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Greetings
#1
Greetings
Hello & Greetings!

My name is Chris. I have been diagnosed with Complex Sleep Apnea. I just received my machine yesterday, after 3 different sleep studies and a few visits with the sleep doctor, and used it for the first time last night. It is definitly going to be taking a while to get used to.

I have tried the nasal pillows during the second sleep study and found it to be uncomfortable. I currently use the F&P Eson Medium Nasal Mask. It seems to be a little more tolerable but sleeping with something strapped to my face from now on is going to be my greatest obsticle.

I found these forums while looking up information about my situation and getting used to it. The amount of information I have found on here is awesome. I am glad to see that there is such a big community of other people in the same boat as me and I'm not alone in this new endeavor of my life. Pleased to meet you all and get to know you.
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#2
RE: Greetings
Hi ShadowSeeker,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
I know CPAP therapy can take some getting used to, but just hang in there with it. You might try to wear your mask ans use your machine during the evening as you read or watch tv and see if that will help you and your body get used to it.
Hang in there for more suggestions and much success to you with your CPAP therapy.
trish6hundred
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#3
RE: Greetings
Welcome ShadowSeeker,
The hardest part of therapy is finding the right mask. A lot of online suppliers will let you try for 30 days. Check out the suppliers list at top of page.
Keep us posted on your progress. Smile
OpalRose
Apnea Board Administrator
www.apneaboard.com

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#4
RE: Greetings
Welcome

You will get used to it. It's amazing how the body can adjust. You adjusted to getting lousy sleep all this time... Smile
Using FlashAir W-03 SD card in machine. You can download your data through wifi with FlashPAP or Sleep Master utilities.

I wanted to learn Binary so I enrolled in Binary 101. I seemed to have missed the first four courses. Big Grinnie

Stick it to the man, Download OSCAR and take back control of your data!

Thanks Ian. Like I didn't have enough Honey-Do projects to tackle. Mornincoffee
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#5
RE: Greetings
(06-26-2015, 10:39 AM)ShadowSeeker Wrote: ... but sleeping with something strapped to my face from now on is going to be my greatest obsticle.

It's surprising how quickly you get used to it. My brother did a lot of hitchiking during the 1960's so he got used to different sleeping conditions. He once told me "I can sleep on a picket fence by the second night". He was of course exaggerating ever so slightly, but I got the point.

I use a full face mask so I didn't have to deal with learning how to keep my mouth closed, so I guess it was a little easier for me, but I had a heck of a time getting the darned thing to not leak. I knew I needed this therapy so I just told my body firmly that this was how it was going to be from now on and I rapidly learned to sleep with the mask.

So just be firm with yourself and give yourself some time. Almost everyone can adapt fairly quickly although of course I can't absolutely rule out your being the rare exception.
Ed Seedhouse
VA7SDH

Part cow since February 2018.

Trust your mind less and your brain more.


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#6
RE: Greetings
Well my first night seemed to go better than my second night last night. Woke up with a dry mouth, and not feeling as rested as I did the morning before.

I did pull the Card and install SleepyHead. Thursday's AHI was 1.41, Last nights AHI was 5.23. I assume that the dry mouth is probably from opening my mouth at night.
But considering that this is only my second night, Should I be overly concerned about it? or is it just me still trying to adjust to the new way of sleeping?
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#7
RE: Greetings
You'll have good days and bad days. I wouldn't be concerned with that. Just need time to get used to it. Some people take to it like fish to water but for the rest of us it takes a lot longer. The sleep tech said to give it at least 8 weeks. Force yourself, if you must, to use it. It took 2 weeks longer than that but now I'm not sure I can sleep without the mask on. I have no experience with adaptive servo-ventilation so I probably won't be much help with your machine but there are plenty that do.
Using FlashAir W-03 SD card in machine. You can download your data through wifi with FlashPAP or Sleep Master utilities.

I wanted to learn Binary so I enrolled in Binary 101. I seemed to have missed the first four courses. Big Grinnie

Stick it to the man, Download OSCAR and take back control of your data!

Thanks Ian. Like I didn't have enough Honey-Do projects to tackle. Mornincoffee
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#8
RE: Greetings
G'day Chris, welcome to the forum.

With an EPAP of 13 and a max PS of 12, it's possible that you could be getting pressures up to 25 cm H2O, which is really pretty high. You might find that nasal pillows won't hold a seal under such high pressures, and it's quite likely the pressure could disturb your sleep. There's a trade off here, of course, and if you do have problems you might need to drop the max PS a bit.

The ASV machines do take some getting used to, but they have the ability to generate amazing results. I wouldn't suggest you use the machine while watching TV or reading as it will react very quickly to normal pauses in your breathing and give you a sudden burst of pressure which can be offputting. You might also find it jacks the pressure up while you're still falling asleep. In that case just blow back hard and it will back off.

Don't worry too much about variations between nights. After a while you and the machine will reach an accommodation and you'll find you get consistently low AHIs and feel much better for it.


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#9
RE: Greetings
Thanks guys. I appreciate the advice and encouragement. It helps a lot. Not gonna give up on this.. It's here to help me and I'll do whatever I need to, to make sure I am getting the most out of it.

I do have an ResMed AirFit p10 nasal pillow that was sent home with me from my second sleep study. I didn't do too well with it on the regular CPAP machine that they used, perhaps maybe I should try using it again now with the new ASV machine?
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#10
RE: Greetings
(06-27-2015, 08:28 PM)ShadowSeeker Wrote: I do have an ResMed AirFit p10 nasal pillow that was sent home with me from my second sleep study. I didn't do too well with it on the regular CPAP machine that they used, perhaps maybe I should try using it again now with the new ASV machine?

If you've already got the P10 then give it a go. However I don't think you'll get a good seal at higher pressures. And having said that, everybody is different, so you might well find that it works OK for you.

The one certainty about PAP treatment is that the mask is the hardest thing to get right, and it varies greatly from one person to another.
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