Hello - I'm new

[Basil]

Hi everyone

I stumbled across this forum whilst looking for some info to help me start my CPAP journey. Wow - they should give the link out to all new patients, the amount of knowledge on here is fantastic.

I'm very new to CPAP, having had my first sleep study around a month ago and been given my machine to trial a week back. Has the last week been tough - extremely! I feel like I'm dragging myself all day around after limited sleep. In fact it feels like I'm permanently hungover.

My results came back that I have mild to moderate sleep apnea, 14 episodes per hour. When I used the CPAP machine during the study this reduced to 0-1. I'm therefore determined to stick with it, it's obviously doing me some benefit and I have to feel better at some stage.

I find that I'm not having issues with having the mask on my face (which surprises me). The trouble I am having is waking up due to the noises the mask is making - anything from burpy sounds to high pitched whistling and even some thumping sounds coming through the tubing. This happens numerous times a night.

I have the humidifier cranked up to 8. I did this as for the first few nights my mouth was super dry (and lasted that way for most of the day). I'm wondering if this is causing any of the noises?

The machine is also making noises - I liken them to Darth Vader as the sounds are echoing my breathing. I read on a couple of posts that this is not unusual for my brand of machine so am going to get it checked when I go back for my next appointment. At this point the machine is living under my bed where the sound is muffled.

So that's my tales of woe! Thank goodness I can voice my concerns here to an understanding audience, as no one in my family or my friends have gone through this. Appreciate any advice, particularly corrections if I'm doing anything wrong.

[DariaVader]

Which Airsense 10 model do you have? edit: It must be the Autoset or Autoset for her.... since you specified a pressure range you will get asked this a lot unless you put it in your profile

[chill]

Welcome! I am pretty new here too. It is good to have company on this journey. 0 - 1 are really great numbers! The noises from the mask sound like leakage to me. I use the F&P Eson nasal mask which has a similar seal to the Simplus. You might try loosening the straps a bit. I find with the Eson slightly loose is better than too tight due to how the seal works. I spend a while making very small adjustments to them to get it just right.

A dry mouth might indicate that you are breathing through your mouth. I have not done that often, but it wakes me up.

[Basil]

Thanks for the tip DariaVader, it's an Autoset.

Have adjusted my profile...

[green wings]

Hello, Basil. Welcome to the Apnea Board. It sounds like you are doing really well with your therapy so far. It's extremely rare for there not to be at least one bothersome problem when you first start using PAP therapy.

The noise from the machine that you describe does sound annoying. Unless other members have a suggestion as to why it might be doing this, I'd get it checked out by your equipment supplier if you got it locally.

I've been using CPAP for about three months now and am just now getting to the point where I can fall asleep without using music or white noise to mask the sound of the machine. Even when it's operating properly, it can take a while to get used to the sound.

It's really great that you are tolerating the feel of the mask on your face well.

Sounds like you are doing super well with your therapy. This board can only make things easier.

[stanleydean]

Welcome Basil,
I think mask noise is a difficult issue for many full face mask users. It took me longer than it did you to learn that sometimes looser is better than tighter. I agree your progress seems good and this forum will be a big help. It was over ten years before discovered the forum. In my mind I feel that some doctors and many DME providers don't really want you to know about the forum. It makes the doctors work harder and cuts into profits for the DME.
Good luck to you in your journey and hang in there.
Stan

[PoolQ]

I started with that same mask and like any mask it has its own personality. I found a couple of things:
1. don't over tighten, the seal area needs to inflate and that causes the mask to "float". Making it tighter does not make it leak less
2. it tends to ride higher than it should. Put it on, turn on the machine, pull the mask slightly off your face to let it inflate, release it AND then pull it a little towards your chin to get it to seal around the top of your nose
3. you can get the mask to "rock" over your cheek bones, so if you tighten the bottom straps you can cause it to leak at the top and the other way around. you have to get both straps right

Try placing a cloth under the machine to muffle the sound

Try and relax (ya I know) when you first put the mask on, my guess is that you are over breathing at first. None of this CPAP stuff is "normal" it is an alien sitting on your face blowing air up your nose. You need to get used to it. Wear it while watching TV or reading a book, not because you need to, but to help desensitize yourself.

Trust the machine, it will not stop your from breathing, just the exact opposite it really will help. Trust it.

[trish6hundred]

Hi Basil,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
CPAP can take some getting used to, but jus stick with it, it does get better over time.
Hang in there for more responses to your post, and much success to you with your CPAP therapy..

[allynpsych]

The noise from the machine that you describe does sound annoying. Unless other members have a suggestion as to why it might be doing this, I'd get it checked out by your equipment supplier if you got it locally.

I've been using CPAP for about three months now and am just now getting to the point where I can fall asleep without using music or white noise to mask the sound of the machine. Even when it's operating properly, it can take a while to get used to the sound.

That's funny; the "breathy noise" from my machine is the only thing I like about this whole thing! LOL

[richb]

Hi Basil,

Welcome to the forum. As you can see mask and leak issues are pretty common.

Rich