Biguglygremlin

I find it very difficult to exhale with the CPAP mask on, despite constant usage of antihistamines and nasal sprays.

I can inhale easily, at least for the first few minutes while I am still tensed and awake, but it is almost impossible to exhale, so I lie there, gasping for breath through my mouth, like a stranded goldfish.

I think the inability to exhale is primarily caused by the pressure of the mask on the nose, encouraging the nostrils to fold in and close, despite having the mask as loose as possible. The incoming pressure, which should be part of the solution, initially seems to just compound the problem and dissipate in leaks.

There are hundreds of potential issues with the CPAP approach to APNEA yet there is almost no available support or follow up.

I saw a sleep specialist when I was first assessed as having APNEA, and again a few weeks later when I was issued with a CPAP, but I have not seen anyone in the ten years since then.

Empirical evidence is a precarious basis for conclusions, but, in the world that I experience and observe, the frequency and severity of RBD events, as with normal dream events, is linked to, and triggered by, thinking processes that are strongly influenced by stress.

My anchor through all this chaos has been time spent with family, and especially grandchildren.

I have spent much of the past few decades, interstate, struggling with seemingly insurmountable tasks, pushing myself to breaking point, then returning to my family.

RBD events have fluctuated widely through those times and there seem to be consistent connections between the prevailing circumstances and RBD events.

Howdy ISP

Seems like Sierra has gone bush or something.

Unfortunately I can't be any help with the technical stuff.

My cheap and nasty Resmed 10 or 11 started making whining noises last night and I can't even fix that.

I'm thinking I should buy a better brand and toss this thing where it belongs.

Hang in there ISP there are lots of people out there who do have answers.

I was browsing through my Skype conversations from a couple of months ago, when I was on my own, trying to prevent a series of burglaries, and I found this:

I'm cold and lost and cranky. I'm out of coffee and my toenails are hurting. Last night I kept waking myself to check on the cameras but it got harder to wake up and I got more and more confused until I couldn't understand what I was looking at then I panicked and forced myself awake only to realise that the CPAP had shut down and I was wearing the mask with the soft air tubes that suck shut when they are not inflated. I discovered that a blanket had fallen over the power supply and it was too hot to touch. It got so hot that the power lead plug going to the CPAP had gone all soft and floppy and fallen out."

It's just another example of obscure variables and combinations of factors that would be hard to anticipate and protect against with the current negligible safety protocols.

I wouldn't even dream of saying 'I told you so' Sierra but time and unforseen occurrence are a sneaky team to beat. There are just too many things that can go wrong. The bottom filter on my mask only has to have a bit of viscous fluid to stop it completely.

Cleaning and replacing items is essential but there need to be more assured safety margins and the designs should be smarter and safer with less dependence on competence and reflexes.

I like to hijack a thread from time to time, and I know this one was aimed in the opposite direction, but it touches on an area that I have been thinking about for a while now.

Anxiety and stress are basic ingredients of life, and they enable us to survive and function as a society, but we have made our world so complicated that doubts and uncertainty often amplify the anxiety.

I've seen comments within this forum to the effect that the only way to compel people to comply with the sleep industry is by using fear, and that seems to be a very effective strategy.

Fear of damaging or losing your relationship because of snoring.

Fear of personal failure through confusion and fatigue.

Fear of losing your license because of noncompliance.

Fear of losing your job because of incompetence.

Fear of losing your health benefits through noncompliance.

Fear of dying from a whole list of nasty diseases because you aren't using a CPAP.

Fear is the basis of anxiety and essentially the entire sleep industry aims to instill fear and cultivate anxiety in order to control (Oops I meant help) as many people as possible, so it's hardly surprising that there seems to be a connection between anxiety and CPAP users.

People participate in this forum for a variety of reasons, some, like myself, are here because they like twisting words and logic, some, because they are driven to solve puzzles and find answers, but many are here looking for assurances to help them manage their anxieties.

