Apnea/CPAP?

That’s what I thought too, but it is pretty easy to access the clinician’s menus, at least on the AirSense 10. The YT link above shows you how to do it.

My pressure is set to 14 and for a year or more it feels really strong. Now it doesn’t even feel like there is any pressure. I bought a gauge to make certain that it is at 14 it felt so different as time went by.

It will get easier and you do start to feel better.

They gave me the Phillips Respironics DreamStation (model with the humidifier). And like Nesrie, they pretty much locked in the settings. The humidity is also supposed to auto adjust through the night too, but it never seems to leave the lowest setting they have it on. Once I’m asleep, my mouth dries out pretty fast and I wasn’t able to adjust the min setting. I see my doctor on the 21st, so I’ll bring all this up and see what they can do and try to get a different mask. I like the look of the Mirage FX, so hopefully that’s covered.

I really appreciate all the tips and calls to stick with it. I’ve spent so many years waking up tired, and nodding off at my desk at work (aside from being told I shake the house when I snore lol). I know it will help and I am determined to get there.

Does this work?

http://www.apneaboard.com/dreamstation-clinician-setup-instructions

Not saying go and change anything, take some time to get used to it first, engage with your clinician during the adjustment period.

I lowered mine myself after 6 months or so as it still felt too strong, with no change to recorded event rate. But my own use is to combat very mild Apnea and snoring. There is wide ranging discussion on Apnea boards regarding whether you should or shouldn’t adjust settings yourself, including folk that has that very instruction from their clinicians, so YMMV (and of course I am by no means qualified to advise you).

To be clear, I lowered mine because the auto pressure limit was set at 16 and the machine was running at 14-15 most of the time. Since that was causing me a bit of discomfort, much in the way that it was affecting shellfishguy, I contacted my sleep study people and they were the ones who advised me to adjust the high end pressure setting and directed me to the youtube video. My recommended pressure level was 10. I double checked and I actually lowered the max setting to 12 not 10. I have found that this has made a big difference in my comfort level.

I always had that mouth drying issue before my cpap. I would wake several times a night with my mouth and throat dried out. It was very painful. This more than anything made me address the issue with my doctor, which led me to take the sleep study. I no longer have that issue, now that I use my cpap. If you have humidification and your mouth is still drying out then that’s absolutely something you need to address with your doctor.

If your mouth is drying out and you are using nasal pillows or nasal mask it is probably due to your mouth opening at night. You can purchase a strap that goes under your chin to keep your mouth closed.

I would suggest to just be aware of it and make certain if you do wake a bit during the night here and there to consciously close your mouth. I suspect that if you do use a chin strap to keep your mouth closed you will probably have to use it forever.

Most CPAP machines do allow you to adjust the humidity. I have found that different seasons require different settings. Some seasons the auto is fine and others I set it manually.

One thing to keep in mind if you start playing with the humidity settings: If water starts to gather and drip into your mask it can wake you at night but one trick is to make certain you have a loop below your head (below where it connects to your mask). That will stop any excess water as you adjust your settings coming into your mask (it gets trapped in the loop). Make certain to clean your tubes regularly if you try this so nothing bad starts growing in the tube from any excess water over time. Well we all should be cleaning everything normally since we don’t want bad things blown into our lungs.

I started using a chin strap and it was always too loose. I quit wearing it and just learned over time to keep my mouth closed. I still do to an extent but I am getting programed to it.

I use the Philips Nuance Pro mask with the nasal pillows (and a boxy looking Philips Respironics machine) and at first thought that I’d have a problem keeping my mouth closed. It hasn’t really been a problem though. Obviously your sinuses and nasal passages have to be somewhat clear at least–a problem if you suffer from allergies–I’m allergic to dust mites—but if you’re good about using your allergy medicine (generic flonase or whatever) you’re good.

Anyway what I’ve trained myself to do is put my tongue up against the roof of my mouth and form a bit of a vacuum there. This usually works pretty well. I mean, my lips will sometimes fall open during the night and I’ll drool like anyone else, but I’m not breathing through my mouth.

BTW, speaking of those nasal pillows (they look like this: http://cpapreviews.org/philips-respironics-nuance-pro-nasal-pillow-mask-in-depth-review/ --the review is not particularly kind to the mask and pillow design, but it works for me).

In any case the reason for this post is this: it irks me that when I get a new mask every six months, I get three pillows, Small, Medium and Large. Thing is, the Small and Medium are of no use to me. I’ve been saving them up though (new, unused) from the last few mask deliveries in the hope that maybe I can swap them for someone else’s unused Large ones. I know it’s a long shot, but if anyone out there is using the same mask and feels like making a swap hit me up via PM.

My pressure auto-adjuts on that machine but not the humidity; I adjust that manually. I just had my compliance appointment which is a requirement for the insurance to be willing to pay the claim for the machine. I saw on her chart that the pressure is adjusting but apparently mine is only getting a slight tweak in pressure, which is an order she sends to the company who then sends that new setting to the machine wirelessly, and she told me up the humidity. Half my nose gets clogged in the middle of then night but I don’t notice until I wake up. I use a nose cushion. The mask kind of freaks me out a little.

I just got the new Respironics “Dreamwear” mask. It’s a cross between a nasal mask and nasal pillows. I never could stand the pillows (don’t like things up my nose), but this thing is great. I have a rather large nose – or at least a large bridge – and traditional masks always left a mark and hurt. This thing fits under the nose and wraps around the side of your head. It vents at the top.

It really feels like I’m not even wearing a mask. My sleep has definitely improved, and I’ve been a CPAP user for the past 10 or so years.

That’s funny, was going to recommend trying out that mask myself. It’s amazing compared to a regular one, at least for me.

Not having actually investigated this in the past, what’s the interoperability of masks and machines? Is there any? Can you use that mask with a Resmed? Are connections actually standardised, or are their adapters, or am I stuck with Remed mask products?

I think he is talking about this.

It’s what I use. It doesn’t obstruct your view, nothing is insert like anywhere. Biggest downside is it can be a little finicky, like shift a bit and then air escapes making an annoying hissing sound or up the eyes but 97% of the time, it’s fine, and I don’t wake up.

Resmed doesn’t seem to have one. Now they did say the full mask gave the best results, but my compliance numbers were good so sticking with the none invasive cushion.

Generally speaking, the machines have an adjustable setting for type of mask (pillow/nasal/full). I would think all of them have that. Possible some fine adjustment might be necessary but I don’t have enough experience to know.

Machines generally have a clinician menu you can find out how to get to by looking online, but I caution people against doing that if their insurance is paying for it.

Going in for my first consult tomorrow.

2 nights in and it is a bit odd, but I am able to get 6+ hours of sleep which I was getting before.

I have a handle on machine side settings, no probs, but is their any standardisation on hose/couplers between competing vendors at the mask side? Could I use a non-Resmed 3rd pary mask with my Resmed?

I believe the hose connector is pretty standard across the industry. Wouldn’t make sense to have proprietary connectors, really.

But vendors love lock-in! :)