Newbie with questions

[dir1944]

i got my cpap machine on friday. i have a fisher & paykel auto cpap with humidifier. I have a respironics nuance nasal gel pillow mask.

my first night was horrible. i could hear myself breathing and it was so loud and annoying, i didn't get to sleep for over an hour. i usually go to sleep around 8:45pm or 9pm. i felt like i was in an old fashioned deep sea diving suit and the breathing noise was very bothersome. do you hear yourself breathing? the second thing that bothered me was the outflow of air from the mask. i thought maybe it was a leak and i wasn't getting all the air i should, but i did find out that is normal. is that right? anyway, i woke up around 12:30am and just took the damn thing off. it took me over an hour to finally go back to sleep. when i woke up, around 5:30, which is normal for me, i had shortness of breath which i haven't had in over three months.

i was lucky to be able to speak to a apria technician on saturday. he assured me the mask was not leaking but the outflow of air was proper. he encouraged me to wear the mask while watching tv before i went to sleep which i did. well, saturday night was much better. i didn't hear myself breathing quite so loudly or that much and i fell asleep in 15 minutes. but i awoke again around 12:30 am and again, turned off the machine. will i be able to sleep all night? is this a very gradual process?

cheers
david

[Bill44133]

i thought maybe it was a leak and i wasn't getting all the air i should, but i did find out that is normal. is that right?

yes that is normal. The exhaled air has to go out. You just have to get used to the cpap and watching tv with it on is good way to teach your brain that
this is normal Keep at it!

[dir1944]

thank you for your reply.

cheers
david

[kteague]

Consider machine and hose placement when addressing the sounds. My machine is low enough to not be right near my head. I can tell a difference in hose sounds if the hose touches the wall or directly on my pillow. Some like a hose cover and feel it helps. Experiment a bit. Maybe a bit of a buffer between you and the sounds would soften them. Some use white noise such as a fan to muffle the other sounds. I read where someone on a bi-level said the sounds of them breathing were comforting sounds to them and the rhythm lulled them to sleep. Can't say I'm there but time has diminished my awareness of the sounds. But then again, I once lived just yards from a train track that had a 2am run every night. First week I thought I'd have a heart attack, but at some point I slept right through them. Hope your sensitivity to the sounds improves over time, or at least that some of the tips help.

[dir1944]

thank you for your advice, kteague.
my machine is on my nightstand right now. i think i could put it on the lower part of the nightstand but that might reduce the hose distance i need. i'll try it.

[imfletch]

Hang in there. Most of us had a hard time getting used to this "new way of sleeping." Strange sounds, trying to exhale against a hurricane and tugging on hoses every time your head turns can be maddening. Rest assured, that "magic night" - the night you sleep all the way through - WILL come.
I've been on cpap therapy now for 10 months. I would no longer even consider taking a brief nap without my beloved machine at my side. I actually find the sounds of the machine soothing. And if I awaken for a while in the middle of the night, the steady in and out of the air feels GOOD. Best of all, that wonderful "rested" feeling you get from a complete night of REAL sleep makes you want to do it every night.
The pulses that can come when you are only half awake (and not really asleep) continue to bother me, but now that I know what they are, I mostly ignore them. (In case you don't know what I'm talking about... when you go 4 or 5 seconds without a breath, the machine sends a few bursts of air down the tube to see if the fact that you're not breathing is a true obstruction or just a "central" event.)
What is likely happening... after an hour or so of sleep, you're probably rested enough for the sounds and pressure to wake you. As you become accustomed to it, this will stop.

[dir1944]

jim,
thank you so much for your support. so after three nights, i'm still waking up after 4 to 4 1/2 hours of sleep. then i turn off the machine. i know i should leave it on, but my breathing becomes harder to do but i'm hoping every night gets better and from what you say, i'm sure it will. have you always used the nose pillow type mask? that's what i have. this is the newest on the market for only three months and made by respironics. however, someone told me about the sleepweaver full nose mask and i would like to give that a try to. just to have a basis of comparison. maybe i'll like it better than the pillows or maybe i'll like the pillows better. i'd like to find out. did you ever try different masks? my machine, fisher & paykel is completely quiet. i don't even know it's on.
thank you again for writing me.

cheers
david

[MitzyG]

Not sure if this is happening to you but the exhale holes were hitting the sheet and the noise was "reflected". I rotated the hose from going down towards my neck to attached on my head. This moved the exhale hole pointing down. That has helped alot. Also, the Swift LT mask supposedly has quieter exhale holes. It "seems" quieter to me. I also hung the hose above me so that again, it was not draping all over the bed and that helped to point the exhale down, away from me.

