New CPAP user... My experience so far

[CruzTerri]

Other than a cold nose and taking the mask off in the middle of the night, I can't really complain.

I've been on CPAP now since 1/10/2011, recently it was recommended that you can heat the water before putting it in your humidifier chamber, which will help with the cold. I also turned up my humidifier and purchased a hose cover. This has helped me quite a bit. But if you don't care for the humidity it may not help you.

TerriG

[gurp13]

Hi Terri,

I like humidity alright, to a point. I don't want to get rained on! A hose cover is on the way and my humidifier is just like yours, heated. I live in SoCal and I am betting that come summertime i'll be wishing my nose was cold! I have a feeling that this cold nose situation will be limited to the Winter months, all three of them. The groundhog didn't see his shadow, so Spring is on the way, I hear. Once I get the hose cover I will try turning the humidifier up to 4.

[Pugsy]

Lots of people use FF masks with facial hair but it is going to take more work for sure do to leaks.

Yes, if DME is talking "exchange" they do get a credit if they return a mask that someone either didn't like or couldn't use.

I have always used nasal pillows. Got the Swift FX last summer. Absolutely love it despite occasional strap movement. Unfortunately I don't have it in my experiment drawer since I use it.

You might ask if one of the members here on this forum has a gently used (tried and failed) Swift FX you could purchase from them... if you want to try it. Some love it ., some do not.. Just a thought. We do that sort of thing often here.

Edited... For some reason I thought OP was in Canada and gave usual Canada speech... So sorry to muck things up.

Otherwise, you can order from cpap.com for $127 I think.

[CruzTerri]

I, too, am in SoCal. Located in the High Desert near Edwards AFB. Very dry out here, more so when running HVAC either winter or summer.

Good Luck!

[gurp13]

My hose cover has not arrived yet. So, I got inventive last night. I took a cheap fleece blanket that my kids play with and rolled it around about four feet of the hose. Then, I zip tied it. So...

Night 8: my nose wasn't cold!!! Hurray for science! I fell asleep fairly quickly, so quickly that I couldn't remember what I listened to in my earphones to fall asleep. I think I am still awakening during the night, but going back to sleep. However, at 4am, I woke up and thought, "Well, that's almost the whole night. I guess that's enough. I'll just take off the mask now. I feel so refreshed!"

Note: I almost NEVER think straight in the morning. This morning was no exception.

So, I took off the mask, rolled over, and went to sleep, until 5:15 when my wife's alarm woke me up. Got up at 5:30 when my own went off.

My AHI says 1.4 over the 8 days. My 90% pressure is 10.8. I am using the machine and average of 5 hours 15 mins.

I am under the impression that I'm doing pretty well for 8 days in.

Since my mask doesn't really hurt, the machine reports 0 large leaks, and my AHI is low, should I skip exchanging the mask for nasal pillows? You know, like, why fix what ain't broke? Is the mask waking me up? Is this a normal acclimation period and I should just relax and go with it? Could nasal pillows help me sleep all night?

[Pugsy]

I took a cheap fleece blanket that my kids play with and rolled it around about four feet of the hose. Then, I zip tied it. So...

Been there, done that for rain out. Good job.

Since my mask doesn't really hurt, the machine reports 0 large leaks, and my AHI is low, should I skip exchanging the mask for nasal pillows? You know, like, why fix what ain't broke? Is the mask waking me up? Is this a normal acclimation period and I should just relax and go with it? Could nasal pillows help me sleep all night?

Up to you but you are very early in your treatment and it takes time to get accustomed to all this stuff. Mask may or may not be the cause of your waking. No real way to know unless you were having discomfort. Sometimes I think our bodies are so used to being sleep deprived that they just wake up sooner because they don't know any better. Sometimes we wake up sooner just because there are other reasons.

No need to fix what isn't broke unless you just to change. Give it some time. See how you do. There is always that 30 day window to exchange down the road. You can also just wait and maybe try the FX at a later date. I will tell you this, if you don't try the FX, you will always wonder....... I know this because it was what fueled my experimental stage. You just sound like me when I first started. LOL AND you say the "mask doesn't really hurt".... I don't hear complete satisfaction in that comment....

