Sleep Apnea - CPAP machine

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Picard

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I were recently diagnosed with Obstructive Sleep Apnea and were advised to get a CPAP machine that forces air at a certain pressure into your airways to keep it open. Under Obstructive SLeep Apnea the airway in the back of your airway collapses causing you to stop breathing and sometimes it also causes you to snore.

But sleeping with this machine is terribly uncomfortable. A machine blows air through a pipe into a mask that covers my nose and mouth.

[video=youtube;12BeLIL_3bw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12BeLIL_3bw[/video]

I've had a machine on loan for a week and tomorrow I have to take it back and decide wether to buy one of these. It costs about R11 000 (a machine that senses and varies the air pressure) + R2100 for the face mask. Or R6500 (machine that is preset to supply a certain air pressure) + R2100 for the face mask.

I have yet been unable to sleep with the thing. Who has one of these and do you think I should push through with this thing?
 
I've got the R11000 automatic one (resmed brand). Its totally worth it. You will feel so much better but it does take a while to get used to. took me a few months but now 2 years later it feels unnatural to sleep without it
 
AnomalyNexus said:
Hosehead is the resident expert on this.
Click to expand...

Indeed.

Get the automatic version and preferably the Respironics Brand with a humidifier and stick it out. Respironics have some of the best masks on the market. Deal straight with the importers SSEM and get medical insurance to cover the partial costs.
Try a few of the masks to settle on the most comfortable ones. Last time I checked you had to get the masks from the US but they might have stock.
Wrong mask and crap machine will have you throwing in the towel.
Right mask, auto machine and some patience as you adjust you will feel the results and adjust.
 
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I stopped using this equipment after 4 years and 55,000 sleep hours logged because it buggered up my eustaction tube and I can't hear much anymore. Just don't use it like Forever. I'm now looking at jaw realignment surgery.
 
It depends on your machine and your mask.
When I first started it, I hated it. I had this Fisher & Paykel straight cpap machine, and I was given a crap fisher & paykel nasal mask.
I struggled my ass off with the mask. I ended up getting sores on my face from the damn mask while trying to get a good seal.

After doing some research and reading forums, I bought a Respironics REMStar Auto M Series with humidifer machine, and I bought a Respironics Comfortgel mask - all directly from SSEM. SSEM are a bunch of frikkin' morons. Had endless hassles with them. They completely screwed up the medical aid claims - sent my claims to other people's medaid, sent other people's claims to mine.. eish. Anyway.

I was very happy with the comfortgel mask. Bought quite a few over the years, along with parts etc (sometimes it's worth replacing the worn parts and not the entire thing). I still battled with the mask's seal, and leakages etc. About 2 years ago, I did some more research, and decided to try a nasal pillow mask. I got hold of Somnocare locally - Carla - very nice person, and bought a Resmed Mirage Swift II nasal pillow mask. That mask was brilliant. It lasted for a very long time without any maintenance whatsoever. It sealed well, had very few issues with it at all - and it was VERY comfortable, unlike the nasal masks. I could finally comfortably sleep on my sides.

Last month, I decided to replace my Swift II, and got a Swift FX mask. This one is even better. Smaller, lighter and WAY more comfortable than the previous one.

The biggest bane of my life with using xPAP these days is power failures. I CANNOT sleep without my machine. If I do actually fall asleep, I don't sleep well at all, I wake up all the time, my throat hurts from snoring, and I'm not functional at all the next day.

The cpap has made a big difference in my life. I'm no longer tired and sleepy during the day. I no longer fall asleep at the drop of a hat (ok well, I can still do it when I want to, it's just not involuntary anymore).

Stick with it, it WILL make a difference in your life. It's especially helpful if you've got a decent sleep lab behind you. Unfortunately I had a bunch of fscking yahoos that were just after money and cared not a sausage for me, so my treatment has essentially been handled by me with lots of research.

Oh yeah - I was diagnosed in 2005.
 
thisgeek said:
It depends on your machine and your mask.
When I first started it, I hated it. I had this Fisher & Paykel straight cpap machine, and I was given a crap fisher & paykel nasal mask.
I struggled my ass off with the mask. I ended up getting sores on my face from the damn mask while trying to get a good seal.

