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Re: New here: mask injury, Oscar, etc
Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2020 10:13 pm
by Okie bipap
Sometimes you can wash the headgear in real hot water and it will shrink back. Most insurance plans will only replace the headgear once every six months. We get over a year out of a mask cushion, but we use a different mask than you are. When I used the Amara View mask, I had to change cushions every three months or they would leak too much. As with most things associated with sleep apnea treatment, your miles may vary.
Re: New here: mask injury, Oscar, etc
Posted: Sat Feb 15, 2020 8:52 pm
by Stephaniedp3
So my machine woke me up beeping again! 3am, did not see a warning though at 3am maybe I was too disoriented to pay attention. I don’t think it was a mask leak. I looked up the manual again and apparently it can be from the power supply having an issue ? I don’t know. Everything seems fine. Second time it’s happened. Been using since 12/18/19.
Re: New here: mask injury, Oscar, etc
Posted: Sat Feb 15, 2020 9:27 pm
by Okie bipap
Please post an Oscar screen shot of last night.
Re: New here: mask injury, Oscar, etc
Posted: Sun Feb 16, 2020 7:52 am
by Stephaniedp3
Okie bipap wrote: ↑Sat Feb 15, 2020 9:27 pm
Please post an Oscar screen shot of last night.

- 4713007B-05A0-4F3B-8079-0FA8C032507E.png (144.15 KiB) Viewed 2373 times
The only thing I see is a gap when I turned it off and back on when the beep happened.
Re: New here: mask injury, Oscar, etc
Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2020 7:02 pm
by Stephaniedp3
And a new experience. I woke up roughly 1-2 hrs after going to sleep with my mask off my face and on my chest, still on. Weird. Would think that would happen prior to 2 months of usage. Lol
Re: New here: mask injury, Oscar, etc
Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2020 7:55 pm
by hueyville
Try some nights like this which is not uncommon for me to have one or two a week in this range after years of treatment. Am 5' 10", 170 pounds, exercise regularly and have a sports nutritionist set up my diet. Have a myriad of injury related issues and my apnea didn't start till after a head injury.
That data is from my previous BiPAP ASV but got a new machine today as doctor wants to look at my data weekly from his computer and old machine doesn't have a modem. He is tired of me hovering around 35 AHI average then have odd nights down to 10 and up to 150. I hate the lobster on my face but I feel much better if use it opposed to not. Only way I can sleep without it is sitting up. With it I lie on back and never move till wake up after a few hours, take a pill and try it again. Good luck and losing weight now will save you having knee and hip replacements twice instead of once if live to a ripe old age. The average lifespan in U.S. is reversing for first time in history and weight is said to be a major contributor so like your apnea it's something if work on will improve your overall health and energy level significantly. Good luck.
Re: New here: mask injury, Oscar, etc
Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2020 7:15 pm
by Stephaniedp3
hueyville wrote: ↑Tue Feb 18, 2020 7:55 pm
Try some nights like this which is not uncommon for me to have one or two a week in this range after years of treatment. Am 5' 10", 170 pounds, exercise regularly and have a sports nutritionist set up my diet. Have a myriad of injury related issues and my apnea didn't start till after a head injury.
That data is from my previous BiPAP ASV but got a new machine today as doctor wants to look at my data weekly from his computer and old machine doesn't have a modem. He is tired of me hovering around 35 AHI average then have odd nights down to 10 and up to 150. I hate the lobster on my face but I feel much better if use it opposed to not. Only way I can sleep without it is sitting up. With it I lie on back and never move till wake up after a few hours, take a pill and try it again. Good luck and losing weight now will save you having knee and hip replacements twice instead of once if live to a ripe old age. The average lifespan in U.S. is reversing for first time in history and weight is said to be a major contributor so like your apnea it's something if work on will improve your overall health and energy level significantly. Good luck.
I’m sorry but how does this relate to my posts or the thread? I’m confused.
Re: New here: mask injury, Oscar, etc
Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2020 7:48 pm
by hueyville
You asked if your data looked good or bad and was giving you an example of what bad looks like. Also was trying to be encouraging on the other benefits of weight loss even if it doesn't affect your apnea.
Re: New here: mask injury, Oscar, etc
Posted: Thu Feb 20, 2020 4:57 am
by Stephaniedp3
Oh. I asked about my data quite a while ago. My recent post of data regarded me trying to figure out why my machine randomly beeps when no leaks appear to be happening.

