CPAP silicone allergy: Anyone know of other options? Solutions?

@johnbishop that is so annoying to pay for something and have it be a waste. It drives my frugal side crazy. Are these masks generally paid for by insurance? If not I’m sure you could clean it and donate it somewhere.

An hour of sleep beyond your normal wake up time! You can’t hate that, unless of course you need to get somewhere. You get up awfully early.
JK

@contentandwell Medicare does pay for some of the costs on a set recommended replacement schedule but this one was on me. Probably not the first nor the last time I've wasted money ☺ Reminds of the saying "when my ship comes in I'll probably be at the airport". I do take a lot of stuff to a local Savers Store that recycles -- sort of like a local Goodwill store. I'll have to check on donating used/new medical stuff. I also have 2 or 3 useless knee braces I bought.

Medicare replacement schedule:
-- https://www.sleepapnea.org/treat/cpap-therapy/care-and-replacement-of-cpap-equipment/

I've always been an early bird. I hate sleeping in unless I'm really bushed. I don't find enough time in my schedule for exercise so I try to make time in the morning. In the evenings it just doesn't work and I'm sure it's a mental thing...just don't want to do it at night. So, I get up at 5, feed the kitties, do my elliptical for about 10 to 15 minutes and then do my leg stretches and range of motion exercises for my bad knee (also the good one). I'm hoping to get a TKR in March or April but have to meet with ortho in February to determine a date.

@johnbishop That's too bad that it was not covered, I imagine these are not inexpensive.

I am not an early bird at all, but recently have been having trouble getting back to sleep in the morning. I get up at 7:30. but awaken at 6:30 so I can take my immunosuppressants without food interfering, causing me to have to take a larger dose. Recently I have not been able to get back to sleep though. I end up having to go back for a late morning nap.

If I exercise at home on my recumbent bike I do it in the evening. I would love to have an elliptical, that's such a good workout. I use one at my health club. How much do you have to spend to get a decent one?
JK

@contentandwell I have a Pro Form Hybrid Trainer that has both the recumbent bike and elliptical as one unit. I've had it for 7 or 8 years and it's served me well. I think I paid around $400 or so for it but they have newer more expensive models and a basic one pretty similar to mine for less than $400.

Pictures of it in an earlier post...
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/peripheral-neuropathy-rls-and-plmd/?pg=1#comment-103244

John

@johnbishop That's a really cool machine. I just have a Schwinn recumbent bike and paid more for it about 8 years ago than the proform is now. I like that the proform takes up less room than two different machines would.
After following your link all kinds of ads have popped up for the proform. I hate that, Big Brother is always watching.
JK

@contentandwell I'm with you on all the ads that pop up after doing a search for something. When it gets to bothering me a lot I switch to using DuckDuckGo for searching...it blocks all the advertising junk from being saved in your cookies - keeps your search history private (maybe ☺). It also has to do with the web browser program and what it does with the sites you visit.

@johnbishop thanks John, I will definitely give that a try. You are a wealth of information.
JK

Thanks for all your help! I made an appointment with the nurse at the crappy supply company and had to wait awhile to get in. She still tried to give me a silicone mask instead of the nose piece that I explained I am clearly allergic to. She wanted me to give it a longer try, but I said it has been since September with a raw inner nose and surrounding area. I told her about mask with the pad many recommended and she finally gave in and fitted me with one. Big difference. I think I need more oxygen, but I will call the doctor tomorrow to turn it up a bit. I just don’t like the whole head gear but my nose will heal!!!

I'm a 1-month CPAP user. I am on my third mask attempt due to reactions to silicone. My problem, I believe, comes from my allergy to formaldehyde. When silicon gets warm, it emits formaldehyde fumes, and I then have a reaction. At present, my cheeks, eyes and nose are in flare-up. I got the ResMed AirTouch F20 yesterday and it is better, but I still have swelling, itchiness and redness around my eyes. I'm hoping this clears up...

Hi @northerner, welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. I've been using CPAP since last July and have been through 4 different masks. I have kind of settled in on the the brother mask you are using (AirFit F20) but I found a CPAP Comfort Cover mask liner that really works well and keeps your face insulated. I tried the AirTouch F20 and it was better that then AirFit F20 without the comfort cover mask liner. Actually the mask liner will work on either mask since they both are the same except for the memory foam vs silicone. They come 2 to a package and are washable. Before I had a shiny CPAP nose that was close to being a really bad sore. The liner made a world of difference for m.