Cant breathe with my new apap machine

[ezdrifler]

The new apap machine i got was bought with a nasal mask 2 days ago.

It appears everytime i use a nasal mask both my nostrils get fully blocked within a couple of hours.

Last night after 1 hour of sleep i jumped gasping for air and pulling my mask off.

I wonder if a mask that covers the mouth and nose is the solution?

This morning i woke up laying in bed breathing perfectly trough my nose.

I do have a humidifier... but each mask is over $100 and it gets expensive just to be guessing. I just wasted $90 on a nasal mask.

heelppp

[Sleeprider]

Depending on where you bought your equipment, it may include a 30 day return policy. I would suggest you look at nasal pillows which place the pressure inside the nose, instead of around it. If you are prone to sinus congestion, the pressure on the sinuses around your nose can be a problem, while nasal pillows actually help. See image below, and keep in mind any pressure on sinus cavities can be a problem for some people.

If you do not currently use a supplier with a free 30 day return policy, look around (Supplier #1) and make sure your next mask can be returned or exchanged if you have a problem.

[Shastzi]

I had the suffocating problem too so I had to set the low-end pressure up to 7cm.
at that pressure the CO2 gets flushed out of the hose better.

Try it!

[PoolQ]

If you look at the sinus picture above, you can understand that if you pressurize your nose that your sinuses also get pressurized. Before you were on CPAP what did sinus pressure mean to you: cold, congestion, plugged nose. If when you feel congested, you take the mask off and are magically no longer congested-it was the pressure.

There are several things with CPAP that can make you feel like you can't breathe: too high or low humidity, too low a pressure, using ramp with too low a starting pressure, EPR or in your case flex setting-exhaling into pressure, just not used to the alien sitting on you face blowing air up your nose, using too small of a mask-exhaling into pressure.

If you feel this way when awake with the CPAP on, make some small changes and see what makes it better

[ezdrifler]

When I put my mask on and I sleep face up I can breathe very slowly, then I get on a side when im falling to sleep like a rock and one of my nostrils feels like it collapses and closes, the other one is a matter of minutes before it closes up on me, there is no mucous just like if I had a plug inside the nose and no air at all goes in even if i breathe in hard. At that point I wake up gasping for air since my mouth is acting up when I open it due to the pressure, I was ready to go buy the mouth + nose mask, should I hold off then? and mess with the settings?

If i take the mask off it takes quite a few minutes , maybe an hour or two for everything to open up and allow me to start breathing trough my nose. right now I still feel a little congested (about 40%) and is 12:00 pm at work.

I tried the same mask in my sleep study and my nose just wont open up for it.

[membus]

It appears everytime i use a nasal mask both my nostrils get fully blocked within a couple of hours.

Last night after 1 hour of sleep i jumped gasping for air and pulling my mask off.

I'm very new to xPAP therapy myself (3 weeks now). First 2 nights slept without humidifier and had the same problems. Then I attached the humidifier and set it to 3.0 and also increased my starting pressure to 5.4, then the problem was solved for me. Before xPAP therapy, some mornings I used to wake up with congested nostrils but since APAP + humidifier my congestion issue seems to be completely solved.

but each mask is over $100 and it gets expensive just to be guessing. I just wasted $90 on a nasal mask.

Totally agree on this issue. Unluckily where I live, DMEs don't offer any kind of return policy and xPAP related product prices are like double than that of US prices. Hope you can find a good DME with a 30-day return policy.

Best of luck with your therapy.

[PoolQ]

The nose and mouth may solve everything, it does not matter how the pressure gets there, just that it is there, and then again it may introduce other things like dry mouth and leaks (my FFM works just fine for me).

With me it was like my nose would swell shut, like self inflicted congestion. I could get this happen even before I got to the bed room, just thinking about CPAP. The right settings and getting used to it stopped this. I remember telling myself to "just stop it, you are NOT congested" after a while I believed it.

[Mr. Van Winkle]

The new apap machine i got was bought with a nasal mask 2 days ago.

It appears everytime i use a nasal mask both my nostrils get fully blocked within a couple of hours.

Last night after 1 hour of sleep i jumped gasping for air and pulling my mask off.

I wonder if a mask that covers the mouth and nose is the solution?

This morning i woke up laying in bed breathing perfectly trough my nose.

I do have a humidifier... but each mask is over $100 and it gets expensive just to be guessing. I just wasted $90 on a nasal mask.

heelppp

When I first started I also felt that way, well more like I couldn't exhale. I felt like i was so stuffed up I could breath, for me anyway I increased my EPR setting so I could exhale easier, the machine was set on 1 and I changed it to 3.
Wow everything was fine after that point, Now I'm only waking when the velcro on the mask lets loose and the mask starts leaking and blowing air into the eyes.
I also use saline spray in the nostrils on those nights I feel stuffy.
Hope you can find your solution.

[ezdrifler]

GUYS !! IM SO HAPPY!! I SLEPT GOOD FOR 2.5 HOURS IN A NAP!!

I finally got a hold of the kaiser sleep clinic, They recommended i increase the humidifier setting from the original factory default.

I learned about preheating so i did and cranked it up to 5

My nose was clear the whole time and my AHI dropped from 12.50 to 1.78

YEYYYY!!!!

[PoolQ]

WOW great news!