Second night was horrible

Thanks for all the responses.

I really have a hard time breathing just using my nose, mask or not.

I am thinking now that the problem is nose breathing.

I have been "practicing today.
Later I will spend some time just wearing the chin strap.

Maybe I just should see if I can't try a full mask.
Breathing via mouth feels so much better.

You know, I never thought of that aspect. I'm horrible with barettes and pony tails. I wonder why cpap straps and such don't drive me nuts. Go figure.

macewa wrote:I tried the nasal mask and that was a disaster. Then they had me use a chin strap and that was just one more thing that had to be strapped on me and around my head. I'm one of those people who gets a headache if I wear a barrett or pull my hair back tight in a pony tail. I went to the full face and that cause me lots of pain on my nose and my pressure was so high I had to strap it on way too tight.

I just got my FitLife Total Face mask the other day and I LOVE IT!!! This is now, two or three days with no nose ache or headache. I don't usually feel claustrophic but with the full face mask at times I did. With the Full Face . . I hardly even know it's on. So I would say to consider that also as a choice. JMHO.

Emilia wrote:If you are mouth breather, a Full Face Mask may be a much better option for you. If you think your are breathing via your mouth for other reasons such a congestion or allergies, then those issues need to be addressed. Attempting to use a nasal mask if you know you will breathe through your mouth is futile.... you will just allow all the therapy to escape via your mouth and you accomplish nothing. If your nasal passages are clear and breathing through your nose is doable... you should consider either a chin strap to hold your jaw up and the mouth closed, or you could attempt to tape your mouth...but you should read more about that, first. Do a search on the forum for taping.

Put on the chin strap and started the stopwatch.
Within two minutes I am struggling with this.
I feel like I am not getting enough air and I have to focus on not breathing via mouth.

I think my right nostril is restricted somehow.
The doctor mentioned it was a little inflamed or something.

Finding a mask is key so if you cant get this one working well for you by all means try a Full Face. I swap out between my Swift and my Quatro so I use both Full Face and Nasal Pillows. Depending on various factors sometimes I get nose bleeds with the Swift and cause the Quatro's headband runs along the base of my neck and skull if I use it to long I get tension migraines. Both are about the best I have found for me so far and having both types lets me swap out when sick. Nothing is as fun as waking to throwing up with a Full Face mask on and a pressure of 16+ EEW ! So I use both =P

BigTex wrote:Put on the chin strap and started the stopwatch.
Within two minutes I am struggling with this.
I feel like I am not getting enough air and I have to focus on not breathing via mouth.

I think my right nostril is restricted somehow.
The doctor mentioned it was a little inflamed or something.

After just two minutes with ramp, your pressure is still going to be pretty close to the low end (4). Lots of people have trouble getting enough air at 4. Try using the mask fit function, it will go straight to your pressure so you'll get a better idea of what that feels like.

Do you have the smart start / stop feature enabled by any chance?

JointPain wrote:

BigTex wrote:Put on the chin strap and started the stopwatch.
Within two minutes I am struggling with this.
I feel like I am not getting enough air and I have to focus on not breathing via mouth.

I think my right nostril is restricted somehow.
The doctor mentioned it was a little inflamed or something.

After just two minutes with ramp, your pressure is still going to be pretty close to the low end (4). Lots of people have trouble getting enough air at 4. Try using the mask fit function, it will go straight to your pressure so you'll get a better idea of what that feels like.

Do you have the smart start / stop feature enabled by any chance?

The two minutes I was referring too was just using the chinstrap and breathing via nose without the Cpap.

If you cannot get enough air moving through the nose while wearing just the chin strap and no mask...
you need to either see what can be done to open the nasal passageway to allow more air movement or just get a full face mask so you can breathe through your mask and not lose therapy pressure.

Some people have nasal issues that just don't allow enough air movement via the nasal cavity.
Sometimes with oral meds and nasal sprays the airway can be opened up but if there is a physical blockage like with a polyp or something and you just can't get enough air moving even without the mask....use a full face mask while you consider your options (discuss with your doctor) on opening the nasal passage better. So you need to figure out what the problem actually is before you work on fixing it.

It's not the end of the world to have to use a full face mask. They just take a bit more work to find a good fitting comfortable mask because there is more surface to have to mess with to be comfortable and get a good seal.

BigTex wrote:The two minutes I was referring too was just using the chinstrap and breathing via nose without the Cpap.

I did "practice" breathing via nose yesterday and will continue today.
I also put on the mask while watching TV for about 30 minutes last night.

During the night I took off the mask a few times to get a break but I wore the mask for 5.25 hours last night if you include the training session.

I did sleep on my side, its easier for me.
I did have have some mask leaks and I did fiddle a bit with the mask.

I am tired this morning but I got over 5 hours with the mask so I feel good about that.


Min Avg 90% Max
Pressure 4.32 7.84 7.56 8.00
EPAP 4.00 4.93 4.94 5.00
Minute Vent. 2.75 9.70 13.50 24.50
AHI/Hr 0.00 1.59 3.00 8.00
Resp. Rate 2.60 14.02 16.00 38.60
Flow Limit 0.00 0.02 0.24 0.70
Leaks 0.00 3.30 12.00 46.80
Snore 0.00 0.15 1.68 3.12
Tidal Volume 160.00 711.80 1140.00 2440.00

Slow and steady wins the game. Just keep on. It will get easier with time.

