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Re: Several Questions
Posted: Sat Sep 14, 2019 7:32 am
by Pugsy
Oh....side note.
There is no need to always lock the SD card. That warning really only pertains to the ResMed S9 machines.
Some operating systems put a little text file on the SD card when it gets inserted in the computer. It doesn't hurt anything in terms of the software but the S9 machines don't like that text file being on the SD card so the S9 machines would tell people "invalid card" and force you to erase the card to get rid of the offending text file. S9 models are the only ones that the little text file bothered.
Your AirCurve 10 machine doesn't care about that file.
So...no need to lock your SD card anymore.
Re: Several Questions
Posted: Sat Sep 14, 2019 12:21 pm
by palerider
Pugsy wrote: ↑Sat Sep 14, 2019 7:28 am
Yes....The CA you see on the OSCAR reports are centrals...clear airway apneas which are what centrals are.
If your machine flags a central it will show up on the CA line in the Events graph.
We're getting that fixed too.. non-respironics machines will say 'Central',
Re: Several Questions
Posted: Sat Sep 14, 2019 1:48 pm
by golfgame
Pugsy wrote: ↑Sat Sep 14, 2019 7:32 am
Oh....side note.
There is no need to always lock the SD card. That warning really only pertains to the ResMed S9 machines.
Some operating systems put a little text file on the SD card when it gets inserted in the computer. It doesn't hurt anything in terms of the software but the S9 machines don't like that text file being on the SD card so the S9 machines would tell people "invalid card" and force you to erase the card to get rid of the offending text file. S9 models are the only ones that the little text file bothered.
Your AirCurve 10 machine doesn't care about that file.
So...no need to lock your SD card anymore.
Is there a place to go to learn how to read those Oscar reports?
Re: Several Questions
Posted: Sat Sep 14, 2019 3:04 pm
by palerider
golfgame wrote: ↑Sat Sep 14, 2019 1:48 pm
Pugsy wrote: ↑Sat Sep 14, 2019 7:32 am
Oh....side note.
There is no need to always lock the SD card. That warning really only pertains to the ResMed S9 machines.
Some operating systems put a little text file on the SD card when it gets inserted in the computer. It doesn't hurt anything in terms of the software but the S9 machines don't like that text file being on the SD card so the S9 machines would tell people "invalid card" and force you to erase the card to get rid of the offending text file. S9 models are the only ones that the little text file bothered.
Your AirCurve 10 machine doesn't care about that file.
So...no need to lock your SD card anymore.
Is there a place to go to learn how to read those Oscar reports?
Start with "pugsy's pointers" in the announcements on the front page.
Re: Several Questions
Posted: Sun Sep 15, 2019 6:41 am
by golfgame
golfgame wrote: ↑Wed Sep 11, 2019 9:25 am
Pugsy wrote: ↑Wed Sep 11, 2019 9:15 am
golfgame wrote: ↑Wed Sep 11, 2019 8:16 am
I really would like to be able to use Bleep but as I said initially when applying the ports there are generally no leaks but they develop through the night. Your thoughts on that issue?
I was unclear as to just what was happening with the Bleep....was it adhesive failure or what?
Was the bad leak report above from a Bleep night???? If not the Bleep...which mask?
Have you taped your mouth shut to totally rule out mouth leaking? That would be the first thing I did...because to fix a problem you first have to identify the problem.
You need to be way more specific when giving us information so we can best offer ideas.
My crystal ball is broken and I flunked mind reading 101 in college.
The Bleep failure is that when I install the ports they are completely void of air leaks but at some point, during the night I wake and there is then air leaking from or around the ports. Sometimes I actually thought that the attachable part was leaking where it attaches to the port. Other times there is air seeping out from under the adhesive portion.
I have tried taping with various tapes and I still show leaks in the morning report. The taping seems to make the cheeks adhering to the gums worse. I will try again and report back.
Pugsy, my message to Stuart at Bleep.
