[Equipment] New to all this need advice

[JamesRyan]

I was like you a year ago, but today I love my cpap. So many benefits once you find the proper mask and get dialed in. It took me 3 different masks and now I’m set. I’m a side sleeper and the nasal DreamWear was the ticket for me.

I was like you a year ago, but today I love my cpap. So many benefits once you find the proper mask and get dialed in. It took me 3 different masks and now I’m set. I’m a side sleeper and the nasal DreamWear was the ticket for me.

Same here. It took me about a year to get things figured out. I finally settled on an Airfit F10 full face mask. It's not the newest model, but it works for me. I sleep on my stomach about 30-40% of the time without problems.

I'm surprised to hear you are able to sleep on your stomach with a full mask. Thank you that gives me hope. 
Thanks to everyone who has replied so far I feel a little more informed although it seems there is a ton to this, way more than I thought.

[Nightynite]

I learned a lot just by reading what others posted and how the experts responded. I found my mask by reading on here that the poster was a side sleeper and loved a certain mask.
So, I just bought it since I was a side sleeper.  It happens to be perfect for me.

[Gideon]

I use the ResMed P10 pillow mask.  Against congestion I find that pressure, even the very small amount you get from CPAP always wins.  With really bad congestion it takes me 5 to 10 minutes to clear up and punch through.  Most of that time I think "this will never work" but it always does open up and from then on no problem.  Read the Mask Primer, there is a section on mouth breathing.  

Work on using the side of your pillow, so that your mouth and nose are over the side.  Most masks should work that way.

Which mask is best?  That's easy to answer but hard to find, The one  that works for you.

Tell them you would like to come in for a mask fitting, and you will bring in your pillow.  Try masks lying down in your normal sleeping position.  Your facial structure changes from standing so lying down is important.  I suggest trying from the smallest least intrusive, the pillow masks, to the nasal masks and finally the full face masks.  It is not unusual for mouth breathers to become nasal breathers with CPAP pressure.

And read the Mask Primer,. I wrote it to help new users

I've read the primer and it's great, I'm glad it's there for us newbies. I was all about the nose pillows until I tried it and I knew it would be uncomfortable, the home study drove me nuts having prongs in my nose. I think I'm going to give the half mask a first shot and if it doesn't work I'll try the f30. 

The tech that fit me was very patient as I was in the room an hour to try and find the right mask. I wish I'd tried one because the last 3 night's I haven't slept well. 

I've attached a pic of the test results, I'm sorry I stated my ahi wrong it's 39. The other number that stands out to me is oxygen saturation lowest at 76%. I'm not sure what that means but it sounds really bad. Hoping y'all can shed more light on it.

If the prongs went in your nose, not on it, you were fitted wrong!!!  Try the large size of the P10.  There is an older style that actually went in the nose.

[JamesRyan]

Sorry I meant when I did the home study the nasal part went in my nose, the prongs. I think they measure oxygen and breathing. 

I've read a bunch of post just to get info and will keep on until I find the right fit mask. I just hope I find it I'm so ready to sleep better. What do y'all think of the report pic I posted?

[trish6hundred]

Hi JamesRyan,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
Good luck with finding the mask that will work for you and once you get that dialed in, good luck with your CPAP therapy.

[Big Guy]

No way could I use a nasal mask with prongs that go up into your nose. That would be a CPAP deal breaker for me. 

I'm okay with my AirFit F30, as it rests just below my nostrils. The only issue is that I get some itching from time to time and it drives me nuts.

[Gideon]

Significant info in that report.
Apnea Index: 33.2
Obstructive: 19.3
Central: 13.1
Mixed: 0.8 (Combination of Obstructive and Central Apneas)

This means that a good percentage (42%) of your pre-treatment apnea is Central. This is among the more difficult to treat.
You need to ask your doctor how he intends to resolve the Central Apnea. Note that CPAP machines are not designed to treat Central Apnea, only Obstructive Apnea. It is possible that CPAP treatment will change the balance of you pCO2 (which is a major factor your body determining when to breath and 1 cause of Central Apnea) in your blood and resolve your centrals but that is something we need to watch and see.

