Maybe I have apnea, maybe not, are all sleep doc jerks?

[SarcasticDave94]

Ashamed, I've the title but I've never got the hang of doing it. There's a lot of other more competent wiki editors here. I think Sleeprider's the one that put the soft collar wiki together.

Put your stuff together and one of the real wiki editors will be glad to stick it in the article.

If I knew how to drive it, I'd have been glad to include your info.

[SideSleeper]

Cathy, you can get cervical collars with different lengths.  I use Bell-Horn,  get them on Amazon.  They tell you how to measure from jaw to collar bone and neck circumstance.  I get a few extra inches so there is an overlap--otherwise the velcro can scratch you.  They are fairly soft and comfortable.
   Linda

[cathyf]

Linda -- I find that I need to go in the other direction -- the collars I can get are WAY too long for me. There's the scratchy velcro, and then the fuzzy side that the scratchy side sticks to. Without shortening, the scratchy velcro part ends up well past the fuzzy patch and is sticking to the stockinette. I've been cutting a good 4 inches out!

These collars have measurements on them, but when I actually take out a tape measure, I've found that the different collars that I've bought the numbers on the box are way off. The only way to know what the measurements are going to be is to buy it and hold it in your hand. So it really helps to go to a bricks and mortar store and look at them -- this is where amazon doesn't work very well..

If the collar is able to move, it doesn't fit right, and it's going to let you put your chin into positions that it shouldn't go. The ones that I can buy are much too long for me, so I have cut them apart and cut off 4 inches of length. This means that it fits snugly enough to work without having to lap the ends over each other, which I find uncomfortable. The thing that keeps the front centered under your chin is the dip in the front of the collar. If the dip isn't deep enough, the collar will move.

Basically the secret was to buy multiple collars and see what works best, and in my case I had to get out the scissors and cut out extra length and sew it back together. The box says that it's 21.5" long, but it's really only 21", and I've cut mine back to 17"

[cathyf]

Do we have a "how to buy a used cpap" thread here somewhere? Is there anyplace I should look other than craigslist?

I can't actually figure out how you actually buy something that you see listed on craigslist! I saw an aircurve vauto for $350 about 140 miles away from me, and I sent an email but got no response. Now I see one 130 miles in the other direction, and this one says "best offer gets it" How do I contact the seller to make an offer?

[SarcasticDave94]

I've not been on Craigslist very recent, but there's a contact seller button or something like that. Verify model info and run hours to see if it's a good buy. Let me look in Craigslist to see how accurate my info is here.

Added: Yep, I clicked on a sample listing. There's a reply to the Craigslist posting and there was a contact phone number hidden until verified.

[TiredOne789]

I've had good luck with the Caldera Neck Rest. Size:  Regular 12"-15" (works for my long skinny neck) They also have a Large collar measuring 15-1/4"-17-1/4". I bought mine from Bed Bath Beyond, online. 

Still Tired One

[Sleeprider]

I use SearchTempest which allows me to search Craigslist at any distance. I keep my search terms simple, like "Resmed", because so many people have no clue there are different models. I have seen ASV machines advertised as CPAPs. I have had pretty good luck finding what I want at a price I can deal with, and recently bought a Vauto from a seller in Colorado for $175 including shipping, but the unit had 6300 hours on it. That's not bad, and it arrived in excellent condition and no problems. Other places to look are Facebook Marketplace, Offer-up and others. I usually have a conversation in person, email or private messages, get the run hours and have not yet run across a CPAP machine being sold by a scammer. Use caution, but it just doesn't seem to be the type of sale that attracts the scams we often see on Craigslist.

[cathyf]

Ok, I'm working on figuring out what's different with the nasal mask from the ffm that I'm much more familiar with. Here are two sample nights:
[attachment=31874]

The overviews don't look very different, but the shape of the flow rate curve is different in the nasal mask.

Here's an area of continuous flow limit with the FFM:
[attachment=31875]

while here's a continuous flow limit with the nasal mask:
[attachment=31876]

The curve with the FFM is much more centered on the zero line, going up and down between 20 and -20. But with the nasal mask it's squished on top and spikey on the bottom, and it's more like 10 and -20 -- and you can see that down on the insp time and exp time graphs.

AND the flow limits are accompanied by leaks.

First of all, do I have to worry about leaks below 24?

Is there any way to tell the difference between mask leaks and mouth leaks? When I'm still awake and I open my mouth with the cpap on it's a distinctly odd sensation. And the flow rate curve with the nasal mask just looks weird!

All in all I really like the nasal mask better, but the curves with the ffm are just more regular. Is it enough different to matter?

[Sleeprider]

I don't have a lot of time this morning, but it appears that the difference may be attributable to a leak.

[cathyf]

Ok, this is last night...

First the overview:
[attachment=31887]

This is a zoom in on the section from 2:50-3:10:
[attachment=31888]

The leaks are right underneath redline, but big and continuous. (Ok, it's 24.00 for 12 seconds at 3:02.)

1) Mask leak or mouth leak? Can you tell? How can you tell?

2) The machine sees the first s*show as flow limitation, but entirely misses the second one as anything at all -- it even drops the pressure a smidge!

3) The entire time between 3:03:31 & 3:09:03 the respiration rate is reported as zero and the leak rate is reported as 21.60 -- neither moves up or down even slightly. Minute vent is wiggling a bit between 1.05 and 1.25.

So the way that I understand it, as long as the leak is below 24, the machine is able to deliver the pressure at the mask, right? Here's a picture where I added the mask pressure and tidal volume curves -- what is the machine trying to tell us about what it thinks is going on?
[attachment=31891]

At what point do the leaks interfere with what the sensors are able to accurately sense? I would think that if it's a mouth leak against an OA where basically my mouth is open and the inspiratory pressure is going up my nose, bouncing against the closed or almost-closed airway, and flowing right out my mouth, then that would be different from a mask leak where air is leaking out around the sides of my nose but the air going up my nose isn't coming out my mouth, right? Does a mouth leak in a nasal mask just completely screw up the machine's ability to know what's going on? In a full-face mask, the air that comes out my mouth goes into the mask.

(It seems magical that the machine sitting on my nightstand can know with such great precision whats going on at the other end of that long hose!)