Newb with a few basic questions

[AlanE]

Ramp will always start at 4. If you don't need ramp you can shut that off and your machine will start out at the minimum set pressure.

Getting use to the pillows will take time. I went through that too. Make sure the mask isn't too tight. That's just as bad as too loose.

[SparticleBrane]

Yeah my nose felt like it had something pressing up on it hard, all night long. Reminds me of wearing a slightly too-small scuba mask.

SleepyHead is saying I had 45 "clear airway" events. Yeouch.

[AlanE]

If you can feel your upper lip (philtrum) throbbing, it's too tight. I have to say getting the mask fitted just right is the most frustrating thing about cpap therapy other than cpap.

[quiescence at last]

I would be really surprised if you cannot set the ramp to begin at a higher pressure.

QAL

[Sleeprider]

A few thoughts:

• The machine was pre-set to start at a pressure of 4, likely during the ramp-up period (?) This felt...like it wasn't enough air, if that makes sense. After it slowly increased the pressure it felt like I could breathe much easier. I think I'll set that minimum to somewhere in the 5-6 range. The machine is in the autoset mode. I believe my doc specified 5-15 so maybe I'll try that, but honestly it's a crap shoot since I was never properly titrated during my sleep study.
  
  
• The nasal pillows initially seemed comfortable but my nose was pretty sore in the morning. I slept on my side a bit and it seemed to push on my septum a bit, and the tips of my nostrils are sensitive. I put some Aquaphor on them and hopefully they'll feel better soon. I noticed when the machine started to hit the 12-13cm point, I just couldn't keep the nasal pillows from leaking. Might have to play around with the different sizes.
  
  
  
• I didn't sleep much (mostly due to getting used to having this thing strapped on my head, thinking too much, and hose management). Hopefully I'll sleep more tomorrow. I think the small amount I did sleep went well because I didn't feel nearly as bad as normal when I woke up this morning. I'm still a bit tired and yawning some but not too bad.
  
  
• The machine is practically silent from my perspective. There's a white noise machine going in my bedroom so that probably helps drown out any noise. There's a very light inhalation noise but that's about it and I can't really hear it unless I'm specifically listening for it.
  
  
  
• The SleepyHead software is pretty cool. It's amazing the amount of information these things can record.
  
  
  
• It seems if I'm on my back and asleep my mouth might open slightly, which allows incoming air from the machine going into my nose to exit (loudly through my mouth. Definitely weird to feel that entire 'loop'.
  
  
• My wife said I really didn't snore (a huge plus!) but she could occasionally hear it leaking and probably one or two instances of the 'loop' phenomenon I just mentioned.
  

According to SleepyHead my AHI for last night was 6.28. Much better than the 16 (on my side) or 55 (on my back) that I had during my sleep study.

The minimum pressure for Ramp can be set as can the time of ramp. I suggest 6 minimum pressure and 15 minutes length, or turn it off all together.

The Airfit P10 gets looser when you spread the straps. You need comfortable contact, not a vice-grip on your face. You will adapt.

Leak prevention comes from the contact of your tongue with the roof of your mouth. You can eventually learn to talk, drink and control the air pressure. Learning can be pretty funny, and produce noises you've not heard before.

Get Sleepyhead and start observing the data. Eventually, to optimize pressure, I recommend you set the minimum pressure equal to the AVERAGE pressure you record over the first week or so. If this were CPAP, you would target the 90-95% pressure for therapy.

Good luck, keep us posted.

[AlanE]

The minimum pressure for Ramp can be set as can the time of ramp. I suggest 6 minimum pressure and 15 minutes length, or turn it off all together.

Didn't know that could be changed. I don't use ramp. Good to know for future.

[SparticleBrane]

Didn't see a few of these posts until right now, but I did set the ramp to start at 5 for 5 minutes, with pressure between 6 and 12.2. The first night I noticed the pillows started to have trouble sealing with pressures above 11-12, and sleepyhead said I spent 95% of my time <12, hence my decision.

