CPAPtalk.com

mayondair wrote:Thank you for doing that math for me. I'm and English teacher and strongly feel that math is better left to those who can handle it. Plus, math is witchcraft

Many a mathematician feels the same way about leaving writing to the folks in Englsh ...

Thank goodness we have Robysue to sort some numbers out, math scares me too, nice to have a professional on board now if we can just find an exorcist for the trolls

Pity throwing a bit of math at them won't scare them off. But it doesn't ...

Updating nights 3 and 4...

Night 3 went to bed using a little aromatherapy this time. Used a cotton pad and some Flower Oil I had that is a blend of stuff that I have used to relieve headaches. Smelled lots better! Woke a couple of times, but kept the mask on. So, slept from 11:30 pm to 5am, then from about 5:30 am to 7:30am. Much better. My nose feels cold in the mask and the skin just below my nose was sore. Other than that, a successful night.

Last night, I used some new oils I picked up. The smell was more subtle but still pleasant. Asleep again at usual time, however, at some point, my fiancee says around 1am, I took the mask off. I don't recall when or why. Just did. Weird because I seem to be waking at 1 am or so regularly now; about 1.5 to 2 hours after falling asleep. I woke at 5 am, realized I didn't have the mask on. At 7am I put the mask on, then slept til 8:30am.

My biggest complaints so far are that my nose gets cold, or that mask feels either too tight or too loose. Also, when I put the mask on, I find that I am extremely conscious of my breathing and trying to "breathe normally." Now that I think about it, I also felt like I wasn't getting enough air at first. Should I turn off the ramp setting? I've seen others say that was good for them.

Hi Gurp!

Decreasing/turning off the ramp was one of the first things I did as I became more used to the air. I was chicken at first and just changed it from 30 minutes to 20, and the next night lower. Then I finally realized that part of my feeling suffocated was the ramp so I just turned it off.

Worrying too much about breathing goes away with desensitization, so does taking off the mask without remembering it. I think most of us suffer from the "sleep de-masking" syndrome at first. Its your subconscious trying to "save" you from the thing on your face--it takes a while to really convince your subconscious that the mask is a GOOD thing. Thank heavens that it does happen, but it takes time.

You may also want to start playing around with your humidity settings if the cold nose bothers you. And if your mask is uncomfortable, there are ways to make it more comfortable--lots of ideas here--and it is also normal that you'll have to go through several masks to find a good one. If you're sore, contact your DME right away to get another mask to try. The sooner the better. DON'T SUFFER! When you find a mask that is overall pretty good and you really like it, then you can do some modifications/hacks to it to make it even better.

Overall, it sounds like you're doing REALLY well--you're actually sleeping! Many of us did not start sleeping that quickly.

Weezy

More humidity or less if I want a warmer nose. I had previously set it at 2 but have tried a 3 the last night to keep the nasal passages moist.

gurp13 wrote:Also, when I put the mask on, I find that I am extremely conscious of my breathing and trying to "breathe normally."

Another thing that can trigger being over conscious of your own breathing is conducted noise coming from the tubing. It can magnify the sound of your breathing as it affects the pressurized air being blown into your mask by the machine. Moving the hose even slightly can help with this problem.

Do you have a hose cover? It helps to keep the humidifier air warm and is nicer to touch than the cold plastic.

Last night was better and yet, the same. I didn't get so weird about "breathing normally" although it did take a while to fall asleep. I used my earphones again. Aromatherapy is invaluable. I had a little sage oil and it really helps. I went to sleep around 10:30pm, awoke two hours later, then went to sleep again. I next awoke at 3am without the mask on. I put the mask back on. At some point I ripped it off of me, I guess, because all four Velcro straps were undone! So, I readjusted it and went to sleep without earphones. Awoke at 5am then drifted asleep again and got up at 5:30am.

I don't have a hose cover but I was thinking of getting one.

As to moving the hose itself, what makes it conduct the sound? How should I move it? Honestly, it's not really noisy at all. It's just that I hear it so I pay attention to it and then get anxious about my breathing so I start really thinking about how I am breathing. When I listen to music, I can ignore the machine and pay attention to the music.

