Planning to buy a CPAP but need some help

[JonathanK]

So I want to make it clear off the bat. I don’t want to make any comments which are untrue or whatnot. I do not have health insurance. I work, but my company does not offer it. Anyways I’m 38 years old and have been diagnosed with a deviated septum. My friends father is an ENT. However I’ve always been diagnosed with sleep apnea by my nephew who is a doctor but not an ENT. I’ve slept in the same room with him and he mentioned things that go on while I sleep. My lady friend whom I travel with has mentioned the same. I’ll stop breathing in the middle of sleep. Loud snoring. I occasionally will wake up choking and panting for air. Anyways, I have not done a sleep study, so I do not know my numbers. I found a place to buy a Phillips dream station which I’ve read is a popular cpap machine. Because of its auto capabilities it should be take care of me. Anyways the reason I am finally wanting to buy one is because I’m literally falling asleep during the day no matter what I am doing. Just suddenly snap a finger and I can be asleep. It does t matter how much caffeine is in me still asleep. I honestly cannot live like this any longer. Plus with my snoring I literally have to sleep as far away from my lady friend as possible with multiple pillows trying to prevent the noise from getting out. The snoring to me is really tertiary. I just need to solve the problem of being constantly tired. Indeed I am overweight but when I was much lighter I had these similar issues. A mountain biking accident caused me to have to stop exercising for months. I will get back to that and hopefully lose the weight I have gained, but for now I am hoping the dreamstation will do the trick.

So why I’m here. I’m wanting some advice to see if the dream station being an auto cpap machine will help me. The model I am looking at is DSX500T11C. It has the heated tube, humidifier and cellular modem though the last part I don’t find of that much importance. I’ve read about bipap machines and from everything I have read, I have all the signs of OSA and that this machine should help me out tremendously.

My second question relates to my mentioning of a deviated septum. I have it deviated very badly to the point where one side of my nose will basically not get any air. So I know with that said I’ll need a face mask for mouth breathing. I’ve seen some cheap ones for like $50. Will this matter? Like do I need to buy a fancier one from Phillips to match my dreamstation or will any face mask as long as it covers my face properly work?

I hope some of you experts will help. I’m being open and honest especially with the lack of health insurance and sleep study. I know it’s. Or good to self medicate but I really want to try and make myself better. I honestly feel like if I can’t fix or at least solve this a little bit, my long term health is in peril.

[Pugsy]

Welcome to the forum.

The mask thing is probably the hardest part to this therapy and unfortunately you get what you pay for when it comes to mask quality.
If you can't get them to stay sealed or they aren't comfortable you can't sleep and sleep is the name of the game.
The comfort part is going to be critical.

An auto adjusting machine is your best option when going down the self treatment road. You can self treat fairly easily with some education on your part as to what you are seeing on the software reports the machine will give you.

If you are interested I have a Respironics PR System One Auto BiPap model 760 that is used (about 1,550 hours) that I am wanting to sell.
Machine blower, humidifier, heated hose, travel bag, etc....$200 includes shipping withing the US.
I might also have a full face mask that is good quality for free. I need to check to see what size it is. Someone donated it because they needed something else. Barely used....send me a PM about it if you are interested and I can give you more particulars.
The System One models were the models just prior to the DreamStation model you are looking at.

The DreamStation DSX500xxx is a good machine for the money. Auto adjusting single pressure machine that is full data and has easy to use and obtain software so you can closely monitor your results.

The System One that I have available...will do everything the DSX500 will do and more.
Just thought I would mention it. If getting used doesn't bug you...might be a cost saving option.

[Nick Danger]

Pugsy's offer makes a lot of sense! You probably don't need a bi-pap (but who knows at this point???) and if you don't you just run it in auto cpap mode - if you do need bi-pap, you will have saved hundreds of dollars that you would have spent by buying a cpap and then finding you really needed a bipap. 1,550 hours sounds like a lot, but these machines are generally good for over 10,000 hours. Especially if she tosses in a mask - it's like getting a top of the line machine (albeit one model out of date) for $100-$150. You would be hard pressed to find a better deal.

