I need fresh air

davep700 wrote:My nasal airways feel narrow and that also makes the situation difficult.

Time to schedule a consultation and exam with an ENT. He should perform an In Office Nasal Endoscopy & Laryngoscopy (http://www.tampaent.com/treatments-nasa ... el-fl.html) on your first visit. This just takes a few minutes to get a good look and make an assessment. He may also want to run some allergy tests. Typically, the only cost is a $50 copay for everything. Of course, insurance varies so check your policy.

Unfortunately, CPAP is not a magic box that cures all breathing problems. It is our responsibility to take care of our entire health.

People that put this off often say years later, "I wish I had gone to an ENT and followed his advice years ago!"

chicagogranny - who is your avatar photo of? I would say that photo is from around 1940-1950.

davep700 wrote:How can I change that feeling of stale, warm rubber/plastic/silicon/whatever smell

That is your room air that is being drawn through a filter to clean it. If it is warm it is because you have the humidifier going.

It is your mind that is saying the air is stale. Find a scent you can handle and put it on some cotton beside the air intake.

I've been sleeping with a diffuser and sweet orange/lavender essential oils for yrs. Placing these near your vent will help tremendously, both to relax and for that nasty plastic odor.

davep700 wrote: However, I still wake up with a suffocating feeling, need to remove the mask and take a few deep breaths. Unfortunately I usually drift back to sleep before I can reseat the mask properly.
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All this is is your sleeping mind panicking. For many year it has been keeping you alive by being always on alert in case you sleep to deeply. It kept you alive and it is not about to step down just because you have this mask on. Thank it for being such a good guard for all these years. Do not pull the mask off, just lift a corner and tell your self that the wind you experience is more then enough to breathe with. Be gentle on yourself. it can take up to a month for that part of your mind to really believe you can sleep in safety, that you won't try to die, according to my sleep doctor.

Do not take off your mask unless you are sitting up, Do not lay down until the mask is back on properly.

Last place I've seen fresh air being sold was, Anchorage Alaska Airport, 1965, on the way to our new vacation spot, Viet Nam, our 707 had engine trouble and we were stranded 4 hours in the lobby. They had Alaskan Fresh Air, in cans for sale at 50 cents a can, if I had know how rotten the air was going to smell over Saigon I'd have bought a whole case. Jim

Although, we also were locked up in a room, at the Philippines airport, they had to hammer on the engines again 4 hours for, kept us under guard so we wouldn't escape into the real world, the JP-4 in the air was terriable, nose and eyes running all the time.

The dreamwear mask is good in the sense that I can peel it off and it will pop back into place, though not completely right.

I will try the scents.

davep700 wrote:chicagogranny - your avatar photo - I would say that photo is from around 1940-1950.

You are close!

I know you all say that the lack-of-fresh-air feeling is psychological.

Last night however, with the cold weather, I moved the machine next to the window, left it open an inch or so, and with the help of the cool air I accomplished almost 5 hours on CPAP.

I tried pointing a tube from the outside window to the back of machine, which made the air even colder, but was stinging my nostrils.

My fault is problably that i do not like to keep my bedroom cool. Do any of you have any issue with CPAP in the summer months? ( I would guess you all keep the temp well maintained by AC).

The machine seems to work only at half mast if the room's at all warm... I definitely make a point of keeping it cooler than the rest of the place.

My experience is that with CPAP there are lots of things going on that those new to it just don't know what to call them. You say you need fresh air and this is as close as your mind can get to what new thing is going on.

Something is making you uncomfortable and you just don't know how to describe it using all the new CPAP language. It could be your temperature setting, humidity setting, exhale pressure setting, starting pressure setting, ramp time. I would go hunting for which one it is, one at a time which one makes you more comfortable.

That's true. I spoke to someone recently who uses BiPAP, was initially started on BiPAP and credits his successful treatment to that. Yet his inhale pressure is 10; my CPAP pressure is 12.

However, I don't think I'm much bothered by the pressure -- I don't even use the ramp. It's that when under the mask I seem associate the same air that's at room temperature with rebreathed air, and only cooler air is fully tolerable.

Someone said the exact same thing in 2007: viewtopic/t23683/I-want-to-flow-cool-ai ... -mask.html

I already tried cold water and ice in the humidifier .. it's only cold at the beginning.

A hose to bring in outside air was suggested. Even a valve to mix in room temperature air when it gets too cold.

In another thread It was suggested place the filled water tank in the freezer. I might try that.

I use Resmed product so some of what I say will be different on your machine.
Do you have water in the humidifier? Do you like humidity? Are you sure? I thought I did, but with CPAP I kept backing off humidity and now I have a dry tank.
Do you have a temperature setting? Mine is at 63 degrees and personally I do think it cools below room temp, but others disagree. I like it cold, but not crispy cold.

The point is, the way these systems are designed you cannot rebreathe your air, so something else must be going on and you brain is saying that you are rebreathing because it does not have anything else to call this feeling that is more accurate. For example for me pressure used to make me think I was congested. When I really do get congested I get sinus pressure-so when I was feeling the pressure my brain said you are congested. I had to relearn what pressure meant when I didn't have a cold. I still have to pay attention to this.

I suggest the first step is to repeat to your self I am NOT rebreathing my air. So if that is true just what is going on? If you can't adjust anything to make it better, many have used a cooler chest to put ice in and cool the hose, might try that and see.. Remember that if you lower the temperature you are also lowering the humidity.

many have used a cooler chest to put ice in and cool the hose,

That's another interesting idea. Thanks. I don't use humidity, just water in the tank. You have a temperature setting on your machine? Didn't know about that.