CPAPtalk.com

Rested Gal, you''re one of the few people I know who can write about vomiting and make me laugh out loud!!!

And thanks for painting those paragraphs -- you're right as usual.

O.

rested gal wrote:Oh, and when people ask, "Why use tape??? Why not just use a Full Face mask????" or "Why not use a chin strap???"

Sometimes I tape, sometimes I don't. Sometimes my mouth leaks a little. Sometimes with taping I still have some leaks from the nasal pillows. I figure nothing is perfect all the time.
Why don't I use a FF mask? I could say the same reasons that many others have listed plus my cervical spine and lower strap issues but the top reason is simply I don't want to. Attitude is so very critical to this whole mask and machine thing and my attitude towards the FF masks is that I don't want to use one. It isn't like I am having totally ineffective therapy doing what I am doing.

I get perfectly acceptable numbers with what I do and if I can ever consistently get more hours of sleep I feel sure that I will see some significant improvement besides the small improvements I have seen to this point. Could I do "better" with FF?? Who knows. Maybe, maybe not. The discomfort I have associated with nasal bridge pressure congestion and my cervical spine with the tension from the lower strap would also disrupt my sleep. So in the long run maybe just trading one thing for another to disrupt things. Remember I have this titanium plate in my neck. I have to use a straw to drink with because tilting a can or glass much will get me a good dunking. I cannot tilt my head back very far. That lower strap around the base of my skull and spine creates some serious pain issues for me. I simply don't want to go down that road and try to "fix" it when I have something like the nasal pillows that work perfectly well for me.

And yes, I have the Hybrid available for use in my stockpile of tried masks. To be honest, I doubt it will ever see much use.

I have never thrown up while taping but equally as scary for me was getting nasal congestion and waking gasping for enough air through congested nostrils.
I found this happened often and that it must be some mild allergy. I tried nasal spray and Clartin D but dint want to do that full time.

So i was forced to ditch my Swift LT, PapCap and mouth tape which had gotten me off to a good start with my therapy.

I tried several full face masks and the Hybrid mask before finally settling on a Quattro which can be a bit hit and miss with regard to leaks. But the mask allows me to mouth breath when i get nasal congestion. Even though it dries my mouth out it allows me to continue sleeping.

I'm not sure if there has been any documented cases of people being harmed by mouth taping with CPAP? When i mentioned it to my doc he had the whatever works for you approach and i just went with that originally. Whenever i mouth taped i always folded back the tape at the ends to create an easy pull tab so i could quickly remove the tape.

ozij wrote:Effect of mouth leak on effectiveness of nasal bilevel ventilatory assistance and sleep architecture
Eur Respir J 1999; 14: 1251-1257
H Teschler, J Stampa, R Ragette, N Konietzko, and M Berthon-Jones

(Teschler and Bethon-Jones are MD's, and central figures in ResMed's research and development of algorithms)

Mouth leak is common during nasal ventilatory assistance, but its effects on ventilatory support and on sleep architecture are unknown. The acute effect of sealing the mouth on sleep architecture and transcutaneous carbon dioxide tension (Ptc,CO2) was tested in 9 patients (7 hypercapnic) on longterm nasal bilevel ventilation with symptomatic mouth leak. Patients slept with nasal bilevel ventilation at their usual settings on two nights in random order. On one night, the mouth was taped closed. Leak was measured with a pneumotachograph.

Finally! Thank you, Ozij!

Hallelujah!!!

Karen,
Who had surgery so she cannot vomit anyway :p