Relative newbie, have a few questions :)

kaiasgram · Post by **kaiasgram** » Thu Mar 20, 2014 9:16 pm

There's a recent discussion about using a soft cervical collar to help keep the airway open.

SleepyStar · Post by **SleepyStar** » Thu Mar 20, 2014 9:37 pm

Y'think the 24 hour pharmacy would have that? Otherwise it'll have to wait until tomorrow...wish I'd thought this through a bit sooner...though we all honestly thought I'd have my machine by now!

The bite guard from the dentist....I've noticed when I wear it I tend to wake up with a dry mouth, I think it's causing mouthleak. (That or I'm opening my mouth to not touch it. Not like I can see LOL). I figured tonight that'd actually work in my favor...

Might be a many-wakeups sort of night. And a good reminder of why I have stuck so religiously to my xPAP even with all the air swallowing and ear pain that never really went away with the escape...at least I had my head on straight!

kaiasgram · Post by **kaiasgram** » Thu Mar 20, 2014 9:40 pm

SleepyStar wrote:Y'think the 24 hour pharmacy would have that?

Chute, I don't know but you could give them a call. I know stores like CVS and RiteAid usually carry them, and I think I've seen them at Target too.

SleepyStar · Post by **SleepyStar** » Thu Mar 20, 2014 9:50 pm

It's a CVS.

It's also just a bit creepy this late at night outside. I do have body pillows that are a bit soft for using as a pillow but do support decently around the neck, those + sitting up may work for tonight, I think. Think I'll give it a shot. If not...well, I'll get one if by close of business I have no APAP.

djhall · Post by **djhall** » Thu Mar 20, 2014 11:49 pm

When I had a tooth extracted and couldn't wear my mask because it pressed on some very tender gums I built a pretty good incline wedge out of pillows under my upper body for a couple nights. That put me up at about a 30 degree angle. It wasn't anywhere near as good as my machine, but it was better than sleeping flat.

SleepyStar · Post by **SleepyStar** » Fri Mar 21, 2014 4:43 am

Well time to be up for work. Was on a crappy 20 minute sleep/wake cycle all night. I reaaaaaaallly hope the insurance crap gets sorted today. Kept alternating between a 60 degree incline on my back and a nearly flat lying on my side, nothing was really working well.

But hey, this is reinforcement that xPAP is absolutely the right answer.

SleepyStar · Post by **SleepyStar** » Fri Mar 21, 2014 10:39 pm

I got my Autoset!

And am now rent-to-owning a second humidifier as they said they only do the two together.

Eh. I am not fighting it. I got my machine and they don't seem to mind if I tinker with my comfort settings with doctor's ok. And he told me he doesn't care about those at all but to call him before any non-ramp related pressure changes. So this is a very nice arrangement. And it means I could keep a spare humidifier around which is half of a backup. Works for me. Maybe next year or with a secondhand find I can get my hands on the blower and have a full backup set. The new humidifier is staying untouched in my travel bag until I decide.

I did have a nap right away before I went to a friends place. It was the best nap I have ever had in my life. And I woke up with no ear pain! I have hope for tonight that this will solve my troubles

I think I am going to wind down for bed and try this out for a whole night

Thanks again you guys. <3 Everyone has been really helpful here!

kaiasgram · Post by **kaiasgram** » Fri Mar 21, 2014 10:48 pm

Great news, you're on your way now!

SleepyStar · Post by **SleepyStar** » Sat Mar 22, 2014 6:00 am

First night review:
- 6 hours of sleep total (went to bed a little late compared to my wakeup for 8 hours, but, this is comparable to my m-f nights...)
- Mask fit had a green smiley.
- 1/1 nights with compliance hours met (easypeasy)
- AHI of 0.1
- No ear pain!!!!!
- I feel a little air in my stomach but it is down like 95%. Could be I just need to adjust. It felt more like I had to actually suck in air a bit to get air in and was way easier to breathe out though.
- I do have a bit of a headache but I think that is leftovers from no machine Thursday night. I remember it took a few clean nights to fully ditch them when I first started too, so I will give that a bit of time.

Now I just need to figure out some software to be able to see where my pressures ended up last night as I don't know how to read that off my screen. Super curious. I do know my range is 7-15 cmH2O.

Pretty successful first night with an APAP though!

SleepyStar · Post by **SleepyStar** » Thu Mar 27, 2014 9:42 pm

1 week with autoset checkin!

I figured out how to get rolling with Sleepyhead with Pugsy's excellent guides.

And with it, some data that surprised me.

My Autsoset is set to 7-15cm based on an original setting of 14 fixed and that was painful and I was doing a bit better at 8ish. And 7 felt a bit airstarved when I first laid down so I wasn't ready to drop lower than that and my doc was fine with that. I also turned on my smart start and that's been helping a lot with things as then I'm able to not be all omg-moving-mustbreatheharderintomask right at the start, I can settle into my bed after flailing for the on button and setting the bed to where I like it.

I had NO idea where it's been this last week. I just let the machine do its thing. It's been a little weird actually breathing in and pulling air in compared to feeling like I'm getting air in like someone trying to drink through a firehose, but I bet that's how it's supposed to feel, yeah? It's not feeling nearly as weird now that I'm getting used to it though.

Pull the data into sleepyhead, and my median is 7.1cm (4.1 out with the EPR). My 95% pressure is 8.5ish last night. No wonder I was having all that air swallowing and ear pain at 14, eh? Some nights it does spike all the way up to 10, and I am noticing shifts those rare occasions I actually remember having a dream, so the Autoset was the right move over the elite. I'm hoping now that I'm finally getting things settled I'll have more of these dream things Pre-cpap I think I hadn't remembered having a dream since high school...

I also noticed a couple leaks but they were when I woke up startled by things outside or for the one really big one, I looked at the time and remember my tubing got tangled in the pillows and blankets. Not worried about that leak, more worried that I might pull the thing onto the floor again flailing around.

Should I be calling my doctor about lowering the floor volume if I spend about 80-90% of my night right near my minimum pressure, or give it a few weeks first? I just want to let the machine do everything it can to make sleep awesome.

And for something fun, tonight I'm trialing the Airfit P10. Will have comparisons to the Swift FX in the near future.
Thanks again whoever's reading

zoocrewphoto · Post by **zoocrewphoto** » Fri Mar 28, 2014 3:01 am

Sounds like a great improvement for you. Like you, I tend to be at one pressure most of the night and have a few spikes higher, but not need the higher pressure most of the time. This is a situation where an apap really shines.

Relative newbie, have a few questions :)

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