Mask horrors, questions, ideas

[Exhale]

Hello all

I am new to CPAP and this forum. I really hate CPAP. My OSA is mild (6 AHI) but my oxygen dropped to 81% during the sleep study...so here I am. Using CPAP for about 1.5 months now.

I switched to a full face mask 2 nights ago. I was using nasal pillows but my mouth kept opening and I tried taping my mouth shut but that was uncomfortable. Not interested in the chin strap. So not to upset my spouse any more than I have, I switched. The mask is also annoying, last night better than the first. I use ResMed 10 and ResMed mask. The one thing I noticed is my "Events per hour" on the online report using the nasal pillows was 1 or less vs the full mask. Maybe too early to tell. The first night with full mask was 2 and last night was 1.4. I did purchase a pulse oximeter also. I try to use frequently but with all the headgear etc sometimes one more gadget is just too much to bare! I have a hard time falling asleep now and usually wake at least 1x. I try to keep mask on for at least 4 hours.

Has anyone has a similar experience with the mask/events issue? I can't imagine having to use this machine for the rest of my life. Another thought is I heard that using a vaporizer with hydrogen peroxide overnight would also increase the oxygen in the air...anyone have any experience with this?

Thanks
Exhale

[player]

I have not been at it much longer than you, but I am starting seeing cpap as a welcomed lifeline. I am glad to have it and be rested and alert.

[retired_guy]

I know just how you feel. I hated broccoli. All my life I hated broccoli. A few years back my wife told me to try it. I didn't want to, because I already knew I hated it. But she made me an offer I couldn't refuse so I tried it. I still hated it. But not long after that, I tried it again.

In the beginning I could only eat two or three broccoli things at a time. Certainly not a full serving. But my wife told me that I should really change my attitude and learn to eat full servings, not just a little bit. Because that's when the broccoli will help me the most.

Now I eat full servings of broccoli several times a week. Do I like it all that much? Well, no. But I don't hate it. And I recognize that it can provide me with a better quality of life. So yeah, I'll eat my broccoli.

Yep. I know just how you feel.

[trailrider]

Hang in there Exhale and keep at it. It is tough. I recall looking at my machine with narrowed eyes and less than affection. it's only been a few months for me. But then you do get used to it. Try even just 4 hours a night for a week. That oxygen does your organs and cells good.

I would not try the Hydrogen Peroxide. That could really irritate your lungs. Use the machine, it is what it is made for.

And see if your DME can loan you some mask type and styles. I had luck with Eson nasal, but then later better adapted to a P10 pillow.

[justMongo]

Hello all

I am new to CPAP and this forum. I really hate CPAP. My OSA is mild (6 AHI) but my oxygen dropped to 81% during the sleep study...so here I am. Using CPAP for about 1.5 months now.

I switched to a full face mask 2 nights ago. I was using nasal pillows but my mouth kept opening and I tried taping my mouth shut but that was uncomfortable. Not interested in the chin strap. So not to upset my spouse any more than I have, I switched. The mask is also annoying, last night better than the first. I use ResMed 10 and ResMed mask. The one thing I noticed is my "Events per hour" on the online report using the nasal pillows was 1 or less vs the full mask. Maybe too early to tell. The first night with full mask was 2 and last night was 1.4. I did purchase a pulse oximeter also. I try to use frequently but with all the headgear etc sometimes one more gadget is just too much to bare! I have a hard time falling asleep now and usually wake at least 1x. I try to keep mask on for at least 4 hours.

Has anyone has a similar experience with the mask/events issue? I can't imagine having to use this machine for the rest of my life. Another thought is I heard that using a vaporizer with hydrogen peroxide overnight would also increase the oxygen in the air...anyone have any experience with this?

Thanks
Exhale

If you need supplemental O₂, then a concentrator would be prescribed to inject O₂ into the CPAP flow.

When you switched to a FFM, did you change the mask type in the machines settings?

[worn_out_in_lebanon]

I know just how you feel. I hated broccoli. All my life I hated broccoli.

Now I eat full servings of broccoli several times a week. Do I like it all that much? Well, no. But I don't hate it. And I recognize that it can provide me with a better quality of life. So yeah, I'll eat my broccoli.

I graduated up to 2 green beans at the Chinese restaurant buffet on Sunday for lunch. But 2 is still the limit. It's just once a week. And they have to be steamed not boiled. And I have to take a bite of chicken with each bite of green bean. They used to literally make me gag.

But I use the cpap every night all night.

Even just trying to take a 30-60 minute nap without it, I'll wake up several times catching my breath.

[Exhale]

I have not been at it much longer than you, but I am starting seeing cpap as a welcomed lifeline. I am glad to have it and be rested and alert.

I don't feel that yet...Some days I feel slightly more alert (I wake at 4:40 am - bedtime no later than 10 pm). I take accessible transportation and sometimes sleep on the bus, mostly in the afternoon.

---

If you need supplemental O₂, then a concentrator would be prescribed to inject O₂ into the CPAP flow.

When you switched to a FFM, did you change the mask type in the machines settings?

No concentrator....
Yes I changed the mask type

[Exhale]

I know just how you feel. I hated broccoli. All my life I hated broccoli.

Now I eat full servings of broccoli several times a week. Do I like it all that much? Well, no. But I don't hate it. They used to literally make me gag.

But I use the cpap every night all night.

Even just trying to take a 30-60 minute nap without it, I'll wake up several times catching my breath.

I understand but eating a meal is a very short period of time and sleeping 4-8 hours is much longer.

[DeepBreathing]

I know just how you feel. I hated broccoli. All my life I hated broccoli.

I understand but eating a meal is a very short period of time and sleeping 4-8 hours is much longer.

The thing is that you're asleep for those 4 - 8 hours so the time passes in a flash. Well that's the idea.... After nearly two years on the hose I'm going through another period of finding it hard going. I normally get off to sleep no problem but if something wakes me during the night then there's no way I can get back to sleep with the hose on. (I'm sure it's psychological).

But on the nights I do sleep through its like a revelation. Asleep by 11:00, then it just seems seconds later and it's 6:00 am and time to get up rested and refreshed. That doesn't happen every night but it does happen often enough to keep me at it. I hate broccoli too, but CPAP is a lot less of a hassle. Stick with it and it will get better.

[justMongo]

You have to forgive R_G. He was a POW in a DPRK POW camp; and they force fed him broccoli.