Starting BiPAP treatment

Hi, everyone. Hopefully the equipment info I entered into my profile is showing up. I wasn't able to upload an avatar (the site software wouldn't accept it).

This is my first time taking any kind of action to improve my sleep. At least to this level (I did try the Good Morning Snore Solution and just snored right through it like it wasn't there). I had daytime sleepiness, sleepiness after meals, awful sounds in my throat when I'd inhale and exhale, and a lot of other symptoms I'm sure others can relate to. I don't know what good sleep really feels like, so I just kept myself awake a lot with caffeine, trying out alternative health treatments, etc. I have a BMI of 43. But aging and bad health has caught up with me, and the OSA got so bad. I had a sleep study and was diagnosed with severe OSA, essentially no REM sleep most of the time, and so on. I have had very bad dizzy spells, derealization, agoraphobia attacks, etc.

It was a battle to get my equipment but I accomplished it. I'm not crazy about my mask and hope to get a nasal pillow soon.

I sleep on the floor all the time for about a year now (vertebral disc problem - floor sleeping is the only thing that stopped me from going in to surgery) and I also use an earthing mat under me when sleeping.

My first question would be if anyone else has experience with stomach sleeping and using xPAP. The materials I looked at suggested nasal pillow.

Also if anyone has tips about side sleeping if you have a nose-covering nasal mask. (Like what is in my profile.)

I'll continue to update with questions and progress. I have done two nights so far. A few hours here and there with the actual mask on... I am just being patient but also pushing myself to keep going.

I am not mentally able to handle all the OSCAR/data stuff but will get around to that soon.

Coatimundi wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 03, 2021 1:37 pm

Hi, everyone. Hopefully the equipment info I entered into my profile is showing up. I wasn't able to upload an avatar (the site software wouldn't accept it).

welcome to the zoo! unfortunately, the forum has some problems with displaying the equipment. may i suggest you add the machine and mask via your signature, as i've down with mine below?

Coatimundi wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 03, 2021 1:37 pm

My first question would be if anyone else has experience with stomach sleeping and using xPAP. The materials I looked at suggested nasal pillow.

while i don't use a bilevel machine (i use apap), sleeping on my stomach doesn't seem to be an issue. i use the p10 nose pillow mask and it works fine. i sleep in the falcon position and don't use a pillow.

i hope you'll continue to come back to this thread with your questions for the time being. also, when you start posting some oscar charts, do that right here as well.

good luck!

zonker wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 03, 2021 3:50 pm

Coatimundi wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 03, 2021 1:37 pm

Hi, everyone. Hopefully the equipment info I entered into my profile is showing up. I wasn't able to upload an avatar (the site software wouldn't accept it).

welcome to the zoo! unfortunately, the forum has some problems with displaying the equipment. may i suggest you add the machine and mask via your signature, as i've down with mine below?

Coatimundi wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 03, 2021 1:37 pm

My first question would be if anyone else has experience with stomach sleeping and using xPAP. The materials I looked at suggested nasal pillow.

while i don't use a bilevel machine (i use apap), sleeping on my stomach doesn't seem to be an issue. i use the p10 nose pillow mask and it works fine. i sleep in the falcon position and don't use a pillow.

i hope you'll continue to come back to this thread with your questions for the time being. also, when you start posting some oscar charts, do that right here as well.

good luck!

I appreciate the warm welcome and will continue to post questions in this thread. I have added my equipment info.

I did fairly well last night - maybe four hours total - with stomach sleeping using a small moldable bean-bag style pillow on top of a thicker neck pillow. Then I put my face in the crease created by these. I think at some point I moved my head to the side of the pillow, then used my arm as support. It's hard for me to go totally without a pillow unless I move in that position unconsciously during the night.

Coatimundi wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 03, 2021 10:25 pm

I appreciate the warm welcome and will continue to post questions in this thread. I have added my equipment info.

Coatimundi wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 03, 2021 10:25 pm

I did fairly well last night - maybe four hours total - with stomach sleeping using a small moldable bean-bag style pillow on top of a thicker neck pillow. Then I put my face in the crease created by these. I think at some point I moved my head to the side of the pillow, then used my arm as support. It's hard for me to go totally without a pillow unless I move in that position unconsciously during the night.

it's good that you're getting used to it. baby steps, and all that.

we each sleep differently, of course. i have a tiny buckwheat "pillow" that i use now and then. not really a pillow; my wife made it for me as a warming pad for sore back. stick it in the microwave and apply. i have tried using it as a pillow, but it's not really doing the job.

zonker wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 03, 2021 10:50 pm

Coatimundi wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 03, 2021 10:25 pm

I appreciate the warm welcome and will continue to post questions in this thread. I have added my equipment info.

