Partner of new CPAP user, am I welcome?

You might try showing your husband a recording of him sleeping; it should help him understand how important his therapy is.

And he might consider trying the ResMed Swift FX nasal pillow mask. Its low profile helps with side and stomach sleeping. I will make you aware that there is some concern about the quality and usable life of the pillow for this mask; Search "Swift FX" for more on this.

I side sleep with a FFM (full face mask) and propped up on 4 layered pillows and a folded beach towel to ensure the fluid that pools in the lower body during the day doesn't flood my upper airways when I lie down *sigh*. I have a memory foam contour pillow under my head; I sleep on its edge or with my body angled slightly away from the pillow. I have no issues with the hose going straight down as I either tuck it under the edge of a pillow so it won't pull on the mask or it lies under my arm when I face away from the machine -- some have issues with the hose going down and need some sort of hose arrangement that is overhead, drapes across a headboard. Get a microfiber hose cover or make one...much more comfortable and quieter than plastic. Most of us saline rinses of one sort or another. Lip balm (I like the Badger ones from Whole Foods) are helpful protecting against dryness. Everything else is pretty much on an as needed basis to fix something not comfortable, not working. Get the software...the daily detailed data is fascinating and helps to ascertain if tweaking is needed. Use the mask fit feature until he learns what a good fit feels like. Most important, get a recording oximeter with an alarm so if he takes a nap and his saturated oxygen levels drop, the alarm will wake him up.

Welcome aboard! Great info and folks here!

Hi tara!

Oh, I can tell you one thing, the filters that come with the new s9's are pretty crummy, so be ready to get a hyperllergenic
filter at cpap.com

(on the back left side of he machine, you will see a little piece of plastic sticking out, and that clicks out, and the filters go in there..)
you might want to check them to make sure there isnt a bunch of dirt on either side of them, because its hard enough to breath
with these things, let alone bring thru a bunch of dirt, and oh the smell! eek!)

The filters I was given, dont do a thing, actually there is more dirt on the INSIDE, so it must pass right through, or not fit well so
it goes around..

just look under DISPOSABLE FILTERS resmed, and youll see the good ones for the s9.

There is even a thread around here about how you can make your own, but there is so much to learn, I would just buy a few of
these till ya get him all situated..

You are a jewel, so glad you are here!

elena

Hi Tara, I missed your post earlier and it's too late to read now, but I wanted to welcome you. We need more supportive spouses and SO here to keep me company. You'll get lots of help here from the experts and you can PM me with any of the "relationship" questions you might have. I might not have the answers but I'm here for venting.

Tara, it sounds like your boyfriend is off to a great start! Getting a mask that works well (with few leaks) is 3/4 of the battle won, in my opinion.

Ah yes, the "CPAP gadgets"!!! I think I have them all! And masks galore....

Others have already made good suggestions regarding hose management. I have a Hozer hose management system, where the hose is suspended from overhead. It doesn't work so well with the SlimLine and ClimateLine hoses that are designed for the S9 machines, but it works great with regular-sized hoses. Here are many links to "hose management," including some homemade solutions: viewtopic.php?t=10640.

ResMed has recently stopped selling their hose cover for use with the heated ClimateLine tubing. I would suggest covering the SlimLine or regular-sized tubing with a fleece cover to cut down on the possibility of rainout (condensation in the hose).

Here's a link to the Falcon stomach-sleeping position that was mentioned earlier, with photographs: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=36738&p=319598#p319598. Note that there is no pillow used under the head. If your boyfriend must sleep with a pillow, there are lots of threads with suggestions regarding that.

DoriC wrote:Hi Tara, I missed your post earlier and it's too late to read now, but I wanted to welcome you. We need more supportive spouses and SO here to keep me company. You'll get lots of help here from the experts and you can PM me with any of the "relationship" questions you might have. I might not have the answers but I'm here for venting.

My wife will PM you about some problems she is having with me.

Rooster, I don't think even my broadband provider offers THAT kind of bandwidth!

Tarazed wrote:
So far, his biggest issue, I think is that he sleeps sorta half on his side, half on his stomach... like the "recovery position" in first aid; upper leg bent up, one arm behind, upper arm in front, tucked under the pillow. He has problems with the pillow pressing his mask off to the side and getting leak, so he's forced to either sleep on his back, or directly on his side, which causes his lower arm to go numb. I've been reading about these CPAP pillows, which say they're good for stomach sleeping, but we haven't figured out how he can do that without blocking the vent in his mask.

Any suggestions?

Don't put him on his back. Put him in the Falcon position or leave him as is.

If he stays in the "recovery position", he needs to learn to keep his arm in front of his body instead of underneath his body. It can be learned. I did it because my arm felt like tennis elbow when I slept on it. It took a little practice to break that habit.

I sleep most of the night in the Falcon position and it does not cause leaks. I use a regular bed pillow under my head and let the front end of the mask hang over the edge. I place a matching pillow under my chest so my neck is not bent.

For about half of patients, sleeping on the back will cause apnea to be worse and maybe pressure requirements to be higher.

Getting effective treatment and good sleep with CPAP is a learning and adjusting experience. It can take quite some time, so be patient as much as you can.

At some point we need to explore your snoring problem. Sleep apnea will cause weight gain and your snoring is another bad sign.

I also sleep on my stomach a great deal of the time.

I use a Tempurpedic pillow and position my head sideways at the edge of the pillow.
I think of it as a position like a swimmer taking a breath.

I also use the Quattro mask.

I've tried a lot of masks and it's the best I've found. Many people here swear by it.

Welcome to the forum, you'll find a lot of help here.

Arizona-Willie wrote: I think of it as a position like a swimmer taking a breath.

Precisely descriptive. I will have to remember that analogy. Thanks.

Guest wrote:Hi, I'm Tara, I'm 30 and my boyfriend of 3 years, Conn, is 40 and he was just diagnosed with sleep apnea and as of last week is on a ResMed Autoset 9 with a Mirage mask and humidifier.

I'm the more forum-savvy one of us, so I was wondering if I'd be able to join you all here and maybe put in my/our 2 cents on this apnea thing.

I'm a medical transcriptionist by trade, so I've written up sleep lab letters to GPs, and thus am familiar with some of the lingo and concepts, but there's obviously more I don't know.

Anyways, I've been looking around this site, and found a few topics I'd like to reply to, but everyone seems to be users themselves, and not partners of users, so I thought I'd check if it was okay first. If not, I'll just continue reading.

Thanks,
Tara

Welcome aboard.

roster wrote:

DoriC wrote:Hi Tara, I missed your post earlier and it's too late to read now, but I wanted to welcome you. We need more supportive spouses and SO here to keep me company. You'll get lots of help here from the experts and you can PM me with any of the "relationship" questions you might have. I might not have the answers but I'm here for venting.

My wife will PM you about some problems she is having with me.

For her I have some answers! It will take many pages!

yes!!!!!!!!!! You are sooooooooooo welcome! I love it when partners care!!