sleep apnea

[c.wooten]

i have sleep apnea and have a hard time using the nose mask they gave me because it clogs my nose up and i take it off when i'm sleeping anyone have a answer to that

also i have a roommate that does not understand when i do not sleep with the cpap that i do not get good sleep and if i sleep for 8 hours that i did not get 8 hours of sleep
anyway my point to this is i need help to get him to understand me and to not be so blind to what i mean...

like today i was in church and after church he talks to me again about how i start to fall asleep in church and was like why u had a few hours of sleep before going u should be fine
and i have told him more then once your sleep of a few hours is different from my few hours of sleep


so pl z help me to help him to understand how hard it is for me to not sleep when I'm setting and not doing something and the difference in his sleep vs my sleep

[Pugsy]

What machine are you using? Brand and model?
Using a humidifier? If so at what setting? If not....get a humidifier and use it.
Nose mask...did you mean one of those masks that goes over the nose? Does your nose completely become clear after the mask is removed fairly quickly?

To help your friend understand what is going on...let's see... tell him that tonight you are going to put a pillow over his face for about 20 to 40 seconds every couple of minutes all night long...ask him how good his sleep quality will be.

Taking the mask off in the middle of the night and not remembering it...fairly common but it may be related to congestion so maybe need to work on making the therapy itself more comfortable.
If you are taking it off and just deciding not to put it back on...bad habit to start. Bad habits are easy to make and hard to break.

[simplyme]

Hi c.wooten,

I agree with pugsy that humidity might help with your nasal stuffines, it seems to help me. Sometimes I just have my water tank filled even with no heat, when it is superwarm weather, and that has helped too. The best thing for me has been using a full face mask that allows me to breathe through my mouth if my nose is stuffed up for any reason. My mask type is below, and this is a thread where we discussed my crazy modifications to make it more comfortable for me. The chin strap I made helps me not to take the mask of in my sleep, so if that is the problem for you something like that could help.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=88030&st=0&sk=t&sd=a#p805636

Now for the roommate, tell him to imagine every time he fell asleep someone shook him to wake him up, that you are actually waking up all throughout the night but not enough to be able to realize it, just enough for your body to make you breathe in and that it severely disrupts your ability to be rested. Then to add to that you are not getting the oxygen your body needs like pugsy said, so you are not refreshed in the morning.

I was wondering did you have a daytime sleep study too? Some people fall asleep during the day because of other conditions like narcolepsy. Just a thought if cpap does not end up helping the daytime sleepiness after a while.

Keep on getting used to your mask it will get easier in time. And continue to be proactive about your care, I found the more I learned about apnea and cpap the better I was able to keep using it. I'm not 100% to where I would like to be with my treatment, but it is improving all the time. I'm still newish to it really.

[Julie]

And sometimes humidity should be turned down or off because it congests nasal breathing.

[caffeinatedcfo]

I agree with above comments regarding humidifier/humidity settings. Seems like I always had one side on my nose clogged up. Since starting CPAP with humidified air, this has 90% resolved. A generic saline spray takes care of the other 10%.

I like Pugsy's analogy of apnea for those that do not understand, very simple and understandable.

[c.wooten]

yes i do have humidifier and im set at 16 with the humidifier at 3 form what i just read i will be dropping it to 2 and seeing if that helps

also i like what u said pugsy's easy and to the point new way of saying time to have a little pillow talk...lol



mask is nose only
machine hillips respironics remstar

i took a picture of my machine but cant find a way to add it

[RandyJ]

If your nasal stuffiness doesn't resolve with tweaking your humidifier and adding a saline spray, there are prescription nasal sprays available like Flonase and Nasonex which are used daily and can keep you open so that you can use a nasal mask.

I tried everything, including nightly saline rinses, but what finally worked for me was Nasonex.

[simplyme]

mask is nose only
machine hillips respironics remstar

i took a picture of my machine but cant find a way to add it

If you go into your user control panel at the top left area of the website, you will find the profile tab and an option to edit equipment, that is where you can select your equipment and choose to display it as text or images. Also if you want to display other pictures in the future, copy and paste the URL after saving the image on a site like photobucket, folow the instructions on photobucket to link the corect url, then paste the URL in and after highlighting the entire url link select the button above your text box that says Img. That will display the actual photo, hope that helps

[chunkyfrog]

1) If you are falling asleep in church, you need more sleep worse than going to church.
God still loves you--He just forgot to make you impervious to sleep deprivation.
2) Breathe Right strips may help keep your nose clear.
3) You need a different roommate.
Life is too short to put up with crap!

[jencat824]

1) If you are falling asleep in church, you need more sleep worse than going to church.
God still loves you--He just forgot to make you impervious to sleep deprivation.
2) Breathe Right strips may help keep your nose clear.
3) You need a different roommate.
Life is too short to put up with crap!

Amen to everything Frog said!