My wife unplugged me

It's attempted homicide.

jules, I don't think that we can make that leap.

Thanks, Paul!

You're absolutely right, Bearded One!

Here's another thought, misteradio... Echo had mentioned the possibility of large mask leaks causing extra noise, and she's certainly right. Beyond that, though, the mask itself might be contributing to the problem.

All of the masks have some sort of vent to get rid of the C02 that we exhale. Because there are many different designs for the vents, some of the masks end up producing more noise than others. So it's possible that the mask you're using is a "louder" one. Here's a thread that might help; it's entitled "Suggestions needed for a really quiet mask": viewtopic.php?f=1&t=35308&p=303174&hili ... k+#p303174

Please consider stopping in here regularly. No one understands what living with this condition is like except someone else who has it. There's always an overwhelming, generous willingness to offer assistance, commiseration, occasional silliness -- in short, an incredible support group. As you've already seen, we don't always agree -- much like family members -- but we do all care. At the very least, please fill out your equipment details. Whenever we have questions, those offering suggestions look at that first.

To fill out your equipment details: --> User Control Panel (above, on the left, just under the Search box) --> Profile --> Edit equipment.

Marsha

While your wife unplugging the unit while you were using it seems quite strange - she really must not understand she is cutting off your air supply and therapy. Is she loving and reasonable? If so, maybe she would put the mask on under low pressure and you could unplug the machine so she can see what it's like. She probably wouldn't do it again.

If she's not reasonable, I'd pick from the many tongue in cheek and maybe not so tongue in cheek responses already posted. : )

I agree you may like to join the forum, especially is you could use sound advice in addition to humorous perspectives. : )))

I think you have to watch that wife. And I am being totally serious unlike the "tongue and cheek" reponses before this. Sounds like my ex. He did nothing to help me get treatment, then when I did he filed for divorce. All my fault since I snored and didn't care about him and his sleep. Don't get caught unprepared. Unplugging is just plain selfish. No other way to describe it. No one is that ignorant.

Do you by chance have a very large life insurance policy?

jules wrote:It's attempted homicide.

you sound experienced

All kiding aside, you most likely will not succed at this if the people in your immediate household do not support you, and unplugging the machine is not supporting you. Its just going to have to be a noise that shes gonna have to get used to. Just like someone living next to a highway gets used to the cars. I have a resperonics unit and my wife says she barely notices it, but since shes the one that pushed me to do this, shed have to put up with it if it sounded like an old volkswagon bettle with no muffler. My wife may not understand everything im going through, but she knows Im making the effort for a better quality life for me AND my family.

misteradio wrote:My wife unplugged me
I am a newbie. Have had ResMed unit about three weeks. My wife complains that the machine is "so loud that i can't sleep." She has gone so far as to unplug the unit during the night --while I'm using it.

I am tempted to return the unit and write off the cost, but wanted to offer up my dilemma to the group. Anyone else faced such drastic negative response? Any reasonable explanations I can use?

All feedback appreciated!

If I was you, I'd get rid of the wife. Apnea is a serious medical condition. It's seriously messed up she unplugs it while you're asleep.

My wife almost did the same when I started. She kept saying it is the machine. Actually, it was the noise from the air leaking around my mask and face. Not the machine. At 3 a.m. that did not seem to matter. A couple of times, she left to the guest room. I would of but I was plugged in.

It made noise when:
When I slept on my side and disturbed the mask and created noisy air flow through the cracks.
When I did not get the corner rubber piece on right and leaky air noise was created.
How only a clean mask was as quiet as possible.
The hose had stress on it and pulled out.

I learned how to make the mask quite.
How to adjust my pressure to overcome snoring (the doctors was wrong).
How to keep the mask clean.
How to arrange the hose.
What positions I can sleep at so not to disturb the mask.
Not to point the vents at the wife. Cold air on the twins piss her off.
To turn on a fan in the corner of the room for white noise.

You need to learn these things. Learn what makes noise. Figure out how to stop it. Ignore the cries from the ignorant on this subject. Your wife has a right for a good nights sleep just as you do. Without it, you two will not survive. Practice with the mask and find where the noise is coming from.

Over Nine thousand hours and counting on my current machine.

[quote="gasp"]While your wife unplugging the unit while you were using it seems quite strange - she really must not understand she is cutting off your air supply and therapy. Is she loving and reasonable? If so, maybe she would put the mask on under low pressure and you could unplug the machine so she can see what it's like. She probably wouldn't do it again.