Anxiety and stress are basic ingredients of life, in the right proportions they are essential to everything we do.

I like to blame my CPAP for everything Danl, and it could be that by keeping the airways open, and effectively preventing the normal cough reflex, that CPAP facilitates mucus making it's way deeper into the lungs, but as much as I hate to admit it, I tend to agree with Sierra that the CPAP, once you get it started, generally helps with congestion, perhaps by drying out the airways and probably the lungs to some extent and preventing the lungs from gradually shutting down. Having said that I have developed pneumonia a few times while using CPAP. I guess some things are inevitable with or without CPAP.

It's a brilliant design Sierra, if they made it with thicker or harder silicone or with an internal membrane to act like a spring and hold it open. That may well have been their original design but the product that found it's way to the shelves is so soft and comfortable that it's dangerous.

I hate spending money on CPAP gear PutSleepApneatoBed, and I hadn't planned to be down here long enough for it to matter but I do have some AirFit N20 Nasal CPAP masks in another state and they seem to be more practical.

I had forgotten that the auto start and auto stop were optional. I'll disable those right away then I'll see if it's worth ordering another mask for down here.

It's definitely not in auto mode and yes it probably just putters quietly keeping the hose at 13 but none of the air gets down to the nose piece until I loosen the adjustments to the point where they no longer hold the mask to the nose.

I checked both vents last night. The lower one has no detectable airflow. The top one has about as much as you would expect from gently blowing through a straw.

Because of the length of the tubes back to the main vent and the impaired airflow the air must be rebreathed multiple times before it finally escapes.

Another issue with this Resmed 10 is that despite always checking that it shuts down when I remove the mask and being careful not to go near the machine or hose and mask as I leave the room I have come back to it many hours later to find the machine running and the humidifier dry and hot. It somehow starts itself and keeps running without any variation in feedback. Just now was the third time in the past few weeks.

I don't know how it starts, maybe the floppy silicone mask kinks or collapses on itself over time and triggers the machine but I think the reason it keeps going is because the mask, even without a wearer, provides so much backpressure that it confuses the machine.

The point is that there are too many variables and sometimes they conspire to form their own version of reality.

In my world it's rarely the obvious that gets you. It's the unexpected.

I understand the argument that you use regarding vents Sierra and all of the masks I have used over the years have been survivable under normal cirumstances, except the one I am using currently. (Dreamwear Nasal)

I believe without a doubt that given the right circumstances it could be fatal. Yes it has 2 vents, primarily because in order to reduce complaints about noise and draft the vent at the nose is merely a token and when it's been all drooled over it is pretty much useless so that leaves an effective working vent on top of the head. Theoretically that should be enough to prevent asphyxiation but only if you can suck the air from that vent down through the air channels to the nostrils. Therin lies the issue.

If the mask is fitted enough to stay on, those air channels are already flattened, and the moment you try to suck air down with no pressure from the CPAP they suck closed. Still you reckon the user will wake or open their mouth or brush the mask off. I believe that is a dangerous assumption. It may work for you but there are times when I know it would not work for me. Times when I am just too sick and too unaware, too zoned out, times when I would be distressed and confused and most likely black out before I figured out what to do about it. At the moment when the machine shuts off or when the power fails I eventually wake up, totally distressed with a colossal headache, but I know that if I was really sick that would not be the case.

I'm stuck with the Resmed 10 at the moment and I consider it to be the least dependable machine I have. Currently it senses the resistance of those flattened hoses and just quietly slows down and, because they respond by further resisting the airflow, the CPAP simply stops blowing. It just sits there humming away waiting for an opportunity to start pumping more air. In the meantime I am loosening the mask to facilitate the useless machine, but in the process it now leaks air all over my face and ceases to work as a nasal pillow mask. The machine is happily pumping away at full bore and I am facing a hurricane but none of it getting where it should. All part of the fun right?