1. < Sleep Health

Cpap and getting better sleep: What's your experience?

Posted by steve1948 @steve1948, Feb 24, 2017

I was in the hospital for pneumonia and while I was getting a nebulizer treatment the therapist asked if I use a Cpap at home, at the time I didn't have one. Now mind you I was only sleeping for 2 hrs a night during my pneumonia bout (2 weeks) and the therapist asked if I were open to using a BPAP (what they call it in a hospital) it was a large machine and I said of course. Upon using it I still only slept for 2 hours but it was a very restful 2 hours of sleep and was welcomed. I told my Pulmonologist and got set up for a sleep study, and it is all history. I sleep more restful (have much less visits to the bathroom at night) and use it religiously. Medicare covered my testing and machine. After my test my doc told me I stopped breathing x amount of times a minute, and was restless (tossed and turned) an ungodly amount of time during my test. On the follow up test (with the Cpap) the number decreased significantly. My sister snores like a constant thunder storm and she went for a test and got her Cpap, and now she doesn't snore at all and tells me she sleeps much better.
There are two ways to use the machine, with a nostril mask (so to speak) and a full mask (you usually see on TV movies). The latter is what I use, I couldn't get use to the nostril application, and if you were to catch a cold, I don't know how well it would work, but I use the mask never the less. Hope this helps, and do read the instructions about your machine.

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beatricefay | @beatricefay | Jul 31, 2019
In reply to @johnbishop "@beatricefay have you called the medical store where you purchased the humidifier? I did see a..." + (show)
@johnbishop

@beatricefay have you called the medical store where you purchased the humidifier? I did see a discussion here about the problem that sounds like it's an issue with the humidifier that needs servicing or replacement.
http://www.cpaptalk.com/viewtopic/t60418/Humidifier-ErrorAgain.html

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Thanks for the link. Still working on the problem. Can't figure out why it will work okay for a few nights, then suddenly get a humidifier failure message on my machine. I might try a new CPAP machine. Perhaps that's the problem.

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John, Volunteer Mentor | @johnbishop | Jul 31, 2019
In reply to @beatricefay "Thanks for the link. Still working on the problem. Can't figure out why it will work..." + (show)
@beatricefay

Thanks for the link. Still working on the problem. Can't figure out why it will work okay for a few nights, then suddenly get a humidifier failure message on my machine. I might try a new CPAP machine. Perhaps that's the problem.

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@beatricefay what did your supplier say about the error message?

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beatricefay | @beatricefay | Jul 31, 2019
In reply to @johnbishop "@beatricefay what did your supplier say about the error message?" + (show)
@johnbishop

@beatricefay what did your supplier say about the error message?

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Got a new humidifier but still have the problem. No answer yet from the supplier.

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John, Volunteer Mentor | @johnbishop | Aug 25, 2019

Has anyone had issues with the air pressure from the CPAP machine lifting the mask off of their face? I have been getting tired of my ResMed AirFit F20 full face CPAP mask and thought I would give their newest full face mask a try - the ResMed F30 full face mask. It is similar to the Amara View and the Dreamwear Full Face mask that fit under the nose instead of over the bridge of the nose like my ResMed F20. I went to my local medical store and was fitted for the F30 and sat in the chair and wore it with airflow set to 9 which is above what my CPAP machine minimum setting ( 8 to 18). It felt really good for the 10 minutes I wore it at the store. I brought it home and hooked it up last night and thought I was on my way to a better mask until about 3 am when I started having leaking issues and the mask seemed be leaking as the pressure increased.

I kept waking up and having to tighten the mask to keep it from whistling around the nose area. I gave up around 4 am and just took it off. It's been a long time since that happened...and it happened with the Dreamware and Amara View masks the same. I've noticed when I have had a good nights sleep my pressure didn't get to the max so tonight I'm going to try an experiment and lower the max pressure to around 14 and see what happens (sorry doc but it's better than no CPAP! and if it works I will request persmission to change it permanently) ☺ I'm curious if anyone else has done any experimenting like this?