I never saw this on here, but Gasp may have hit on something pertaining to my situation. I guess most of you know that I am the caretaker for my husband's therapy but it's very hard for me since I don't know what it feels like and he can't really describe it. If you're really serious about my trying the mask, how should I go about it, what pressure should I use that won't scare the panties off me, etc.? One never knows what wisdom we fill find on this wonderful forum!

misteradio wrote:My wife unplugged me
I am a newbie. Have had ResMed unit about three weeks. My wife complains that the machine is "so loud that i can't sleep." She has gone so far as to unplug the unit during the night --while I'm using it.

I am tempted to return the unit and write off the cost, but wanted to offer up my dilemma to the group. Anyone else faced such drastic negative response? Any reasonable explanations I can use?

All feedback appreciated!

Hey, misteradio.......are you still tuned in to this frequency?
You got some "feedback" from us......but a little more from YOU would help.....if you really want to figure this thing out.

Den

I understand the knee jerk reaction that some of the responders had to this dilemma. Once you have your restful sleep again, it must feel like someone is trying to murder you by unplugging the machine!
I am a wife whose husband has sleep apnea. I was so relieved when he finally decided to get some help. We both love his Respironics machine. Now we can both sleep again. He tried to sleep one night w/o it on a camping trip with some buddies about a month after he first got it. That convinced him it is absolutely necessary to his life! We purchased a battery unit, so that when he goes somewhere where he doesn't have electricity, he still has his life line.
The term life line is how we both feel about this machine. I am SO happy, I have my husband and lover back! woohoo And I am at peace with the world now that I can sleep again, too.
Re the noise - the machine isn't a problem for us, an ill fitting mask is. He tried four masks before he found the one that works for him. Another bit of advise, it must be cleaned regularly to keep it sealing well. If it begins to leak, it sounds like a small hurricane moving in on me from his side of the bed. He occasionally doesn't wake up to that, so I gently nudge him and ask him to readjust, and to vamp again. (Sometimes the mask continues to roar, if he doesn't vamp it again.
I feel pity for the woman who unplugged the machine. She does need some education about this very serious issue.
I think you get the message from all these posts though -- do not give up your machine!!!! Good luck

DoriC wrote:I never saw this on here, but Gasp may have hit on something pertaining to my situation. I guess most of you know that I am the caretaker for my husband's therapy but it's very hard for me since I don't know what it feels like and he can't really describe it. If you're really serious about my trying the mask, how should I go about it, what pressure should I use that won't scare the panties off me, etc.? One never knows what wisdom we fill find on this wonderful forum!

You have the makings of a great lab rat, Dori! That good old curiosity thing... "Wonder what would happen if... "

It won't hurt you at all to try out your husband's cpap and mask, just for the heck of seeing how it feels.

Since you're the one handling the settings anyway, I'd suggest you try it for yourself this way...for the least scary first try, I'd suggest:

Set the machine at just 4 cm.
Be sitting up, not lying down. Don't put the mask on.
Turn the machine on so the air starts blowing.

Put your hand near the front of the mask to feel how little force there is to that air blowing.

With the machine already going, hold the mask up near your face to feel the air flow. No big deal. You've probably stood in front of a fan that was blowing harder. Now hold the mask gently against your face...don't strap it on...just hold it against your face and start breathing. Breathe naturally...don't try to breathe extra deeply...just breathe in and out.

If anything about it startles you, just hold the mask away from your face until you're ready to try again, then bring the mask to your face and keep breathing...relaxed breathing. You're in full control of whether you hold the mask to your face or move it away.

If it feels stuffy, stifling, or "suffocating" trying to breathe inside the mask at just 4 cms, set the pressure higher...like 5 or 6 cms. That will probably feel better for breathing.

It might feel like "effort" during the first couple of exhalations against the incoming air, even down at 4, but you'll be surprised at how quickly that feeling of "effort" to breathe out subsides.

Just relax and think of it as if you were a HAPPY dog, hanging your head out a car window while the car is moving slowwwwwly through a 15 mph school zone. You'll feel some resistance while you're breathing out, just as if you were hanging your head out the car window, but at only 4 cms it's no big deal...you can breathe out just fine. Wag your tail!

Since your husband's mask is a full face mask, it won't matter if you open your mouth to breathe inside the mask, but the experience will probably be easier if you stick to just breathing through your nose at first. If it were a nasal mask (covering nose only) or nasal pillows mask, I'd say to be sure to resist the urge to open your mouth to breathe. The cpap air gushing out the mouth can be startling.

After you see how easy "4 cm" is... wing them dials!! Try everything. It won't hurt you at all to experiment even at a pressure of 20 while awake and just playing around with it yourself. It's just a big fan, ya know.

Your wife turned your machine off???? I would have gone medieval on her or pulled a Henry the 8th on her!!! That is unthoughtful and selfish of her. Buy her some ear plugs and tell her under NO circumstances is she to turn it off. She needs to understand that your compliance with CPAP will SAVE YOUR LIFE.