Taking mask off in my sleep

For a time I was taking off my mask and/or turning off my machine without my recollection. What has worked for me has been to open up a hard cover book over top of the machine (and putting the machine a little farther from away). This made it harder to turn off and has made the difference. I haven't unknowingly turned off the machine in over a month.

JIM

After 2 1/2 years on da hose, I still have nights where I almost/kinda/sorta wake up fighting my mask, my hose, my pressures....and want to take my mask off. Heck, there's even a night or two where I wake up with the mask off! But it's happened a whole lot less frequently over the years until it's maybe once every 3-4 months. So, like everyone has said, it does get better.

Kajun

I am new here - Helloe everyone - I do the samething I started out with a mirage swift and it hurt the inside of my nose then I had another mask that was too big - I have a mirage vista now and am doing alot better - I am a teeth grinder and I thing my mask gets in the way of the grinding and I guess I prefer to grind...lol - the Vista is the best I have found so far

I don't know if anyone has posted an answer to why people remove their masks in the middle of the night. I am a Respiratory Therapist with over 35 years experience, the last 18 with CPAP. If you read your sleep study you will find that your pressure requirements change during the night and over the course of a few days. for those who wake up at night, try to remember how you felt. Did you feel like you were getting too much air or not enough? There are many sleep disorders that cause or allow physical movements so the pressure is just one reason for awakening. Remember, the set pressure on your machine may be "good" at certain times but not "good" at others. An ideal situation would be for all units to have Auto Titrating capability. With that unit your "set pressure" would float to meet your immediate needs. Hope this information helps.

For those who don't know me, I'm the person behind the pur-sleep products. I've had a lot of great help from people on the forum over the last year in helping to develop and improve the products. I've seen some very good feedback about the products improving the "mask off" situation and would be glad to have some additional feedback on this point because it's a common problem / issue. This was very similar to my personal experience--I would wake up at 2 am every night and could never stand to put the mask back on.

So I would be happy to provide up to 10 people experiencing "mask off" problems with a free Basic Starter Pack. More information about the products can be found on the website. The only thing I ask for in return is for feedback, good, bad, or otherwise, preferably on the forum but private feedback is fine. Specifically I am in the process of changing my product brochure and wanted to include some information about "mask off" issues. Any help along those lines would be appreciated.

If you would like to participate, please send me an email (no PMs please) to support@pursleep.com along with a note about why you feel like you quality as well as a mailing address. Personal information is used only for purposes of the trial.

That's it.

SG

eallen wrote:I don't know if anyone has posted an answer to why people remove their masks in the middle of the night. I am a Respiratory Therapist with over 35 years experience, the last 18 with CPAP. If you read your sleep study you will find that your pressure requirements change during the night and over the course of a few days. for those who wake up at night, try to remember how you felt. Did you feel like you were getting too much air or not enough? There are many sleep disorders that cause or allow physical movements so the pressure is just one reason for awakening. Remember, the set pressure on your machine may be "good" at certain times but not "good" at others. An ideal situation would be for all units to have Auto Titrating capability. With that unit your "set pressure" would float to meet your immediate needs. Hope this information helps.

That's been the thoughts of many, many people on the forums for a long time. FIRST.....the industry has to be convinced not to make or hand out any machines that are NOT data capable. Far too many entities involved in this therapy are only interested in making money......not peoples therapy success/compliance
Got any ideas how we could get that point across to them?

On the other hand, I and many others have better therapy success on single-pressure......but at least APAPs can be set in many modes, so a person is at least able to chose their "favorite flavor".

Thanks for joining in.......please stick around.

Den

The reality of this business is that it is driven by the Insurance Industry. The Cpap manufacturers have responded to the reimbursement changes principly set by Medicare. Medicare generaly sets a price and most private Insurers follow. Several Insurers in the last year have lowered their reimbursement to a point that it has become impossible for Providers to supply the equipment. The result has been that a number of equipment providers have stopped servicing those Insurance companies.Also, most Insurers prohibit Providers from charging the patient anything over the set price.The end result is that there will be machines on the market with varying capabilities and varying levels of followup from the providing company.Healthcare industry does earn huge dollars, but it generaly goes to the management companies, not those they manage. By the way, upgraded equipment can be purchased, it's just a question of who is going to pay for it.

eallen wrote:The reality of this business is that it is driven by the Insurance Industry. The Cpap manufacturers have responded to the reimbursement changes principly set by Medicare. Medicare generaly sets a price and most private Insurers follow. Several Insurers in the last year have lowered their reimbursement to a point that it has become impossible for Providers to supply the equipment. The result has been that a number of equipment providers have stopped servicing those Insurance companies.Also, most Insurers prohibit Providers from charging the patient anything over the set price.The end result is that there will be machines on the market with varying capabilities and varying levels of followup from the providing company.Healthcare industry does earn huge dollars, but it generaly goes to the management companies, not those they manage. By the way, upgraded equipment can be purchased, it's just a question of who is going to pay for it.

Sounds to me, from that description, like it's the DMEs who are trying to play "hardball"......and in essence trying to force the insurance industry to play by THEIR rules. Good for the insurance companies! The DME industry is ripe with fraud and it's about time that somebody starts cracking down. It's OUR money that's being squandered. The whole insurance/medical/government thing is outta whack.


Den