What to know about CPAP machines?

I had the sleep study years ago. It showed I had 31 episodes in an hour. People have up to 200. Mind is mild. I have the nasal cpap. Sometimes I sleep with it and sometimes I wear it the required 4 hours. Have to wear it 70% of the time which is at least 21 days out of the month for Medicare to pay for supplies. However, I did sleep until 6:30 one morning, I'm usually up at 2:00, and didn't wake at all during night but also didn't sleep in my cpap. The purpose is to sleep uninterrupted because it's the stopping breathing that causes you to wake up and with a continuous flow of the air from the cpap, you can. I have also awakened while wearing the cpap too. Some nights I wear it, sometimes I wear it while laying on bed watching TV before I go to sleep, and some nights I don't wear it at all. I still sleep only 4-6 hours a night but I'm not tired or sleepy the next day either. I figure I'm just going through a phase where I can get by on very little sleep right now. I'm 65 and had the cpap for about a year and a half.

I had the sleep study years ago. It showed I had 31 episodes in an hour. After the second test WITH the cpap, I had 2 episodes. People have up to 200. Mind is mild. I have the nasal cpap. Sometimes I sleep with it and sometimes I wear it the required 4 hours. Have to wear it 70% of the time which is at least 21 days out of the month for Medicare to pay for supplies. However, I did sleep until 6:30 one morning, I'm usually up at 2:00, and didn't wake at all during night but also didn't sleep in my cpap. The purpose is to sleep uninterrupted because it's the stopping breathing that causes you to wake up and with a continuous flow of the air from the cpap, you can. I have also awakened while wearing the cpap too. Some nights I wear it, sometimes I wear it while laying on bed watching TV before I go to sleep, and some nights I don't wear it at all. I still sleep only 4-6 hours a night but I'm not tired or sleepy the next day either. I figure I'm just going through a phase where I can get by on very little sleep right now. I'm 65 and had the cpap for about a year and a half.

In May I was diagnosed with Central and Obstructive Sleep Apnea. I tried thd several of the full masks but they kept leaking air. So, apparently, with the APAP machine that I use, when the pressure goes high, it can cause leakage. So, I am now using an Airfit N30 nasal mask and taping my mouth. I have come from only sleeping 2 hours a night and that is ten minutes here and 15 minutes there. I am now getting up once a night and am able to sleep 6 hours a night. Which I am very happy about. Can anyone answer this. Can I get used to using a nasal sleep mask without using tape or a chin guard? Can I get used to the air that comes into my mouth?

If it were me, I would count it as a win that you are now able to sleep better with the mouth tape. I would love to use a nasal mask. I recently bought one and tried it with mouth tape with no success, couldn't stand it so went back to my full face mask which works but I have issues with the bridge of my nose being extremely sore in the morning. I also tried a chin strap but it wouldn't stay on (cheap, narrow, poor design). I've ordered another really wide chin strap and will try the nasal mask again. Another member mentioned what looks like a good solution instead of a chin strap so may try this one if the one I ordered doesn't work - https://dualbandchinstrap.com/

I am an eighty-six year old female who was first dx with obstructed sleep apnea when I was about fifty years old and started using a CPAP machine. My most recent sleep test was done in about 2018 when I was dx with central and obstructed sleep apnea. I reportedly had 94.7 apneas in an hour and started using a Phillips Respironics DreamStation BIPAP autoSV, the one recalled in 2021. I did not receive a replacement machine until 2023. Thankfully I never became aware of any the problems so many people had with their machines

I was offered a different style of mask at that time in 2018 and cheerfully started using a ResMed AirFit F30 Full Face CPAP Mask. I haven't noticed that anyone has mentioned an F30. It is called full face but it actually starts just below the nostrils, covers the mouth and stops at the chin, so there is no issue with discomfort at the bridge of my nose. The sleep test noted that I was a mouth sleeper a significant amount of time but this mask seems to solve that problem. My numbers are pleasing my sleep specialist.

The differences between the mask models is availabe at: https://www.resmed.com.au/knowledge-hub/whats-the-difference-between-the-f30-f20-n20-n20-classic-and-p10#:~:text=The%20core%20differences%20between%20the,is%20a%20ResMed%20Pillow%20Mask.

I also have congestive heart failure and I have found that using the BIPAP machine any time I lie down benefits my breathing and vastly reduces my experience of shortness of breath caused by my heart issues. I do a fair amount of reading while in a horizontal position.

FYI, I have restless leg syndrom and the sleep doctor prescribed gabapentin. When I got up to 300 mg of gabapentin at night, all my pain, whether it was RLS, neuropathy (SFN), or osteoarthritis, was gone. I have never determined if the wrist and ankle pain was neuropathy or osteoarthritis, but it was the worst pain I had ever experienced.

It's quite the journey we all have to trudge along, ain't it? 😀

Wow. Did you happen to read about the Phillips company in the recent news?
I use ResMed, and the whole science behind treating Sleep Apnea seems shaky to me:
it's too indefinite for me. I get the replacement humidifier, and other parts, every 3 months,
and this recent humidifier doesn't seem to be working.

If Mayo has to send my CPAP machine off to ResMed in Singapore, does it really matter what ResMed tells me? I don't trust using a loaner CPAP machine. I'd have to buy a brand new one, which looks to be $1,000, and it would not be covered by insurance as far as I can tell.

Yes, I'm going through that phase. I'm 65 also! Almost everything in your post above matches up with my CPAP situation also.

I think that the research of Sleep Apnea has a lot of improvement to do. I don't trust any of the machines now. What Medicare has to do is replace the actual machine every 3 months! Now that would restore my confidence in the entire industry. I need to write to Medicare or for that matter a Senator from my state, and suggest that!

I have used my Cpap machine for 3 nights. I noticed that i don’t get fatigued during the day. In the past i would usually fall asleep in the afternoon and then in the evening watching Tv. That has not happened since i have been using the machine. I also find that i have more energy during the day.

That was my initial response as well.

It sounds like you're on your way!

I believe your quality of life will improve in the near future. It's hard to notice the slow progression of sleep deprivation, but once it's treated, the world becomes a sunnier place.