Coatimundi wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 03, 2021 10:25 pm

I did fairly well last night - maybe four hours total - with stomach sleeping using a small moldable bean-bag style pillow on top of a thicker neck pillow. Then I put my face in the crease created by these. I think at some point I moved my head to the side of the pillow, then used my arm as support. It's hard for me to go totally without a pillow unless I move in that position unconsciously during the night.

it's good that you're getting used to it. baby steps, and all that.

we each sleep differently, of course. i have a tiny buckwheat "pillow" that i use now and then. not really a pillow; my wife made it for me as a warming pad for sore back. stick it in the microwave and apply. i have tried using it as a pillow, but it's not really doing the job.

Right! What helped a lot yesterday was that I spent time with the mask on while sitting at my computer. I usually work from home. I got somewhat poor sleep the night before that and had that terrible, groggy feeling in my head so I had the mask on and also ran the BiPAP machine while awake to try to get more air into my system. I think it was helpful in getting me to feel better. Though there is of course no substitute for sleep!

I know that people sit with the mask during waking hours in order to get used to it but not am not sure if running the machine too is healthy or not.

Don't run the machine while you're awake and trying to get used to the mask... how you breathe when awake is different to being asleep so results won't be meaningful anyway - it's just about getting used to wearing the mask.

Julie wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 04, 2021 4:41 am

Don't run the machine while you're awake and trying to get used to the mask... how you breathe when awake is different to being asleep so results won't be meaningful anyway - it's just about getting used to wearing the mask.

OK, thanks.

Love your avatar - is it N. American indigenous, or ??

Julie wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 04, 2021 6:00 am

Love your avatar - is it N. American indigenous, or ??

Yes, it is pottery from the Zuni tribe in New Mexico. It is an "olla", or water jar. I'm not Native American but was raised in the Southwest and have been to numerous museums and galleries with native art. There is a bold, severe style in Southwestern native art that I like, contrasted with soft colors and a deep sensitivity to nature.

Then live to get another one - get the shot already!

Julie wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 04, 2021 9:25 am

Then live to get another one - get the shot already!

I'm way outside the definition of any group that would need one. We damaged an entire generation of youth with school closures so some olds could be first in line to get these shots and die a few years later. The damage to this country is beyond calculation.

Coatimundi wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 04, 2021 9:38 am

Julie wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 04, 2021 9:25 am

Then live to get another one - get the shot already!

I'm way outside the definition of any group that would need one. We damaged an entire generation of youth with school closures so some olds could be first in line to get these shots and die a few years later. The damage to this country is beyond calculation.

didn't realize you were an anti-vaxxer.

good luck with your therapy as i'll be putting you on my foe list and won't be responding.

Coatimundi wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 04, 2021 9:38 am

Julie wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 04, 2021 9:25 am

Then live to get another one - get the shot already!

I'm way outside the definition of any group that would need one. We damaged an entire generation of youth with school closures so some olds could be first in line to get these shots and die a few years later. The damage to this country is beyond calculation.

Just get the shot!

zonker wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 04, 2021 10:51 am

Coatimundi wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 04, 2021 9:38 am

Julie wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 04, 2021 9:25 am

Then live to get another one - get the shot already!

I'm way outside the definition of any group that would need one. We damaged an entire generation of youth with school closures so some olds could be first in line to get these shots and die a few years later. The damage to this country is beyond calculation.

didn't realize you were an anti-vaxxer.

good luck with your therapy as i'll be putting you on my foe list and won't be responding.

Thanks for your tips on using the forum, they really were appreciated.

Air Jordan wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 04, 2021 10:57 am

Coatimundi wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 04, 2021 9:38 am

Julie wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 04, 2021 9:25 am

Then live to get another one - get the shot already!

I'm way outside the definition of any group that would need one. We damaged an entire generation of youth with school closures so some olds could be first in line to get these shots and die a few years later. The damage to this country is beyond calculation.

Just get the shot!

No response at all to anything I said? The rest of us are going to have to pick up the pieces after all of this is over. Oh, wait, it never will be.