Newby Questions

[jda1000]

Hi -

just a few questions, after ten days of this...

1. I seem to wake up in the night at some point and remove the mask, then return to sleep...I'm awake enough to remember doing it, but I don't seem to remember what woke me, or why it seemed so important to remove the mask - is this a matter of growing accustomed to the mask?

2. I'm using a Resmed Autoset II; about the only info I can get out of it shows I've used it 10 of 10 nights, and for a total of 19 hours...

3. My machine has a data card in the back, but I was told it had to go to the lab to be read...why on earth is that necessary? I've had more informative pedometers...during the Carter Administration.

I've read the paper manual provided and one from the ResMed website; they were about the same, and I can't say I got much from the reading.

4. Is there any reason besides personal comfort (preference) to use the humidifier? I travel a good bit for work, and leaving the humidifier behind cuts the machine volume by more than half.

5. I'm curious how many people using CPAP or similar also use sleeping pills (I'm guessing nearly 100%). On the rare occasions in the past when I might've needed a pill, I just imbibed; not being a drinker otherwise, a bit of wine or whiskey sent me sleeping quickly. That's a sin, now, so I'm on AmbienCR.

Thanks!

[tuna]

Hi -

just a few questions, after ten days of this...

1. I seem to wake up in the night at some point and remove the mask, then return to sleep...I'm awake enough to remember doing it, but I don't seem to remember what woke me, or why it seemed so important to remove the mask - is this a matter of growing accustomed to the mask?

2. I'm using a Resmed Autoset II; about the only info I can get out of it shows I've used it 10 of 10 nights, and for a total of 19 hours...

3. My machine has a data card in the back, but I was told it had to go to the lab to be read...why on earth is that necessary? I've had more informative pedometers...during the Carter Administration.

I've read the paper manual provided and one from the ResMed website; they were about the same, and I can't say I got much from the reading.

4. Is there any reason besides personal comfort (preference) to use the humidifier? I travel a good bit for work, and leaving the humidifier behind cuts the machine volume by more than half.

5. I'm curious how many people using CPAP or similar also use sleeping pills (I'm guessing nearly 100%). On the rare occasions in the past when I might've needed a pill, I just imbibed; not being a drinker otherwise, a bit of wine or whiskey sent me sleeping quickly. That's a sin, now, so I'm on AmbienCR.

Thanks!

1: We all been there, done that! Yes it does take some a while to get used to the mask and find the right mask.

2: Not familar with machine as others here are

3: Many of us have purchased the software to read the card. It records data from the machine, such as leak rate, AHI's snoring ect ect..

4: Some don't need it, but others do. I get a dry throat and a frozen nose if I don't use it..

5: Nothing wrong with taking a bit of wine or whiskey to help you sleep, now bendge drinking, thats a different story!

[alnhwrd]

Welcome to the forum! Many people have issues with taking their masks off at night at first. In time the mind adapts to the thought of sleeping with a hunk of rubber and plastic strapped to your face and you don't have as much diffculty. You can try taping the headgear to the skin of your face so that you feel a pinch when the mask comes off which would hopefully wake you up enough to stop yourself form taking it off. Some have success with using a product called Pur-sleep which helps them relax and not get the urge to take off the mask at night. Time should solve this issue for you.

I don't have your machine, but I do have a Resmed, and I can press and hold the right and left arrow button and bring up the Efficiency Menu which will show my nightly pressure, leak rate, AI Hi and AHI info. I can also access the clinicians menu by pressing and holding the right and down button for a few seconds. If you choose to do so, I recommend writing all of your settings down before changing any of them so you can change them back if you want to.

The widespread use of Humidifiers for new CPAP users has increased compliance, so it is viewed as not just for comfort, but as a compliance aid. Without it many wake up with dry sinuses and nasal passages, coughing, dry sore throat, etc. Over time some adapt to the point they don't need one, and perhaps you will too. But most people need some extra humidification at least in the beginning.

I do not use any sleep medication. Drinking before going to bed is bad sleep hygiene. It may help you go to sleep, but will keep you from sleeping deeply and make you more prone to waking during the night. It also dehydrates you. These are some of the reasons you feel bad when you wake up after drinking. As a grown up, you get to make you own choices, so do what seems best to you. Pre-cpap I needed lots of booze and a handful of Tylonel PM to get even 8 hours of sleep. Now I sleep much better without it, and I don't have to take the bottles back! When I do drink I don't even bother checking my stats for the night because they are always skewed by the alcohol.

