Thanks, Rooster. I've never seen a site with so many people willing to help total strangers and spend so much time doing it. Just amazing.rooster wrote:1. OK that is excellent that you have a machine with data card. What do your AHIs and leak look like?stevef1007 wrote:OK, I"m home now and checked and I was wrong. It's the REMstar Pro M series with heated humidifier and smart card. Sorry, new to this stuff. By the way, I went to my DME this afternoon and tried on some full face mask, finally found one that didn't seem to be leaking, although had to be ratcheted down pretty good. Different "feel" but might give a try. First she is going to order a mask for mouth breathers that just covers my mouth and see how that does, since I'm normally a mouth breather. The risk, I suppose, is if after conditioning myself for 5 months to be a nose breather, if I do that with the mouth mask I won't be getting any cpap pressure to keep my airway open, but I would think the pressure being stopped because I shut my mouth that I would wake up, either due to pressure on my lips or leakage? Anyway, we'll see. I just gotta figure out something to stop these allergy-like symptoms. Thanks, Rooster.rooster wrote:Steve,
I am not familiar with the Remstar Plus model but according to cpap.com there is no data card.
How are you getting data?
2. A full face mask that has to be "ratcheted down pretty good" does either not fit properly, is not adjusted properly, or is just inappropriate for you. Most of us make the mistake as beginners that the mask has to be tight to prevent leaks. When everything is sized and adjusted properly, a well-designed mask will be worn relatively loose and it will not leak.
3. The DME must be ordering the Oracle HC452 Oral CPAP Mask, https://www.cpap.com/simple-find-cpap-p ... /oral.html . You will not find many people on the forum that are successfully using this mask. Most people do not breathe exclusively with their mouth. Also, since the nose is not covered, pressure can leak out the nose. When this happens the machine is often not able to maintain an effective pressure and the airway collapses (apnea).
I know that drainage/sneezing is a big problem for you but I believe that it is not strictly a matter of using the wrong mask and changing the mask could make things worse. You are being told cpap is drying you out. Would you have described it this way before you were told that? Does your nose feel dry (or crusty) upon arising? Is your throat dry or sore? Is your machine a clean, new one or a used rental? Does your machine have clean filters? Wh (I at climate are you in? Humid or dry? Does the heat or air conditioner run a lot? What do your AHIs and leak look like?
Regards,
OK, thanks for the info on the full face mask. I"ll keep trying until I find one, hopefully, that isn't so tight before the cpap is activated.
Regarding the mouth breather mask, do you think it likely or even possible that if I start breathing thru my nose that I wouldn't awaken? Let me tell you that my numbers were apparently pretty severe, ie., 242 incident of stopping breathing during a 6 and 1/2 hour sleep, max occurence of 163 seconds without breathing, and my blood oxygen fell to 49%, during the 163 second episode noted. (I know, they should have done something way before I got to this point, but I survived it.) I am on 16 pressure with 2 liters, or whatever, of O2.
On the type of mask, the thinking is, I guess, that if all the pressure isn't going thru/over my nasal passages that the resulting syptoms won't be as severe. No, my nose isn't really "crusty", just feels itchy and wide open. No throat problems. Humid climate, normally. New machine. Yes, I clean the filters diligently. AHIs? I don't understand. No leakage problems. I've gone from heat to AC by now, Aug, to Jan., and reallly don''t know how to answer that. Not much differnce regardless of which is "on".
Thanks, again. Really appreciate it.