[dir1944]

mitzy...the exhale hole does point downward and where it bothered was on my arm when i lying on my side. it was startling at first but now that i understand that it's supposed to work that way, i think i will be ok with it.

thank you
cheers
david

[imfletch]

jim,
thank you so much for your support. have you always used the nose pillow type mask?

cheers
david

While I have never turned my machine off in the middle of the night as you say you do ( I FORCED myself to keep it on all night), I have been through many, many, many different masks. I started with a full face...it created a painful pressure sore on the bridge of my nose. I began using a nasal mask, but my mouth breathing was so bad that it interfered with my therapy. I then tried one of the hybrid masks, but found I couldn't control all the leaks around its perimeter. So I switched to a TOTAL FACE MASK. (This is like a diving mask...it goes above your eyes, down the sides of your face and ends under your mouth. It solved the mouth-breathing and pressure sores, but was claustrophobic and very hot. That led me to the Swift LT nasal pillow mask. It was a God-send. The only problem I had with it was the fact that the headgear would slide up the back of my head as I slept (I sleep on my back.) The solution was offered here by Pugsy: the Tap-Pap nasal pillow mask. There is no headgear at all, the mask attaches to a mouth guard (as a football player would wear) and that holds it perfectly secure. Without headgear, you can even sleep on your side and ALMOST on your stomach. That has been my go-to mask now for six months. I love it.

[Lazer1234]

jim,
thank you so much for your support. have you always used the nose pillow type mask?

cheers
david

While I have never turned my machine off in the middle of the night as you say you do ( I FORCED myself to keep it on all night), I have been through many, many, many different masks. I started with a full face...it created a painful pressure sore on the bridge of my nose. I began using a nasal mask, but my mouth breathing was so bad that it interfered with my therapy. I then tried one of the hybrid masks, but found I couldn't control all the leaks around its perimeter. So I switched to a TOTAL FACE MASK. (This is like a diving mask...it goes above your eyes, down the sides of your face and ends under your mouth. It solved the mouth-breathing and pressure sores, but was. Claustrophobic and very hot. That led me to the Swift LT nasal pillow mask. It was a God-send. The only problem I had with it was the fact that the headgear would slide up the back of my head as I slept (I sleep on my back.) The solution was offered here by Pugsy: the Tap-Pap nasal pillow mask. There is no headgear at all, the mask attaches to a mouth guard (as a football player would wear) and that holds it perfectly secure. Without headgear, you can even sleep on your side and ALMOST on your stomach. That was been my home-to madk now for six months. I love it.

Agree! TapPap is the best i ever tried.

[dir1944]

jim...once again thank you for your advice and information. i'm feeling much better about the cpap and i guess i just have to force myself to use it all night or it will never happen.

i never thought there were so many different masks and that people have many masks, not just one. i am allowed to get another mask within my first 30 days and so i'm going to make a list of the different masks people tell me about. then i'll talk it over with the therapist and see what she has to say.

thanks again.
cheers
david

[tfal]

I love the Fisher and Paykel Sleepstyle 254 machine. I have been using it now for 3 years. I have missed maybe 3 nights this year.
I was sad to hear that it is being discontinued.
I bought a backup for when mine doesn't work anymore.

Get the hc355 extended life humidifiers. They are easy to take apart and clean. They last a long time also. Well worth having.

As far as masks go, I tried using the pillow style masks. They made the inside of my nose sore.
I used a Philips Respironics Comfort Classic mask for my Sleep study. They let me keep it. I have tried several others but always go back to that mask. The Comfort Classic ports the air down toward the hose so it doesn't blow on my wife. It's a simple mask and doesn't cost a lot. I also didn't like the gel pillow support on my forehead. I switched it with the white foam pads that you can order for it.

Be patient adjusting to the whole Cpap experience. I found that after I got used to it I was dreaming again. It may also save your life.

[dir1944]

tfal...thank you for your support and your quick response. my machine is the fisher & paykel icon plus. the humidifier is built in to it and i think its working fine. its the pillows i'm not sure about. i do have the opportunity within the first 30 days to get a different mask. i think i want to try a full nose mask so that way i can compare the two different styles. thank you for suggesting the one you use. i appreciate your telling me to be patient. i need that. do you mind if i ask you how long it was before you slept a whole night? i surely can't wait. last night i did sleep 2 1/2 hours longer than the previous two nights but i still woke up at 2:15am. but that's better than waking up at 12:30am!

cheers
david

[penuel]

Why do I get PMs that I must participate in this thread?