Eureka! I won!

<Laughing> Welll...actually, Hubby will be the eventual winner as he has FINALLY acquiesced to trial my spare APAP! I've always known that Hubby had sleep apnea but has obstinately refused to get a sleep study. He hasn't had one yet, but hopefully the at home experiment will lessen his anxiety so that he can do a sleep study. Baby steps! 6 months ago when I attempted to put a mask on him, we looked like two kick boxers participating in a blood sport competition! This time around I stressed "Do or die". Now that my hip surgery is fully healed, I straddled him (and NOT in a FUN way)...and murmured softly in his ear sweet threats not to yank the dang thing off...<laughing>

The Dreamwear large pillow fit him great but he felt it a bit constricting. He kept the Airfit P10 large pillow on for 40 minutes. Baby steps! So we'll see what happens tonight if he actually tries to SLEEP with it on!

I'm not using my brand new AS AutoSet for Her backup machine, so let's put it through its paces, right? Better'n just sitting alongside my recliner in my computer room rarely used. (I use my new S9 at night)

I have to admit that I pushed a tad bit harder when I found a P10 on Amazon for $49 ($5.17 shipping).I thought it was a good price. I'll be "ageing into Medicare" next month (That birthday milestone evokes a bittersweet feeling...I'm now officially an "old lady"...but am also glad I made it to old lady status...lol.....and unfortunately, Lincare and Apria are the top 2 Medicare DME suppliers here. So I ordered a P10 for myself last week just in case all those stories about Apria/Lincare being unreliable are true. Though I'm not worried about keeling over from apnea as, in 7 months on CPAP, I've already got 2 Dreamwears/spare cushions, 2 P10s/spare cushions, a Swift FX/spare cushions, and a Mirage FX. That ought to hold me for quite some time.

So I just ordered another P10 for Hubby at $49. I know Medicare should take care of his and my supplies but his sleep study may still be months away and I don't want him losing any more brain cells...Lol...He already tells me he can't remember a thing I say....Uh huh...selective memory at work!

So, any suggestions on what a good starting setting should be for Hubby? The usual wide open 6-20, then check on Sleepyhead? Keeping fingers crossed that he actually goes through with it tonight. My son, who had a 115 AHI (150? can't remember) at his sleep study 2 years ago and who has also been obstinate about using his BiPap, also agreed to try his tonight. (I threatened to disinherit him...no, not really, yes, really, no..not really...do whatever it takes! ) So, it's a two-fer! It'll be a hot time in the ole town tonight! I guess "I" won't be getting any sleep though, as I'll probably keep waking up to ensure that they haven't trashed the masks!

Thanks for any suggestions....this board has been most helpful to me in my CPAP journey.

I think you know that you're not doing this the way you're supposed to do it. I'm not criticizing you; I can't even say that I would handle it differently if I was in your situation.

I'd start off with a minimum pressure of 4. You don't really know how much pressure he needs and if he doesn't need very much, then he'll only get four. I'd ask how much the pressure bugs him. If it does bug him, then I'd start with a maximum pressure of 10. If he spends much of the night at that pressure or his AHI is high, then gradually raise it after reviewing the SleepyHead data the next day.

By the way, I'm not expert on this. I just saw your post and decided to give you my thoughts. I know that there are many people on this forum who know a great deal about these things.

You might want to try to talk him into at least getting one of the at home overnight sleep studies. He'll need medical supervision in order to have insurance pay for CPAP stuff.

I did this to my sister and her husband a while back.

I would suggest starting at 6 cm...my sister only lasted about 20 seconds with it at 4 or 5 and she yanked the mask off and swore I was trying to suffocate her. We had to do 6 for her comfort...you husband may or may not have a problem with the 4 that someone mentioned.
Or he might think you are trying to cash in on some life insurance....so go by his comfort because he needs to be comfortable to ever sleep and we gotta get the sleep for anything else.

As for the maximum...I am on the fence about that one...on one hand we want to see where the pressure needs to go but on the other hand if it wants to go wildly up there in the teens it may cause problems with leaks, comfort and scare him off. He's already pretty gun shy as it is.
So what I did with my sister and her husband was a modest 6 min and 10 max and told them if we saw it hitting 10 very much we would need to increase it and cross that bridge if we needed to.
My idea was to prove the need for cpap...and worry about finding the best pressure for a later time. Heck, it might work out like it did for my brother in law....it went to 9 cm and pretty much stayed there all night. Never hit 10.
My sister...it never budged off 6 so we aren't so sure she has sleep apnea because her main complaint was fatigue and that got fixed by changing blood pressure medicine. BIL...it was obvious he had it but he blew it off and is paddling up the DeNile River.

Good luck. My husband won't even touch the nasal pillow on my mask to see how soft it is. He asked me once what it felt like and I held it out to him to touch it and you would have thought I handed him a red hot poker. No way in hell was he going to even touch it. I guess he thinks that if he touches it that he will catch the OSA germs or something.
In 8 years...never ever has touched anything except the machine to help me pack it up for travel. Big baby.

So if it were me I would prove the need first and worry about optimal pressure later.

Congratulations on getting him to at least try it. I could not get my wife to try it. She insisted she could never sleep with one of those things on her face. When we go in for our physical, we always go in together. I told our doctor that she would stop breathing while sleeping, and she snored. Our doctor scheduled her for a sleep study. She has been using a BIPAP machine for almost 3 months, and has admitted it is not as bad as she thought it would be.

