Had my titration... and it really wasn't that bad!

I had my titration done last night, and it really wasn't that bad. They gave me an initial pick between two masks to start with, but told me that if I needed to go through 50 differnet masks until I found one I liked that was fine as well.

I first went with the Swift II since I had read that it worked well for those who slept on their sides. It was sort of noisy to me, and I found myself having to tell myself to breathe. When they were having me do the initial tests to make sure all the electrodes were working, I kept having that thought of "can you rub your stomach and pat your head at the same time". It was pretty pitiful and I had a moment of, "oh, crap, I'm never going to be able to do this."

But, I kept it on and layed down to watch tv. When I turned on my side, and curled my hands up near my face, I would push my cheek up which would dislodge the mask. After a bit of adjusting the straps and pillows, I asked to try a different mask.

This time it was the ComfortGel. They initially sized me out at a medium. I had a bit of air blowing into my eyes. After adjusting the straps and mask placement, etc., I finally decided that it was just too big. If I made it comfortable around my eyes, It completely covered my top lip. If I moved it up slightly on my lip, I got leaks around the eyes and the mask pressed in weird areas.

So, I asked for a smaller size. They cautioned me that going down a size might put more pressure on the bridge of my nose. Strangely enough, this one worked much better and did not press on my nose or eyes at all. The noise wasn't as bad. The mask stayed put when I was on my side. And best yet - I didn't have to TELL myself to breathe!

Now, I just get to play the waiting game again. I talked to the local DME and the ONLY machine that have is the Resmed S8 ELITE. If it is indeed the elite, that will be fine. If they try to give me one of the lower models of the S8, I'll just take my business elsewhere!

Ahhhh! If you are getting the Elite you are getting a great straight CPAP. I love mine. And I'm impressed that your local DME supplier has opted to go w/bulk purchasing Elites rather than the Compacts and Escapes. And it was good to hear that your sleep lab was willing to offer you such a wide variety of masks to try until you found one that worked well for you. Sounds like you are off to a good start!