CPAPtalk.com

Miss Emerita wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 30, 2023 12:13 pm

Cocka2 wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 30, 2023 3:51 am

after a short period of time ( 1 – 2 hours ) I start to think to my self that things are not working as I’m not falling to sleep. So out of continuing frustration I remove the mask and turn off the Resmed machine . I’m not sure if any personal feelings are playing a part in my current situation , like new surroundings , anxiety , uncertainty, recent bereavement etc.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if the feelings you're having do play a role in your difficulty falling asleep. In addition, the story your daughter's next-door neighbor told may be contributing too. Do try using the machine during the day or evening; I think that will help. And for just a few days, try using a prescription sleep medication:

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-con ... t-20043959

I'll second the prescription sleep aid recommendation. Using Ambien for a week got me over the hump of "I can't sleep with all this gear on and all this noise". I'm a light sleeper...after a week using Ambien, I was fine without it. First night after stopping the Ambien wasn't great, but I expected that. I'm not overly fond of CPAP, it and I have reached a state of peaceful coexistence. I know that I need it, despite the fact that I don't really dig it *smile*. So it goes.

Just hang in there, keep at it, and do what you have to do to coexist with CPAP. I've personally gone through a lot of masks to find the ones that I can comfortably use. The best for me at this point are the Dreamwear Nasal and the ResMed AirFit N30, two "nasal cradle" masks. I prefer the ResMed N30, it's much lighter and quieter. And no vent airstream to bother my bed partner *smile*. I noticed how bad your leak report was with the pillows mask, some people can make the lower impact masks (pillows or nasal) work via mouth taping. Others need to use a full-face mask to make it work. Your leak report with the full-face mask was just about perfect, albeit for only about an hour. As folks have been saying here, there are plenty of mask fitting videos on youtube, for just about any mask you can buy. Sometimes it's just a matter of understanding the proper positioning and tension on a particular mask to make it work.

I'm another one that started with CPAP when I was about 65, so age really isn't a barrier. My wife started when she hit 69, and she's doing great for having just started. It's mainly persistence, and knowing that you need it for your health.

Cocka2 wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 30, 2023 3:51 am

My problem occurs after a short period of wearing any mask. While wearing the Phillips Dreamwear full face mask , which did feel comfortable while I was lying on my side , after a short period of time ( 1 – 2 hours ) I start to think to my self that things are not working as I’m not falling to sleep. So out of continuing frustration I remove the mask and turn off the Resmed machine .

By doing that, you're making things much more difficult for yourself, because you're teaching your brain that if it keeps you awake long enough, you will eventually let yourself sleep without the mask. You should be doing the exact opposite, that is:

Make a firm commitment to keeping your mask on whenever you're in bed. Independent of whether "it's working" or not.
Get up if you can't fall asleep.
If possible, got to another room
Do something quiet and relaxing.
When you feel sleepy again, go back to bed, turn the machine on, put the mask on and let yourself fall asleep.
Repeat as many times as necessary.

Do not let yourself spend time in bed without the CPAP working and the mask on your face.
Eventually, your unconscious will get the message the "keeping awake until this damn mask is off" is not working, and "falling asleep without the mask is not an option".

Well after taking on board the kind advice Ive been given here it seems I’m slowly becoming more use to wearing a mask while using my ResMed machine . This is my latest OSCAR report .

https://imgbox.com/wCRt5WH0

I’m now wondering this.......

If I am now able to keep the face mask on for 6 hours , could I actually have been asleep during those 6 hours , then I just wake up and remove the mask , thinking that Ive not really been asleep . Is there any way to actually tell for certain when and how long I actually went to sleep for.


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Cocka2 wrote: ↑

Mon May 15, 2023 6:42 pm

This is my latest OSCAR report .

Which position(s) do you sleep in?

Cocka2 wrote: ↑

Mon May 15, 2023 6:42 pm

Is there any way to actually tell for certain when and how long I actually went to sleep for.

Short of a sleep study with EEG leads, no. Apple Watch does a reasonable estimate of sleep/awake times.