I would not take Ambien or any other prescription sleep meds if I was not using my CPAP all night long, as the meds can make you have more and longer apneas. Since you are sleeping more deeply it is harder for your body to wake itself up so the apneas last longer and your blood alcohol dips lower.

Best of luck to you!

[snoregirl]

I also do not take sleep aids. I think your close to 100% guess is way off.

[plr66]

I also do not take sleep aids. I think your close to 100% guess is way off.

Ditto, Snoregirl.

[Hawthorne]

Same here. I have never taken a sleeping aid and have been on cpap for just over 6 years. I didn't even use a sleeping aid for my sleep studies - but never slept well during sleep studies.

The only time I have ever taken a sleeping aid is if I am in hospital and it's the night before major surgery. Thankfully that hasn't happened in the last 14 years. Touch wood!!!!

It appears your 100% taking sleeping aids with sleep apnea is getting farther and farther off the mark. Since yo're curious about this, thought I add to your "poll".

[jda1000]

I concur with the non-use of alcohol, and would skip also the Ambien - but the first five nights or so of use meant near-zero sleep. I'm hoping the Ambien is a transitional phase.

I'm on a full-face mask, and "Ultra" that covers nose and mouth and has an adjusting screw against my forehead. I have had little trouble with the seal, and consider the thing comfortable, but have no basis for comparison. My only other mask experience was with industrial painting-safety gear, years ago.

I found another post which was very helpful in that I learned to get to the clinician's menu, but I've been unable to find definitions of the acronym, jargon, and units, as follows below. I've checked the ResMed website and read my manuals, but they seem written to ensure a technician controls almost all parameters of treatment. There's probably a whole 'nuther post possible on that topic, but as a newbie, I bite my tongue....

So, definitions needed: any help's much appreciated:

AHI: I think this measures apnea events; my sleep study had me at, I believe 42 / hour. But I can't find a definition or a range of what's "normal" or "severe."

AI: No idea

HI: No idea



Under "USAGE DATA" I find:

USED HOURS: 00021

the down arrow leads to:

USAGE: 0011/0011

the down arrow leads to:

USAGE: NO DATA
day... (up arrow) exit

pressing "day" leads to:

USAGE: 2:29HRS
wk... (up arrow) exit

pressing wk... leads to:

USAGE:NO DATA
mth... (up arrow)

****************
So, is there a place I can go and learn this?

Also, I'm developing the slight feeling the vendor is withholding information and places zero value on customer service - I've not heard one word from them since the dropped off the machine. Given the importance of succeeding, and what seems to be a high drop-out rate, it seems the vendor could do a better job - have others had similar experiences?

[jda1000]

I'm GLAD to be way off in guessing 100%; I do not much like sleep aids - from Jack Daniels or BigPharm - and look forward to not needing them (or even thinking I do).

So far, however, I've not fallen asleep WITH the mask on, and without and aid. After days without sleep, simply functioning in the daytime required SOMETHING. I suppose practice and time will help?

Does AmbienCR wear off and leave one wakeful as does alcohol? If I read my machine right, I'm using the machine only two hours a night - but I've slept for about eight hours the last several nights. Any relationship between waking after two hours, removing the mask, and then sleeping blissfully (if probably ineffectually) for the rest of the night?

Thanks!

[Kiralynx]

Well, I can't answer any of your ResMed questions since I have Respironics, but there should be software and card readers available -- look here:

https://www.cpap.com/simple-find-cpap-p ... dules.html

If you find the ones for your machine, I'm pretty sure they'll be more capable than a Carter Administration pedometer. (And I may actually have one of those in the back bedroom....)

1. I seem to wake up in the night at some point and remove the mask, then return to sleep...I'm awake enough to remember doing it, but I don't seem to remember what woke me, or why it seemed so important to remove the mask - is this a matter of growing accustomed to the mask?

