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Sleep apnea and potential treatments

Sleep Health | Last Active: May 11, 2021 | Replies (27)

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@star20284

I have been using CPAP device for nearly 9 years. To begin, any Dr or sleep specialist who tells you by using CPAP you'll get the best sleep of your life is blowing smoke. I started with a solid plastic nose piece but found every time I moved my head even slightly, the seal would break and the hissing would wake my wife. After several adjustments I learned of the Dreamwear nose cushion. It can be used with either pillows which have a flange-like pad that sits just inside the nostril, or there is a pillow that rests on the upper lip just below the nostril. the pressure setting allows for air to gently blow into the nose to the back of the throat and out the mouth keeping the airway open. It attaches to the head by a soft very flexible head piece, and the air is supplied via a flexible hose attached to the top of the head gear. Thus no snoring. Nevertheless, I still need to adjust once or twice throughout the night. It works, but its not great. If I do not wear it I am guaranteed what I describe as panic dreams where I am in crazy situations and gasping for breath. I've read, that is my brain telling my body to wake up.

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Replies to "I have been using CPAP device for nearly 9 years. To begin, any Dr or sleep..."

Hello @star20284, Welcome to Connect. Thanks for sharing your experience. I've had a great experience with my Mayo sleep medicine doctor and therapist at my follow up appointments but then they never told me I would get the best sleep of my life 🙂 They gave me a target of an AHI of 4 to improve my sleep which I'm close to most of the time since using a CPAP almost 3 years. I have struggled with the face mask as I have issues breathing through the nose and have to use some form of a full face mask. The Dreamwear full face mask was the second one I tried and it worked for a couple of weeks before I had to find something else. I have an ENT consult coming up later this month to see if there is anything that can be done to fix my problem breathing through the nose. I hope it goes well because I want to try a mask similar to the Dreamwear one again.

It sounds like the mask you have is doing it's job for you even if you have to adjust it during the night. Have you thought about asking your sleep specialist if they have any suggestions to help with the adjustment problems?