Newbie needing advice

This will be long, but I wanted to give the whole history because I am not sure right now which questions I need answered.

I have had insomnia all my life. A year ago a good friend was diagnosed with sleep apnea and said that his cpap machine "saved his life." I finally got a job with good benefits and got referred to a sleep study clinic. When I went in for the initial appointment, I saw a nurse practitioner and not the doctor. After simply reading my questionnaire she told me that I needed Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and a Sleep Study. No questions were asked, no physical examination. So I went for the sleep study, and had a miserable night. First, the ambien that she said would be given to me was not available because "we are all out." I was up until 3 in the morning, and finally slept for about 3 hours. I went for a follow-up with the doctor this time. He was 30 minutes late and only met with me for 10 minutes before he told me he had to go. He told me I had moderate sleep apnea, briefly showed me a printout of what that meant, and signed me up for a second sleep study with "titration." I went for the sleep study (this time bringing my own ambien) and was again up real late because the mask was so uncomfortable. It was a full face mask that put intense pressure on my nose, or would leak. The sleep tech told me that it shouldn't hurt because it was a "perfect fit", but I battled pain for much of the night. I finally gave into the Ambien and fell asleep, and went in 4 days later for the "results." I met with someone (no one told me what she did) who gave me a CPAP machine (Fisher and Paskel hc234) and said my pressure was prescribed as 7 and briefly explained how to use it. I was also fitted with a Mirage Liberty full face mask (which is much more comfortable than the sleep study one). I have now been using the machine for 1 week.

But...I am more tired than I ever was. I have a deviated septum and am only able to breathe through my nose when on my left side. I also have mild asthma which has been very well controlled through steroid inhalers. I haven't needed a rescue inhaler in years. After night 4 I awoke to awful asthma, sinus pain, and a completely dry humidifier chamber. I thought I might not have filled it completely, and tried again. That morning I woke up about 2 hours early, discovered that the chamber was empty, so I refilled it. When I woke up about 90 minutes later, the chamber was again bone dry. I called the clinic and was asked to bring in the machine. They replaced it, saying that the other one might have been defective. So I brought the new one home last night, and again woke up to awful asthma and sinus pain.

so with all this negative experience, I decided to do a little research online. I didn't do it beforehand because my friend had such great success with this remedy. But i had no idea there was so much to it. I do not have a data capable machine. The only info I have been able to find is that when I used the brand new machine for 8 hours last night, it said I only used it 5.5 hours. But I don't know what that means, nor can I get a hold of anyone at the clinic (as it is the weekend.)

So I think these are my questions:
- What questions should I be asking when I go in for a follow-up?
- What options do I have for a new machine if I am not satisfied with this current one?
- Has anyone else had problems with asthma on cpap?
- anyone know a good doctor in santa cruz, CA?

I hope this makes some semblance of sense. I am exhausted and not functioning at a high level. I want to follow-through with cpap, but am beginning to wonder if it is all worth it. I am more tired than I was before, and now I have chest congestion on top of it.

Thanks in advance for reading and/or replying with help.

--gtaylorfry

I can't address your asthma problems, but can tell you that many people have turned their humidifiers down, or off altogether because of nasal congestion. It just doesn't help some people and as it's a 'comfort' thing and not therapy as such, you might just want to go without it and see how you do. I know people with asthma do better in dry environments as well. Good luck.

I'm sorry you're having such a difficult time. I'm not qualified to answer any of your questions, but just wanted to welcome you to the forum. Have you read the "Our Wisdom", which is at the top of the page, click on the yellow light bulb. Good luck to you.

gtaylor, I'll add my "welcome to the board!"

Enjoyed meeting you in the chat earlier in the evening. As I mentioned there, I don't know about the asthma aspects...don't have that, thankfully.

Several of us in the chat held forth on one of our favorite subjects though...
"- What options do I have for a new machine if I am not satisfied with this current one?"

Hope you got the machine names all written down and tucked away. Good luck!

Here are a couple of links in case you need them:

My list of machines that record "full data" (AHI and leak info) and those that don't -- updated through Oct. 2009:
viewtopic.php?p=307168#p307168

DME might not understand what "Full data" is.
viewtopic.php?p=344265#p344265

you can try to get a machine with some kind of exhale relief... though that gave me problems with my asthma, I had to turn that off.

Definately see about getting a better machine. Make sure that you do it in the first 30 days. You'll probably have to complain loudly to both the doc and the person that got you the machine.

Try for an auto with exhale relief and full data. That means you want one of 2 different companies. The two most common companies are Respironics and Resmed. You'll want an Auto or an Autoset/Vantage from those respectively.

The reason for an auto... is that it gives you the most possible options to be able to adjust to find out what will work for you and your asthma. You can go with straight CPAP using an Auto... or you can use the Auto as an Auto. The other options can be turned on or off.