It appears to be a not uncommon problem, removing the mask. After all, sleeping with that contraption strapped on your face doesn't feel natural. I slept very lightly initially, until I found the direct seals for my Comfort Lite 2 mask which were so much more comfortable for me than either pillows or nasal mask, though my repeating, "I will keep my mask on, I will keep my mask on..." as I was trying to go to sleep probably didn't hurt, either.

4. Is there any reason besides personal comfort (preference) to use the humidifier? I travel a good bit for work, and leaving the humidifier behind cuts the machine volume by more than half.

No reason other than personal comfort. However. CPAP air does feel (to me) significantly drier than air which I just breathe normally, and I would have trouble not having my nose dry out and get very sore without the humidifier. This may especially be the case if you are traveling a lot by air -- the air in those planes is SO dry that you need some relief from it when you get to your destination!

5. I'm curious how many people using CPAP or similar also use sleeping pills (I'm guessing nearly 100%). On the rare occasions in the past when I might've needed a pill, I just imbibed; not being a drinker otherwise, a bit of wine or whiskey sent me sleeping quickly. That's a sin, now, so I'm on AmbienCR.

You'd be wrong. I had cancer surgery in April of 2008. Prior to that, and through October, I was taking 18 mg of melatonin to get a "decent" night's sleep, that is, only punctuated by waking up two or three times to take anti-inflammatories for the hip pain (which had nothing to do with the surgery) which had plagued me for six years.

Within a month of starting with my BiPAP, I cut the melatonin use to 9 mg. By two months, it was down to 3 mg. Just this week (2.5 months), I was able to eliminate the melatonin altogether. And, the pain management doctor who sent me for the sleep study was 100% right: disordered sleep can, indeed, cause chronic pain!

[plr66]

So, is there a place I can go and learn this?

Well for starters, go to the big yellow lightbulb at the top of this page and read everything. Then drop down to the very first post line where the subject reads: "Where A CPAP Newbie Should Start "
This is all incredibly helpful stuff that should be "required reading" for all newbies. I found it all to be a godsend.

[Paul56]

Hi -

just a few questions, after ten days of this...

1. I seem to wake up in the night at some point and remove the mask, then return to sleep...I'm awake enough to remember doing it, but I don't seem to remember what woke me, or why it seemed so important to remove the mask - is this a matter of growing accustomed to the mask?

I had that happen once to me early on. The next night I went to bed with a different attitude... "You WILL keep the mask on". That seemed to work for whatever reason.

2. I'm using a Resmed Autoset II; about the only info I can get out of it shows I've used it 10 of 10 nights, and for a total of 19 hours...

Lots more information and configuration changes available. Sounds like the DME may have your machine locked up tight and have not shared much information about it.

To get into the Clinical Menu: Simultaneosuly press and hold the right hand "--" key and down arrow. At first the display will indicate the humidifier is warming... but keep holding and eventually the Clinical Menu screen will appear.

Be careful back there to not inadvertently change any of your settings without knowing.

3. My machine has a data card in the back, but I was told it had to go to the lab to be read...why on earth is that necessary? I've had more informative pedometers...during the Carter Administration.

I've read the paper manual provided and one from the ResMed website; they were about the same, and I can't say I got much from the reading.

Clinical Manual provides much more information. If you want it send me a PM with your email address and I will forward a copy. It will explain how to navigate the menu system and much more.

4. Is there any reason besides personal comfort (preference) to use the humidifier? I travel a good bit for work, and leaving the humidifier behind cuts the machine volume by more than half.

I would suggest trying a few nights without the humidifier while you are at home and see how you do... if you do fine then you are good to go without it. I agree that leaving the humidifier out of the equation reduces the complexity and lug factor.

5. I'm curious how many people using CPAP or similar also use sleeping pills (I'm guessing nearly 100%). On the rare occasions in the past when I might've needed a pill, I just imbibed; not being a drinker otherwise, a bit of wine or whiskey sent me sleeping quickly. That's a sin, now, so I'm on AmbienCR.

No sleeping pills here... if anything I may use extra strength Tylenol some nights. I normally don't have trouble getting to sleep.

[jda1000]

Hi -

I'm continuing to learn, and trying to be optimistic and patient, and just wanted to say "THANKS" for all the good answers and the time it takes to provide them.

jda

[Sleet]

The info from Paul about accessing the clinical menu is very helpful. You can get a good amount of information out of there.