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johnhans | @johnhans | Aug 25, 2019
In reply to @johnbishop "Has anyone had issues with the air pressure from the CPAP machine lifting the mask off..." + (show)
@johnbishop

Has anyone had issues with the air pressure from the CPAP machine lifting the mask off of their face? I have been getting tired of my ResMed AirFit F20 full face CPAP mask and thought I would give their newest full face mask a try - the ResMed F30 full face mask. It is similar to the Amara View and the Dreamwear Full Face mask that fit under the nose instead of over the bridge of the nose like my ResMed F20. I went to my local medical store and was fitted for the F30 and sat in the chair and wore it with airflow set to 9 which is above what my CPAP machine minimum setting ( 8 to 18). It felt really good for the 10 minutes I wore it at the store. I brought it home and hooked it up last night and thought I was on my way to a better mask until about 3 am when I started having leaking issues and the mask seemed be leaking as the pressure increased.

I kept waking up and having to tighten the mask to keep it from whistling around the nose area. I gave up around 4 am and just took it off. It's been a long time since that happened...and it happened with the Dreamware and Amara View masks the same. I've noticed when I have had a good nights sleep my pressure didn't get to the max so tonight I'm going to try an experiment and lower the max pressure to around 14 and see what happens (sorry doc but it's better than no CPAP! and if it works I will request persmission to change it permanently) ☺ I'm curious if anyone else has done any experimenting like this?

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I have the same problem with my dreamware mask. I want to go back to my blue gel mask from Phillips but it has been a year since I got a prescription and my sleep medicine doctor is booked solid until the middle of September. They will not prescribe until I see the doctor. Right now I have the mask so tight that it leaves marks on my face for hours after and loosening even a little and the mask leaks bad. I am frustrated and tired.

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John, Volunteer Mentor | @johnbishop | Aug 25, 2019
In reply to @johnhans "I have the same problem with my dreamware mask. I want to go back to my..." + (show)
@johnhans

I have the same problem with my dreamware mask. I want to go back to my blue gel mask from Phillips but it has been a year since I got a prescription and my sleep medicine doctor is booked solid until the middle of September. They will not prescribe until I see the doctor. Right now I have the mask so tight that it leaves marks on my face for hours after and loosening even a little and the mask leaks bad. I am frustrated and tired.

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@johnhans my prescription was also expired in July. I sent my sleep medicine doctor a message on the Mayo Patient portal and asked him if they could renew it. I told him all was going well with the CPAP and I wasn't having any issues sleeping. He replied that he would renew it for a year and then setup another appointment at that time to see how it was going.

I would ask him that since he is not able to see you sooner than the middle of September why can't he renew the prescription so you can get replacement mask (your previous one that he more than likely allowed) until you are able to get the appointment? I would think they would want to help you with any CPAP issue.

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johnhans | @johnhans | Aug 25, 2019
In reply to @johnbishop "@johnhans my prescription was also expired in July. I sent my sleep medicine doctor a message..." + (show)
@johnbishop

@johnhans my prescription was also expired in July. I sent my sleep medicine doctor a message on the Mayo Patient portal and asked him if they could renew it. I told him all was going well with the CPAP and I wasn't having any issues sleeping. He replied that he would renew it for a year and then setup another appointment at that time to see how it was going.

I would ask him that since he is not able to see you sooner than the middle of September why can't he renew the prescription so you can get replacement mask (your previous one that he more than likely allowed) until you are able to get the appointment? I would think they would want to help you with any CPAP issue.

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I did ask that @johnbishop but have not had any response in over a week. I even looked for another doctor closer to where I live and there are none accepting new patients. Only this clinic.

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John, Volunteer Mentor | @johnbishop | Aug 25, 2019
In reply to @johnhans "I did ask that @johnbishop but have not had any response in over a week. I..." + (show)
@johnhans

I did ask that @johnbishop but have not had any response in over a week. I even looked for another doctor closer to where I live and there are none accepting new patients. Only this clinic.

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@]johnhans I found a cloth cover for my Dreamwear full face mask that helped a little. It would still leak a little but didn't get worse through the night and it made it a little more comfortable.
-- https://www.cpap.com/productpage/silent-night-full-face-cpap-mask-liners

When I switched to the ResMed AirFit F20 the sleep medicine therapist told me about comfort covers that others used and found helpful. She gave me the link to the website: https://cpapcomfortcover.com/ You might check the site to see if they have one for your gel mask.