At the end of a day, make a subjective review of how you felt during the day - any excess sleepiness? any heavy fatigue?

ChicagoGranny wrote: ↑

Tue May 16, 2023 7:41 am

Cocka2 wrote: ↑

Mon May 15, 2023 6:42 pm

This is my latest OSCAR report .

Which position(s) do you sleep in?

Cocka2 wrote: ↑

Mon May 15, 2023 6:42 pm

Is there any way to actually tell for certain when and how long I actually went to sleep for.

Short of a sleep study with EEG leads, no. Apple Watch does a reasonable estimate of sleep/awake times.

At the end of a day, make a subjective review of how you felt during the day - any excess sleepiness? any heavy fatigue?

Thanks for your input , I sleep on my side . I was hoping that there was some sort of wearable device that may record my sleep patterns. I think I’m now going to set up a video camera to record me sleeping in bed at night time , and make sure the video recording shows a time stamp. Hopefully doing that may shed some light on the time I was actually asleep.

After sleeping for the 6 hour period ( May 15th ) when I awoke around 6 am , I felt a lot better than I normally do , and through out the day I felt no sleepiness or heavy fatigue.


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Cocka2 wrote: ↑

Tue May 16, 2023 8:30 am

I was hoping that there was some sort of wearable device that may record my sleep patterns.

Oh, there are plenty of consumer devices that do this including Apple Watch. But their accuracy is questionable since they don't have EEG leads.

Cocka2 wrote: ↑

Tue May 16, 2023 8:30 am

I sleep on my side

If you look at the periods where your machine increased the pressure as far as 11 to 14, I'm guessing you slept on your back during those periods.

Cocka2 wrote: ↑

Tue May 16, 2023 8:30 am

I think I’m now going to set up a video camera to record me sleeping in bed at night time , and make sure the video recording shows a time stamp.

Why bother given good OSCAR reports and,

Cocka2 wrote: ↑

Tue May 16, 2023 8:30 am

I felt a lot better than I normally do , and through out the day I felt no sleepiness or heavy fatigue.

?

Ex-Brit here too........welcome! I am 80 and have been on the "hose" a long time, and have no problem with it. Stick with it and you will be fine and it will become second nature to "hook up" when you hit the pillow at night. AGAIN, WELCOME TO THE ZOO!!!!!!

Cheers
Nan

nana of 3 wrote: ↑

Tue May 16, 2023 12:03 pm

Ex-Brit here too........welcome! I am 80 and have been on the "hose" a long time, and have no problem with it. Stick with it and you will be fine and it will become second nature to "hook up" when you hit the pillow at night. AGAIN, WELCOME TO THE ZOO!!!!!!

Cheers
Nan

HI and thanks for the welcome .

I'm looking forward to the day when things become second nature using my ResMed machine. Us Ex pat Brits are hardy people made of tuffer stuff

I'm 74 and I thought I may be the oldest forum member here , my be you can claim that title

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ChicagoGranny wrote: ↑

Tue May 16, 2023 10:27 am

Cocka2 wrote: ↑

Tue May 16, 2023 8:30 am

I was hoping that there was some sort of wearable device that may record my sleep patterns.

Oh, there are plenty of consumer devices that do this including Apple Watch. But their accuracy is questionable since they don't have EEG leads.

Cocka2 wrote: ↑

Tue May 16, 2023 8:30 am

I sleep on my side

If you look at the periods where your machine increased the pressure as far as 11 to 14, I'm guessing you slept on your back during those periods.

Cocka2 wrote: ↑

Tue May 16, 2023 8:30 am

I think I’m now going to set up a video camera to record me sleeping in bed at night time , and make sure the video recording shows a time stamp.

Why bother given good OSCAR reports and,

Cocka2 wrote: ↑

Tue May 16, 2023 8:30 am

I felt a lot better than I normally do , and through out the day I felt no sleepiness or heavy fatigue.

?

Thanks , I was not really aware about the accuracy of those devices and them not having EEG leads

Interesting to see that an increase in pressure ( 11 to 14 ) could mean that I did actually sleep on my back , I’m learning new things every day with the help of this forum.

