5000 Hours :)

[CollegeGirl]

Well, this is a week of milestones indeed. Last night was the roughest night I've had in a while (thanks to external things waking me, not the CPAP) but I hit that beautiful 5000 mark on my auto. (5005. (Of course, that doesn't count the 1200 hours I had on my Plus before I traded it in - but still, it's pretty cool to see. RG must be up to a million billion hours total on all her machines by now. Keep going, everyone, you'll make it.

[tangents]

How Cool is that? Congrats, CG!

[Wulfman]

Congratulations, CG.

I'm curious as to when you started. I'm calculating that I MAY hit 5K by the time I hit my 2-year mark on May 14th. (I'm going by my total hours showing in Encore Pro)

Sounds like you've been doing a lot of sleeping instead of studying...... (just teasing)

Best wishes,

Den

[CollegeGirl]

5000 hours divided by 19 months divided by 30 days in a month = 8.77 hours per night. Sounds pretty good to me. And remember, I didn't really start feeling rested until just this past summer - so yes, I definitely did some extra sleeping up til that point (and still sometimes now, when school is draining me) Thanks for the congrats, Den and tangents.

[JeffH]

20,000 plus hours in over seven years.

And still using my original mask!

[CollegeGirl]

That's awesome, Jeff. You're an inspiration.

[sharon1965]

CG,

you're an inspiration, too, always ready to help and advise...

may i ask, when you say you didn't really feel rested till last summer, how long had you been on cpap by then? and did other sleep issues become apparent precluding your improvement or was it just a matter of time for you?

thanks, any MORE help you can give is appreciated (lol)

congrats on your 5K

sharon1965

[muld00n]

RG must be up to a million billion hours total on all her machines by now.

Careful now CollegeGirl, I really don't think RG is that old.

Steve

[Wulfman]

20,000 plus hours in over seven years.

And still using my original mask!

WTG, JeffH!

The mask thing is also very impressive.

Best wishes,

Den

[CollegeGirl]

Hi Sharon,

My case was rather unusual. I was badly, badly mistitrated. I was titrated at 6, but called the doctor and told him I felt air-starved. He allowed me to go up to 8, but no further. He would not consider "allowing" me to raise my pressure at all, nor would he consider letting me have another sleep study. I also told the DME I was mouth-breathing (which makes sense, since I was starved for air) so got a full face mask within about a month of starting treatment (if I recall correctly).

Five months after starting CPAP and being 100% compliant, I was still exhausted and sleeping all the time. So I got my GP at home to RX me an auto. Thankfully, my insurance was still renting my Plus, so I just switched it out, easy as pie. The auto showed I actually needed a pressure of around 11 to keep my airway open. That's a pretty big difference in CPAP terms - no wonder I was still feeling bad. I felt better than I had before after a couple of weeks on auto, but was still consistently tired. I tried changing to straight CPAP, as that works for some folks. No luck. So I still felt somewhat better, but never truly RESTED.

Finally, last summer, I had a little extra spending money, and decided to spring for the TwilightNP that rested_gal kept talking about, since I was a stomach sleeper, and she swore it was the best thing for stomach sleepers ever. I purchased it and started taping my mouth. My AHI went from the 0.8-1.5 range to the 0.0-0.3 range, and I started feeling tremendously better.

(I later realized that I had only actually needed a full face mask because my pressure wasn't high enough. Now I use the TwilightNP, but go "tapeless." As you can see from my report on the other thread, I don't mouth-breathe. I consider myself quite lucky).

My theory is two fold: That the full face mask was pushing back my jaw and creating more apneas, and that I was just never really "comfortable" sleeping on my stomach with a full face mask. I think I was waking multiple times during the night to readjust the position of my face/head, and that was waking me without me really realizing it. Now that I have the TwilightNP, I don't get awakened during the night - I can sleep with my face directly on the pillow.

So yes - for me there were multiple variables impacting my sleep. You just have to keep working away at them until you find the right combination of mask, machine, and pressure. It takes time and patience, but it is SO worth it.

That was probably way more than you wanted to know. LOL

[JeffH]

20,000 plus hours in over seven years.

And still using my original mask!

WTG, JeffH!

The mask thing is also very impressive.

Best wishes,

Den

I read about everyone having trouble with their mask on here and I've recommended the old Adams system to many, but no one seems interested. They used an Adams in my sleep study and it worked great, so that's what I bought when I got my first machine.

If it works, don't fix it.


JeffH

[Gerald.f]

Using a CPAP mask for so long is like wearing one pair of shoes for many years. They both break down and give less support over time. They both also look nasty and smell after such an extended use.

For your health, consider following the manufacturer recommendations on replacing and cleaning your equipment. You DME companies get paid to supply you with masks at a regular interval-if you don't get one they profit and you lose.

[arthuranxious]

I wonder, I usually get an AI of 0 or at the most .1, but an AHI of 2 to 3.1 and a leakage of about .4, (sometimes lower). Could it be that I would notice an improvement if I got a better AHI or a better fit? WHenever I adjust my swioft nasal pillows tighter, I wake up in pain from the pressing of the nose piece? I felt fine before diagnosis, but haven't found the surge in energy, freedom from tiredness, ease in losing weight, better mood, or any of the other positive effects other people report. My doctor says, everything uis fine, your case was fairly mild, so you had no symptoms so why would you expect an improvement .... but I just don't know.

[Slinky]

Congratulations, CG! I'm "trying" to follow in your footsteps.

Congratulations to you too, Jeff. As far as that mask, hey, I wouldn't knock success either. You'll know when it has earned its retirement.

Gerald, how do the DMEs profit? If they don't sell you something, they can't make the huge markup in profit.

And if you buy a good pair of shoes to begin with, and take care of them, they last almost forever. In a mad moment of weakness I did something I'd never done before, I spent just over a $100 on a pair of shoes on sale 15 years ago. A couple of re-heeling and re-sole jobs later they still look like new. Just a matter of good wax polish and a polishing brush. I wear them everywhere I get "dressed up" except for the occasion where heels are needed w/a classy dress. I hate to tell you how many "tennies" I've been thru in those 15 years.

Yer right, tho, MOST of us never get that successfully "intimate" w/our masks.

The blue jean and "tennies" gal,
Slinky

[JeffH]

[quote="Gerald.f"]

Using a CPAP mask for so long is like wearing one pair of shoes for many years. They both break down and give less support over time. They both also look nasty and smell after such an extended use.

For your health, consider following the manufacturer recommendations on replacing and cleaning your equipment. You DME companies get paid to supply you with masks at a regular interval-if you don't get one they profit and you lose.