CPAP and Oximeter - Some Newby Questions
Hi All,
I’m new here, so please be gentle! (though happily that seems very much the norm.) I’d really welcome comment from you folk who are successfully using CPAP.
Having been diagnosed with mild/moderate SA I tried several machines over a 3 month period and various masks but with negligible success. Full face masks have a big perimeter to keep leakfree and no matter how impossibly tight (or loose) I used them, major leaks developed as my face relaxed. With smaller masks, mouth leakage became dominant. Strapping jaws closed helped a little but as lips relaxed the lips became a major leak point. I even tried taping my lips closed – DON’T do it! (Apart from the very real inherent dangers, you lift off a layer of skin each time you remove the tape. It hurts!)
I’m now looking at mouth devices rather than CPAP.
Some questions - Should I persevere with CPAP? Any pointers? Can one learn to keep lips closed (when asleep!). What of Buteyko breathing which some recommend – is it a management option?
On another matter. To gain some understanding of my blood oxygen levels I’ve purchased a Contec CMS50E Oximeter and am slowly coming to grips with it. The user manual is very poor but so far I’ve managed to record SO2 levels overnight, upload to a PC, generate and print reports. Although older data remains stored on the PC I can see no way of recalling it into the Conec software for further analysis. Has anyone managed this? Has anyone found a good English language instruction manual? (I’m very impressed with this technology itself, but the documentation is woeful and the software worse. It can for example show as previews a range of print options, but actually prints something else.)
Thank you in anticipation
John
I’m new here, so please be gentle! (though happily that seems very much the norm.) I’d really welcome comment from you folk who are successfully using CPAP.
Having been diagnosed with mild/moderate SA I tried several machines over a 3 month period and various masks but with negligible success. Full face masks have a big perimeter to keep leakfree and no matter how impossibly tight (or loose) I used them, major leaks developed as my face relaxed. With smaller masks, mouth leakage became dominant. Strapping jaws closed helped a little but as lips relaxed the lips became a major leak point. I even tried taping my lips closed – DON’T do it! (Apart from the very real inherent dangers, you lift off a layer of skin each time you remove the tape. It hurts!)
I’m now looking at mouth devices rather than CPAP.
Some questions - Should I persevere with CPAP? Any pointers? Can one learn to keep lips closed (when asleep!). What of Buteyko breathing which some recommend – is it a management option?
On another matter. To gain some understanding of my blood oxygen levels I’ve purchased a Contec CMS50E Oximeter and am slowly coming to grips with it. The user manual is very poor but so far I’ve managed to record SO2 levels overnight, upload to a PC, generate and print reports. Although older data remains stored on the PC I can see no way of recalling it into the Conec software for further analysis. Has anyone managed this? Has anyone found a good English language instruction manual? (I’m very impressed with this technology itself, but the documentation is woeful and the software worse. It can for example show as previews a range of print options, but actually prints something else.)
Thank you in anticipation
John
