Help Please - Alternative Needed

[Desperate]

Hello All
i wonder if you can help me please. I’m desperate

i was recently diagnosed with borderline moderate sleep apnea and given a CPAP machine
since that day my life got even worse
i am getting less sleep than ever before and I’m at the stage where I’m in total panic mode and even starting to break down in tears, as the impact of me failing with CPAP is loss of driving license leading to loss of job
I have also been relegated to the naughty room because it disturbs my wife so much (that’s only fair I suppose)
for a 50 year old man to be reduced to this is pretty serious and potentially will have long term effect on my marriage

i have been back to clinic multiple times to get settings changed etc but I’m still left with the problems associated with exhaling against a hurricane in my mouth, dry mouth, claustrophobia and so on and I hate breathing warm air
I have also tried different masks

is there any alternative I can look into apart from this awful machine

im willing to pay whatever is necessary for an alternative solution that I can work with and get my life back on track with a good nights sleep

thank you all in advance for your thoughts and your time

[Kelly @ Intus]

Good Morning,

Thank you for your post.

I am sorry you are struggling with the CPAP equipment.

Can I kindly ask which CPAP machine and mask do you have?

Can you list me the issue you are having, and let me know how many nights you have used the CPAP equipment for.

If you do not want to post this information on here, then please email me at [email protected] and we will do our best to help you with the equipment you have, or if needs be suggest an alternative.

Kelly

[vdhak]

Hi Desperate,
I have put my message on this forum already
about my practise with apnoea.
I am 52 y.o men about 140kg weight.
One time I got big problem with sleeping.
Could not breathe normally through the night.
I have bought CPAP but it dose not help me really.
I have found some position which help me to sleep most of night good.
If you interest contact me on:
[email protected]

[Desperate]

Good Morning,

Thank you for your post.

I am sorry you are struggling with the CPAP equipment.

Can I kindly ask which CPAP machine and mask do you have?

Can you list me the issue you are having, and let me know how many nights you have used the CPAP equipment for.

If you do not want to post this information on here, then please email me at [email protected] and we will do our best to help you with the equipment you have, or if needs be suggest an alternative.

Kelly

Hi
thanks for your reply

im using a ResMed Airsense 10 Autoset
The mask is a full face mask and I also have a mask that covers the mouth and bottom of the nose whereby the hose is connected on the top of my head

i have been using it for nearly 2 months now but only managing 2.5 hours per night on average

its the back pressure on exhale that is the worst and the warm exhaled air bouncing back against your face
They have set it up so that there is exhale relief but it still requires effort to exhale, probably due to the narrow diameter hole in the mask. This diameter doesn’t allow the same volume of air as your moth to be expelled at the same rate

is there any other equipment I could try

thanks

[Kelly @ Intus]

Good Morning,

Thank you for your post.

With regards to your CPAP machine and the exhalation issue, I would suggest contacting ResMed directly to check your settings and see what they advise if changing the exhalation relief did not help you. Here are their contact details - https://osahub.resmed.com/about/contact/

With regards to the mask, there is small vents on the front of the mask/elbow for exhaled air to be expelled.

I can see that you have the Dreamwear full face mask, which sits under your nose. This does have fewer exhalation holes that on a standard full face mask that covers your nose and mouth. Can I ask which full face mask do you have? Does this work better for you?

I would ideally would like to help get the CPAP machine and mask working for you as this is the gold start treatment for Sleep Apnoea.

We do have alternative options, but this are for people in the mild-Moderate sleep apnoea range. Do you know whether your sleep apnoea is mild moderate or severe?

Kelly

[Snorenomore57]

Hi

Having been on CPAP treatment since 2013 I feel your pain


I was started on full face mask, no good

Then they tried me on nose only mask, again no good, (both of these had an exhaust causing my better half to wake up with a gale force wind blowing at her)

Then we tried nasal pillows (ResMedP10).......................brilliant!!

I can honestly say that since converting to nasal pillows I have a good deep sleep every night, and she that must not be disturbed is not awakened by cold air blowing on her

Don't give up, as a HGV driver I know how important compliance for our driving licences is, go back to your provider and ask to try nasal pillows.

