Please help with treatment review

[DaveL]

Thanks snorybob!

[DaveL]

Every time I see my avatar I'm thankful.

When I was 5 I was taken for a trip that changed my life. My Father was career Canadian Navy. One of our neighbours was a Stoker on a Canadian Frigate. He fed coal to the boilers. ...tough job , below the water line. Then he took me and his son to the switching yard and we road in every steam locomotive

edit: I'm fascinated with steam; that's why I became a mechanical engineer.

[DaveL]

I've been working on mouthbreathing...eliminating it.

Over the years I've accumulated:
* chinstraps that work, but stretched and don't work anymore
* chinstraps that don't work
* several generations of cpap caps.  First was good. Last was not-so.
* 3 Knightsbridge Dual Band caps.
* My own rig--a pad under my jaw to prevent jaw-drop. (Now available only in the UK. Not in Canada) (So I cant use it anymore)
* Soft curvical collars I don't like.
* two F&P Evora Full full face masks.
* an accumulation of nasal masks that don't work; my standby is my ResMed N20 nasal mask in a medium size.

So I'm working on my suck-it-up tongue exercise.

Last night I was compliant; ResMed nasal mask. No pillow. No pad. No collar.  It was beautiful.


Summary:  My DME provider charged $275 Canadian plus 13% sales tax for my last N20 Medium.  One month guarantee; no longer provides loaner masks for me to try.  It's a crap-shoot getting a mask there now. I have benefits with my employer for now...I bought my ResMed 10 "for her" from them. That mask was new, sealed in a bag. In other words identical to one I could buy from a Canadian supplier for 1/2 the price.

However, they will keep selling me masks without a prescription as a long term customer. I've been with them about 10 years. about 25 masks. My sleep doc provided a prescription for my "for her" cpap unit about 5? years ago. He provided a prescription for one mask.  I haven't been in his care the last 3 years.

I wish I could find a DME supplier in Mississauga Ontario who provides masks and free loaners so I can try them.

[Sleepster]

Why don't the full face masks work for you?

If a full face mask is out of the question, then you might try some other solutions that you may not have tried yet. I just did a google searh for "cpap tape" and saw lots of different products.

[DaveL]

The Evora Full is good for 1 to 3 days. Then I have a night that’s 10 or so. Back to the nasal mask. Past I used Larry’s cap. But I get mask strap marks that last hours. Like 5 or so

And I’ve used tape.

[TechieHippie]

Given that the mask only works for a few days, Dave, I wonder if you have physical patterns that get triggered by the mask or resistance to the mask. Mine are triggered by stress but I start hunching over more. You could try gentle stretches/movement, in the morning when you wake but especially a little while before bed (strong backfires for me, they tighten up in the night if I stretch hard). I'm thinking neck side stretches, gentle shoulder squeezes up against the neck (activates muscles in that area that help a with posture and breathing), stretching arms up over the head, that sort of thing. Then make sure the mask is not too tight with this new adjustment to posture.

Another thing to try is meditate with the machine and mask on before bed. If your mind is busy, find a relaxing guided meditation on youtube or Insight Timer. The goal is not to get to sleep but to find a relaxed natural breath and calmness for the body and mind. Your Autoset will probably respond to this breath and support your relaxed breathing through the night.

Dave, I can tell you are very smart. Don't let the resistance to the machine and the intractability of the problem take your focus and spin you in a negative direction. Instead, harness that energy into settling your body and mind into a harmonious relationship with your machine and your mask. If you try this, please report back. It takes time and persistence. Breathe! You've got this.

Lisa

[DaveL]

About 4? Yearns ago. Maybe 5 I had 22,500
Hours on my S9R ResMed. 

I had been a mouth breather for years. 

I had tried full face masks. 

I barely got through my sleep study. I was extremely claustrophobic when I tried 7 full face masks. 

Sleep doc gave me an Rx for 13. Another Rx for a single masks

I took advice from wonderful experts here. I was using OSCAR. I couldn’t read the charts. I still can’t. 

So I am delighted I. Can use a ffm somedays

I sure don’t feel smart. Though I appreciate you saying so.

I felt stupid as a kid. Navy brat. Went to 13 schools by end of grade 8. Moved twice a year, cross country.

You help. Thanks

[DaveL]

@TechieHippie

Don't be concerned.

I used my first respironics "brick" for 8 years. My first mask for 5 years. Declared the brick irreparable. Replacement was a brick too.
In fact, it was the "worst brick"...the DME supplier was 1/2 owned by the hospital. I got a nasal mask. One mask fits all. I thought all F&P masks were c*ap because mine was. I tried to get one I liked. Nope.

I found a used machine with a 100 hours on it. Paid what I could afford. I used that ResMed S9E for another 2000 hours.

I know when I'm well off. But I would really like to simplify my treatment. The S10 "for her" works well in cpap mode. About 35 years compliant. My pressure is about 15.4 AHI is good. Except sometimes it's not.