Last Night I gave up

[OldCrow]

DON'T give up!

I started this thread after almost despairing with leaks, crushed nose, even more disturbed sleep and feeling CPAP was worse than the apnea. Well, I had a fitting session at the hospital and discovered the fine line between adjusting too tight and not tight enough, what was the best position for sleeping in and so forth. It took me about six to eight weeks before I stopped looking at the equipment as some sort of cold-war interrogation device and began to get used to it. It's still strange and the dry mouth thing and occasional leaks still wake me eventually but four to five hours of deep unconsciousness with Miss Silicon-lips is a whole lot better than eight hours of thrashing, snoring, choking and shallow breathing. I am beginning to feel the benefit now and the blowing, hissing and silicon kiss I'm not bothered by at all now. My hospital doesn't do humidifying with their kit so I'd welcome any suggestions re the dry mouth without it but....I'd say, stick with it. I really did not think at times I was going to be able to go on with CPAP but now it's ok and doing me some good. If you feel you hate it at the moment, give it time and don't expect instant results or instant comfort but it's amazing what you can get used to.

[Tigers Fan]

Humidifiers - and a sudden thought last night

Hi OldCrow and all leak sufferers

If you really, really can't blag a humidifier out of your NHS clinic, the private route need not be too expensive - well, depending on your budget. There are stand-alone heated humidifiers for ease of fitting. Intus sell them. If you buy from the States, don't forget to buy a unit with the right voltage - 240V ac.

I was lying there thinking about why so many people have such trouble with mask leaks and it suddenly occured to me that the problem just might be to do with the hose tugging the mask out of place as you twist, turn, wriggle or whatever you get up to in your sleep.

I have a rig that has the hose dangling vertically down to the mask so that the hose can never get caught up with me or the duvet - and I only get mask leaks if I deliberately contort my face to cause them.

A Hose Lift would help alleviate the problem, as would stringing the hose over your bedhead. A hook in the wall - or convenient place - with an elasticated hair band (for tying a pony-tail back) holding your hose also works.

Preventing the hose from dragging at the mask has to help with a leakage problem.

TF

[davejwhite]

Two new accessories and aids ...

Improvisation, improvisation, improvisation ...

Aid 1. I hook the hose over the bed headboard, and it definitely does take the strain off the mask. Worked out if I put a folded towel under it, it doesn't slip so much and saves the edge of the headboard from getting rubbed and worn.

Aid 2. We had one of those book club packages at work and along with the books, there was this faiirly small sized memory foam shaped pillow - with the bulge on the edge to fit into your neck. 'Looks like that could be a mask support', thought I. Works a treat. I can now find a position where the pillow doesn't push against the mask so much.

Share the joy, says me!

[OldCrow]

Leaks

Not nearly so bad since I discovered that you really don't need to have it strapped too tight and that it needs to float but my main problem would seem to be that whatever "standard nose" they designed it with - I don't have that one - and it's around the bridge and eyes that I get leaks. Still it is bearable and yes, I agree fully about the dangling hose thing - as with all of this kit, you have to experiment to find the optimum, which can take a while. I still haven't had a full night undisturbed and wake with my mouth like the the Sahara but I'm far more optimistic and no longer hate the whole experience as I used to. I'm quite used to my kit and it's idiosyncrasies now and eventually the little niggles will recede or I'll find a solution. To all having problems - keep at it; takes a while but worth it.

[whodatdave]

OldCrow, I had your exact issues....dry mouth, leaks, etc. I was a mouth breather and hated the dry mouth with a passion but thought I was going to have to deal with it for life! WRONG...I recently bought a resmed swift fx nasal pillows...OH MY what a difference. The trick his you must wear a chin strap in order to keep your mouth closed during the night. The pillows fit easily into your nostrils, no mask, no silicon cushion, no hissing, no leaks and most of all no dry mouth!!!! The chin strap doesnt keep you from opening your mouth but it applys just enough pressure to keep your jaw from dropping when you are totally relaxed. I look forward to bed time now! I hope this helps and good luck to you!

[Grumpy]

Resmed Mirage Liberty

Solved a similar problem for me.

I have large cheek bones and the F-P Forma mask I had to start with basically pivoted on top of them resulting in a leak at one end or the other. I could stop this by pulling the straps tighter but this was too painful for long-term use.

I tried the Swift_FX nasal pillows and they were ok until the hay-fever season started in earnest; and my mouth breathing needs became more apparent.

[OldCrow]

Leaks and the fit

Well, no-one is more mis-shapen nasally than I - we have the family inheritance of both a bump and a dip - so I had all sorts of leak problems originally - oh and there's the beard, that I don't want to sacrifice! With some help from the hospital I eventually found that "too tight" was the problem for me. My Quattro is designed to float on her silicon lips and there is a "just right" setting that takes time to find. Surprisingly, it's quite loose, compared to how I used to have it and though I thing some leakage is par for the course, it's ok now.