Brand new to BIPAP with questions.

OK. First post. So I'm a vet and the V.A. is taking great care of me. I had my sleep study and had "way over" 100+ apnea events per hour according to the sleep tech. In fact he woke me up and put a CPAP on me and said nobody dies on my shift. LOL...

I'm only three days in with BIPAP and I love the machine they gave me. My prescription is 20/10. I've been getting 9 hours of restful sleep and only 3.7 events per hour except for last night. I obviously didn't lock the water tank in completely and it blew out just before or very shortly after I fell asleep as no results were recorded before I woke up at 3:00am wondering why there was no pressure. I had been breathing my same air for 5 hours! The machine had shut down and said something about air leak or.... I was half asleep and don't remember exactly what it said. I pushed the tank in fully and all was good again. I only got 4 more recorded hours after that..

Next issue I have is when I wake up and take off my mask I have red marks down the side of my nose and huge bags under my eyes. My face doesn't look or feel right all day long. I keep loosening the mask to the point of leakage then tighten only until leakage stops.

Following V.A. tech recommendations the first thing I do when I wake up is use a baby wipe to clean my mask. I then prepare a mixture of warm distilled water and cleaning vinegar and soak the hose for at least an hour. I designed and 3D printed plugs for the hose and they work great.

I wonder if I'm maybe allergic to the mask? I have zero problems sleeping with the machine or mask except for the face problems. I'm ugly enough as it is. I don't need a machine adding to it..... In fact I look forward to going to bed and using the BIPAP now.

Joe

I take it from how you describe the water reservoir issue that you have a ResMed machine. I find the tank system on them very convenient, but you do have to be careful to fully insert the tank. I have never had it come out, but if it is not firmly in it can click each time you breathe in and out.

Most people are not allergic to silicone, but I guess that is possible. I only clean my mask once every 2 weeks or so, and use Dawn dishwashing soap and vinegar. Perhaps you may want to cut back on the cleaning frequency and make sure you rinse the mask thoroughly when you do clean it.

Not sure what type of mask you use, but with a full face mask some use a liner under the mask. I have no personal experience but it is claimed to help seal the mask and prevent irritation. Some make their own liner with old t-shirt material. You can buy them under the brand name of Remzzz. If you have a nasal mask you may have to make your own.

There are masks that use memory foam for a seal instead of silicone. I see fairly mixed reviews on them, and durability may be an issue.