New to this- Need Help!

Hi all,

I am trialing a Dreamstation Autopap with a Dreamwear Nasal pillow. My AHI is around 15 without treatment and my ramp says 4 on the machine. I am a side sleeper and am having a couple of issues and would love some advice. I am swallowing a lot of air and I think I drool/mouth breathe sometimes when I cant breathe through my nose. My nose gets blocked fairly easily and I think because I move around so much I am shifting or squishing the pillow, this lead to some breathing through my mouth for sure during the night. It does give me a bit of anxiety as this is all very new. Can anyone help? I am thinking I might need a full face mask (Simplus?), but am wary it will be super claustrophobic! I dont thinking taping my mouth is a good idea and am unsure about chin straps. I will also try to download the Dreamstation software, which will hopefully tell me if there are leaks.

Thank you in advance!

-On a side note I feel like I have been dreaming more since I started using it, strange coincidence?

The dreaming more is normal, and why not try a FF mask - but remember to do that when lying down because your face changes a lot then and the fit will be different.

dubleon wrote:Hi all,

I am trialing a Dreamstation Autopap with a Dreamwear Nasal pillow. My AHI is around 15 without treatment and my ramp says 4 on the machine. I am a side sleeper and am having a couple of issues and would love some advice. I am swallowing a lot of air and I think I drool/mouth breathe sometimes when I cant breathe through my nose. My nose gets blocked fairly easily and I think because I move around so much I am shifting or squishing the pillow, this lead to some breathing through my mouth for sure during the night. It does give me a bit of anxiety as this is all very new. Can anyone help? I am thinking I might need a full face mask (Simplus?), but am wary it will be super claustrophobic! I dont thinking taping my mouth is a good idea and am unsure about chin straps. I will also try to download the Dreamstation software, which will hopefully tell me if there are leaks.

Thank you in advance!

-On a side note I feel like I have been dreaming more since I started using it, strange coincidence?

Hi Dubleon,

If you are claustrophobic, you might look into this mask as an option because it moves the pressure off of the cheeks and nose.

https://www.cpap.com/productpage/respir ... dgear.html

dubleon wrote:I am trialing a Dreamstation Autopap with a Dreamwear Nasal pillow. My AHI is around 15 without treatment and my ramp says 4 on the machine.

Since this is a trial, it could be that the machine settings are not the ones that will give you good therapy. Poor CPAP therapy can lead to problems including not being able to breathe exclusively through the nose.

dubleon wrote:My nose gets blocked fairly easily

This is an indication you need a full face mask (FFM). But, it could be that once your medical pros have your machine set appropriately, you will find that the CPAP pressure keeps your nose open and the mouth breathing subsides. It's hard to say. If it were me, I would switch to a FFM. After your machine settings are optimized, you could try the nasal pillows again.

You can browse FFMs and Hybrids (A type of FFM) here - https://www.cpap.com/cpap-masks.php

49er wrote:If you are claustrophobic, you might look into this mask as an option because it moves the pressure off of the cheeks and nose.

https://www.cpap.com/productpage/respiro ... dgear.html

That's not at all a popular mask, and I don't believe you have ever used it. I would not recommend it to a (assumed) newbie unless there are some unusual circumstances.

dubleon wrote: I am a side sleeper and am having a couple of issues and would love some advice. I am swallowing a lot of air and I think I drool/mouth breathe sometimes when I cant breathe through my nose. My nose gets blocked fairly easily and I think because I move around so much I am shifting or squishing the pillow

Does your nose easily get stopped up during the daytime?

Do you routinely breathe through your nose during the daytime?

Are you using the humidifier on your CPAP? If so, what setting are you using?

A stuffy nose that's only present when you are using CPAP can be due to too little humidity OR too much humidity. If you regularly breath through your nose during the daytime without problem, you can probably adjust the humidity setting on your PAP to make it easier to breathe through nose at night.

ChicagoGranny wrote:

49er wrote:If you are claustrophobic, you might look into this mask as an option because it moves the pressure off of the cheeks and nose.

https://www.cpap.com/productpage/respiro ... dgear.html

That's not at all a popular mask, and I don't believe you have ever used it. I would not recommend it to a (assumed) newbie unless there are some unusual circumstances.

Actually, I have used it CG. I just couldn't get it to work because of the leaks which was frustrating because I did like it.

You are right, it isn't a mask that is normally recommended but since he said he was claustrophobic and needed to use a full face mask, I thought it was a good option for him to try.

49er

49er wrote:I just couldn't get it to work because of the leaks

If it is not popular, and it didn't work for you, and you don't know anyone for whom it works, maybe you shouldn't be recommending it. Eh?

Thanks so much all. I increased the min pressure from 4 to 6 and I can breathe much better! My wife says I was mouth breathing/doing a darth vader impression a bunch last night though.

ChicagoGranny wrote:

49er wrote:I just couldn't get it to work because of the leaks

If it is not popular, and it didn't work for you, and you don't know anyone for whom it works, maybe you shouldn't be recommending it. Eh?

I agree it's not a popular mask, but I did send 49er the mask, and she attempted to get it to work. I have always said it was a mask of last resort, but dang... there are a bunch of folks that have worn the mask successfully.


Sheriff

I think the nasal pillow is causing me to cough and wake up. It could be I recently had a chest infection. I'm going to try a fullface mask (Fisher and Paykel Simplus) and the Airsense A10.