After doing some research and reading forums, I bought a Respironics REMStar Auto M Series with humidifer machine, and I bought a Respironics Comfortgel mask - all directly from SSEM. SSEM are a bunch of frikkin' morons. Had endless hassles with them. They completely screwed up the medical aid claims - sent my claims to other people's medaid, sent other people's claims to mine.. eish. Anyway.

I was very happy with the comfortgel mask. Bought quite a few over the years, along with parts etc (sometimes it's worth replacing the worn parts and not the entire thing). I still battled with the mask's seal, and leakages etc. About 2 years ago, I did some more research, and decided to try a nasal pillow mask. I got hold of Somnocare locally - Carla - very nice person, and bought a Resmed Mirage Swift II nasal pillow mask. That mask was brilliant. It lasted for a very long time without any maintenance whatsoever. It sealed well, had very few issues with it at all - and it was VERY comfortable, unlike the nasal masks. I could finally comfortably sleep on my sides.

Last month, I decided to replace my Swift II, and got a Swift FX mask. This one is even better. Smaller, lighter and WAY more comfortable than the previous one.

The biggest bane of my life with using xPAP these days is power failures. I CANNOT sleep without my machine. If I do actually fall asleep, I don't sleep well at all, I wake up all the time, my throat hurts from snoring, and I'm not functional at all the next day.

The cpap has made a big difference in my life. I'm no longer tired and sleepy during the day. I no longer fall asleep at the drop of a hat (ok well, I can still do it when I want to, it's just not involuntary anymore).

Stick with it, it WILL make a difference in your life. It's especially helpful if you've got a decent sleep lab behind you. Unfortunately I had a bunch of fscking yahoos that were just after money and cared not a sausage for me, so my treatment has essentially been handled by me with lots of research.

Oh yeah - I was diagnosed in 2005.
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Yeah SSEM Pathetic Hassles All Around...But they are a lot better than they were in 2003....Anyway I quit the Cpap in 2008 as the side effects (inner ear pressure changes/tube damage) outweighed the benefits. I haven't slept well since. I'm too scared to go back on Cpap. There's an ENT who custom makes
jaw realignment mouthpieces whom the sleep docs referred me to. I'm going to give it a try soon. Sleeping and not getting proper sleep really sucks. And snoring? Apparantly I can be heard from outside the house, from the street.
 
Hosehead said:
Yeah SSEM Pathetic Hassles All Around...But they are a lot better than they were in 2003....Anyway I quit the Cpap in 2008 as the side effects (inner ear pressure changes/tube damage) outweighed the benefits. I haven't slept well since. I'm too scared to go back on Cpap. There's an ENT who custom makes
jaw realignment mouthpieces whom the sleep docs referred me to. I'm going to give it a try soon. Sleeping and not getting proper sleep really sucks. And snoring? Apparantly I can be heard from outside the house, from the street.
Click to expand...

Bummer. So far the only side effects I've had (long passed) were that bloaty feeling from swallowing air, and the related burps and farts :p

And yeah, I've also been told I've kept the neighbours awake with my snoring.
 
In Cape Town - Need Help

hi.

I need to get my snoring problem solved. I live in the Cape Town area. I do have a medical aid. Where would you advise me to go? Or what should I try first?
 
I have a 2nd hand machine for sale if anyone knows of someone looking for one
 
You stop breathing while sleeping. Either because of neurological or physiological factors. Most often it's physiological. Your upper airway collapses and you stop breathing for a while that forces you to gasp for breath. The effect of this is a lack of proper sleep and with other serious long term effects. You can google that.

The CPAP machine blows air into your airways splinting it wide open so that you can breathe normally while you're asleep. But it is a pain to get use it.

I hate it and don't want to become use to it. Firstly because it's damn expensive and secondly I'm still single. What woman would want to have nocturnal encounters if they see this ghastly machine that you are going to hook up to yourself?
 
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so are most of you guys doing this therapy because you're tired all day or because your partner now sleeps permanently in the other room?
i'm being serious...
 