"A good deal of the time I struggle to get the mask attached. I believe that this weakens the adhesive attachment.
Many times about 4 hrs into the sleep I am awakened to an air noise. Sometimes the port has come partly loose and other times a leak is starting because the adhesive is starting to come loose. When that happens there is no fixing it so I simply pull the ports off and finish the night with another mask.
I have had a conversation with Pugsy on the Cpap Forum and she has said that at times she struggles to make the attachment as well.
I don't know what you could do about this, one thing that comes to mind is that the ports need to be longer.
Another possibility would be a set of short hose sections an inch or two that could be attached to the ports as they are stuck to the nose, then the connection to mask. These extensions could come with the mask as opposed to being packaged with the ports."
Re: Several Questions
Posted: Sun Sep 15, 2019 7:39 am
by Pugsy
I am afraid that if we make the port neck thing a little longer so that it attaches a little easier we are going to have more hard plastic for us to lay on when we bury our heads in the bed pillow. It might hurt.
What I would like to see is a port that the attaching portion isn't so rigid.
That way a little more length could possibly be added and not have it dig into our upper lip area and be a little more substantial to aid in the attaching process.
But if things are more flexible that is also going to make attaching a bit difficult likely in another way. Always something.
All I can tell you is more practice, practice, practice and you will get better at it so it takes less time and the times when it has to be redone happen less and less often.
The adhesive itself coming loose.....that's a different thing and related to facial oils and maybe a little sweat causing glue failure.
And yes....if it comes loose there is simply no way to get it to hold the rest of the night. Swapping out to a different mask is about the only choice and is why I keep the P10 on my night stand but it rarely gets needed at this stage of my using the Bleep.
If I follow my proper routine (the washing and alcohol) I simply don't have this problem unless I have a wrinkle in the adhesive part up the side of my nose and that's what I use the little bits of adhesive I trim off for. Sometimes I get a wrinkle but that again happens less and less often as I perfect my application technique.
The Bleep has a few little things that are less than perfect for some people...like the attaching thing and people with lessened finger dexterity or adhesive failure because of skin oils or sweat. Stuart knows this and is working on trying to smooth out these little bumps in the road and that's all I ask. That they try. I in turn have to be patient because I know all this takes time and lots of money.
You probably don't know this but for 10 years I always said that I wanted a nasal pillow mask that I could just glue or tape onto my nose. Honest....just ask my husband. He's been hearing that want list for over 10 years.
When I first heard about the Bleep I was like a kid in the candy store but was well over 3 years before it became available to even try much less for public sale. I hated waiting. Finally someone had done what I had been wishing for all these years.
If the adhesive failure thing continues for you even despite a good face scrubbing with a good oil removing soap (try Lava on the nose area) and alcohol wipe down...there is a barrier wipe that is better than just alcohol but it is a bit pricey compared to alcohol.
It's the stuff used for colostomy bag skin prep. Adhesive failure on colostomy bags is REALLY annoying.
So the stuff that is used for that is extra strong sticky.
Re: Several Questions
Posted: Sun Sep 15, 2019 8:14 am
by golfgame
Pugsy wrote: ↑Sun Sep 15, 2019 7:39 am
I am afraid that if we make the port neck thing a little longer so that it attaches a little easier we are going to have more hard plastic for us to lay on when we bury our heads in the bed pillow. It might hurt.
What I would like to see is a port that the attaching portion isn't so rigid.
That way a little more length could possibly be added and not have it dig into our upper lip area and be a little more substantial to aid in the attaching process.
But if things are more flexible that is also going to make attaching a bit difficult likely in another way. Always something.
All I can tell you is more practice, practice, practice and you will get better at it so it takes less time and the times when it has to be redone happen less and less often.
The adhesive itself coming loose.....that's a different thing and related to facial oils and maybe a little sweat causing glue failure.
