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+--- Thread: Lygodia Therapy Thread: Optimizing My Airsense 10 (/Thread-Lygodia-Therapy-Thread-Optimizing-My-Airsense-10)
RE: I haven’t fallen asleep with my CPAP yet. Seeking advice. - lygodia - 12-04-2023
I really do need to do something about them! It only struck me recently how bad my PCP was. Sadly, wait times here are awful, so even if I do manage to find someone better (which I will try to), I'll still be waiting for a while. And this is the only sleep clinic in network - in a major metropolitan area of the Untied States - yikes!
I'm really thankful for how bustling the online sleep apnea/CPAP boards are - reminds me of my forum days 20 years ago, when I was still a kid.
Right now, I have a Resmed Airfit P30i, though I also have the N30i cushions. I have the full fit set for the P30i - I use a size small - and I have a small cushion for the N30i. I also have the Resmed Airfit N30 I was given initially (that I did not like). I'm thankfully a natural nose breather, so I'm good on that front!
I did set up EPR (set to 3). Temperature is 82 degrees F, with humidity at 4/8. (I have a heated hose that came with the machine, and it is lovely.)
RE: I haven’t fallen asleep with my CPAP yet. Seeking advice. - SarcasticDave94 - 12-04-2023
That's a decent setup. It should help attempt to minimize negatives with the therapy. Will it be easy? Unfortunately possibly not. I think few on the Apnea Board have had a very easy time of adapting, some have had it easier than others, especially those that struggled a lot. There's a lot of things that can go wrong, wrong machine due to doctor choosing incorrectly, so many masks to consider, leaks, discomfort, poor doctor support with knowledge, incorrect settings, inconvenience of sleep studies which yield inconsistent results, insurance that would rather enforce incorrect treatment than the correct. Probably more.
Yet, there's this group on Apnea Board that still beat all the difficulty and won. Commit to winning, because that's what we do here. We'll help as much as possible. There's a lot of wise, knowledgeable people and advice here.
RE: I haven’t fallen asleep with my CPAP yet. Seeking advice. - lygodia - 12-07-2023
I got a new mask earlier this week (Dreamwear Gel Nasal Pillow) and it’s so much better than the P30i for my face shape. As a bonus, the cozy I have works for both, so I already have what I need there!
I feel pretty well adjusted to the mask & breathing. I was originally planning to grind out hours during the day for compliance, but I found that gives me too much of an excuse to take the mask off if I haven’t fallen asleep after 3 hours. I plan to try to sleep for 4 hours a night with my CPAP on. Hopefully I have some actual progress soon.
RE: I haven’t fallen asleep with my CPAP yet. Seeking advice. - UnicornRider - 12-07-2023
It is important for therapy that you do acclimate to wearing it during sleep.
Once you get everything together, you will look forward to sleeping with your mask, as the value of restorative sleep can not be appreciated as much until it is recovered after being lost.
RE: I haven’t fallen asleep with my CPAP yet. Seeking advice. - PeaceLoveAndPizza - 12-07-2023
“Do or do not, there is no try.” - Yoda PL&P
Don’t think of it negatively. Phrases like “grind out hours” and “try” come from a dark place. Once you get the hang it becomes quite effortless. It does take a bit of time to adjust, but it is so worth it.
Think positively. Relax. Breathe.
RE: I haven’t fallen asleep with my CPAP yet. Seeking advice. - lygodia - 12-09-2023
Some good news - I was able to sleep with my set-up for at least a little bit! (I appreciate the words of encouragement - it meant a lot to me. It's been a tough week.)
I've found that I've been waking up after around ~2.5 hours of wearing the mask (around 2 hours of trying to sleep, since I spend around 30 minutes wearing the mask before I shut everything off) feeling more awake & with the urge to go to the bathroom. I also don't feel like I've slept during that time. I'm not sure if that's because I'm sleeping better with CPAP & it feels different, or if I'm really not deeply asleep during that time frame. I've taken off the mask for a bit, gone to the bathroom, and spent a bit awake, before going back to sleep. I usually wake up again after around another hour or so. By then, I've hit 4 hours, and my half-asleep self wants a break from CPAP. (Still building up to a full night - it's an adjustment!)
I've noticed that, even with consistent temperature & humidity settings, I do get a little fluid at the base of the mask, near the nostrils. You can see some large leaks in the data - that's me fiddling with the mask. Sometimes it's the water & sometimes it's comfort.
I didn't know if there was anything to glean from the data from the past 2 nights, but I wanted to see if there was anything worth analyzing! Let me know if there's anything of note here. I'll keep at it.
[attachment=56998]
[attachment=56999]
RE: I haven’t fallen asleep with my CPAP yet. Seeking advice. - SarcasticDave94 - 12-09-2023
Congrats on the progress.
It appears the charts look good. The AutoSet isn't going to your max setting, leaks look fine. The big thing as you know is getting more hours.
On rainout, AKA mask moisture, you might need to edit heated hose temp or humidity settings slightly.
Two other things may help. There are cloth hose covers to help insulate it from the room, and that helps prevent the moisture from falling out of the air. When it falls out, it'll probably collect on the cooler mask.
Another thing is called hose holder or hanger. The idea is to have the hose travel up away from the CPAP at an angle, being suspended above, then an angle back down to the mask. That upward section of the hose allows that portion to have any rainout drain back to the humidifier instead of pooling in the mask. There are manufactured hose holders or you can use something like an office badge lanyard that's retractable, using maybe command strips or similar onto a wall or headboard, etc.
RE: I haven’t fallen asleep with my CPAP yet. Seeking advice. - PeaceLoveAndPizza - 12-09-2023
How do you feel? There is really nothing on the chart to adjust any further without due cause.
RE: I haven’t fallen asleep with my CPAP yet. Seeking advice. - lygodia - 12-10-2023
Thank you for taking a look! More hours is definitely the goal. I have been taking it off by the middle of the night, but that's a work-in-progress. I feel like my sleep quality is about equivalent at this point, which seems like a neutral-to-good sign.
I'll definitely be picking up a heated hose cover! I actually don't have a headboard, but this is as good an excuse as I'll get to get one. Are there good visual guides to setting up a hose management system? (Most of the visuals I've found myself seem somewhat confusing.)
I feel about the same right now - nothing too much of note. I'm sleeping about half with the mask on, half with it off. I'm going to keep making tweaks - for the mask & other accessories. The biggest thing right now is to figure out how to stop small bits of water from sitting near the seal of the mask. (I assume that is rainout.)
RE: I haven’t fallen asleep with my CPAP yet. Seeking advice. - SarcasticDave94 - 12-10-2023
If you imagine an inverted V, with one end point as the CPAP, the center is where the hose hangs, that last end point as the mask.
There are holders that clamp onto the nightstand etc. Something like the image. There's other kinds but similar intent to get the hose angling up then back. This also takes some of the weight of the hose off the mask.
[attachment=57034]