quote:

Originally posted by irreverent:
How do you do a home sleep study? I spect my dad his this issue, but he’d never go in for an overnight..

Goto lofta.com, they have been terrific to work with and can get you an in home sleep study and prescription for CPAP (and fill the order). This is where my prescription is from. $189 for the in home sleep study.

https://lofta.com/products/sleep-apnea-test

I started using a CPAP one month ago today so I guess I'm still in the getting used to it phase. I have the ResMed AirSence11 machine and the Redmed AirFit F20 mask.

I like the machine as it's easy to use and set your own preferences such as humidity level, temp, etc. My machine is programmed for "ramp up" which is nice (lower pressure for some time before it increases allowing time to fall asleep). It also connects to an APP which tells me how well I did overnight with leaks, time used, number of "events", etc.

The hose is annoying. I'm a side sleeper too and the hose is fine when facing the nightstand where the machine sits but roll away from it and the hose is either tucked under my arm or runs across my shoulder - either is annoying.

The mask is a full face mask. Like others dues to a deviated septum I breath more through my mouth than nose. I could probably get away with a nose mask or nasal pillow but I'm not fond of the idea of my mouth being strapped closed. The size of the mask doesn't bother me, and being a former Harrier driver I'm used to the feel of a mask on my face for extended periods of time (I wish the mask would cover the chin vs. resting on the chin as I think it would be more comfortable and provide a better seal - it worked in the jets.)

The supply calls are a PITA. 2 weeks into the machine and they're calling to send me more supplies (filters, new mask cushion, etc). It's a pain and maybe this whole ordeal will motivate me to get off my fat ass and lose some weight so that maybe I won't have to wear this stupid thing.

It'd be more entertaining if the mask looked like that newly hatched monster from Alien. Or maybe a Darth Vader version.

quote:

Originally posted by mojojojo:


The hose is annoying. I'm a side sleeper too and the hose is fine when facing the nightstand where the machine sits but roll away from it and the hose is either tucked under my arm or runs across my shoulder - either is annoying.

I have my hose going from CPAP machine on nightstand over and down behind my pillow and tucked between headboard and mattress in a "low loop" so any rainout/condensation is trapped and then it goes back up and comes from behind me between pillow and headboard and it works well as I side sleep about 50% of the time. I too found having it going across me wasn't working and I ended up pulling the whole thing off the nightstand once.

quote:

The supply calls are a PITA. 2 weeks into the machine and they're calling to send me more supplies (filters, new mask cushion, etc). It's a pain and maybe this whole ordeal will motivate me to get off my fat ass and lose some weight so that maybe I won't have to wear this stupid thing.

I'm convinced the whole thing is one giant moneymaking racket. They kept acting like I needed new hoses and water chambers and all that like they go "bad" after a few months. I ditched all that BS and just order my supplies out of pocket now on my HSA card WHEN I NEED THEM, from Amazon and CPAP.com and not having to deal with all the insurance/medical supplier silliness is wonderful.

quote:

Personally for me, the method they tested you with was misused and misdiagnosed me, and I spent 2 years with the wrong therapy. I got hooked up with a real Sleep Doc and went through 1 night at a Sleep Lab, many of all kinds of test leads on me, and had my very 1st wonderful sleep that night in the sleep lab.

Don’t try to cut corners or save money, talk to a Sleep Doc or 2 for diagnosis and therapy, and try to stay away from the big national equipment providers, find a couple local providers, you’ll get much better and quicker response for your needs.

^^^^^^^^^^^
Of course. A pulmonologist knows about this stuff. Home studies are a joke. Insurance compnanies love them because it saves them money.
The settings on the machine are important. Some people need an APAP others a BIPAP. Do it yourself medicine with help from Youtube is what you get for 189 dollars.

Glad to hear you are getting help. My wife had sleep apnea really bad and I remember listening/watching her breath and noted she had some serious gaps in the rpm. I need to get tested myself, as I get older, find myself at times having sleep apnea.

quote:

Originally posted by BurtonRW:

quote:

Originally posted by rtquig:

quote:

Originally posted by k5blazer:
Did a sleep study last Monday. Results came back as obstructive sleep apnea. Meet with the Dr this coming Monday. How does this work with a beard?

In the summer I keep my beard short and there are no problems. In winter I wear it longer and I have problems getting a good seal.

Hmmm… I hadn’t considered the beard. Wonder if I could get away with some Vaseline like I use with my dive mask or trumpet…?

-Rob

If your pressure is low enough, I suggest a nasal pillow instead of a mask. I've had a beard or goatee about 90% of the past 12 years and used a nasal pillow the entire time.

Here is my current one (ResMed AirFit™ P10) and it's the best yet.

Just experiment with a few masks until you find one that you can sleep with comfortably. Give each mask several days before deciding against it, wearing a mask once or twice doesn't give you enough time to adjust to sleeping with it.