And yes....if it comes loose there is simply no way to get it to hold the rest of the night. Swapping out to a different mask is about the only choice and is why I keep the P10 on my night stand but it rarely gets needed at this stage of my using the Bleep.
If I follow my proper routine (the washing and alcohol) I simply don't have this problem unless I have a wrinkle in the adhesive part up the side of my nose and that's what I use the little bits of adhesive I trim off for. Sometimes I get a wrinkle but that again happens less and less often as I perfect my application technique.
The Bleep has a few little things that are less than perfect for some people...like the attaching thing and people with lessened finger dexterity or adhesive failure because of skin oils or sweat. Stuart knows this and is working on trying to smooth out these little bumps in the road and that's all I ask. That they try. I in turn have to be patient because I know all this takes time and lots of money.
You probably don't know this but for 10 years I always said that I wanted a nasal pillow mask that I could just glue or tape onto my nose. Honest....just ask my husband. He's been hearing that want list for over 10 years.
When I first heard about the Bleep I was like a kid in the candy store but was well over 3 years before it became available to even try much less for public sale. I hated waiting. Finally someone had done what I had been wishing for all these years.
If the adhesive failure thing continues for you even despite a good face scrubbing with a good oil removing soap (try Lava on the nose area) and alcohol wipe down...there is a barrier wipe that is better than just alcohol but it is a bit pricey compared to alcohol.
It's the stuff used for colostomy bag skin prep. Adhesive failure on colostomy bags is REALLY annoying.
So the stuff that is used for that is extra strong sticky.
I agree with all that you said. In lieu of making the hard plastic port longer, I thought that an additional 1" small hose that you would attach to the port before you adhered it to your nose would be useful. Then it would be simple to attach that to the mask. As it is now the angle that you have when attaching the mask to the port is a tough one.
I don't think the adhesive failure is sweat related as I have started using soap and water in addition to the alcohol final stage. I perceive the issue to be all of the pulling and tugging at the port to initially attach it and then again in the middle of the night.
Re: Several Questions
Posted: Sun Sep 15, 2019 8:33 am
by Pugsy
Are you a big person with big fingers?
Do you have much arthritis in your fingers or hands?
Both of which can make fiddling with attaching the ports more difficult.
Do you try to angle the adhesive up the side of the nose or do you try to angle it more towards the upper ear outer corner of the eye?
I found that when I tried to go up the side of the nose more that the port opening part tended to angle more outward and not downward and that seemed to put extra stress on the adhesive along with making the attaching process more problematic.
So I do better with the tape part going more horizontal pointed to sort of between the top of the ear and the outer eye.
This does involve more floppy skin though (I am 67 yrs old) so what I do is gently place the port on the nostril and pull my skin taut and apply the adhesive to the skin first...press it down so no wrinkles and then I come back and press to seal on the nostril as the last step.
This routine seems to work best for me. Minimal chance for wrinkles because I take the wrinkles out of my skin first.
I also overlap the adhesive between the two nostrils and I make sure that enough adhesive covers the bottom and side of the nostril. Extra security sometimes with the trimmed off strips.
Re: Several Questions
Posted: Sun Sep 15, 2019 11:31 am
by golfgame
Pugsy wrote: ↑Sun Sep 15, 2019 8:33 am
Are you a big person with big fingers?
Do you have much arthritis in your fingers or hands?
Both of which can make fiddling with attaching the ports more difficult.
Do you try to angle the adhesive up the side of the nose or do you try to angle it more towards the upper ear outer corner of the eye?
I found that when I tried to go up the side of the nose more that the port opening part tended to angle more outward and not downward and that seemed to put extra stress on the adhesive along with making the attaching process more problematic.
So I do better with the tape part going more horizontal pointed to sort of between the top of the ear and the outer eye.
This does involve more floppy skin though (I am 67 yrs old) so what I do is gently place the port on the nostril and pull my skin taut and apply the adhesive to the skin first...press it down so no wrinkles and then I come back and press to seal on the nostril as the last step.
