New User - First Night - Not Sure On What I am Doing

Kattitude wrote:

Cancun9 wrote:I also have this part that I have no idea what it is for. It is a clear plastic tube, about three inches long, with plastic black, round stoppers on each end. Any ideas?

I have no idea what it's real use is but, you might want to use it to konk the Dr. who sent you home with no info over the head.

Glad you found this forum and are asking questions to get it all worked out instead of just giving up!

Kattitude

Ditto that!

How did your night go?

Di

[quote="jqp"]They tried a nasal mask on me during my titration sleep study.

The scond I fell asleep, my mouth would drop open, the air would come rushing out, and it would wake me up.

I repeated that 7 or 8 times and told the tech that this wasn't going to work, and that I wanted to try the full face mask.

The funny part is, I was the one that had to suggest this. The tech was perfectly content to let me keep doing that all night.

For me, teh full face mask was much more comfortable than the nasal mask. Notnecessarily physically, but mentally. I didn't have to worry about my mouth falling open... let it.

It doesn't get hot in there. With that much pressure, all the heat is being exhausted away.

My pressure is 13, and I've played around with the pressure up to 14. A FFm at 14 starts getting hard to seal without really cranking the straps down. It can be done, but physically it's more noticeable than a nasal mask. For me though, it was less to think and worry about. I don't have to mess with a chin strap or taping my mouth shut either. Just slap it on and go.

[How did your night go?

Di[/quote]

Well, for the second straight night I took it off after a few minutes as I am still uncomfortable with it. I think it is just a mental issue more tha physical issue. I will tryit again tonight.

Try wearing the mask while you're awake, while watching TV or reading(to take your mind off it). It might help you get more comfortable with it sooner.

Brenda

can anybody show me a pic of a tube of poly grip gel. Im from oz and no one seems to know what that is...

bdp522 wrote:Try wearing the mask while you're awake, while watching TV or reading(to take your mind off it). It might help you get more comfortable with it sooner.

Brenda

It's much better to get the mask as comfortable as possible during the day when you're not so tired.

If you have instructions for adjusting the straps, get them as good as you can then try connecting to the machine. If that goes well, lie down for a while.

Some further adjustments will be necessary once you're lying down, in my experience.

If nothing works, maybe you have the wrong size mask. I noticed your mask comes in three sizes.

best of luck. keep us informed!

Di

Stevoreno mentioned a problem getting enough air through his nose due to a deviated septum. I selected a FF mask because I've always had trouble breathing through my nose, but found that dry air blowing in my open mouth was equally uncomfortable. I had a chance to try the Fisher-Paykel Infinity mask, which is nasal prongs, and found that with the air pressure in my nares higher than the pressure outside my nose, I can generally move plenty of air.

I'm just getting over a bad cold, and I'm sure glad I had the Ultra Mirage FF to fall back on, but for the most part, the prongs are far superior for me.

With the FF mask, turning the humidifier up enough to keep my mouth comfortable made for a pretty moist face.

The Hybrid or Liberty are next on my list of masks to try.

[quote="Panhandler"]Stevoreno mentioned a problem getting enough air through his nose due to a deviated septum. I selected a FF mask because I've always had trouble breathing through my nose, but found that dry air blowing in my open mouth was equally uncomfortable. I had a chance to try the Fisher-Paykel Infinity mask, which is nasal prongs, and found that with the air pressure in my nares higher than the pressure outside my nose, I can generally move plenty of air.

I'm just getting over a bad cold, and I'm sure glad I had the Ultra Mirage FF to fall back on, but for the most part, the prongs are far superior for me.

With the FF mask, turning the humidifier up enough to keep my mouth comfortable made for a pretty moist face.

The Hybrid or Liberty are next on my list of masks to try.

Stevoreno wrote:Are you suggesting that I consider switching from a nasal mask to a full face mask or if I started using chin straps would that help my problem?

No, I'm only saying that nasal prongs have been helpful to me in getting enough air through my nose, and that they're less uncomfortable to me than the air blowing into my open mouth with a full face mask. I'm comfortable with the HH at 1 with the prongs, but need 3-4 with the FF mask.

On the other hand, my pressures have been at 9-10. I don't know how they'd work at higher pressure. The FP Infinity seems to me to be the least intrusive of the bunch, except for the prongs themselves, which are pretty aggressive. I finally figured out that using the largest size, having them fit tight, made for the most comfortable (or maybe I should say "least uncomfortable") experience.

It's a very individual issue. I've only been at it since the end of January of this year, and only had the two masks to try, so I shouldn't be telling anyone anything! I'm just reporting my experiences, hopefully with enough objectivity and information to be useful.

Panhandler wrote:

Stevoreno wrote:Are you suggesting that I consider switching from a nasal mask to a full face mask or if I started using chin straps would that help my problem?

No, I'm only saying that nasal prongs have been helpful to me in getting enough air through my nose, and that they're less uncomfortable to me than the air blowing into my open mouth with a full face mask. I'm comfortable with the HH at 1 with the prongs, but need 3-4 with the FF mask.

On the other hand, my pressures have been at 9-10. I don't know how they'd work at higher pressure. The FP Infinity seems to me to be the least intrusive of the bunch, except for the prongs themselves, which are pretty aggressive. I finally figured out that using the largest size, having them fit tight, made for the most comfortable (or maybe I should say "least uncomfortable") experience.

It's a very individual issue. I've only been at it since the end of January of this year, and only had the two masks to try, so I shouldn't be telling anyone anything! I'm just reporting my experiences, hopefully with enough objectivity and information to be useful.

What are nasal prongs? That sounds like something painful or might cause irritation to the nostrils. Thanks for the post.



Stevoreno
Biloxi, Mississippi
09/30/07

Nasal prongs are not as gruesome as the name implies. However, they are longer than the nasal pillows and do enter further into the nostrils than the nasal pillows do. Nasal seals on the other, barely intrude into the nostrils at all. The seals are made to seal on the outside bottom of the nares w/just a slight dimple upwards towards the inner nose.

[quote="Slinky"]Nasal prongs are not as gruesome as the name implies. However, they are longer than the nasal pillows and do enter further into the nostrils than the nasal pillows do. Nasal seals on the other, barely intrude into the nostrils at all. The seals are made to seal on the outside bottom of the nares w/just a slight dimple upwards towards the inner nose.

I don't know about the other nasal pillow or prong systems, but the FP Infinity has a sort of bulbous structure that fits inside my nose. Like most people I presume, I have a slight narrowing right at the nostril and a larger area right behind it. I have to deform the seal a little to get it into my nostrils, then it expands to it's normal shape and seals well against my nostrils. It sounds painful, but it's not in the least. I have used a little KY jelly or even just water to lubricate the installation, but now I usually take the seal off the rest of the device so that I can distort it's shape as needed, then put the rest of the stuff on and plug the two together. The biggest problem in getting it on is that I sometimes get my mustache caught somewhere in the process.

I was actually concerned more about it tickling, and that was a bit of a problem with the smaller seals. The firm fit is actually more comfortable.

The thing I like most is that it's so small. There's very little against my face, and I can sleep on either side or on my stomach. There's not much for the pillow to interfere with.

I'd suggest you spend a little time looking through the masks and nasal interfaces on CPAP.com and see what looks like a fit for you.