HELP!! Can't get Poligrip to work

irritatedRPSGT wrote:
For those pts who wear dentures or just have air seaping through their lips we add humidity to create moisture, therefore achieving a seal. I was NEVER told taping lips was acceptable.

As a LAST resort there's a mask that fits over the nose and mouth. Again, who told you something this silly?!?! What really concerns me is, there seems to be more than one person who does this!

If higher pressures and a full face mask makes it impossible to comply with therapy, then it isn't gonna help.

For many people it's not easy, if not impossible to sleep with higher pressures and ff face masks. That's why CPAP manufactures are spending so much money developing exhalation technology such as C-Flex.

I think there have been a few people who have posted here that had CPAP machines a decade old, but gave up because they felt they could not tolerate the higher pressures, especially with out C-flex/A-flex.

This is something that helps people remain compliant.

Thanks for posting, but sometimes I think that RPSGT's don't REALLY understand what it's like to have to deal with this stuff.

They have a "just get used to it" mentality, marginalizing the struggles it takes to remain compliant.

Without such things such as mouth taping/fixodent... people would've given up on their therapy long ago.

Now how safe is that?

I to am a RPSGT and what irritatedRPSGT has posted is good info but I can see the other side of the coin also. My wife just recently started CPAP and is having one heck of a time getting used to a mask. She is extremely lucky as my employer has lent her masks of varying types to try and find one she is comfortable with. Of course she is having problems finding the magic mask. I knew this might happen. A friend of mine has been on CPAP for almost 10 yrs and I have heard his stories about finding a good mask that doesn't leak. I found this website and told her about it in hopes she may find something that can work for her. Now you would think that being an RPSGT I should be able to figure out a fix action to her problems. Wrong, it is her face and she knows what fits, feels, seals, ect on her face and all I can do is suggest.

Irritated may not agree with me but if polygrip or tape works for you and IF IT IS SAFE ( I would check with your doctor if not sure) then by all means do it. Part of the problem is getting patients to tolerate CPAP long enough to feel the results and what a positive effect it has on your quality of life. After that I guess long term use might be the next stumbling block. I have re-titrated plenty of patients because they stopped using CPAP because they felt so good they figured they were cured and stopped using it. Then there are the ones who gave up and the CPAP machine is in the basement.

If you feel the DME people are not treating you right then I would talk your sleep doc and complain plus the DME home office and complain. My employer would quit sending patients to a DME company if they didn't treat his patients right.

desmondwl wrote:I to am a RPSGT and what irritatedRPSGT has posted is good info but I can see the other side of the coin also. My wife just recently started CPAP and is having one heck of a time getting used to a mask. She is extremely lucky as my employer has lent her masks of varying types to try and find one she is comfortable with. Of course she is having problems finding the magic mask. I knew this might happen. A friend of mine has been on CPAP for almost 10 yrs and I have heard his stories about finding a good mask that doesn't leak. I found this website and told her about it in hopes she may find something that can work for her. Now you would think that being an RPSGT I should be able to figure out a fix action to her problems. Wrong, it is her face and she knows what fits, feels, seals, ect on her face and all I can do is suggest.

Irritated may not agree with me but if polygrip or tape works for you and IF IT IS SAFE ( I would check with your doctor if not sure) then by all means do it. Part of the problem is getting patients to tolerate CPAP long enough to feel the results and what a positive effect it has on your quality of life. After that I guess long term use might be the next stumbling block. I have re-titrated plenty of patients because they stopped using CPAP because they felt so good they figured they were cured and stopped using it. Then there are the ones who gave up and the CPAP machine is in the basement.

If you feel the DME people are not treating you right then I would talk your sleep doc and complain plus the DME home office and complain. My employer would quit sending patients to a DME company if they didn't treat his patients right.

Your employer seems to be right on the ball!!!

I understand irritated's concern for safety and appreciate it.

It's just that there's another safety issue to take into consideration, which is non-compliance.

We've all been told how untreated SA can be very dangerous as well. Trying these techniques reveals our dedication to get it to get the therapy to work for us.

I think that maybe there is a certain level of frustration by many of us here because quite a few of us have dealt with both sleep docs - RTs and DME's that seem to have no clue as to the struggles in adjusting to this therapy.

And the reality is mouth taping/fixodenting has been VERY effective for quite a few of us here.