Other causes include drugs, especially opioids. What are you taking, it may be important. Any medical conditions such as strokes or seizures or other neurological conditions. Knowing a likely cause can help in treatment.

[JamesRyan]

Significant info in that report.
Apnea Index: 33.2
Obstructive: 19.3
Central: 13.1
Mixed: 0.8 (Combination of Obstructive and Central Apneas)

This means that a good percentage (42%) of your pre-treatment apnea is Central.  This is among the more difficult to treat.  
You need to ask your doctor how he intends to resolve the Central Apnea.  Note that CPAP machines are not designed to treat Central Apnea, only Obstructive Apnea.  It is possible that CPAP treatment will change the balance of you pCO2 (which is a major factor your body determining when to breath and 1 cause of Central Apnea) in your blood and resolve your centrals but that is something we need to watch and see.

Other causes include drugs, especially opioids.  What are you taking, it may be important.  Any medical conditions such as strokes or seizures or other neurological conditions.  Knowing a likely cause can help in treatment.

So is that really bad? From what I just searched it sounds dangerous. They didn't really mention it and just talked about obstructive apnea. I've attached another page of graphs. 

I'm currently not taking any meds other than the Tylenol Advil etc when I get a headache. I'm perplexed why they didn't talk to me about central.

---

Here's the graph

I also read on this forum that sometimes when we toss and turn it registers as central, and I did a bunch of that with the box on my chest and nasal tube. It appears a lot happened at the very end.

[Gideon]

Believe it or not Centrals frequently are not mentioned. That is a big reason why we like to see the full report.
Don't worry about it, those numbers are not that bad, but they are such that you, and your doctor need to be aware of them.

Frequently, no very frequently when someone starts CPAP therapy, centrals develop, and frequently they are much worse than yours.

There is one class of machine that is designed to treat Centrals, it is the most expensive of all the "PAP" machines,n it is called an ASV or Adaptive Servo Ventilator. It is way too early to talk about this path.

First bring the Centrals up with your Doctor and ask about them. Ask for his thoughts of how to manage them, and when steps will be taken to manage them. Take notes. Ask us the questions you need to clarify. The more info you provide us the better we will be able to help you.

We are here to help you, and others, along whatever path is needed to manage your apnea. Obstructive Apnea treatment is almost always ordered by the Doctor, in part because Central Apnea is rarely mentioned in the summary.

Keep all your posts on your treatment in a single thread because that provides a history.

The next step may be a titration sleep study to determine the "optimal" treatment. No matter what we will help you to optimize your treatment. In other words we have your back.

[JamesRyan]

Believe it or not Centrals frequently are not mentioned.  That is a big reason why we like to see the full report.  
Don't worry about it, those numbers are not that bad, but they are such that you, and your doctor need to be aware of them.  

Frequently, no very frequently when someone starts CPAP therapy, centrals develop, and frequently they are much worse than yours.  

There is one class of machine that is designed to treat Centrals, it is the most expensive of all the "PAP" machines,n  it is called an ASV or Adaptive Servo Ventilator.  It is way too early to talk about this path.  

First bring the Centrals up with your Doctor and ask about them.  Ask for his thoughts of how to manage them, and when steps will be taken to manage them.  Take notes.  Ask us the questions you need to clarify.  The more info you provide us the better we will be able to help you.

We are here to help you, and others, along whatever path is needed to manage your apnea.  Obstructive Apnea treatment is almost always ordered by the Doctor, in part because Central Apnea is rarely mentioned in the summary.  

Keep all your posts on your treatment in a single thread because that provides a history.

The next step may be a titration sleep study to determine the "optimal" treatment.  No matter what we will help you to optimize your treatment.  In other words we have your back.

Thank you for easing my fears! By titration do you mean in office study? If so they wanted me to get a cpap machine Friday and I decided to wait until a rental gets returned.. hopefully next week. Could I use the machine and a card to get better data once I get going or do I need to find the right mask first?

The machine they recommend is AirSense 10 AutoSet. I've got an SD card I can use too.