I'm doing "beautifully" HAHAHAHA

I'm 17 days into treatment, and I really want to try a nasal mask. As I posted previously, when I asked last week the tech said I should give it a bit longer. I have. So I called today, and this tech said I'm doing beautifully.

I always feel like I'm getting cross examined.... WHY DO YOU WANT A NEW MASK? WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS ONE? And if the data shows that I'm doing "beautifully" I don't really need a new mask, or at least this is what it feels like they are inferring.

Well, I finally talked them into trying a different mask with me. I really would like nasal pillows to work. The previous tech had said I'm ending up at about 12 for pressure, which he said is high to tolerate for nasal pillows. However.... folks on here have indicated there are lots of people successfully using pillows at 12 and above.

I want to be able to easily roll onto my side. I want to be able to scratch my nose. It bugs me to feel that mask suck onto my face during each inhale, and release on each exhale, like an alien getting ready to implant an egg into my body! Where is Sigourney Weaver when I need her?

Last night, my nose itched, and I took the mask off and left it off. Oops! One more night like that and the insurance company won't be covering this machine for me.

Eventually I want to get into the data, but I haven't had the time or energy to even consider that yet. Is there a "Sleepyhead for Dummies" tutorial somewhere?

I'm so looking forward to that day when I can sleep, and when I catch up on my 5 year sleep deficit, and when I wake up feeling refreshed.

My husband is back on his machine, using the Quattro mask and he seems to be keeping in on. He says he's sweating a lot less at night now, I presume because he's not working so hard to breathe. He made a joke the other night that we should get one machine with two hoses. CPAP for two! How romantic. hahaha

Did you choose the full face mask (FFM) or did the DME thrust it on you?

Lots of lazy DMEs try to force FFMs on patients because they don't want to deal with mouth leaks or blocked noses. They then try to blame you if it doesn't work.

Don't forget, he's trying to make you keep the mask past the usual 30 day trial period most manufacturers mandate.

FFMs are always a bad "default" choice. They are obtrusive to the patient. They have a large surface area and sealing area, so they tend to leak around the edges. You can't drink or talk. Some people say they push your jaw back and can make your apnea worse. Unfortunately, some people can't make nasal masks work for them.

FFMs should be a choice of last resort for people who can't make a nasal mask work.

I use a Swift FX. Pressure is 9-16. I frequently am above 15 (that is my 90% number). I like my mask. DMEs lie
-tino

I use Swift LT and Swift Fx and my pressure is 10-15 with a nightly average of around 13...I think your tech is full of BS!

I've used the Swift LT pillows up to a pressure of 20 just fine.

Now, mouth leaks are certainly a problem that can happen with nasal pillows or nasal masks, especially at higher pressures, but you don't know until you try.

IMO, nasal mask or pillows are a much more reasonable first type to try, unless the sleep study shows a lot of mouth leaking during titration. Even then, a chinstrap might make it all go away...

12.. lol. Many of us wish we only had a pressure of 12! We do just fine at higher pressure...

Er, at the tech's, did you notice a manure fork standing in a corner?

chunkyfrog wrote:Er, at the tech's, did you notice a manure fork standing in a corner?

You think they clean up after themselves?

My husband is back on his machine, using the Quattro mask and he seems to be keeping in on. He says he's sweating a lot less at night now, I presume because he's not working so hard to breathe.

Night sweats happen because your body goes into full panic mode when it can't breathe and stress hormones like adrenalin shoot through your body. It's like running a marathon away from a tiger. He's lucky he's male because someone connected them to his apnea. Being female, I supposedly was in "perimenopause" for 10+ years until suddenly the night sweats stopped when I went on CPAP. Then they started again, and even the sleep doctor said "it must be menopause". Nope. We turned up my pressure a notch, and suddenly the "menopause" was gone again. This is one reason why women die of "silent heart attacks"--doctors don't even bother looking for another explanation for symptoms once you've reached your mid 40's.

Heh wasn't sex discrimination and stereotyping supposed to be SO last millenia? Sad.

The full face mask was sort of my idea, but only because the night of my sleep study, the tech tried the pillows for, like, 2 minutes, while I was awake before going to sleep. And I was opening my mouth because I felt like I couldn't exhale. So when I was in the appointment for the fitting, I explained that and we didn't even try. However, with the FFM, I'm finding I'm keeping my mouth shut anyway because if I open it, then my cheeks flap and poof out and it bugs me. I seem to be learning to sleep with my mouth shut.

I also read on here, and it makes sense, that if you're having trouble breathing, you'll open your mouth, but then when you start using PAP, you don't have that problem anymore. Also, it occurs to me that our 2 minute experiment with nasal pillows at the sleep study was using constant pressure so of course I was struggling to exhale.

The tech didn't put anything on me the night of my sleep study.

So.... I'm going in Tuesday and will give this a go with nasal pillows. It's not that my mask is unbearable, it's not too bad. It's just that I want to find the most comfortable solution possible. And my insurance is paying these people enough that I should get to do that.

Thanks for the explanation of the night sweats. Menopause is the reason for all things that ail women, apparently! It's always some kind of mysterious female hormone thing.

So... nasal pillow recommendations?

Janknitz wrote:Being female, I supposedly was in "perimenopause" for 10+ years until suddenly the night sweats stopped when I went on CPAP. Then they started again, and even the sleep doctor said "it must be menopause". Nope. We turned up my pressure a notch, and suddenly the "menopause" was gone again. This is one reason why women die of "silent heart attacks"--doctors don't even bother looking for another explanation for symptoms once you've reached your mid 40's.

Doctors tend to have tunnel vision, but so do us amateurs, too. Either "you can't have apnea because you're not obese." or "All these problems are due to apnea, so I won't look for any other explanation."

Probably have to try several pillow types to see if any fit. They need to be the right size (not too small) or they don't seal well.

I am pretty good size ol boy. I thought I had to use the large pillows. Had trouble went back to the DME. She put the small ones on. It worked great.

I was initially presented with pillows, but the tech did it all wrong! She turned on the machine then tried to stick the darn things up my nose! For optimal fitting, the pillows should be settled into place and then the machine turned on. That makes it easier to tolerate and reduces the impulse to drop your mouth open to cope with the sudden introduction of forced air. Also, after dealing with pressure for a while and learning to keep your mouth closed, it should feel much more natural.

SleepyMarlo wrote:It's not that my mask is unbearable, it's not too bad. It's just that I want to find the most comfortable solution possible. And my insurance is paying these people enough that I should get to do that.

You are absolutely right. This is sleep you're talking about... you need to be comfortable to sleep. You deserve to be as comfy as possible. That is supposed to be their job, to help you get comfortable.

Good luck!

I was very uncomfortable with my mask options during my titration. My tech just gave me a FF mask and pulled the straps super tight. I complained, of course, about how tight it was and was told they have to be worn that way! The mask was never fitted and was leaking terribly above my nose!
She then gave me nasal pillows. I told her I was a heavy mouth breather and I didn't think they would work. She again said well just try to sleep. Wouldn't ya know every time I fell asleep, I would mouth breathe! She had to change it a third time!

My sleep center gave me my mask. If I would have known going into my titration what mask to try, I would have been better prepared! I wouldn't have just had them throw whatever on me! There's a difference between knowledge and experience and I think a lot of techs, DME's etc try to just throw stuff at you out of knowledge. I wish we had some sleep centers, techs, DME's available to us who actually have OSA!