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New Member having big problems
#31
RE: New Member having big problems
(11-09-2013, 02:46 PM)OzzieMatt Wrote: Great news!!

So excited!
Congrats, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step
Well-done


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#32
RE: New Member having big problems
Thanks Zonk.
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#33
RE: New Member having big problems
(11-09-2013, 02:46 PM)OzzieMatt Wrote: Great news!!

Last night I managed to achieve the 'Compliance Threshold' (>4 hours).

I achieved 4 hours 45 minutes before a leaking mask interrupted my session.

I'm very excited.

However, there's a downside (isn't there almost always!). Like an idiot, I forgot to insert the SD card before turning in for the night last night, so can only retrieve basic data this morning. D'oh!

It's ok, though, because that data confirms what has become an obvious pattern and key to my ongoing success: mask leak!!!

Despite the human error, I'm buzzed. I actually feel like I'm getting somewhere. Just gotta nail down this mask issue.

So excited!

Great stuff Matt! It took me ages to get consistent 4+ hours.

Getting the mask right is (I believe) the absolute essential component of the therapy. I'm now on my fifth (Quattro Air Small) which sadly isn't nearly as good as the identical mask I had on load from CRS. SWMBO isn't getting much sleep - she reckons at times I sound like a trumpet and at others I just fart a lot. Ohwell

happy sleeping
Paul
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#34
RE: New Member having big problems
(11-09-2013, 06:49 PM)DeepBreathing Wrote: SWMBO isn't getting much sleep - she reckons at times I sound like a trumpet and at others I just fart a lot.

Too-funny

Cheers Paul.

Where would we be without our long-suffering best mates?



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#35
RE: New Member having big problems
(11-08-2013, 09:03 PM)OzzieMatt Wrote: Hi Peter. Thanks for the reply.

I appreciate what you are saying. The problem for me is the last few times I've woken up without the mask on and don't have any recollection of either waking up to remove it...or of actually removing it. I wake up...and it's off. And that's all she wrote!!

The good news is I managed nearly 3 hours sleep with it last night. I'm improving Smile

I visited my therapist today and he was happy with the results, given me newbie status. It appears like I may have a high pressure setting around 18, which is great considering I was concerned 20 might not be enough and I was having fears I'd need to go over to BiPAP.

It appears as though my main issue at the moment is keeping my mask on. I'm sure I can overcome this.

I am sure that you can turn on the 'High leak Alert' alarm - Auto-start must be turned off, but what this does is anytime the mask comes off without the machine being turned off first, a rather loud alarm starts screeching, and won't go off til the mask goes back on. You could try that Smile

Also, if you become more used to the mask, you will become less likely to take it off in your sleep.

Your brain considers everything you think and say as the truth. Start telling yourself that you LIKE and NEED the mask - that you will DROWN without the mask on, that you can't BREATHE without it, and so on - you will be surprised what this will do for you.

That is why I (and others) think and say, and write good things about our machines, I call mine my 'dream machine'. Power of positive thinking taken to a higher level.

It works, it really will.
*I* am not a DOCTOR or any type of Health Care Professional.  My thoughts/suggestions/ideas are strictly only my opinions.

"Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you. Jesus Christ and the American Soldier. One died for your Soul, the other for your Freedom."
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#36
RE: New Member having big problems
Hi Peter.

Thanks for the advice. That all makes a lot of sense, especially the reinforcing/positive enforcement stuff.

I'm happy to report I spent the entire time last night with the mask on. I woke after a few hours with the usual urge to wrench the mask from my face, but this time I had enough presence of mind to calm down and quickly (semi-consciously) take in what was going on and take a few breaths and keep the mask on, before going back to sleep.

It's quite something how we gradually adjust to things and take little steps forward. Small advances. In the moment, my subconscious brain told me to hold on...relax...work through the issue, based on recent experience. I adjusted.

I hope I do it again tonight. I suspect I will, now that I've done it once and it's in my 'memory bank'. This will now (hopefully) become routine behaviour until I get the mask leak issue fully under control and make the next advancement which would be sleeping right through the night, uninterrupted, woken only by my bedside alarm clock.
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#37
RE: New Member having big problems
YES!! Baby-steps is all~! Even now, after all these years, I have moments when I think/feel I am not getting enough air - so I have learned a little trick, I purposely allow air to come into and out of my mouth - creating a loud whooshing sound for a few seconds, showing myself how much air I can really have if I want it all - then I close my lips, move my tongue back to the roof of my mouth to (try) to seal things off again.

Because of all the nose problems I had (prior to nose surgery), and how bad FFM masks were all those years ago, I needed to learn to breathe only through my nose, so I thought of drowning, poison gas, and the like if I failed to only breathe through my nose. Sounds silly, but I've learned the truth that our brain does not know what a 'lie' or a 'joke' is. This alone allowed me to adapt to a high pressure CPAP breathing through a bad nose, and then later, through the switch to a bilevel machine (along with nine knee surgeries, one knee replacement, one hip replacement, one shoulder rebuild, and both nose and throat surgery - among other stuff).
*I* am not a DOCTOR or any type of Health Care Professional.  My thoughts/suggestions/ideas are strictly only my opinions.

"Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you. Jesus Christ and the American Soldier. One died for your Soul, the other for your Freedom."
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#38
RE: New Member having big problems
(11-09-2013, 02:46 PM)OzzieMatt Wrote: Getting the mask right is (I believe) the absolute essential component of the therapy. I'm now on my fifth (Quattro Air Small) which sadly isn't nearly as good as the identical mask I had on load from CRS. SWMBO isn't getting much sleep - she reckons at times I sound like a trumpet and at others I just fart a lot. Ohwell

Sounds like me when I'm awake.

Glad to hear you conquered the compliance threshold...onto the next victory.
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#39
RE: New Member having big problems
Hi OzzieMatt,
GREAT to hear that you managed to keep your mask on for over 4&1/2 hours last night.
Just keep on goin', it does get better.
trish6hundred
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#40
RE: New Member having big problems
I knew there'd be a price to pay for one moment of celebration.

Mask turned in to whoopee cushion last night. Farting like a champion! Couldn't get it to seal for love or money.

Oh well. One step forward...two steps back. That's the way this race goes. haha
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