First night AHI was 6.28, tonight was 4.67. Both of those were mostly (~75%) Clear Airway events. Hopefully I can keep that downward trend.

Like the first night, as the pressure increased, my nasal pillows started to have issues holding a seal -- verified this with SleepyHead too. Amazing what you can see with real data. I put a small coating on Aquaphor on the outside and inside of the tips of my nostrils to help with sealing and soreness…seemed to help a bit but ultimately it didn't help as the pressures increased.

I'd post the screenshot I just took of mask leaking vs. pressure graph in SleepyHead, but apparently I don't have enough posts.



I'm up ~1-1.5 hours earlier than normal, feeling mostly rested. Yawning a tiny bit thought. I slept more this second night than the first night. Will probably take me a bit to get used to it.

Didn't really snore at all, which makes my wife super happy.

My biggest issue is that I'll likely have to switch to a FFM due to a slightly unique problem: I've got some teeth crowding with my bottom row, which has pushed one of my front bottom teeth 'up' just a tiny bit, making it knock against one of my front upper teeth more than normal. Over the past several years this has created an area of bruised tissue around the root of each tooth in question. The nasal pillows are pushing on that exact bruised spot, so my tooth was in some petty serious pain when I woke up this morning. Ugh. Honestly the only fix is to get braces, let the teeth move to their natural position, and let the bruises heal. Money that I don't have right now…ugh.

[Ailu]

My biggest issue is that I'll likely have to switch to a FFM due to a slightly unique problem: I've got some teeth crowding with my bottom row, which has pushed one of my front bottom teeth 'up' just a tiny bit, making it knock against one of my front upper teeth more than normal. Over the past several years this has created an area of bruised tissue around the root of each tooth in question. The nasal pillows are pushing on that exact bruised spot, so my tooth was in some petty serious pain when I woke up this morning. Ugh. Honestly the only fix is to get braces, let the teeth move to their natural position, and let the bruises heal. Money that I don't have right now…ugh.

I can totally relate - I had the exact same problem with my bottom front teeth, and it was increasingly painful. I really couldn't afford braces, but then I found out that Care Credit would give me a interest-free loan for Invisalign as long as I paid it off within a certain amount of time, which with my budget worked for me. I figured, going into debt for a TV is one thing, but this is my body we're talking about! It's the only one I got, and once it wears out, I'm done!

[SparticleBrane]

My biggest issue is that I'll likely have to switch to a FFM due to a slightly unique problem: I've got some teeth crowding with my bottom row, which has pushed one of my front bottom teeth 'up' just a tiny bit, making it knock against one of my front upper teeth more than normal. Over the past several years this has created an area of bruised tissue around the root of each tooth in question. The nasal pillows are pushing on that exact bruised spot, so my tooth was in some petty serious pain when I woke up this morning. Ugh. Honestly the only fix is to get braces, let the teeth move to their natural position, and let the bruises heal. Money that I don't have right now…ugh.

I can totally relate - I had the exact same problem with my bottom front teeth, and it was increasingly painful. I really couldn't afford braces, but then I found out that Care Credit would give me a interest-free loan for Invisalign as long as I paid it off within a certain amount of time, which with my budget worked for me. I figured, going into debt for a TV is one thing, but this is my body we're talking about! It's the only one I got, and once it wears out, I'm done!

If I weren't currently unemployed with a few other payments (house, wife's student loans, new minivan payment) and a wife who is pregnant with twins, I'd consider it. For now it'll have to wait a bit.

Did the Invisalign treatment fix your issue? I believe the dentist said it would likely take 6-8 weeks after the teeth were moved around before the bruise would fully heal.

This isn't something that normally bothers me unless I do something like bite into something hard or hit my tooth hard.

[Sleeprider]

Depending on your DME provider, you may still be in a grace period for return of the mask and issuance of a different style or size without significant or any cost. Do call and ask about their mask exchange policy on new patients. If you purchased through Supplier #1, they offer a 30 day return guarantee for masks.