BigTex wrote:I did "practice" breathing via nose yesterday and will continue today.
I also put on the mask while watching TV for about 30 minutes last night.

During the night I took off the mask a few times to get a break but I wore the mask for 5.25 hours last night if you include the training session.

I did sleep on my side, its easier for me.
I did have have some mask leaks and I did fiddle a bit with the mask.

I am tired this morning but I got over 5 hours with the mask so I feel good about that.


Min Avg 90% Max
Pressure 4.32 7.84 7.56 8.00
EPAP 4.00 4.93 4.94 5.00
Minute Vent. 2.75 9.70 13.50 24.50
AHI/Hr 0.00 1.59 3.00 8.00
Resp. Rate 2.60 14.02 16.00 38.60
Flow Limit 0.00 0.02 0.24 0.70
Leaks 0.00 3.30 12.00 46.80
Snore 0.00 0.15 1.68 3.12
Tidal Volume 160.00 711.80 1140.00 2440.00

Slow and Steady wins the game. So true.

You might think oh man only 5,25 hours but look on the bright side you just had your First successful treatment. Most Sleep docs consider 4 hours on the machine to be a successful treatment for a sleep period ! So even with the hour training you got in a good First start!

Just keep practicing and getting use to the mask and the machine. The rest will come after you can at least tolerate the gear and sleep with it on. That's the first real hurdle. Just worry about getting use to breathing on the machine don't worry about the numbers or the leaks. Yes, those are very important to work on but only after you can reliably use your gear for constant full sleep durations. Give it a week at least of successful nights of use( say 4+ hours of use although full 8 or so would be better), after that you can jump the next hurdle.

Mask fit is next, things like sore nose, dry eyes from a leak blowing into them, cold face from air leaking out around the seal, headaches and more all can come from leaks or headgear adjusted poorly. It takes a lot of playing around with the mask to get it to fit right, not leak, or hurt you in some way. If you can't use the gear consistently you make it very hard to figure out if it's the mask that just doesn't fit your face right or if the mask is good but just not on right. The more you use your gear and play with it to get it to fit right and learn how to adjust it the faster and easier you will be able to know the mask wont work for you. When I get a new mask and I do like to try new things when ever I can, I normally give it a week or two before I call a mask a dud. But in all honesty finding the "perfect" mask is like hunting unicorns, just when I think I got the "perfect" one I try something new and find OMG this is great !

Great work so far your doing well, just keep slogging through !

When I did my sleep study, anything below 8cm felt like I wasn't getting enough air to breathe.... I cannot imagine a ramp that starts at 4cm, I would be gasping for air.

Me 2, one of the first things I did when I got my new S9 was kill the ramp. Never have liked ramping but then again if I lay on my back anything under 14 cmH2O for me feels like I am struggling for air. Others at lower pressures might not have this issue.

I'm at 12 which is somewhat lower but I think I'd have a nervous breakdown if I didn't ramp. I feel like my nose is being blown out at 12. I'm fine if I ramp. I'm even fine if I get up in the middle of the night to potty and then put the mask back on. Gotta ramp though.

hades161 wrote:Me 2, one of the first things I did when I got my new S9 was kill the ramp. Never have liked ramping but then again if I lay on my back anything under 14 cmH2O for me feels like I am struggling for air. Others at lower pressures might not have this issue.

Kairosgrammy wrote:I'm at 12 which is somewhat lower but I think I'd have a nervous breakdown if I didn't ramp. I feel like my nose is being blown out at 12. I'm fine if I ramp. I'm even fine if I get up in the middle of the night to potty and then put the mask back on. Gotta ramp though.

hades161 wrote:Me 2, one of the first things I did when I got my new S9 was kill the ramp. Never have liked ramping but then again if I lay on my back anything under 14 cmH2O for me feels like I am struggling for air. Others at lower pressures might not have this issue.

When I had the sleep study done they went up to 12.
The doc said he would put me at 8 since he did not see much difference between 8 and 12.
I am thinking its a bit low for me.

I turned off the ramp off and that was better.

Last night was not that bad but not great either.
Again, I slept on the side.
I woke up during the night and took off the mask.
Then woke up again and put it back on.

total use last night was 5.23 hours.
I used the cpap for 30 minutes before I went to bed for practice.

I also during the day used the chinstrap to practice breathing via nose only.

During the night the chinstrap came off. I had a dry mouth this morning.

AHI was 3.16


Min Avg 90% Max
Pressure 8.00 8.00 8.00 8.00
EPAP 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00
Minute Vent. 2.75 9.06 12.12 24.50
AHI/Hr 0.00 3.28 10.00 10.00
Resp. Rate 2.60 13.91 16.00 31.60
Flow Limit 0.00 0.01 0.22 0.56
Leaks 0.00 3.94 21.60 36.00
Snore 0.00 0.06 0.18 2.54
Tidal Volume 180.00 660.54 1020.00 2220.00

Haha I hear ya !
I seem to be pressure tolerant though. On 1 PSG I had that ultimately failed, shame the Tech was a nice girl, She took me up to 24cmh2o at one point. I don't think it was the Techs fault really I was just having a hard time getting to sleep in that lab on that night. Another night, 1 Ambien later, same lab, and all went well. Everyone is different =)