You may need to try something else to see how good you have it.. You might like something else better. But there is no rush right now. Give yourself some time to adjust.

[Janknitz]

I find the PR S1 air pretty cold in general--even in the summer, so it should feel nice then.

You can warm it up a little by running your humidifier in "classic" mode--you have to go into the clinician's menu to change this. Do a search here to find the instructions--they're somewhere. I've been using mine this winter and it is more comfortable than the usual arctic blast. But when the summer heat comes, I'll go back to the default mode as we have no AC and it's kind of nice to have a little personal AC

Some people even put ice cubes in their chambers during the summer!

[gurp13]

Lol, well, the mask is uncomfortable the way new glasses are uncomfortable before my ears get used to them. When I said it doesn't really I hurt, I guess I meant to say that it doesn't hurt me. It is merely uncomfortable.

It reminds me of cycling. One one hand, we always want to get a comfortable saddle. But, the truth is, you're riding a bike, not sitting on the sofa. So, the mask might be uncomfortable because it's a mask on my face!

I wonder, Apria says I get a new mask every six months, so, in July, do you think I can ask for the Swift FX instead of the ComfortGel?

Jan, I know how to get into clinician mode, I think. I went in and changed the machine to AFlex mode since that's what was prescribed and my RT forgot to do it. The classic mode for the humidifier is in there, too? What is classic mode like? I have the humidifier set to 3 right now.

[Pugsy]

It reminds me of cycling. One one hand, we always want to get a comfortable saddle. But, the truth is, you're riding a bike, not sitting on the sofa. So, the mask might be uncomfortable because it's a mask on my face!

I wonder, Apria says I get a new mask every six months, so, in July, do you think I can ask for the Swift FX instead of the ComfortGel?

Yes, in July you can ask for anything you wish. I will offer this. Should you get the FX at that time and find it intolerable I will get a new ComfortGel (in your size) for you from cpap.com or my DME if he has it and trade you even up for the FX. I won't touch the ComfortGel as I have no yearn for it and I won't care if you have used the FX a little.

Now let me address that cycling comparison. I used to ride horses a lot. Long distance. 25 miles in 5 or 6 hours or less. Bad back, yep but I rode. I could ride with a mediocre saddle that "almost" fit but the more I rode the more I realized I wanted more comfort. So I tried several and ended up spending quite a bit of money on one that fit my butt, my horses back and my short legs. The difference was like night and day and the best money I ever spent. I just couldn't bring myself to not improve the seating. I wanted to enjoy my rides and not be so crippled I couldn't walk after one.

Will you like the FX? In all honesty, I have no idea. What works for one will often not work for others. I just think that as your therapy time lengthens in all this that you probably will have that "what if" in the back of your head. You may not, but tell me in 6 months if you are 100% satisfied or have the least little inkling to try something different and I will shut up.

[Cindy Lou Who]

I have been seeing a certified sleep therapist who feels that my troubles concentrating and such were sleep related and who suggested the sleep study in the first place. He looked at the sleep study results and pointed out that the conclusions said I should have a second test with CPAP and titration study.

Welcome grup13. You've come to the right place. I had a good talk with my Neurologist about my problems concentrating, remembering complex tasks, and the hellish emotional roller coaster that was slowly getting worse...for no apparent reason. And failed two home studies with 127 hypopneas and an O2 desat. of 83%. I declined to be titrated in a sleep lab and asked the Dr to write a script for an APAP. He did and I'm very happy the way things turned out.
For the first two weeks or so when the machine increased pressure when I had an apnea it would wake me up. That takes some getting used to but now I'm not bothered by it. You might have this experience also in the beginning.
About masks...take a look at the Opus 360 nasal pillows. You can find them on Cpap.com. For me the 360 is more stable than the Swift FX. Everyone's face is different. The Swift FX leaked a lot for me, I didn't like the air venting down into the comforter and bouncing back into my face. I also knocked the FX pillows out of my nose when side sleeping even if the headgear was on so tight my nose would ache! Had dry eyes a lot which is not good. I like your "new glasses" analogy, it makes perfect sense.