Thanks again for the support.

I'm calling the DME about trying another mask. I'm hoping to try nasal pillows. I like to read in bed before sleep and I think this could help.

gurp13 wrote: As to moving the hose itself, what makes it conduct the sound? How should I move it? Honestly, it's not really noisy at all. It's just that I hear it so I pay attention to it and then get anxious about my breathing so I start really thinking about how I am breathing. When I listen to music, I can ignore the machine and pay attention to the music.

All solids are capable of transmitting sound waves. It's just that we're usually not attached to a solid that is carrying sound waves in an environment that allows the conducted noise to be particularly noticeable to us. The sound waves the hose are carrying, by the way, include the sound of your breathing as well as the sounds the machine itself is making. And every inhale/exhale you make affects the flow of the air in the hose, which affects the sound of the flow of the air ....

In general, conducted noise that we notice is from sound waves that are transmitted through solid substances (the hose, your pillows, covers, body) to your head and skull, and directly into your inner ear; thus conducted noise completely avoids the usual transmission route for sound through the outer ear through the ear drum, into the middle ear, through the three small bones in the middle ear and into the inner ear. Because conducted noise gets to your inner ear without going through the outer ear at all, using earplugs to dampen or block noise can actually intensify annoying and irritating conducted noise because the earplugs fit into your outer ear and only block the NON-conducted noise.

As to how to move the hose if the sound of your breathing is bugging you: If it's lying on your pillow or actually touching your head---particularly the area around the back of your ears, try to move your head and the hose to minimize the contact between the hose and the pillow and your head. The hose touching the pillow is the usual number one suspect in conducted noise from the hose. (That's also part of why the special CPAP pillows with the cutouts for the mask not only help stabilize the mask and reduce leaks, but also may help with conducted noise issues.)

But since listening to music lets you ignore the conducted noise, that's the simpler solution: In general irritating noises (be they real or nasty tinnitus) are often easy to ignore in the presence of a more pleasant auditory stimulus. And note: You do NOT need to have the volume of the music on high enough to drown the conducted noise out---no it's actually more effective in the long run if the music is at a comfortable (quiet) level for sleeping that's just barely loud enough to give the conducted noise competition for your attention. That's all it takes to get your mind off the conducted noise--competition from a more pleasant auditory stimulus that you'd rather listen to. Then the conducted noise fades into the background and you don't notice it. Same trick works for my tinnitus by the way.

Because my husband doesn't object to it (in fact he tells me he enjoys it), I've dealt with the conducted noise issue myself by leaving my iHome on all night repeatedly looping through a Gregorian chant playlist playing at a reasonable volume. I can't stand headphones or earplugs and I was noticing that I kept waking up when the iHome was turning itself OFF when I was using it's Sleep feature. So it's better for my sleep to just leave the Gregorian chants playing all night long. And the Gregorian chant keeps my mind off the conducted noise from the hose unless I've got a migraine or tension headache brewing. But that's another issue all together.

Wow, what a thorough answer, thank you for taking the time!

Last night was more successful. I had the mask on from 10:30 pm to 5:30 am. I woke up at 2:00 and 4:00 am though. I was able to fall back asleep both times.

My nose was still cold. Hose cover is on order from CPAP.com. Aromatherapy is great and highly recommended. It helps me feel like the machine is kinda fun rather than just some medical equipment.

I don't know if I am dreaming more, per se, but I am recalling more of my dreams. It's been very interesting. My mask didn't hurt as much, either. It reminds me of when I first got glasses. In the beginning, the glasses hurt my ears and nose like the dickens! Then, over time, they stopped hurting. I think it might be the same with my mask. So, even though I have a walk-in appointment to either get refitted or get a new mask, I think I might keep this one. My machine reports zero large leaks and my AHI is 1.5.

At this point I think I have little to complain about. If anything, I can't say I am sleeping better exactly. Waking up every couple of hours is a drag. As far as I knew, I was sleeping the whole night prior to CPAP. I can't say that I feel a lot better or significantly less sleepy, but there does seem to be some positive movement in that direction. I hope that as I get more used to the mask that I will sleep all night and awake refreshed and feeling great.