My dad had endless hassles with the mask straps. One tip he was given (off the record) was that sweat bands (as in the towelling things for tennish/squash etc) can help make a much better seal. The sweat bands seem to have changed his experience for the better.

I think weight loss may help prevent sleep apnea to some extent.
 
NeedSleep said:
hi.

I need to get my snoring problem solved. I live in the Cape Town area. I do have a medical aid. Where would you advise me to go? Or what should I try first?
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Contact your local hospital and see if they have a sleep lab.

murraybiscuit said:
so are most of you guys doing this therapy because you're tired all day or because your partner now sleeps permanently in the other room?
i'm being serious...
Click to expand...

No, we do the therapy because we have Obstructive Sleep Apnea (Apneoa), which can have detrimental effects on your health. Because you're in effect starving your heart of oxygen while you sleep, you can end up with severe problems, even death - although death is more likely to occur if you fall asleep while driving. :p

hexagon said:
My dad had endless hassles with the mask straps. One tip he was given (off the record) was that sweat bands (as in the towelling things for tennish/squash etc) can help make a much better seal. The sweat bands seem to have changed his experience for the better.
Click to expand...

He should seriously try a different type of mask. I also had endless hassles with seals until I changed to a nasal pillow type mask. Now - no hassles.

hexagon said:
I think weight loss may help prevent sleep apnea to some extent.
Click to expand...

For some people yes. I've had sleep apnea my whole life, even when I was a child and weight was definitely not a factor. I do have a thick neck however which plays a role.
 
Hi I am new to this forum. Also diagnosed with severe osa last year. Got the resmed automatic cpap machine and the nasal pillows mask, but kept breaking the seal when I slept- obviously move around too much. Then I got the full mask which was better but have hardly used the machine at all because I wake up after a couple of hours with a terribly sore stomach from all the air I have swallowed, which then makes me burp terribly. Its really hard to motivate yourself to use something that you know will wake you up in an hour or two in pain. Has anyone else had this problem? Ive tried more pillows and sleeping flat but nothing seems to help. Havent used it for months now because it was so frustrating. Have heard about a mad- mandibular advancement device. Does anyone know a dentist or ent in the east rand who makes them? Willing to try anything now- dont want my health to deteriorate but cant get used to cpap!
 
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debbie73 said:
Hi I am new to this forum. Also diagnosed with severe osa last year. Got the resmed automatic cpap machine and the nasal pillows mask, but kept breaking the seal when I slept- obviously move around too much. Then I got the full mask which was better but have hardly used the machine at all because I wake up after a couple of hours with a terribly sore stomach from all the air I have swallowed, which then makes me burp terribly. Its really hard to motivate yourself to use something that you know will wake you up in an hour or two in pain. Has anyone else had this problem? Ive tried more pillows and sleeping flat but nothing seems to help. Havent used it for months now because it was so frustrating. Have heard about a mad- mandibular advancement device. Does anyone know a dentist or ent in the east rand who makes them? Willing to try anything now- dont want my health to deteriorate but cant get used to cpap!
Click to expand...

I've decided against buying the CPAP machine. I couldn't get used to sleeping with the thing and even though some people say it sometimes take a month to get use to the thing - I DON'T WANT TO GET USE TO THE THING.

This coming Tuesday I have an appointment with a dentist to make me a mouth-piece I assume is the same as what you're talking about. Unfortunately I'm in the Western Cape so I don't know about dentist in your area.

But I'll keep this thread updated with how it goes.
 
Picard said:
I've decided against buying the CPAP machine. I couldn't get used to sleeping with the thing and even though some people say it sometimes take a month to get use to the thing - I DON'T WANT TO GET USE TO THE THING.

This coming Tuesday I have an appointment with a dentist to make me a mouth-piece I assume is the same as what you're talking about. Unfortunately I'm in the Western Cape so I don't know about dentist in your area.

But I'll keep this thread updated with how it goes.
Click to expand...

Yeah I'm also going to get the mouthpiece. There is a dentist out in Panorama area who does them. It moves the lower jaw forward I think.
 
That sucks guys. Sorry to hear that you're having problems.
It took me quite awhile to get used to the thing, and even longer to get over the burpies and farties. Stomach cramp due to air bloat is teh suckage.
 
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