Brazen Therapy Thread

[Brazen]

Hi Jeff
I find I have to adjust my straps just a little every night -- I'm on a fixed pressure now so I just wait for the pressure to come up then adjust mask/straps until it feels right.
Worked fairly well for about 190 nights with a few issues here and there but nothing as bad as it's been for almost two weeks now.
I just don't understand how it can go so sideways with no changes.

[BuffaloBob]

After I had also developed uncontrolled high pressures and leakage (and AHIs over 10.0), I was diagnosed with CSA (which I had suspected all along).  I now have an ASA machine and routinely register AHIs of 1.0  +/- 0.4, and the air flow is--shall we say--very gentle.  :-)

Might be something for you to rule out.

[Brazen]

Thank you for the suggestion.

My pressure isn't high, 8.4cmw.
With so much leak it's impossible to judge what I might need in terms of treatment.

[Lucid]

Sorry to hear it, Brazen.  Change in weather leading to lower humidity or change in sleep posture?

Of course, be sure the mask or tube hasn't developed a leak somewhere.  

By the way, I love your motto "Do know harm but take no s#!t."

[Brazen]

Thanks Lucid

Definitely lower humidity in the room... would that make the mask leak? I adjust straps nightly.
No change in sleeping position, spend most of the night on my left side.

Good idea to check mask/hose for leaks... I'd think I'd hear that when I put it on and do my adjustments but worth paying attention to.

[Lucid]

One thing that happens to me is that my arrangement of bed pillows stops working and I have to figure out a new approach.  If I could sleep on my side I'd try those Pillow Cubes that The Lankylefty27 raves about.

Kind of grasping at straws here!  It's hard to figure out why things stop working.  In olden days they could blame it on elves or faeries, lol.

[Brazen]

Goblins. I blame lots of stuff on goblins.

Just very frustrating. 

Second sleep study on Friday. Maybe they can get me a mask that works.

[Jeff8356]

I always blame the gremlins!

Sometimes things get wonky when putting my mask back together after cleaning.
Take a look at the mask where the pillow connects to the face frame. I find that can get fussy trying to put it back together. I wind up removing the elbow, then align the pillow to the frame and give a good push till you hear it snap together. Then put the elbow back in. Usually works for me.

Other times when I haven't done that I can get a leak around where the pillow and mask connect. Fussy little thing!

[Brazen]

Thanks Jeff
I'll try that too

I checked mask/hose for break leaks and didn't spot any.

Did see an error message on the machine this morning...
"Heating System Error. May run without heat"  
what does that mean?

 Enough with the gremlins.

[DaveL]

I've used cpap a long time.
What I've found is that masks are better. However, they don't last as long. And my head gear stretches. A lot.

Big Guy told me that he washes his head gear in extremely hot water, and that restores it and shrinks it. (I think I got that right).

I went through a trial period a while back. I managed to screw everything up. My goal was to find a different mask during C19. My AHI went up terribly with the masks I tried. What I learned? Patience. One night's use doesn't show results. I'm using one of those horrible masks now. ResMed N30i. It's so much like the Respironics Dreamwear I used for years. After about a week's use my AHI settled down. .. But last week I went through a bad spell. I had to be patient to get it back down.

I find that when I wake up in the night and adjust straps to solve problems, I create problems. Next day I check strap lengths and even things out so the mask fits right on my face.

I hope this helps.

DaveL