I tried cpap (resmed) for about 6 months and tried just about every mask available before I gave up.
My Dr eventually recommended a dental fitted mouthpiece that pulls my jaw forward and opens the airway. Works better for me but I understand it doesn't work for everyone.
The other thing that has helped is weight loss. I'm 5ft 10 and tend to fluctuate between 190 and 205lbs. When I'm on the higher end of the range, I notice my snoring is worse and I wake up more often.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
If you are a mouth breather the nose only will NOT work for you unless you are willing to wear a chin strap to keep your mouth closed.

I have had different experience with both Resmed & Phillips nasal pillow masks.

I've had Resmed P10 from beginning, I cannot breath through my mouth normally even at ramp-up pressures. I can barely talk. My mom swore up & down she couldn't use pillows until she tried my spare machine, now guess what she has? I convinced a friend to go pillows from the beginning & a mask as plan B even though he swore (and I concur) that he is a mouth breather.
Moral of the story is to try something & if it fails, then try something else ('practice' medicine )

The home test is definitely a bullshit, checklist box-filling test. Just like the 3 vague questions to qualify for referral to specialist/home test.... The sensor fell off less than 2hrs after I laid down, so probably 1.5hr of sleep, max. I called Dr to see if I should return it or go another night -I had to wait a month for the equipment to be available & they needed it to go to someone else. "just bring it in & we'll check'. 2 minutes after handing it to them 'oh yeah, we have enough data'.
Now they probably have to quarantine the equipment for 2 weeks after every test, safety first & all

That said, I sleep better and don't snore.

quote:

Originally posted by calugo:
Just experiment with a few masks until you find one that you can sleep with comfortably. Give each mask several days before deciding against it, wearing a mask once or twice doesn't give you enough time to adjust to sleeping with it.

It took me months before I could wear it all night & close to a year before I had 'no issues' sleeping. I fought it at first, I would get out of sync with the machine and get where I was panic breathing. Rip mask off, reset & repeat.
Finally, I would just get up & go sit on the couch until I was tired enough to fall asleep. Some nights took hours & a few tries. Eventually, I was tired enough to get to sleep with it right away & the process started to go better.
Now, it's a habit - I put the mask on & my body knows to turn off.

quote:

I'm convinced the whole thing is one giant moneymaking racket. They kept acting like I needed new hoses and water chambers and all that like they go "bad" after a few months. I ditched all that BS and just order my supplies out of pocket now on my HSA card WHEN I NEED THEM, from Amazon and CPAP.com and not having to deal with all the insurance/medical supplier silliness is wonderfu

6^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
There certainly has been substantial fraud of DME{durable medical equipment} from motorized scooters to all kinds of assistive devices. All of this has resulted in people paying out of pocket which insurance companies love or Doctors having to write letters indicating the need for assistive devices. Guess who wins?

quote:

Originally posted by calugo:
Just experiment with a few masks until you find one that you can sleep with comfortably. Give each mask several days before deciding against it, wearing a mask once or twice doesn't give you enough time to adjust to sleeping with it.

Not sure about the rest of the country, maybe the same, but around here all the equipment providers give you 30 days to try out a mask/nasal pillow system, and you can turn them back in within the 30 days and try a different one. To me, this is one of the better parts of using a local equipment provider, instead of the national firms. Before the Covid, the local guys would have you come in and bring out several different styles, and they'd look at and examine how they fit your particular profile. I like this a lot. During the covid-silliness, they cut back person to person contact, but that is going away now and getting back to pre-covid sanity.

Ask around and verify you can get the 30 day mask guarantees/swap out/30 day serice.
.

If anyone wants a good source of out-of-pocket supplies and even entire mask systems and machines (I use an HSA and avoid all the insurance rigamarole and games), this site is really good compared to most out there. If you upload your prescription, you can order everything direct from them:

www.cpap.com

Finally got my equipment from Kaiser (which sucks donkey balls) through Apria (which I have no trouble with so far).

ResMed AirSense 11 with an AirFit F30i.

Easy enough to set up, and as my fellow CPAP users know, the AirSense machines "score" you after each night's sleep.

First night - I had no trouble sleeping with the CPAP whatsoever. I knew there was a little leakage around the mask and getting the magnetic catches to sit right took a couple of tries, but the hose coming out of the top of the head really made shifting from my back to my side easy. Never got in the way. Ignoring the portion of the score that requires 7 hours of sleep, I took the biggest "hit" from my mask seal, which was apparently poor - leaking more than 40L! On the other hand, I only had 2.1 "events" per hour measured, so it was working anyway.

Second night was the same - no problems sleeping with the CPAP, and I tightened some straps, which reduced my leaking to around 20L and improved my score (although the overall score dropped because I got an hour less sleep).

Last night (#3) was my best yet. Tightened up the remaining straps and other than the total sleep time, got a perfect score. Down to 1.4 events per hour.

MOST IMPORTANTLY - since night #1, Mrs.BurtonRW has not been woken up by my snoring and neither of us has spent the night on the couch as a result.

Being a cardiac nurse, she's happy for my heart, which undoubtedly has suffered the consequences of my neglecting to deal with this for so long, but I'm also certain she's glad to be able to sleep through the night.

I really don't get why so many folks have such a problem with this.

