[CPAP] New User Concern/Question

[ccbauer]

Hello.  I am a brand new CPAP user.  I got my nasal mask on Wednesday.  I am a mouth breather therefore, the nasal mask did not work at all.  I got a ResMed AirFit F20 full face mask on Friday.  I have used it 2 nights.  Friday went better than last night.  This mask has the new QuietAir Diffuser Vent.  This means nothing to me.  I am still learning the terminology.  On my nasal mask, air came out like a vent.  I was told this lets the Carbon Dioxide out.  My new mask has no air flowing out as a vent.  I understand this has more holes making the use quieter.  My concern is the carbon dioxide.  How is it getting out?  Both nights, I had heart palpitations and my heart just felt weird.  Like it wasn't beating correctly.  I also had a headache after using it a while.  I completely understand this will take a while to get used to sleeping with this mask on.  I was awake 4 hours after I put it on last night.  I finally took it off because the heart palpitations were making me scared.  Is this normal?  Are you supposed to be able to feel air "vent" out from the F20 mask?  I'm calling Apria where I got the equipment from tomorrow but it's just an office.  Yes the girl was a respiratory therapist but I did not feel like I was getting the in depth instructions I should have been.  The insurance company made me do the sleep study at home.  I thought that was ridiculous but that is what I had to do.  Everything I read talks about doing the sleep study at a lab and having them fit you and try different settings to make sure everything is right.  That was not my situation at all.  Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you!

[idlewire]

I have the same mask. The vents should be on either side of the "elbow" connector that came with it, the one that connects to the mask on one end and the main tubing on the other.

I understand what you're going through, just having started a couple of weeks ago. I felt like I had to trust that I wasn't going to suffocate in my sleep! It does get better, there's a good chance you'll get used to it, and maybe even start associating it with better sleep. I found that spending some time with the machine on in the evenings, even though I wasn't planning on sleeping, was helpful. But yeah for at least 5 days or so, I would be really tired, put on the mask, start the machine, and the unusualness of it would wake me right back up.

For what it's worth, I did an at-home sleep study too. I don't think my doctor prescribed my settings based on that since they were pretty much the lazy, default settings. But once you start reading on here and get some software to check how you're doing, you may feel comfortable enough to change the settings yourself.

[ccbauer]

Thank you so much for the quick response.  Are you able to feel any of the air that comes out of the vents?  That is my big concern.  I have read that most people can feel a little air coming out of the vents.  I cannot feel any air coming from the vents.

[Gideon]

Welcome to the forum.  We can and will help you through all this.
The F20 diffuser/vent is in the elbow on the mask. It is designed to be barely felt or heard.  I wouldn't worry about it.
Heart Palpitations, my guess it is just the newness of CPAP.

Where to from here?
Download and install OSCAR
Make sure your machine has an SD card (upper door on the left)
Capture your dailies and post an attachment of your screen print.

Your settings are 4-20 per your profile which says that your settings are wide open and need to be refined.
My initial recommendation would be to set EPR to fulltime and EPR=2 and your min pressure = 6.
This will make your inhale pressure 6 and your exhale pressure, the pressure that will treat you Obstructive Apnea to 4, your original pressure and you should feel more comfortable.

Your charts will tell us a lot about what is happening.

[idlewire]

Thank you so much for the quick response.  Are you able to feel any of the air that comes out of the vents?  That is my big concern.  I have read that most people can feel a little air coming out of the vents.  I cannot feel any air coming from the vents.

Yes I can feel some air coming out of the vents, mostly when I inhale, but I have a higher starting pressure than you, and it's subtle. At a pressure of 4, it may be difficult to detect.

You can put the mask on with the machine off. Blow. If you feel air coming out of the vents, all is good.

[ccbauer]

Thank you so much for the reply.  I will get a SD card and download OSCAR!  My machine is an Autoset.  Do I still try to manually fix the settings?

[Gideon]

As I said, you should feel better with the setting changes I suggested, there is very little downside.
so Min Pressure = 6, Max pressure = 20
EPR Full time and = 2
These are just IMHO a better set to start with.

Expect to change them after 1 night.

[SarcasticDave94]

Welcome to AB. I've got the same full face mask, the F20. The QuietAir elbow has vents for releasing CO2 upon exhaling. It's going to be fairly quiet and shouldn't be too noticeable in the venting, but a functional vent will still have air being released.

As suggested, try blowing with the mask on but machine off. Observe whether air vents or not. If not, it could be a faulty or stuck valve in the elbow.

Best of success to ya.

[ccbauer]

    I'm sorry, this is probably a stupid question, but I don't know how to make those changes.  My machine is an AutoSet so I didn't think I could change the numbers.  Is that something I have to have the equipment company change?  I have attached a photo of the menu on my machine.

[OpalRose]

You will need to be in the Clinician’s menu to make adjustments.

Press and hold the dial and the Home button for three seconds.
The Home screen is displayed with an unlock icon in the top right corner of the screen.
To exit the Clinical Menu:
Press and hold the dial and the Home button for three seconds.
Select Exit Clinical Menu from the Home screen.

If you haven’t done so yet, order your Clinician’s manual for your machine.
https://www.apneaboard.com/adjust-cpap-p...tup-manual