2022-era laptop came with a 'micro SD' card slot only - no SD card slot. So - that's why I am using a Micro-SD card with a 'Standard SD' card adapter:


Once you insert the card into your laptop, 'OSCAR' has an option to read the data from it without any fuss.

Let me know if you need more info.

PS - your device may have wireless communications, but in my case (ResMed Airsense 10) it only talks to ResMed and possibly my clinic. I signed up for a 'myAir.resmed.com' account, but all I get is highly summarized data; nowhere near as much as OSCAR gives you.

[GranPam]

Hi Steerpike58
In relation to your comment below does this mean the sd card from the ResMed Airsense 10 Autoset (which I have and I'm a new user) cannot be uploaded to my laptop and read in OSCAR and can only be read by my clinic? I've installed OSCAR but haven't tried using it yet (have set up my profile though). I'm as nervous as can be that I may mess up the data on the card which might stop the clinic from getting it. Thought I'd check here first


"PS - your device may have wireless communications, but in my case (ResMed Airsense 10) it only talks to ResMed and possibly my clinic. I signed up for a 'myAir.resmed.com' account, but all I get is highly summarized data; nowhere near as much as OSCAR gives you."

regards
Pam

[zonker]

Hi Steerpike58
In relation to your comment below does this mean the sd card from the ResMed Airsense 10 Autoset (which I have and I'm a new user) cannot be uploaded to my laptop and read in OSCAR and can only be read by my clinic? I've installed OSCAR but haven't tried using it yet (have set up my profile though). I'm as nervous as can be that I may mess up the data on the card which might stop the clinic from getting it. Thought I'd check here first

no. you can access the data in oscar. the clinic uses different software altogether and oscar won't interfere with that.

[GranPam]

Thanks so much.

[zonker]

Thanks so much.

[chunkyfrog]

Oscar is for patients who want to optimize therapy.
The modem is info lite, for insurance, and doctors who are to busy for little things,
like keeping you healthy.