Hi shiftworker, when you go back for your sleep study, let them know your concerns with using it. tell them of your difficulty exhaling, that way based off your medical history and sleep apnea issues they can customize a more comfortable solution for you.
Hi Scwerl, my thoughts are that is probably the difference in the room temperature vs. the humidifier temperature that is causing the condensation. Have you tried a hose cover, its like a long tube sock that goes over the tubing to help with the condensation? Or perhaps you can still use humidity but turn off the heat element completely, that will still give you moisture element of it.
you may want to check out http://www.sleepapnea.org/resources/cpap-assistance-program/need-a-cpap-machine.html, it's a cpap assistance program for people with financial hardships.
Hi Steve, if you are trying to gauge your improvement from home only, what wiredgeorge suggests could possibly be one way to look for improvements. but not everyone has desaturations with sleep apnea.
Have you tried adjusting the humidifier settings to see if this helps with the sinus issues? Using a nasal pillow mask vs a nasal mask or full face mask, the air is blowing directly up your nostrils and some people feel this can affect their sinuses more than the other two types of masks. If you think you have allergies and over the counter meds are not working well, have you considered seeing an allergist?
Hi Diplomatic, if the medium mask is covering your eyelids during sleep there a good chance it's too large of a mask for you. When you describe dry eye, red eye it sounds like the mask is leaking air into your eyes. perhaps you will need to make some adjustments to the headgear to get this leak to stop. Like wiredgeorge mentions mask liners can sometimes help with this issue. You're tracking your sleep which is good and ahi and leaks are low according to software so that is good. but getting the eye problem corrected would be helpful.
Hi Anniem, Is the mask is slipping perhaps your headgear is not adjusted correctly. Usually not too tight but not too loose works best. Is the mask leaking as a result of slipping? Some people with anxiety like nasal masks because they feel like there is less on their face.
Hi Dreamdoc, it does sound that perhaps your headgear is slipping, causing leaks. Perhaps adjusting the headgear straps will help. Sometimes people with long hair, the hair moving around with the straps can affect the fit, sleeping in a ponytail can sometimes help. Also sounds like the nasal cushion needs a position adjustment. Good luck.
Hi Wiredgeorge, so to recap your story......please correct me if I get any info wrong. So you're on Bipap therapy with a full face mask. things have been relatively well, AHI is low, oxygen saturation levels have been good. The full face mask you were using with liners leaks a lot but doesn't seem to be affecting your AHI adversely and didn't seem to be waking you up or bothering you. So this is great, it would be ideal if the mask leak was lower but overall it didn't seem to be affecting you too much. On a side note, leaks can cause something called arousals in your sleep, where the briefly arouse you from your sleep, they can affect your overall sleep quality. one would need a in-lab sleep study to see if this is occurring. but despite the leaks, it wasn't bothering you. your ahi was low, and your oxygen levels were good, so it appears that the bipap was effective despite the leaks. so going back to present day, everything is going pretty well but for a few nights your ahi has increased. you recognized the pattern that higher leaks correlate to higher ahi. so in that case I would suggest you check some of the more usual culprits. how old is the full face mask? any visible signs of wear or cracks? has enough time passed that your insurance will cover a new mask and/or supplies. how about the headgear? they get stretched out from washing and wear. check out your hose, these can be tricky but can develop little cracks in the plastic in between the rings and can be difficult to find. filters, need changed? but your already aware of that. it can be frustrating that it seems like nothing has changed but now your leak has increased. so moving on, you changed to a different full face mask, it sounds like it is falling into the correct location on your face but if your bottom lip is coming out during sleep I wonder if indeed it is fitting you correctly. how have the leaks been with this other mask?
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