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Hi Guys, Remember that weight is a correlation and not proven to be the only cause of sleep apnea! I am a triathlete, and have severe sleep apnea (AHI 34). This is my own pet peeve. I get really tired of people assuming that you are obese when you have OSA. I know 9 people who use CPAPs, and only ONE of them is overweight.
As far as insomnia goes, there are certainly multiple reasons for not sleeping well. It can be VERY frustrating, but I've read that it can take several months for your brain to adapt to new "sleep architecture" when using a CPAP. I have found at this point that I can't sleep without it, but I don't necessarily feel better the next day than I ever did.
One good outcome with the CPAP is that I tend to wake on my own around 6 or 6:30 am without the alarm clock. This allows me to get up more easily for those early morning workouts. Before the CPAP, getting up was a real slog, and I was mixing coffee instead of water with my protein powder in the morning.
There is another recent thread about this very issue. I think there are a lot of us in the same boat-or similar. I have read that it can take as long as three months to start feeling less tired, as your body is making up for huge deficits. I think we all hear about people for whom it was an immediate game changer. But after spending time with my new machine (I call him Sven, and my husband is not jealous), and on this site, I think the "game changing" thing is the exception and not the rule. Lucky you for sleeping better at night! I still wake in the middle of the night, and often curse Sven. I hate him, I love him. But I mostly hate him. Good Luck!!
I have long hair, too. I ponytail it towards the top of my head, and fit the straps around it. It works pretty well to keep the air pillows in place. My issue is more sideways, as I roll around in my sleep.
Yeah, your machine should have come with an SD card standard. Did they pawn a retrofit off on you?
Things are going okay for me. I still hate the machine, but have come around to needing it to sleep. Getting about 7 hours on the machine most nights. I'm having more trouble getting up these days, but I think that's because of the darker mornings. I hate daylight savings time.
Yucko bummer on the smell. Can't recommend a simple fleece hose cover enough. $15 on Amazon. Get the one with the zipper.
Just putting my PT hat on here. We use tape a lot as an adjunct to therapy, and it can cause really bad skin problems over time with daily use...Even with the hypoallergenic kind. I'm more concerned about skin integrity than anything else with this method.
Yes, we use it for long hikes and short backpacking trips. As for cleaning, I'm afraid I can't be of much use. I actually don't use the humidifier on my machine. Type "mineral deposits" into the search window on this forum. There are lots of great tips already out there.
It's so great that you are getting such great sleep! Just curious though, why not just get a chin strap? Eventually even the hypoallergenic tape will catch up to you. Then you will lose having the option to tape altogether. Congratulations!
Good luck tonight! Pick a FABULOUS book-a real page turner, and give yourself permission to read with the machine on for as long as you want!!!! You can do this!!
I believe there is another thread about this. The reason to use distilled water is to avoid mineral deposits on your device and hose. But I believe the consensus in the other post was that the occasional vacation use of bottled water is fine. There is a great water bottle/filter system that we take traveling in sketchy places. Easy to carry with you, and you can filter water from any source.
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The bite splint and retainer are pre-OSA. I discovered they help prevent mouth dryness by accident. I tend to clench my teeth in my sleep, so at least I don't have to deal with the open mouth issue. These are NOT appliances that thrust your jaw forward. My orthodontist told me she would disown me if I tried one of those.
The no-humidity thing is pure laziness on my part-I don't want to deal with distilled water, cleaning out the chamber or the hose. When I wake up in the morning it all gets stuffed into a basket under my bedside table. I had a week or so of dryness issues, but then I think my body accommodated to it. I'm not sure I recommend going without the humidified air to solve your problem. I was more stating that I found a solution DESPITE not using the humidifier.
That said, I did purchase a hose cover, which is my favorite thing ever. It eliminated that annoying zippy sound every time you move around in bed. The hose cover might allow you to use the humidifier without the heated hose...? My understanding is that their purpose is to prevent rain out.