This routine seems to work best for me. Minimal chance for wrinkles because I take the wrinkles out of my skin first.
I also overlap the adhesive between the two nostrils and I make sure that enough adhesive covers the bottom and side of the nostril. Extra security sometimes with the trimmed off strips.
Are you saying that you attach the mask to the ports before you adhere to the nose? That was a suggestion from Stuart.
Re: Several Questions
Posted: Sun Sep 15, 2019 1:28 pm
by Pugsy
golfgame wrote: ↑Sun Sep 15, 2019 11:31 am
Are you saying that you attach the mask to the ports before you adhere to the nose? That was a suggestion from Stuart.
No....but you know I need to try it just to see how it works out. Maybe tonight I will think of it and see just how easy or not so easy it might be.
Can you picture this....
I take the port part and apply it very gently to the nostril area...barely touching and not sealed at all.
Then I position the pointy part of the adhesive outward more towards the area of my cheek between the top of my ear lobe and the outer corner of my eye.....then I take my fingers and pull the skin, between the nostril crease and under my eye, a bit smooth then I press the adhesive down on the skin.
When I don't pull the skin taut first my old wrinkly saggy skin will often give me a wrinkle in the adhesive seal. Wrinkles are weak spots in the seal.
And then I go back to the part around the nostril where the plastic part is and finalize the seal over the hole in the nostril as last step.
I make sure some of that adhesive comes a little below the crease on the side of my nose. Gives it extra strength less chance of a weak area getting weaker with tossing and turning stress on it.
And then I attach the mask to the ports.
And as last step I put the palm of my hand over the end of the hose and check to see if I can move air when I breathe.
90% of the time I don't have to redo anything but occasionally I have to redo the port to mask attachment even though it initially looks good. The first 3 months though of using the Bleep...maybe 50% of the time I got it right the first time.
It used to take me 2 to 4 minutes...now maybe 30 seconds from start to finish.
Re: Several Questions
Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2019 7:23 am
by Pugsy
Okay....I tried something different last night. I attached the ports to the QR clip before attaching the ports to my nose just do see how it would work.
It can be done and made to work but it takes extra fiddling with the ports to get them stuck without a wrinkle on the outer adhesive area that is on the cheek portion under the eye.
I had to separate the two ports and leave one of them stuck on the paper before attaching the first one.
Then remove the paper on the second one and attach it. That second one gets in the way a bit and if you have the paper off of both they are going to touch each other and then you have 2 stuck together and no way to get the second one on the nostril. Big mess.
Put the first one on and then remove the paper on the second one and it can be successful.
It did take a bit of fiddling and extra care to get the first one stuck properly with the other one and paper sort of in the way but it can be done without having to do an inordinate amount of fiddling or taking huge amounts of time.
It is a little harder to be wrinkle free but I imagine with time and practice that would become less of an issue.
You have to make sure when you attach the ports to the QR clip thing that you are attaching in proper position in regards to how the mask will end up in terms of orientation to the face...little hump of the mask to the top kind of thing.
So you attach the ports to the QR thing with the paper still on....but be sure to separate the two ports and leave the paper on the second one until after you have the first one attached to your nostril and then pull the paper off and stick it to the other nostril.
Re: Several Questions
Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2019 7:33 am
by golfgame
Pugsy wrote: ↑Mon Sep 16, 2019 7:23 am
Okay....I tried something different last night. I attached the ports to the QR clip before attaching the ports to my nose just do see how it would work.
It can be done and made to work but it takes extra fiddling with the ports to get them stuck without a wrinkle on the outer adhesive area that is on the cheek portion under the eye.
I had to separate the two ports and leave one of them stuck on the paper before attaching the first one.
Then remove the paper on the second one and attach it. That second one gets in the way a bit and if you have the paper off of both they are going to touch each other and then you have 2 stuck together and no way to get the second one on the nostril. Big mess.