If you can afford it, you may wish to buy health insurance (for one year anyway), just to get the deviated septum repaired. I've had a bunch of apnea related surgeries and the only one I would redo is the septoplasty - it changed the quality of my life both at night and during the day.

[Pugsy]

Oh...just to be clear...I will help you no matter if you buy my machine or not.
My help isn't dependent on your getting my machine.

[JonathanK]

Oh...just to be clear...I will help you no matter if you buy my machine or not.
My help isn't dependent on your getting my machine.

Thank you, but you didn't have to state that. I've lurked on these boards for a few months and have heard about how amazingly helpful you are. I never once assumed you wouldn't help me if I didn't buy the machine. Right now, I'm at the will the CPAP machine answer my problems stage. I will answer any and all questions, but I guess I am here simply to find out if the machine will help me. I used to think it was the deviated septum, then when I read more, I realized they were two separate issues. For me solving both is essential, but right now I want to solve my sleep apnea issue first.

I know you mentioned the reports. Say I buy your machine or any other, can I just come here? Like will I be able to share my results here and you all will sort of have an idea how to help? I've done all the research I could, but there hasn't;t been much talk regarding reports until you brought it up. Thank you!

[ChicagoGranny]

Like will I be able to share my results here and you all will sort of have an idea how to help?

Highly recommended! Many of the members here can give you better advice that most sleep doctors.

I don’t want to make any comments which are untrue or whatnot.

No need to put that kind of pressure on yourself.

[Pugsy]

I don't know how bad your deviated septum is...and it is of course not really related to the airway collapsing issues which is sleep apnea but you might read this.
viewtopic/p663440/Mouth-Breathers.html#p663440
Perrybucsdad thought he was a forever full face mask user because of his deviated septum.
I just about had to twist his arm off to get him to at least try a nasal mask.

Will any machine help your issues? For the OSA part and the collapsing of the airway...yes....for the snoring part...yes.

The deviated septum thing...that's a permanent physical thing that is with you during the day as well as the night.
Nothing short of surgery will actually fix something physical like that and with no insurance...even if it was a for sure thing..it's out of the question unless you win the lottery or something.

My suggestion is to at least try xpap first and worry about the septum stuff later. It's not like you really have much choice in the matter.
You might find that with the increased air flow up the nose that the deviated septum issues reduce a little bit at least in terms of moving air.

And yes...all you have to do is post some images of your software reports and ask for ideas on how to improve on things.
It really doesn't take a lot of education to get a handle on what you are seeing.
Lots of people here will be more than willing to help you out.
It's really not rocket science and for the most part fairly straight forward unless you end up with something a bit unusual...and the odds are small that would happen. Cross that bridge if and/or when you might come to it.

viewtopic/t158560/How-to-post-images-for-review.html

[JonathanK]

Like will I be able to share my results here and you all will sort of have an idea how to help?

Highly recommended! Many of the members here can give you better advice that most sleep doctors.

I don’t want to make any comments which are untrue or whatnot.

No need to put that kind of pressure on yourself.

Haha, thank you. What I meant to say is, I want to be fully transparent and put it all out there so I can hopefully receive the best advice for my problem. Like I said, I just can't deal with it anymore. When you randomly fall asleep at your work desk, on the bus while standing-up, at a restaurant after dinner....it's time to fix the problem. I've noticed as I've gotten older, it's just become worse and worse. When I read there was an auto CPAP machine that I could hopefully bypass the sleep test, I was all for it. I decided last night after months of lurking, to finally post, hoping I can solve this problem. My lady friend and I came back from a trip, and I just seem how miserable we both are. She's tired from not being able to sleep due to my snoring, and I sleep 8-10 hours a day, and still am dead tired. I had to put my foot down.

[ChicagoGranny]

When I read there was an auto CPAP machine that I could hopefully bypass the sleep test, I was all for it.