As for video recording my self while in bed at night time, I suppose its just out of curiosity .

The is the OSCAR report ( 16th of May ) and from what I can remember at a later stage my face mask kept over filling with air to a point that I could feel the air escaping around the seal and it became uncomfortable .

I was wondering if altering the Min / Max settings on the Resmed machine ( lower the Max setting would stop the mask leaking due to too much air pressure ?

Below is an external link to my 16 May OSCAR screen shot ........ ( ERROR
Sorry, the board attachment quota has been reached )

https://imgbox.com/KIbmiemh


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You should feel very encouraged by your experience the night of the 15th -- and your feeling of being rested the next day. You now know that you can keep the mask on longer and that you can have restful sleep.

Your pressure on the 16th was driven up by flow limitations. You mentioned nasal spray, I think; is your nose stuffy at night? That may be producing the FLs, and no amount of pressure will help FLs that originate in your nose. (You might want to try a nasal rinse like NeilMed earlier in the day, with a spray like Flonase closer to bed time.)

So as an experiment, given your low AHI, I think it would be fine to cap your pressure at, say, 10 and see how it goes. With luck, that will help you avoid leaks that wake you up while keeping your obstructive events sufficiently controlled.

Unless an experiment is a disaster, you want to give any change a trial of at least a few nights, since sleep is so variable from one night to another.

Thanks to cpap, there are more of us mature creatures on this boat.
I'll be 76 in a couple of weeks, but I feel younger than I did before cpap.

Miss Emerita wrote: ↑

Wed May 17, 2023 11:30 am

You should feel very encouraged by your experience the night of the 15th -- and your feeling of being rested the next day. You now know that you can keep the mask on longer and that you can have restful sleep.

Your pressure on the 16th was driven up by flow limitations. You mentioned nasal spray, I think; is your nose stuffy at night? That may be producing the FLs, and no amount of pressure will help FLs that originate in your nose. (You might want to try a nasal rinse like NeilMed earlier in the day, with a spray like Flonase closer to bed time.)

So as an experiment, given your low AHI, I think it would be fine to cap your pressure at, say, 10 and see how it goes. With luck, that will help you avoid leaks that wake you up while keeping your obstructive events sufficiently controlled.

Unless an experiment is a disaster, you want to give any change a trial of at least a few nights, since sleep is so variable from one night to another.

Thanks for you ongoing encouragement and recommendation .

No OSCAR report this time

Bit of a disaster , and I’m not sure why I did it. When filling the water tank on my ResMed Airsense 10 machine I accidentally overfilled it, but did not notice that I had gone above the Max water level mark on the water tank . When going to bed I put my face mask on as usual and switched the ResMed machine on and laid my head on the bed pillow. Within a second or two the ResMed machine started to make a funny noise and the face mask started to instantly fill up with water .

Needless to say I switched the ResMed machine off and disconnected the mask and hose. I have now cleaned out and dried the ResMed machine / mask / hose.

When I switched the on the ResMed Airsense 10 machine back on after the water overfilling accident , I now see a new icon on the display screen that I have never ever seen before , it looks like the humidity icon with a No 4 next to it . In the past I have never seen or adjusted this humidity number .

Any thoughts on the above most welcome.


Link below to the ResMed display screen.

https://imgbox.com/GhNHUGIx


Please note – I have ClimateLine Heated Tubing on my ResMed Airsense 10 machine



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chunkyfrog wrote: ↑

Wed May 17, 2023 11:48 am

Thanks to cpap, there are more of us mature creatures on this boat.
I'll be 76 in a couple of weeks, but I feel younger than I did before cpap.

That's good to know and gives me some hope , this getting old is a curse

I did not think that old age would come this fast


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Oh, what a royal pain! Yes, the droplet is a humidity icon. Go into your settings to see whether the humidity is set at 4. If that's not your preferred setting, then change it.

Cocka2 wrote: ↑

Thu May 18, 2023 4:58 am

Any thoughts on the above most welcome.

My guess is that you have a heated hose and you didn't get it connected back on quite right, so the machine doesn't recognize that you have a heated hose.