Whats the best tip you learned from CPAP talk?

I noticed there's a couple of different threads talking about liners and realized I wasn't the only one that feels pretty passionate about them. Making them out of old t-shirts is one of the best tips I learned from here.
What is the most helpful thing you learned here, big or small? The list can certainly help the newbies the way many of the posts helped me.

Ineedanap wrote:I noticed there's a couple of different threads talking about liners and realized I wasn't the only one that feels pretty passionate about them. Making them out of old t-shirts is one of the best tips I learned from here.
What is the most helpful thing you learned here, big or small? The list can certainly help the newbies the way many of the posts helped me.

Yep this and the ladies tights fixes for the Hybrid

The best tip for me would be to get a data capable machine.

Very good post!

- Lansinoh to improve the sealing of nasal pillows.

- Tights ( Restedgal's technique ) to keep the Headrest's nasal pillows well positioned against the nostrils with a deconstucted mask.

First, sign up on this forum, then get the right machine, then get the mask that works for you!

Where do I start; I can't decide.
Full data, automatic machine, cpap.com, software download, loads and loads and loads of advice, some of which I followed, most worked.
Hints on how to to get my husband to make the decision to join me (finally!) {He scared me to death, he stopped breathing so often.}
I'm getting misty--many thanks to all you angels.

Question everything. 

Laugh a lot. 

Best tip? That I can change my own pressures and it's not against the law or a part of some satanic ritual, despite how some in the medical community may react to it.

How to deal with the DME is a big one for me.

Barrel Cozy.

Lansinoh.

My first non-data capable cpap was wrong and went to data capable cpap.
I can take charge of my own therapy of setting cm pressure.
Learn about different masks.
I'm not the only one who struggles to make this therapy a success.

Get COPIES of your sleep study reports with condensed graphs and your prescription!!!!!
And there was a page I printed off about why I needed a data capable machine and reviewed it before I went in to shop for a DME. It may have been from that other forum but it's mostly the same people trying to help others. I can't imagine what this experience would have been like without google leading me to the forums.

rosacer wrote:Very good post!

- Lansinoh to improve the sealing of nasal pillows.

I haven't been able to find Lansinoh around here, not Walgreen's, not Walmart, not local pharmacy, not nowhere. Any suggestions where to look again, or some more?

Among the many things that have helped me, recommendations for two books stand out the most:

Sound Sleep, Sound Mind
The Highly Sensitive Person

Both books have helped me tremendously with figuring out just why I was having such an awful time with sensory overload a year ago when I was a newbie.

While Sound Sleep, Sound Mind gets a lot of deserved press around here, The Highly Sensitive Person by Elaine N. Aron taught me a tremendous amount about why and how I react to things both physically and emotionally. And how to deal with it in a positive fashion instead of a negative one.

idamtnboy wrote:

rosacer wrote:Very good post!

- Lansinoh to improve the sealing of nasal pillows.

I haven't been able to find Lansinoh around here, not Walgreen's, not Walmart, not local pharmacy, not nowhere. Any suggestions where to look again, or some more?

You need to check the aisle with the baby supplies: Lansinoh is sold as a nipple cream to soothe the sore nipples of breast-feeding mothers. It is usually located with the bottle supplies. If Walgreen's and Walmart don't have it, try to find a store that caters to new parents who are into "natural products" and organic stuff. Or, if you are a particularly adventuresome type of guy, contact the local La Leche League: That's an organization that provides support to nursing mothers and Lansinoh carries the La Leche League's stamp of approval. I'm sure a local La Leche Leaguer would be able to tell you exactly where to find it locally.

Picking "the best" tip is hard, but as much as I appreciate all I've received from this forum, I realize one single tip was key to my treatment turnaround.

Increase your ramp pressure and decrease your ramp time.

I was one who was asleep before my head hit the pillow but almost as quickly would awake with the sensation of suffocating. This cycle repeated as long as I stayed in bed. I had been instructed by the both the RT at the DME and my doctor that whenever I woke up to just hit the ramp to start over. So I was, for the most part, spending my nights in snatches of sleep during a nearly perpetual ramp - woefully inadequate treatment since mjy ramp pressure started at 4. Addressing my misuse of the ramp feature singlehandedly extended my sleep times and my tolerance of cpap treatment.