DanceDiva26 wrote:So, any suggestions on what a good starting setting should be for Hubby? The usual wide open 6-20, then check on Sleepyhead?

sounds like the best plan to me

Hubby had the mask on for 1 hour and 45 minutes last night. Wellll.....<siiigh> it's a start. I've never heard such moaning and groaning...and NOT in a FUN way. I'm not naturally a patient person and last night I vacillated between being the Guiding Angel of Mercy and Nurse Ratched at the Apnea Asylum. Hubby kept doing the "Bewitched" nose wiggle...kept thumping the recliner arm in a steady staccato...."I need a bathroom break"...."I need some water".."It feels different than earlier"..."I need to stop and mow the lawn" (Duh...it's 11:00 pm. - he must've been half asleep when he said this...or else it's his stock answer to me whenever he wants to get out of doing something else I NEED him to do)

I initially fixed his first 1,000 leaks...but later I told him he needed to learn how to adjust it for himself. Imagine my surprise when I heard a huge leak, heard him whine "it's blowing in my eye!"...turned around....and saw him with ONE pillow in ONE nostril and the other pillow on his cheek. Aaaaargh! He'll shrivel up in embarrassment if he learns I've posted this last tidbit on the Internet, albeit anonymously. He's not a stupid man...he's simply being hugely oppositional to CPAP. <deep sigh>


Pugsy: Thanks for the response! I did set it to 6-10 as at this point I'm simply trying to acclimate him to the idea of simply putting on a mask at all...and I'll do all sort of machinations to try and increase the length of time. Titration is actually secondary. I know you've had problems with encouraging your relatives too. Very frustrating. In my case it's HUBBY, and IF he strokes out, it's ME that'll have to do the caregiving. So in my best Nurse Ratched voice I told him "I expect to spend my 'little old lady' years on a cruise ship dancing the night away...and if ya' wanna be there too....USE THAT CPAP!!!!"

I scrolled through the board...Happy Belated Birthday Pugsy! You have been my ever helpful and encouraging Guiding Angel! Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your help! But Pugsy, m'Dear....didn't you set your GPS for OutBACK Steakhouse....instead of the OutHOUSE one?? <You know I'm just teasin' you>

Kong: Thanks for responding.

You might want to try to talk him into at least getting one of the at home overnight sleep studies.

I'm waaay past the "talking" stage. We're into "slap and straddle" now. <laughing> And most definitely he'll need medical supervision. He has all the classic symptoms of apnea. He had hand surgery in February at an outpatient clinic, and the anesthesiologist said he obstructed immediately so glad that I warned him of the possibility in advance. The anesthetic nurse said she had to use extra measures to keep him open. Upcoming is a carpal tunnel surgery on his other hand...it's gotta be done in hospital.

She has been using a BIPAP machine for almost 3 months, and has admitted it is not as bad as she thought it would be.

OkieBiPap: Thanks for responding. Kudos to your wife for persevering. I hope to hear that sentiment someday from Hubby too! BTW Okie...in a long ago post I asked how to convert SleepyHead time to regular time. You responded that having been in the military you just automatically converted it. How do ya' do that? I've tried the deduct 12 thing...but my Sleepyhead time usually starts somewhere near 21:00:00, which would put my start time at 9:00 p.m. I know that's not right since I rarely go to bed before 12:00. Is there an easy and quick way to convert the time in my mind?

PaleRider - Thanks for the response. I'll run it wide open like that later. Even at 6-10, it kept hitting 10 even though he wasn't sleeping at all. Maybe I'll up it to 12 tonight. Hope things are well with you.


xxyzx

Thanks for the response.

why not just sign up for a PSG and titration at a sleep lab and get it right from the gitgo

Well....I would if I could, but I can't so I shan't. (yet). Every appointment I've made for him he has called and cancelled. I've just got to get him to the point where he will actually agree to even GO to a sleep doctor.

I'm grateful that I've had an easy time adjusting to CPAP, but I do sympathize with those that are struggling mightily. I am watching a hard case unfold right here. I do have faith that if one perseveres (with guidance and help from this board) it can get better.

I'd like to stress to newbies the importance of at least giving a fair trial to all pillow/cushion sizes instead of assuming. I initially started with the Dreamwear Medium pillow. Worked fine but leaked a bit when on my side. Same with the Medium Wide of course...so I keep the MW on when in my recliner since I'm on my back. The Large was totally unwearable but fit Hubby's high, strong Roman nose. My son's silly DME wrongfully fitted him and gave/charged him 6 SMALL Dreamwear pillows. I wish I'd been there...what a waste. Well, frugal person that I am...I tried using the small. To my surprise, they too felt absolutely fine! They were actually more stable on my side and I could breathe surprisingly easily through them. Check out this leak line...with a .34 AHI. Who woulda thunk I could go from a MW to a Small?

DanceDiva26 wrote: OkieBiPap: BTW Okie...in a long ago post I asked how to convert SleepyHead time to regular time. You responded that having been in the military you just automatically converted it. How do ya' do that? I've tried the deduct 12 thing...but my Sleepyhead time usually starts somewhere near 21:00:00, which would put my start time at 9:00 p.m. I know that's not right since I rarely go to bed before 12:00. Is there an easy and quick way to convert the time in my mind?

It sounds like your time is off in your machine. You can set the internal clock on your machine. You can not set it back until after noon, or you will erase date for the night. Check you time settings just prior to going to bed tonight. Go into the clinical menu and scroll down to "Configuration". You will be able to set the date and time. Set the time to your local time.

If your hubby is a victim of multiple nighttime trips to the bathroom, then he will like the future. After my therapy was tweaked, my bathroom breaks came to an end. For that one benefit, CPAP is worth it. Of course, for the first time after 43 years, my wife no longer hears me snoring.