Biguglygremlin

Hi renrenbri

I doubt that I can add much beyond what was discussed prior.

Melatonin did help me eventually and I think the concept of using every available means to be more awake during the day might be helpful at reducing movements and treating insomnia.

I haven't tried any of the newer range of memory foam topped mattresses. It's possible that they might be more effective at absorbing vibrations or movements. Perhaps you could try out some at your local bedding outlets.

Hopefully others can offer more useful suggestions.

Previous Discussion

I saw a graph that seemed to indicate that the virus across large sections of the globe was all traced back to someone in Seattle.

Anyway surely the hair issue is way more important, unless you can afford a larger helmet, so I have found another graph that shows the true magnitude of the impact of this terrible virus!

DIY Haircuts!

Hi sappire726

For me everything to do with CPAP is a matter of resignation and endurance, even after many years, but there are a few things that might make it slightly more survivable.

Just some practical things like not drinking too much fluid of an evening and experimenting with positions as you have done, as well as using bedding to reduce draughts and noise.

I find that some form of relaxation prior to bed helps and I also use Melatonin to enhance my chances of getting some sleep.

Others will venture more into the technical areas but I would suggest that you have someone reduce the machine's function or settings to not much more than the actual pressure that you need so that you can wear the mask more loosely in an effort to be comfortable, without having the machine amplify every little leak.

Some people (myself included) prefer to use the machine with the ramp function disabled.

None of these suggestions will fix anything but sometimes making a few adjustments of our own is enough to give us a sense of ownership or control.

I have a Fisher and Paykel machine and it works well for what I want it to do.

My first Remed machine turned itself off a few times during the night. It was just one of a number of idiosyncrasies that eventually led to that machine being casually discarded with no follow up and no accountability. Resmed Problems

For expensive machines that are essentially medical life support devices the seeming lack of safety standards and regulations is really puzzling.

Here's a new chart for you Sierra, featuring all the truly important stuff! :)

Critical Data Related to COVID-19

Hi soconfused

I can certainly relate to the dreams and the endless fatigue

It must be terrible for you and made worse still by uncertainty and the unknown.

I don't know if I can really offer any useful advice.

I have been dealing with violent scary dreams all of my life but they were not that bad when I was your age.

Did you suffer some trauma or injury five years ago? You don’t need to tell us but you might need to consider the possible connections.

When I was younger I was on medication that suppressed the dreams and the violent reactions but I learned to anticipate them and suppress them without medication as I got into my teen years. The Longest Sentence

I am over 60 now and in the past decade my dreams have deteriorated significantly and made my life a living hell.

The reason I am telling my story is that I ignored it for a long time but eventually had to go looking for answers because it was destroying my life.

It turns out that I have REM Sleep Behaviour Disorder which involves bad dreams and shouting and actions during sleep. RBD. (Read the comment towards the end of that link)

None of that really helps you but I have been dealing with this for a long time now and have dabbled with almost everything I have access to in an effort to find solutions.

None of the prescription medications I have tried have really helped and most of them made things a lot worse.

Some over the counter medications were useful though, especially Melatonin and occasionally Restavit .

Unwinding and reading before bed can also be helpful for most people.

Alcohol can help me get to sleep but not for long enough to be really worth the consequences or cost although I do find that the occasional nightcap is comforting.

I spend a lot of time during most nights waiting for bad dreams to dissipate before I can go to sleep again without slipping straight back into the same nightmare. I rarely get more than 3 or 4 hours at a time.

I think it would be beneficial for you, in many ways, to seek professional help because where you are now is just as life threatening as any other illness or disease.

You cannot have a happy healthy life if you are not getting enough quality sleep.

It might be possible to get help from online, phone or some other kind of video consultations.

Counting the original mask and hose I have had 2 heated hoses, 3 masks and 2 pillow inserts in 6 years.

So I guess that makes an average of every two years.

As with Sierra I have to buy my gear and I do resent spending money on something that I really abhor.

It’s been some time since I looked at anything to do with Inspire and at that time from my vague recollections it was prohibitively expensive and still relatively new and presumably somewhat experimental.

If you have current information it might be useful to this forum.

Others in the forum might be able to offer useful advice and personal experiences when it comes to masks and other CPAP gear.

Hi SoTired,

I really don’t know what to say.

You raise so many issues and questions that have impacted on many of us. Courage

Others will probably ask you which machine you have and what settings you have been using and which masks you hated the most and which one was the least repellant and so on.

I would raise questions in an entirely different direction not just for you but for the forum in general.

Is there some form of counselling or other help that could provide support and answers in dealing with the psychological issues associated with CPAP usage?

I had thought that oximeters were essentially toys that gave you a reading that should normally be obvious at a glance before it was even applied, but there is the issue that many elderly are barely with-it and some have problems communicating even when there is diligent care available, which is not always the case.

It seems that I was also wrong in a more general sense, because apparently breathing difficulties and oxygen levels can deteriorate significantly, perhaps even fatally, without being blatantly obvious, which is why I thought this article was helpful in better understanding the role of oximeters in COVID-19 management.

Oximeters in Nursing Homes

There is a powerful argument there for monitoring all members of the population who are at risk and not just those who have already displayed symptoms or tested positive.

Of course the same preventative measures could well apply to other respiratory illnesses and viruses.