IT sounds like you have a great attitude towards this and you are off to a great start! Thank YOU for posting about your nights....I'm learning great stuff from you
Cindy

[gurp13]

that sounds like a deal I can't pass up, Pugsy. I will take you up on it. I was already thinking that if they made me take the ComfortGel again that I could eBay it and get the Swift from CPAP.com. As long as nasal works for me, the pillows are appealing because I could wear glasses with it on.

The mask is far from crippling, though. All the same, thanks for all the great advice. I'm so happy to have people to talk about it with. Without this forum I would probably be a lot worse off. Just the aromatherapy and the hose covering have improved the experience quite a bit for me. Those are things I would have shrugged off as silly without this forum. But, I am so glad I tried them.

@Cindy, thanks for those kind words. I had hoped that my experience could help others, too. Most of my good attitude toward the therapy has come from this forum, so thank you!

[gurp13]

Great news! I wore the mask all night! It went on at 10:30 pm and came off at 5:30 am. My nose didn't get too cold for a change, either. Thanks, Hose Snuggle. I did wake up a couple times. But, my numbers are still good. I have a feeling that, going forward, I will wake up less. I even gave sleeping on my side a try and that worked but made my shoulder a bit sore. Not really a problem.

I'm pretty encouraged by this. Thanks for all the help!

[cflame1]

Another option if you can't get the air warm enough is a heated hose... sometimes called an aussie heated tube, or some folks have used a repti coil with their regular hose in order to heat it up.

[gurp13]

Thanks for the suggestion of the heated hose. I will keep it in mind.

My AHI is dropping, down now to 1.3. My 90% pressure is 10.4. I'm thinking of raising the aFlex setting higher. If my 90% pressure is over 10 then having the range all the way down to 5 doesn't make sense to me. Or am I not understanding how this works?

I wore the mask all night again. Slept on my right side a lot. I am using a memory foam pillow that has a bit of a curve to it but is not specific to CPAP use. Seems to work. My mustache area is still a little sore when I get up, but not like it was the first couple of nights. I started using the Calm scent from CPAP.com and am enjoying it. It's nice to change scents. I have some oils coming from Mountain Rose Herbs soon, too. I have to admit that the aromatherapy makes it kind of exciting to me to use the mask, LOL. Like an all night spa treatment for my nose!

(note: I don't necessarily buy all the claims of aromatherapy, however, I do think the sense of smell is underrated by many people. I don't think I can believe that aromatherapy has medicinal properties in terms of curing disease, but I think it can affect your mental state in huge ways. So, for me, the effect of making APAP comfortable and fun is pretty significant.)

I think it's funny how the little things like smell, or the hose cover, make a difference in terms of compliance. I went to sleep a little later last night at 11:00 am and slept until 5:30 when I had to answer Nature's Call. Then, I went back to bed... And put the mask back on! Slept two more hours.

I can't say that I feel a lot different on awakening, nor have my ADHD symptoms subsided. I will remain patient. I feel like I am dreaming more, though. The stress from my job is probably not helping me feel better.

[gurp13]

Night 9

Still improving. Slept from 11:30 pm to 7:00 am with the mask on. Admittedly, I took the mask off at 7am and then fell asleep again until just before 8am.

Nose felt fine. The area just under my nose was uncomfortable again but on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being worst pain ever) I would give it a 2. Humidifier is at 4 and that seems to be a sweet spot right now. No problem with dry nasal passages.

I was sleepy waking up but otherwise okay. I don't remember any of my dreams right now and I don't remember waking up. I slept on my right side most of the night and some on my back, I think. I used a lavender, clary sage and eucalyptus oil mix for my smells.

Oh, and I turned off ramp completely. Also kicked the bottom of the auto flex to 7. Top is still 20. I had been feeling like 5 was a little low to start. That felt okay, maybe even good.

So, there you go. I know a lot of people are waiting for these updates so I just had to let you know the latest.