Re: Clostrophopic

Help! I am clostrophopic and have tried the nasal pillow mask and the Gel nasal mask and cannot seem to get used to either one yet and it has been about almost a year now. I alternate between them and can not seem to wear either one more than two hours a night.

Have you tried the NasalAire II mask? It's one of my favorites. It's just like an oxygen cannula , but it's bigger. it truly is a wonderful mask and you do not even need headgear.

I had masks I couldn't wear because they hurt my upper lip.
I had masks I couldn't wear because their headgear cut into the tops of my ears.
I also had a machine set up at a pressure which was all wrong.

So try to be more specific in describing what bothers you about the whole story.
There's actually a pretty good change that when you no longer choke in your sleep your claustrophobia will recede too.

Look at your machine an tell us its exact make, mode name and the pressure it is set up at - and look for your PSG report and tell what they saw then.

That will help us help you look for solutions.

O.

Hello Fullard,

To start with:

What machine are you using?
What is your pressure set at?
What model of nasal pillow mask are you using?
What kind of events did your sleep study show?
Have you considered an overhead hose arrangement?

Fill out your equipment profile at the "User Control Panel" above.

You can get there with help from this site. Many, many people have and have their lives back. Pull up a chair for a couple weeks and study the information on this site carefully. Ask all the questions you have, you will succeed with a little help.

Georgio

put the mask on and watch TV without hooking it up to the machine. You will get used to it.

neverbetter wrote:Have you tried the NasalAire II mask? It's one of my favorites. It's just like an oxygen cannula , but it's bigger. it truly is a wonderful mask and you do not even need headgear.

I'd like to point out that I didn't post the above.

But I was gonna say the same thing. I too am HIGHLY claustrophobic, AND a mouth breather. But I could not stand the full face masks, nor the standard "triangle" nasal masks.

I tried every pillows mask out there, and they all hurt in one way or another.

The Nasal Aire II is the only mask I can sleep with all night every night.

If you're interested in trying this mask out before buying it, PM me, and I'll send you the mask to try. You can read more about it in the links in my signature block below.

Cheers,
Barbara

I too am chlostrophobic--I recently went for a MRI and within 5 seconds of being put into the tube I was beating on it and hollering to get out. I found, strangely enough, that I am happiest in a Mirage Quattro full-face mask. I think that for me being able to feel the air moving around my nose and mouth gives me more of a sense of being out in the open than I get with nasal pillows or a nasal mask.

The advice to sit and watch TV with the mask on is good, but if you've been using your masks for nearly a year and can only tolerate them for a couple of hours you gotta try some others. Some members on this forum have masks they'll lend to you to try. Also, your insurance should be covering replacement masks every three to six months, so check out what's available and make some stabs at it. It took me about a year and maybe 12 different trys to settle into the one I like, so don't get discouraged!

I find that if the air is set too warm, it feels more claustrophobic. Anything above 2 (out of a maximum of causes me to wake up and feel the impulse to remove the make and breath fresh air to calm down.

I have had good luck with the "no mask" mask, the CPAP Pro. It has no straps or head gear and nothing touches your face, except the nose pillows in your nostrils. The mask is held to your face by a molded bite plate that clips gently over your upper teeth.

Lisa

I am not normally claustrophobic, but during my sleep study, they put a triangle nose mask on me to demonstrate how it worked. I had extreme trouble breathing through it and it was excrutiatingly painful because the attendant put it on so tight. I felt very claustrophobic and wanted very badly to rip it off. It was such a horrible experience that I vowed to do whatever it took so they wouldn't put that mask on me again. They didn't! I didn't sleep until after the halfway point. It was a split study.

When I got my machine they gave me a full fask mask. While I'd rather have no mask and no machine, it is tolerable to me and comfortable. I do not feel claustrophobic with it.