Re: New here: mask injury, Oscar, etc
Posted: Thu Feb 20, 2020 6:05 am
by hueyville
As an FYI one of the first things I was told, especially since I grow a beard in winter but shave in summer, that it's better to have an occasional leak than no leaks. This was at my first trip to sleep doctor to download information from my first machine and he noticed a sore on the bridge of my nose. Never leaking can be a sign of over tightening the mask though many areasons lucky and combination of no facial hair and type of mask its rare. I switched face masks almost a dozen times till found one that fit my facial structure and didn't leak a lot but when the pressure ramps up will get occasional puff of air into my eyes or feel it leaking around my beard and quit worrying about it. When gave myself some slack had less events where woke up in middle of night with mask ripped off face in my sleep from discomfort and removing unconsciously.
My plan replaces mask and prefilter every two weeks, main filter monthly, headgear every 90 days, new hose and resivoir for humidifier annually. Over the years have a huge box of spare stuff as our house has a very tight heat envelope to seal out outside contaminates along with a activated carbon filter with premium filter and media filter to pull fresh air supply inside, five inch media filter with premium filter on air handler and a stand alone Aprilaire whole house filter which uses two five inch media filters with standard filter as a present filter and activated carbon on final stage. Am a licensed HVAC contractor and specialize in indoor air quality. I did not take my indoor air quality classes and certification test till after sleep apnea and saw my prefilters turning brown in a matter of days.
Turned out local environment with lots of dust in summer along with humidity was causing a lot of particulant dust in the house. We have whole house wood floors and it drove wife crazy so she sweeped almost daily and dusted furniture weekly which kept dust stirred up and my machine sucked it up plus our master bath was prone to mold which I cleaned soon as saw due to humidity. Soon as we improved weather stripping, sealed every area of structure that allowed air leaks and added new filter systems and dehumidifier 90%+ of the dust and mold issues went away. I compare my BiPAP to an air compressor that is compressing the surrounding air into a more concentrated flow and forcing it in my lungs.
Learned so much in my indoor air quality courses it was actually scarey and why replaced our entire HVAC system including the ducts, added all the extra filters on clean air supply, HEPA filter on air handler, whole house air filter that runs 24/7 and whole house dehumidifier that turns on when senses a certain amount of humidity. When split the old duct work it looked like a potential HAZMAT superfund site. It suprised me because changed my filters regularly, had a single five inch media filter and cleaned my outside condenser and the air handler A coil twice per year. Wife and I noticed we both felt better all the time after improving the indoor air quality in our homes. Very few will spend money on this, nine out of ten of my indoor air quality clients are doctors. Can't guess how old your duct work is and if you have entire system cleaned regularly but if not having ducts cleaned and air handler can help with apnea and life in general.
I don't do duct cleaning but have talked several friends into having ducts cleaned and all were stunned when they saw the truck full of dust bunnies, hairballs and dirt that came out of ducts. Many had never had A coils cleaned and when I opened their A coils to find a half inch of black mold they were physically I'll and one was so bad we had to remove the plenum and install a new a coil. Something may want to consider.
Re: New here: mask injury, Oscar, etc
Posted: Fri Feb 21, 2020 5:30 pm
by Stephaniedp3
I think our air quality is fairly good because my filter is always clean. We rent so we cannot replace anything. Also my mask was too tight the first few days but after that I’ve made it quite loose and still have a good seal with no leaks. That’s why I am baffled as to why my machine has beeped twice in the middle of the night. No leaks. No error messaging. No clue why it beeped. Only think I can think is maybe we had an electricity surge that kicked the machine into safe mode.
Re: New here: mask injury, Oscar, etc
Posted: Fri Feb 21, 2020 10:33 pm
by chunkyfrog
What we cannot explain, we attribute to aliens, elves, gremlins, or other invisible mischief-makers.
Believe that there are indeed things in this world that science and logic do not yet understand.
Trust that they are mostly harmless.
Re: New here: mask injury, Oscar, etc
Posted: Mon Feb 24, 2020 12:42 pm
by 2mnycars
Congratulations on good treatment results...
I use a surge suppressor with an extension cord. I'm concerned about power surges. It's saved me once when I was travelling and power went out.
Do you have access to the clinician's manual? It explains settings much better than the user's manual I was given when I got my ResMed cpap.