Now... to pick the best ozone-type sanitation device. Any experience with those?

-Rob

quote:

Originally posted by BurtonRW:

Now... to pick the best ozone-type sanitation device. Any experience with those?

-Rob

Hey glad to hear it's working well with you. That's awesome.

I can't really answer the ozone type sanitizers, my respiratory therapist does not encourage them, says I could get one if I wanted but she just won't outright recommend them.

What she has me do is this: Every morning I unplug the air hose from the machine and hang it from a hook above my closet door My hose is long enough that I just hang it by the middle of the hose. This allows it to dry out. I also remove the water chamber, dump out the water, and I place it on a clean towel to dry out. This prevents any mold or mildew issues. Works great.

I replace my nasal pillows once a month. Toss out the old one. If you have a mask I think you can do the same, depending on what is recommended to you.

My respiratory therapist recommends weekly cleaning. I have a very large Pyrex mixing bowl. Once a week I fill it with very warm water and I add enough plain regular vinegar at a 80% water, 20% vinegar ratio, plus just a tiny bit of Dawn. I place the water chamber in this along with the head gear. I let it soak for awhile, then I rinse it well with warm water, then I hang it up to dry. This sanitizes everything very nicely.

I use a nasal pillow headgear system, works great for me. I do have a mask, but I rarely use it, I only use it when I have severe nasal congestion. I clean it the same way as the nasal pillows.

Best wishes to you.
.

quote:

Originally posted by BurtonRW:

Now... to pick the best ozone-type sanitation device. Any experience with those?

-Rob

My advice: DON'T DO THAT

They make it seem like you have to scrub this whole thing every day but I'm finding that it's really not necessary. I rotate hoses to allow them to dry and hang them up to facilitate that. As far as cleaning, you can clean the cushion with soap and water as needed but really just wipe it daily with a mask wipe which is like a baby wipe with sanitizer in it. Empty out and clean the water tank periodically.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:

quote:

Originally posted by BurtonRW:

Now... to pick the best ozone-type sanitation device. Any experience with those?

-Rob

My advice: DON'T DO THAT

They make it seem like you have to scrub this whole thing every day but I'm finding that it's really not necessary. I rotate hoses to allow them to dry and hang them up to facilitate that. As far as cleaning, you can clean the cushion with soap and water as needed but really just wipe it daily with a mask wipe which is like a baby wipe with sanitizer in it. Empty out and clean the water tank periodically.

Instructions say to empty and dry the tank daily (no problem) and wash the mask, hose, and tank weekly. Not a huge deal, but if I can just dump it in a box, why not? Not particularly expensive and ozone will get to places in the hose I can't exactly wash.

-Rob

Many folks find the lingering ozone smell a negative, and some find erosion of seals and bits with ozone treatment.

As PASig said, the recommended cleaning routine would have me back in the snoring-not-breathing camp if I tried to adhere to them.

If you're using distilled water, as you should, there is nothing growing in that water tank. I top mine off daily and wash it probably once every month. Wash hose same time.

Every couple days will wipe the mask and seal with wipes specific to this but any wipe would probably work.

Pull the headgear and wash it most every time I'm cleaning tank/hose. Takes a bit to dry.

Pro tip - buy spare mask assembly, hose and tank to leave in bag for travel, and have available to use while primary is drying.

Also, don't forget to fill the water tank and run it dry. It is MOST unpleasant. You will do it at least once, but that will remind you of this recommendation, and you'll get in habit of filling in morning instead of counting on remembering in evening.

I can't imagine wearing a mask over my face while trying to sleep.

Years ago I snored, profoundly, nearly all the time, according to my wife. My wife also reported I'd occasionally stop breathing entirely.

In 2005 I began a regular exercise regimen (weight training and cardio) and, along with diet improvements, got my weight down from ±230 lbs. to 195 lbs. or less.

Since then, my wife reports, the only time I snore at all is when I've been drinking. She doesn't recall noticing I've stopped breathing, at all, since getting more fit.

This thread got me curious. Sure enough: Exercise can relieve sleep apnea:

The role of physical exercise in obstructive sleep apnea

Exercise Improves Sleep and Nighttime Breathing Troubles

Excerpt from the latter article:

quote:

For adults with sleep apnea, a condition that stresses the heart and repeatedly interrupts sleep when breathing briefly slows or stops, an exercise program that combined brisk walking and weight training cut the severity of their disorder by 25% -- as much as some kinds of surgery.

(Emphasis added)

This leads me to wonder: How many of you who've joined the "CPAP club" first tried exercise?

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
This leads me to wonder: How many of you who've joined the "CPAP club" first tried exercise?

I don't think any of us are under the illusion that the vast majority of obstructive sleep apnea cases are due to excess weight.

Problem is, while losing weight is an obvious goal, you're doing significant harm to your cardiovascular system over time by letting the OSA go untreated.

I agree - anyone using CPAP without trying to lose weight (assuming that's an issue) is merely putting a bandaid on the problem.

Personally, I'd like to lose 100 lbs. and don't plan on being on CPAP for life.

-Rob