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John, Volunteer Mentor | @johnbishop | Sep 20, 2019

It's been awhile since I've posted about my journey in the world of CPAP. The goal given to me by the sleep medicine doctor was an Apnea-Hypopnea Index (or AHI) of 4 or less. I've often wondered about why 4? He went over the results of my overnight sleep study and my AHI for the sleep study was 53. A little investigation online and I found out -- from 5 to 15 denotes mild sleep apnea. Fifteen to 30 is moderate, while a greater than 30 AHI is considered severe. AHI = sum of the number of apneas (pauses in breathing) plus the number of hypopneas (periods of shallow breathing) occurring, on average, each hour. Now it makes a little more sense to me but I'm not sure why I didn't ask those questions when he was going over the results of my sleep study with me.

While I've been doing OK, I'm still not quite where I need to be. I've found friends that I have that I didn't know used a CPAP telling me it took over a year to see good results - results being more energy, feeling better during the day, etc.. I've been using a CPAP over a year now but still having my ups and downs trying to figure out how to improve my AHI numbers. As you can see, I've had some really good nights with an AHI under 3 and I've had some really bad nights. I've finally decided to stop changing masks. I'm a mouth breather mostly because I have a deviated septum and can't always breath through my nose. It definitely feels better when I can though and I think that's the reason I have some really good nights and some not so good nights.

Is there anyone else that has a deviated septum and using a CPAP? I haven't looked into having it corrected as I'm 76 and not sure about having my nose busted (I think) and corrected (or whatever the term is!).

Happy Zzzz's as my cyber friend @thankful says (nice saying by the way!)
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1 reply
thankful | @thankful | Sep 21, 2019
In reply to @johnbishop "It's been awhile since I've posted about my journey in the world of CPAP. The goal..." + (show)
@johnbishop

It's been awhile since I've posted about my journey in the world of CPAP. The goal given to me by the sleep medicine doctor was an Apnea-Hypopnea Index (or AHI) of 4 or less. I've often wondered about why 4? He went over the results of my overnight sleep study and my AHI for the sleep study was 53. A little investigation online and I found out -- from 5 to 15 denotes mild sleep apnea. Fifteen to 30 is moderate, while a greater than 30 AHI is considered severe. AHI = sum of the number of apneas (pauses in breathing) plus the number of hypopneas (periods of shallow breathing) occurring, on average, each hour. Now it makes a little more sense to me but I'm not sure why I didn't ask those questions when he was going over the results of my sleep study with me.

While I've been doing OK, I'm still not quite where I need to be. I've found friends that I have that I didn't know used a CPAP telling me it took over a year to see good results - results being more energy, feeling better during the day, etc.. I've been using a CPAP over a year now but still having my ups and downs trying to figure out how to improve my AHI numbers. As you can see, I've had some really good nights with an AHI under 3 and I've had some really bad nights. I've finally decided to stop changing masks. I'm a mouth breather mostly because I have a deviated septum and can't always breath through my nose. It definitely feels better when I can though and I think that's the reason I have some really good nights and some not so good nights.

Is there anyone else that has a deviated septum and using a CPAP? I haven't looked into having it corrected as I'm 76 and not sure about having my nose busted (I think) and corrected (or whatever the term is!).

Happy Zzzz's as my cyber friend @thankful says (nice saying by the way!)

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@johnbishop- Greetings my friend! It has been awhile and life has been busy on this end. We are currently in Texas visiting our kids and getting to know our newest grandson. As for C-pap things are doing well. I too am a mouth breather by trade. but just cannot find a full face mask that doesn't leak for me. I continue to use a chin strap that look likes a old picture from the Little Rascals of one of the kids with a sore tooth! It's basically an Ace type stretchy bandage with Velcro on the ends for adjustments and best of all it works!
I've tried several other chin straps and have not had much luck. I'm using the newer Fisher Paykel Eson 2 nasal mask now after using their Zest nasal mask for many years and I reall like it so much more. My pretty regular AHI each night seems to fall in the range of .07- 1.7 with an occasional 2.5. My sleep Dr. wants me to stay below 3 and a year ago boosted my pressure up ftom 11 to 13. If I don't have the ramp feauture on I feel I'm being inflated for use in the Macy's parade!
We're watching the 2 young-in's while our kids are off exercising so I better help a little.
Here's to a great day and of course Happy Zzzz's to my friend John and all those who have been "rewarded" with a C-pap.
You may hate it, but once you get used to it, it will change your life for the best! It's also a great way to scare your grandkids away 🙂
Jim @thankful

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