The trick is to find the optimal minimum pressure setting. And for the typical case, that's not too difficult if you are posting charts here and asking for help from the members. The optimal maximum pressure setting is usually easy to find.

As Pugsy stated, finding the right mask is a challenge for some. But, let's see if you are one of the lucky ones.

[ChicagoGranny]

BTW, keep future posts in this thread so members can easily see your history.

[JonathanK]

Just wanted to give everyone an update. My mom got sick and with the holidays, I didn't finally order the CPAP Machine till tonight. Can anyone please shed some light on what are the first things I'll need to do with regards to giving you all information/data, so we can figure out what the best pressures are for myself? Is there an initial pressure I should start off with?

[zonker]

Just wanted to give everyone an update. My mom got sick and with the holidays, I didn't finally order the CPAP Machine till tonight. Can anyone please shed some light on what are the first things I'll need to do with regards to giving you all information/data, so we can figure out what the best pressures are for myself? Is there an initial pressure I should start off with?

well, hello! once you get that machine, come back here and let us know.

in the meantime, please read the newbie thread in my sig.

quick and dirty advice is: set the min pressure at 7 the max at 20.

more to it than that, but read the post in the link.

good luck!

[realshelby]

Can you bend your nose to one side and get air through the normally restricted nostril?

I had a deviated septum, the only way air would flow through it was to hold the nose to one side. I did have that fixed, and it is sooo much worth the trouble to do that. Should not have waited decades to do that!

What I am getting at is the type mask you use. Full face is great if you can get it working for you. I was told I had to use one. NOT! The pillows style, not the nasal masks that cover the outer nose, push air into your nostrils. Even if one side only works well, you just might get enough airflow. This little bit of pressure sort of inflates the nasal passage allowing air to flow where it normally would not. So, I think a nasal pillows style mask is worth a try. Specifically I would recommend the ResMed P10 as a great choice to try.

[JonathanK]

Can you bend your nose to one side and get air through the normally restricted nostril?

I had a deviated septum, the only way air would flow through it was to hold the nose to one side. I did have that fixed, and it is sooo much worth the trouble to do that. Should not have waited decades to do that!

What I am getting at is the type mask you use. Full face is great if you can get it working for you. I was told I had to use one. NOT! The pillows style, not the nasal masks that cover the outer nose, push air into your nostrils. Even if one side only works well, you just might get enough airflow. This little bit of pressure sort of inflates the nasal passage allowing air to flow where it normally would not. So, I think a nasal pillows style mask is worth a try. Specifically I would recommend the ResMed P10 as a great choice to try.

I sadly cannot bend my nose and still get air. I had an ENT look at it (luckily one of my closest friend's dad is a pretty well-known ENT in Southern California.) And he mentioned to me just how bad my deviated septum was. He had no reason to exaggerate or whatnot, but basically told me it was one of the worst he had seen that didn't involve sports/UFC/Boxing type blows to the nose. Based on the pics I have seen of the inside of my nose, my right nostril is nearly 100% covered. I will get it fixed because it's affecting my breathing obviously, but right now, the sleep apnea is worse.

I literally will fall asleep at a restaurant just with a snap of a finger. For a 38 year-old man, that doesn't make sense. I was probably scared and didn't know better before. This forum and the posts I have read kind of steered me along to getting the CPAP machine. Plus I always thought the deviated septum and sleep apnea were one and the same. Now that I know it's not, I'd like to get the apnea better first, then get the deviated septum fixed.

Thank you for the information on the pillows style. I'm only trying the full-face first due to how deviated my septum is. If it wasn't covered as bad as it is, I would absolutely prefer to go the nasal route. I obviously want less gear on my face while I sleep. But at this point, I'm almost begging for relief of some sort. I almost rather die than deal with what I go through. Not being able to stay awake even while standing is not a way to live in my book.

[ChicagoGranny]

my right nostril is nearly 100% covered

I would make getting that fixed a high priority. It will make it easier to adapt to and use CPAP.