Put the first one on and then remove the paper on the second one and it can be successful.
It did take a bit of fiddling and extra care to get the first one stuck properly with the other one and paper sort of in the way but it can be done without having to do an inordinate amount of fiddling or taking huge amounts of time.
It is a little harder to be wrinkle free but I imagine with time and practice that would become less of an issue.
You have to make sure when you attach the ports to the QR clip thing that you are attaching in proper position in regards to how the mask will end up in terms of orientation to the face...little hump of the mask to the top kind of thing.
So you attach the ports to the QR thing with the paper still on....but be sure to separate the two ports and leave the paper on the second one until after you have the first one attached to your nostril and then pull the paper off and stick it to the other nostril.
I tried it and did not have the results that you did. I ruined a set. I haven't decided if I will try it again. I may not have used the same procedure that you did. I will study how you did it then decide.
Thanks Pugsy
Re: Several Questions
Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2019 11:32 pm
by Jas_williams
I’ve tried the same thing but having the mask in the way makes it fiddly to ensure the port if fully sealed arround my nose especially where both ports meet, I can leak there if I don’t provide enough pressure where thee port meets my upper lip due to stubble as I don’t shave every day. Think I will stick to the one at a time method then attach the QR connector when happy
Re: Several Questions
Posted: Tue Sep 17, 2019 6:55 am
by Pugsy
I had tried it (attaching the ports first and then sticking the ports to my nose) early on but I had removed both ports from the paper and created nothing but a big mess. The mask got in the way and two sticky things seemed to immediately gravitate to each other.
This time when I tried it the other night I kept one of the ports on the paper....the paper was in the way a little but at least the port didn't stick to it. But then once I got the first port on I had a bit of trouble getting the other one off the paper.
The mask just gets in the way a bit.
But I got it done and it held all night.
I found it was more work than my usual way of applying ports to nose first and then attaching to the QR clip but I have no doubt that if I were to do it more that I could probably perfect the technique so that it wasn't that big of a deal and seem like more work.
I really don't have that big of a problem attaching the ports...it's a sometimes thing for me and not enough for me to try to learn a different way to get the job done.
For me the leaving the second port on the paper was the key to success though. If I don't do that the ports just too easily come together and then you got a big sticky mess that can't be undone.
Re: Several Questions
Posted: Thu Sep 19, 2019 5:22 am
by golfgame
golfgame wrote: ↑Wed Sep 11, 2019 9:25 am
Pugsy wrote: ↑Wed Sep 11, 2019 9:15 am
golfgame wrote: ↑Wed Sep 11, 2019 8:16 am
I really would like to be able to use Bleep but as I said initially when applying the ports there are generally no leaks but they develop through the night. Your thoughts on that issue?
I was unclear as to just what was happening with the Bleep....was it adhesive failure or what?
Was the bad leak report above from a Bleep night???? If not the Bleep...which mask?
Have you taped your mouth shut to totally rule out mouth leaking? That would be the first thing I did...because to fix a problem you first have to identify the problem.
You need to be way more specific when giving us information so we can best offer ideas.
My crystal ball is broken and I flunked mind reading 101 in college.
The Bleep failure is that when I install the ports they are completely void of air leaks but at some point, during the night I wake and there is then air leaking from or around the ports. Sometimes I actually thought that the attachable part was leaking where it attaches to the port. Other times there is air seeping out from under the adhesive portion.
I have tried taping with various tapes and I still show leaks in the morning report. The taping seems to make the cheeks adhering to the gums worse. I will try again and report back.
Last night was a complete failure with Bleep, not because Bleep failed but because I ruined two sets of the ports trying to get them positioned correctly and attached to the mask. For some reason, I was getting some of very minor but yet still enough to affect the adhesive discharge from the nose to prevent good adhesion. I had to reverent to the P-10 mask. That is not anywhere near as effective as the Bleep.
In regards to mouth taping have you tried the Somnifix strips? They rate well but are expensive.