newcomer to cpap

Hi all, I have had my cpap just 2 weeks after about 6 months of o2 therapy for nocturnal hypoxia, mild to moderate osa. I felt fine with the oxygen, but wanted to try the cpap because we cannot use our solar panels to power a concentrator, but they will power the cpap machine. I resisted any therapy because I had no symptoms of apnea except excessive snoring disturbing my husband, but it was nice not to wake up without a headache when we went up to high altitude. I seem to be getting along fine with the cpap, although it was kind of rough getting started - only got my husband out of the spare room two nights ago. I changed masks from the mirage swift to the Activa and love it - it is so quiet it is scary, but I sure am glad I read on this forum to wash your face at night, because it was leaking like crazy till I started that.
I have an appointment today to consult with an ent about a pillar procedure. I'm hoping that if I can use that to stop my snoring, that I might be able to ditch the cpap, and maybe I can use the pulse oximeter to confirm that my o2 is not in trouble anymore. Thanks for all the good info, it has really been helpful.

herefishy,

You may find that the CPAP therapy will significantly reduce your snoring without having the pillar procedure. For me it wasn't an overnight thing, but rather over the last six months.....it has dropped dramatically.

Best wishes,

Den

You mean even without your mask on? Does this mean that your OSA is better, too? I thought if you didn't snore you didn't have OSA? The pillar doc said I was a good candidate, that I should have septoplasty, too, but wouldn't speculate about whether I could get off cpap. I made it 7 hours last night with my mask on, so I think maybe I can live with this cpap, but my mouth still falls open, which makes a racket with the airflow coming out - I have a little chinstrap, do you know if the ones they sell on Ebay work any better at keeping your mouth closed? How do you tape it closed? Just with a little adhesive tape?

herefishy,

You mean even without your mask on?

YES, that is correct. A few weeks ago, one evening, I fell asleep in my recliner (not hooked up to my CPAP).....when I woke up I asked my wife if I had had any apnea events or whatever. She replied "Well, you went three hours without breathing!" So, that told me that I didn't snore or have any apnea events for that period of time.

Does this mean that your OSA is better, too?

YES, it is (wearing the mask, of course). My weekly/monthly average AHI is running about 0.7 (anything under 5.0 is considered "normal").

I thought if you didn't snore you didn't have OSA?

While snoring may be an indicator of OSA, in MY case it has no affect on my AHI. I've had VERY low AHI numbers with very high snoring indexes. I have also had higher AHI indexes with low snoring indexes. On the plus side (for me), my snoring indexes has been cut drastically along with the AHI. It's just that there is no direct correlation between the two for me.

Since I use a full face mask, I can't answer your mouth-taping questions, but perhaps someone else can.....it's not really an issue with the FF masks.

Hope this has answered some of your questions.

Best wishes,

Den

I have a remstar plus with c-flex and am interested in the encore software, but haven't a clue where any recording might take place - is the software usable with this machine?

I'm sorry to inform you that your machine is not capable of capturing detailed information. There's only one Respironics straight CPAP that is capable and that is the REMstar Pro 2 (w/CFLEX) model. Also, the REMstar "Auto" (w/CFLEX) model captures detailed data.

Den