I have a full face mask, set at 20. This is what helped me,
I took a fluffy towel – cut it to fit from ear to ear & forehead to chin – cut a hole for my nose to stick out – put over eyes, mouth & nose sticking out, put mask on and no more dry eyes, dry mouth, leaks or weird noises. Now I sleep 8/9 hours.

gurp13 wrote:Wow, what a thorough answer, thank you for taking the time!

You are welcome!

My nose was still cold.

My suggestion is to consider trying a nasal pillows mask since you're currently using a nasal mask anyway. The air is then blown directly into your nostrils instead of onto your nose. So no more cold nose---if you mean the outside of your nose is still cold.

Hose cover is on order from CPAP.com. Aromatherapy is great and highly recommended. It helps me feel like the machine is kinda fun rather than just some medical equipment.

The hose cover helps me feel the machine is "kinda fun" rather than just some medical equipment. I hug the hose at night like a rather large stuffed toy snake. Hence the BiPAP's name is Kaa after the snake in The Jungle Book.

I figure I will keep posting this... Maybe someone finds it useful.

Night 7: Fell asleep okay. There's a pattern now. I wake up almost two hours after falling asleep. Went to sleep at 10:30 pm, woke at 12:30 a.m. My nose was FREEZING. I still had my earphones in, so I hit play again and went back to sleep. I had the hose routed up over my head and behind my pillow, so I pulled it to the side and out some of it under the covers with me which warmed the air some. However, at some point in the night I took the mask off. I vaguely remember doing it. At least this time I unclipped the lower strap instead of ripping it off, . Anyway, I wish I would leave the dang thing on. I ordered a hose cover so hopefully it will arrive soon and I can stop dealing with the cold air.

Overall, I liked the mask, as much as I can like a mask that I have to sleep with. I don't know why I took it off so I can't say it was because it hurt or something. Also, it doesn't leak, seems to fit well. If I knew Apria would let me take both the nasal mask and nasal pillows home to use, I would try them, but I usually feel like it's better to deal with the devil you know, if you take my meaning. I am considering the nasal pillows. I think I might like them, but I have to drive into the DME to get them and it's not all that convenient. So, since the nasal mask is basically working and my only issue might be acclimatizing myself to it, I don't know if I want to deal with exchanging it. Is my reasoning faulty? I know a lot people try multiple masks but maybe I got lucky with the first one?

If it were my choice I would also look at a full face mask for when you have a cold or just stuffy nose. Your DME will allow you to change as many masks as you need to, usually for up to 30 days. And if its a great DME they will allow you to keep the one you have -- since its now used.
Cheers
N

Nasal pillows might help with the freezing nose... Why not call the DME and just ask what would happen if you wanted to try them?
Might not have to give up current mask.

What kind of nasal pillow were you considering? Probably the Swift FX but if some other kind I might have one in my drawer full of experiments you could just have.

Hi Nan, I enjoy my goatee and have been told that to use a full face I would have to lose the facial hair. My wife has informed me that facial hair is not optional so, I hadn't considered it.

Hi pugsy, I asked Apria but I couldn't talk to the RT. She was unsure if I would get to keep the nasal mask or not. She kept saying exchange, so, i assumed not. Maybe they get a credit if they send it back? But, yes, I was hoping to get the Swift. The Apria website shows the Mirage Swift but I was hoping the site was out of date and I could get the Swift FX instead.

I have an "appointment" for a walk-in on Friday. I think they make 20 appointments for the day and then it is first come, first served. I'm still not sure if I will keep the appointment or not. Other than a cold nose and taking the mask off in the middle of the night, I can't really complain. My machine says I have 0 periodic breathing and 0 large leaks and an AHI of 1.5 with an average of 5.5 hours of use over 7 days. That seems to be pretty nominal results around here. I imagine that some people would throw a party to have those numbers based on some posts I've read. So, I am reluctant to do more than complain a little.