Still hatin' on the Facehugger (after 4 months)

[McSnoresalot]

Really dislike the machine, forging on through sheer willpower.

Pros:

Wifey likes the no snoring aspect of the machine
Seems like I have less daytime sleepyness (maybe - was never that concerned about it anyway)
Doing SOMETHING about the alleged OSA.

Cons:

Facehugger strapped on EVERY night
Sinus congestion that I used to ignore now HAS to be dealt with - no skipping the Clariton or Saline
Gone from sleeping 7+ hrs each night to about 5+ (better quality sleep I keep telling myself)
Forced to lug MORE support gear when traveling
Increase in bedtime ritual to the point of annoying - no more flop on bed, go to sleep - now have to get all the gear cleaned and set up, adjusted...etc.
Any alchohol consumption turns the bedtime ritual into a field sobriety test
CAN'T SLEEP FACE DOWN - figured out side sleeping ok - SleepWeaver Mask fixed that problem for me but facedown is over.

Apap is retarded for me, back to straight Cpap, no ramp, humidorfier set as low as it will go - best pressure is around 16 when on Apap, but on Cpap lowest AHI is around 14 - not sure why that is, Auto seems runs up the pressure to the point where AHI increases - go figure.

Compliance has been marginal last couple of weeks - allergy season, ffm sucks ass - get an hour or two out of it and then off it goes. When clear enough to use the nasal mask, usually get 4.5-5 hrs with AHI around 2.5-3 and leak line pretty flat.

Goal at this point is to make it a year compliant and see if it is still worth it.

Mac

[OutaSync]

I hear you, Mac.

I've decided to be 100% compliant for 10 years, and if I haven't started to feel better that pre-CPAP by then, I'll make the decision as to whether or not I want to go 10 more years. I'm almost at 4 years, still no improvement.

[Janknitz]

Apap is retarded for me, back to straight Cpap, no ramp, humidorfier set as low as it will go - best pressure is around 16 when on Apap, but on Cpap lowest AHI is around 14 - not sure why that is, Auto seems runs up the pressure to the point where AHI increases - go figure.

This MAY have to do with your APAP settings. What are they? What do the pressure and events graphs look like in APAP mode???

There's nothing wrong with running it in CPAP mode if that gives you the best therapy. But if you want to run in APAP, you can set the pressure to go no higher than 14 and see what happens.

If you search stomach sleeping here, you will find a member that was successful in sleeping on her stomach by using a wedge shaped pillow which she cut out in the center to accomodate the mask and to allow for the exhaust to vent.

At some point, this all becomes second nature. You strap on the facehugger and go to sleep. No big deal. It will happen.

I just took my first trip (by car) with CPAP. It was really not as bad as I anticipated. Both places I stayed had something I could hang my hose from with some elastic hair bands, I got the perfect sized water jug at the Dollar Store for carrying just enough distilled water on the trip, and the small extra C-pap bag was no hassle. Because I had my CPAP, I slept much better than I normally do in strange beds (I took my pillows with me, too). And my kids didn't complain about having to listen to me snore all night!

[robysue]

Really dislike the machine, forging on through sheer willpower.

Pros:

Wifey likes the no snoring aspect of the machine
Seems like I have less daytime sleepyness (maybe - was never that concerned about it anyway)
Doing SOMETHING about the alleged OSA.

Cons:

Facehugger strapped on EVERY night
Sinus congestion that I used to ignore now HAS to be dealt with - no skipping the Clariton or Saline
Gone from sleeping 7+ hrs each night to about 5+ (better quality sleep I keep telling myself)
Forced to lug MORE support gear when traveling
Increase in bedtime ritual to the point of annoying - no more flop on bed, go to sleep - now have to get all the gear cleaned and set up, adjusted...etc.
Any alchohol consumption turns the bedtime ritual into a field sobriety test
CAN'T SLEEP FACE DOWN - figured out side sleeping ok - SleepWeaver Mask fixed that problem for me but facedown is over.

You've summed up a whole lot of my own feelings about my 8 /12 month venture into hosehead land.

Compliance has been marginal last couple of weeks - allergy season, ffm sucks ass - get an hour or two out of it and then off it goes. When clear enough to use the nasal mask, usually get 4.5-5 hrs with AHI around 2.5-3 and leak line pretty flat.

I'm finding I have to have a zero-tolerance attitude towards my rather mild, but constant-during-growing-season nasal congestion in order to be comfortable enough to sleep with my nasal pillows and I can't stand the thought of even trying a ffm at this point.

Other than taking the claritin and using saline (spray or full-fledged rinses?) what are you doing to try to keep ahead of the congestion? I'm finally making serious progress now that my (new) sleep doctor prescribed Flonase at bedtime---which is added to the Zrytec in the morning and the saline nasal spray as needed and a sinus rinse sometime after supper each evening. Have you ever tried a nasal steriod spray? If not, maybe you could ask your PCP or the sleep doc to prescribe something like Flonase for you.

Two good links for learning more about the importance of dealing with the congestion when you are on CPAP include:

• Nasal Breathing Video Series is from Dr. Barry Krakow's web pages
• Unstuff Your Stuffy Nose is from Dr. Steven Y. Park's web pages. Dr. Park is a forum member who posts under the name sypark

Goal at this point is to make it a year compliant and see if it is still worth it.

Mac

Best of luck in getting to that goal AND in finding something positive enough about how it's going to decide to try for a SECOND year ...

[BlackSpinner]

Cons:

Facehugger strapped on EVERY night
Sinus congestion that I used to ignore now HAS to be dealt with - no skipping the Clariton or Saline
Gone from sleeping 7+ hrs each night to about 5+ (better quality sleep I keep telling myself)
Forced to lug MORE support gear when traveling
Increase in bedtime ritual to the point of annoying - no more flop on bed, go to sleep - now have to get all the gear cleaned and set up, adjusted...etc.
Any alchohol consumption turns the bedtime ritual into a field sobriety test
CAN'T SLEEP FACE DOWN - figured out side sleeping ok - SleepWeaver Mask fixed that problem for me but facedown is over.

After 6 weeks of looking after my stroke disabled diabetic mother with dementia in a wheel chair I have zero empathy for this kind of thing anymore. Grow up and get over it. The pills, insulin, Depends, the caregiver's prep, the wheel chair and the struggle just to lift and get her into bed ......

[McSnoresalot]

I have zero empathy for this kind of thing anymore. Grow up and get over it.

Damn Woman, can't a guy grouse about shixt without getting jumped on?......Bwaaahhahahahaha

Actually - I'm with ya, can't stand a whiner. (Present company excluded, of course)

....grumble, grumble....still don't likey......grumble

Mac.

[BlackSpinner]

I have zero empathy for this kind of thing anymore. Grow up and get over it.

Damn Woman, can't a guy grouse about shixt without getting jumped on?......Bwaaahhahahahaha

Actually - I'm with ya, can't stand a whiner. (Present company excluded, of course)

....grumble, grumble....still don't likey......grumble

Mac.

In a couple of weeks when I have recovered emotionally my 2X4 will be better padded and I will remove the spikes too.

[CJNAZ]

Any alcohol consumption turns the bedtime ritual into a field sobriety test

That made me laugh out loud and about spit water all over the place. Too funny. At least thru your struggles you've retained your sense of humor.