All the best

Jim

[Desperate]

Hi Jim
thank you for taking the time to respond and thanks for the feedback
I have had a look online and I think it could possibly be a solution
i havealso looked at the P30 which would suit me better
I Sleep and breathe through my mouth. Would this work for me as i see that the air input is through the nose
Does the cushion to your nose ever become dislodged

i can see that this would also remove my issue of dry mouth and my exhaled air bouncing back on my face because it can’t exhaust quick enough
Im feeling pretty hopeful with this solution so would be prepared to spend the £100 or so to get it sorted

thanks in advance

Paul

[Kelly @ Intus]

Good Morning,

Thank you for your post.

With regards to the mask - If you breathe exclusively through your nose only, then you can use a nasal mask. If you breathe through your nose and your mouth then you would need a full face mask. If you used a nasal mask but breathe through your nose and your mouth then the air pressure going into your nose will come out of your mouth rather than down your throat to keep your airway open. The only way round this would be a nasal mask and a chin strap to hold your mouth close, but this is not suitable for everyone.

If you suffer from a dry mouth when you are using your CPAP machine, then I would suggest using a humidifier as well. A humidifier houses a water chamber which heats water to moisturise and warm the air provided by your machine. They are for those who wake with a dry mouth, sore nasal passages or find the air too cold to breathe. Here is a link to the humidifier - https://www.cpap.co.uk/shop/cpap-humidifiers.html

Kelly

[Desperate]

Thanks Kelly
i already have a humidifier and hate it
im the complete opposite. I prefer cold air as I hate warm air on my face from the humidifier and hate warm air bounce back from when I exhale.
sounds like the nasal pillows won’t work because I’m a mouth breather
Looks like I won’t find a suitable solution and I’m stuck with a full mask

my mask is a F&P Vitera
Are there any equivalents on the market that might be more suitable
Im prepared to pay anything

thanks

[Kelly @ Intus]

Good Morning,

Thank you for your post.

You can change the settings on the humidifier to reduce the temperature of the air sent through to your mask. Have you tried this, and did this help at all?

If you have the F&P Vitera mask currently, what are the main issues you have with the mask, and I will try and help you with the mask you have, and if not, then we can look at alternative mask.

Kelly

[Desperate]

Hi Kelly
The issues are
exhaling into a mask with a volume that can’t exhaust or empty at the same rate that you exhale with. Consequently you get a back pressure and air bouncing back
Also that air bouncing back is warm stale air
This is unpleasant
additionally, this gives you the feeling that you are being smothered
this is the biggest issue
When you are asleep and you are exhaling, as the machine has gone from a pressure of 4 up to 12, you are also fighting against the incoming pressure as well as the issue detailed above.
This is where you get the feeling of suffocation within your sleep and you unknowingly rip the mask off, leading to untreated sleep and results that put you at risk of being reported to DVLA and loosing your license.

Finally, as explained before, warm room air or heated air from a humidifier is terrible
How can I get a machine that gives me cool air

For me, it would be good for the system and mask designers to use them for a while and experience them for themselves
Maybe then we might get products that are a positive experience rather than an oppressive one

is there a mask available that is large enough to take the volume of a lung when being exhaled or where the exhaust design is rated at the same volume and flow rate of a lung being exhaled

Thanks

[Kelly @ Intus]

Good Morning,

Thank you for your post.

The full face masks do have vent holes in the elbows to allow exhales air to be expelled. However if you are fighting against the pressure during the night to exhale, then this may be why you are having this issue. Have you looked at the settings on your machine to see if the have EZEX (exhaled air setting) or flex setting which allows you to reduce the pressure slightly when you exhale. This would allow you to exhale more easily, and allow more exhaled air too be expelled from the mask.

The humidifier when in use will warm the air. Have you tried to disconnect your humidifier and just use the standard tube to your CPAP machine to your mask to see if this gives you a more suitable air temperature?

Do you want to try this and see how you get on?

Kelly

[Desperate]

Hi Kelly
thanks and yes I will try this
I don’t know how to get into the settings on my system. I don’t see any settings beyond sleep report etc
Do you have any instructions that I could use to access the EZEX section

Thanks

[Kelly @ Intus]

Good Morning,

Thank you for your post.

Please can you email us at [email protected] and state which CPAP machine you have and that you want to change the exhalation relief settings on your machine, and we will help you do that.

Kelly

[Desperate]

Hi Kelly

I did as you suggested and the response was that they can’t help me with settings that are set by my care provider
Tgey are only there to assist with machine issues
So, back to square one
Still struggling, only managing an average of 2.5 hours at the moment, AHI average 9.2
Big issue is removing the mask when asleep and waking up in the morning to realise I have missed the night
Im getting close to losing my driving license as a result of this

Starting to get quite anxious

Thanks