Newbie that is struggling

[Jason]

Hi all,
I have a Phillips Dreamstation with humidifier, sock over the hose to help with my copd, and full facemask. all issued by the hospital. I have been using this for a couple of months now. I have tried the nasal pillow and the half face mask which just covers the mouth and under the nose., couldn't use them as the air dried the inside of my nose too much causing pain. So switched to a full face mask. I have been using the cpap whilst watching tv to get used to it. When I turn the machine off and take the mask off, I feel tired and sleepy. But once the mask and machine is on and I am wide awake and takes me ages to get to the point of just about to doze when I feel myself stop breathing and bang wide awake again just thinking and concentrating on the mask. Does anyone have any suggestions that I could try to get passed this or is the hospital right and I will just have to grin and bare it? It's got to the point of using the machine and having no sleep or not using the machine and sleeping. Thank you in advance for any help and advice you can give me.

[Kelly @ Intus]

Good Morning,

Thank you for your email.

Do you know if your CPAP machine is an automatic or fixed pressure (Pro) machine. It will say on the bottom of the machine what it is. Do you know what the settings are on your machine and whether you have a ramp period set up on your machine?

With regards to masks, if you breathe through your nose only, then you need a nasal mask, and if you breathe through your nose and your mouth then you would need a full face mask.

Please check the humidifier settings on your machine with the instruction booklet that came with the machine, as you can change the humidifier settings to suit your requirements, plus this should reduce the dry mouth or nasal passage when using this equipment.

Have you tried talking to the doctor / hospital / clinic that gave you the CPAP therapy equipment, to see if they can help you at all?

Kelly

[Jason]

Hi Kelly,
Thank you for your reply. Yes it is automatic, Pressure is 6.0cm, ramp is 4.0, ramp time is 0.05. I do need a full face mask which is what I have got. My machine was set on 4.5cm pressure to begin with which was for 7 days trial so that the machine would the automatically give me the correct prescription of what I need. But I was struggling to breath with that low pressure, hence why the pressure is now on 6. Yes I have spoken to the hospital about this and as I said in my post, their attitude is just get on with it! Is it just a case of that, or is there something I can do that will help me fall asleep when using the cpap rather than it just making me wide awake?

[Kelly @ Intus]

Good Morning,

Thank you for your email.

As you have an auto CPAP machine, this should be giving you the required pressure as and when you need it when you are asleep.

So most auto CPAP machines are set on a lower pressure of 4.0cmh20, and an upper pressure of 20.0cmh20, Rampt 20 minutes. If you pop your mask on and turn the machine on, the it will start at 4.0cmh20 and stay there until you are asleep. Once asleep the pressure will increase and decrease within the pressure range to give you the pressure you require as and when you need it. You should not be wide awake and take ages to get to the point of just about to doze when you feel yourself stop breathing and bang wide awake again just thinking and concentrating on the mask. Do you try to just get into bed and try to go to sleep without thinking about the machine, as it does all the work for you.

Can I ask if your machine has bluetooth enabled and whether you have created an account on dreammapper.com website or app and uploaded the data from your SD card to see how your CPAP therapy is going. If you want to do this and email us a summary report to [email protected], then we would be happy to review your data.

Kelly

[Jason]

Hi Kelly,

Thank you for your reply. The hospital put the start pressure up to 6 due to the fact that at 4 I was fighting for breath and again, when I am about to fall asleep, that dozing stage, I stopped breathing and wide awake again. I have tried having the mask on an hour before trying to go to sleep. I have also tried putting the mask on and trying to go to sleep straight away. All I think about when I try to go to sleep is to clear my mind, It's when I start drifting off that my breathing then stops and I am wide awake to concentrate on breathing. At the moment I am only managing anywhere from 30 mins on a bad night to a couple f hours on a good night. Yes all connected up to bluetooth and dreammapper. I will get a summery report and send to you, Though I have told all this to the hospital and the reply I got was just to get on with it and be hard on myself. That it will just take time. But cannot go without any sleep at all.

Thank you Kelly

Jason

[Kelly @ Intus]

Hi Jason,

Thank you for your post.

I would say there is always an adjustment period to getting used to using this equipment, however perseverance is key.

I am happy to look at your CPAP data to see if there is anything that we can suggest to help you.

Kelly