Helping my dad adjust to CPAP when I’ve just started getting used to mine

[willo]

Regular forum users have no doubt noticed me around as I’ve started using CPAP in the past month. Now I’m looking for advice to help my dad. He’s has his CPAP for about a week, but he’s only managed to log a few hours of use so far. He’s taking his mask off after an hour or so.

Luckily for him, his insurance isn’t tracking compliance, so that’s not a problem.

I talked to him yesterday and gave him the suggestion to try wearing the mask while awake to help acclimate himself to the feeling. Like many poor sleepers, he’s been falling asleep in his recliner instead of bed for years. (Part of why I was shocked by my own apnea diagnosis is having grown up around my dad, who is TEXTBOOK apneaic with LOUD snoring, big pauses as he stops breathing, etc. He falls asleep at parties or mid-afternoon, etc. All of us have known for years he needed CPAP.) He was going to watch the game from bed last night wearing his mask.

Unlike me, Dad has a full face mask and mainly obstructive apnea. He tells me he literally can’t breathe through his nostrils, which are narrow. (He has a beaky nose.) Even with the full face mask, his mouth is terribly dry and that may be part of why he’s taking the mask off to relieve the discomfort.

I’m asking him to request an ENT follow up. One told him years ago he should have surgery for his deviated septum, but he disliked the doctor’s attitude and never went back.

Dad decided during our CPAP chat that he needed to try to analyze WHY he’s taking the mask off (because he is awake when he does it, but sleepy, so not necessarily inclined to think critically.) So that was his “assignment” last night.

I helped him adjust his humidifier to the max setting because he wanted that, and discussed maybe switching FLEX off as that made my machine less annoying to me. He thinks the machine “feels okay” when he starts off using it, but he wakes up with it “bothering him.”

Dad has what appears to the identical DreamStation model to mine (when I went into his clinical settings, I confirmed it is an Auto CPAP, but I didn’t check model number on the bottom as his water chamber was full.) His hose looks skinnier than mine (though I wasn’t holding both) and is NOT heated. He has a full face mask (I didn’t check the brand.)

Dad is unlikely to come to a forum to get help, but I could create a second profile to post questions for him if that would be less confusing. (Would that break forum rules?)

I’m visiting my folks who do not have an SD card reader, so I can’t get his data today. I’m going to try to pick one up and install Sleepyhead on his computer. I have about 10 more days to help Dad in person before I return home.

Thanks everyone!
—willo

[Gideon]

I would keep this thread as "Dad's" thread.  That should keep them separate.

And you can assure him that some of here are old farts so he will be in good company.

Fred

[Sleeprider]

For starters, what are his minimum and maximum pressures?
I suggest that he request his doctor to prescribe the heated hose. With humidifier settings on maximum he is going to need it, and the Dreamstation automatically limits humidity without a heated hose.
If he likes to sleep in a recliner, get him one of those travel pillows or soft cervical collar that will prevent the chin from dropping to his chest. That will help more than you know.