Medicare Rules

[chzuck]

So, how are you sleeping if you can't sleep on your back or side? I can see this would be complicated!

FWIW if you're sleeping on your belly, be sure the air-out valve on your mask or hose isn't buried in pillows. This is a safety thing. I have to be careful even on my side with the F40, because the valve is right in front of my mouth, and I could easily snuggle down and smother myself in dreamy comfort if I forget to make space for it.

I alternate.  I start on my left, but if I get awake and my neck is hurting, I go to my right side for awhile and the pain goes away.  Later in the night I can sleep for a little on my back, but never do I sleep on my belly.  Sleeping is a task.  Add to that, at night my nasal passages go shut.  Sometimes I only get 4 or 5 hours on the machine.  Currently my F20 is adding to the problem putting pressure on my nose at the top.   Tomorrow I am supposed to be fitted for a F40.

[chzuck]

Reminder, Positional Apnea when referred to here isn't necessarily body sleep position like you doctor might mention, but the head, neck alignment that kinks your airway externall

I am open for ideas.

[Deborah K.]

With Positional Apnea (PA) your chin is tipped down toward your chest.  This is similar to the situation with a kinked hose.  Lots of the water cannot get through.  Likewise, lots of the air doesn't get through.  PA shows up on your charts where obstructive apneas or hypopneas are found clustered tightly together.  No setting helps with this.  Some can fix it by sleeping on a much flatter pillow.  Most find that they need to wear a soft cervical collar.  Drugstores offer a few choices, but Amazon offers loads of choices.  When I needed one I found the Caldera Releaf Collar on Amazon was the most comfortable by far and worked as well as the numerous others I had tried.

[HalfAsleep]

Your painful neck may be a harbinger of a kink in the neck. This would cause positional apneas, and are not something xPAP can fix.

[chzuck]

I was able to get my F40 mask.  The extent of fitting was using the nose template to decide I needed a medium and that was it.  The person went and got the F40 and handed me the bag and I was done.  Tried it a few nights and had some nose issues and went back to the F20.  As someone suggested I may need to try a large F40 to see if that works better.  I think the problem was my nasal passages were not in alignment with the holes in the F40.  Anyway, I am working at solutions.  I need to review the wiki on the F40 mask.