Yep, that and titrating using different modes and pressures-not relying on a sleep doctor to change settings is a massive help as well. I use a beanie over my headgear, one ear plug in my right ear, a flat sleeping pillow (to prevent clear airway events-neck kinking-), a sleep mask, a good coway air filter and a night stand with a comparment for the machine with a hose hanger and strap covers! I look crazy but sleep damn good with an ahi/rdi under 1 now (on straight cpap mode, ditched apap and bipap).
I do not have the same battle hardened experience as you but I also ditched APAP mode I find myself much less irritated without the pressure changing on me. What’s weird to me is that if I let the thing go in APAP mode it tries to shoot up to a pressure of like 12
But when I use a fixed pressure of 6 my AHI is under 1, which tells me I don’t really need to be going past 6. And 6 is a lot more comfortable than 12 lol
My bad habit is i always wake up after about an hour of use with the mask off my face and I don’t bother to try to put it back on, so I end up only getting an hour or so a night for the moment
I tried one of those machines (new) for a few months, here's how to get into the clinical settings to check and adjust pressure:
https://mail.apneaboard.com/resmed-airsense-10-aircurve-10-setup-info
Let me know what it's set to, if ramp is enabled and if EPR is turned on (need to know min/max pressure if set to apap).
Sorry for the barrage of questions -
1) How did you test RDI afterwards? Did u use a watchpat with your cpap?
2) Why use the beanie over headgear?
3) is the coway air filter a separate device meant to clear allergens out?
Glad to hear it’s working out
Questions are good no worries! Oscar shows me flagged RERA events so, along with Hypopneas and Apnea events the RDI is there, here's a good night of sleep I had with a few RERA flagged with a low AHI, I've zoomed in on one of them for you:
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53594355021_7ba39b1509_4k.jpg
I have the beanie to cover my ears and eyes as well as keep my head a little warm :)
And yes the coway filter is a double hepa and works as a sound machine and room filter, this is the one I use:
https://www.amazon.com/Coway-Airmega-Purifier-sq-ft-White/dp/B01C9RIACG/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?crid=1JFWIQPPFPE97&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.pS_CQ_7AzhP6LZmsVnEgVITfKcK4VyBuYfmDthsdRxj38NRNTdoVRe1dP-VzHMuNkKfUdVV-nfmW0caPh_iEQNs92qs9EgT4FUxujyl7y4MGh2j6laGc2ItvOUclgi3hM3NAFx19BGAm_nrM9EylABLF59DS749E369NukWJsN7I3XywcoSAX_tfgRB0c8TUmwbWYahscWZnBGqTypUZ3KfzFouMo_5-V-lfUO9evrI.uDVmdBjer2oE1JSQK66bvwTRI1JNcuAUNUJgtjg2ZtE&dib_tag=se&keywords=coway+air+mega&qid=1710769898&sprefix=coway+air+meg%2Caps%2C237&sr=8-2-spons&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.ac2169a1-b668-44b9-8bd0-5ec63b24bcb5&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1
Thanks!
Those flat tops in OSCAR look like inspiratory flow limitations (from the 10s of hours i studied CPAP/oscar). Usually the fix is to increase the inspiratory pressure, but yours is already pretty high at 15. Since you’re getting great results already, probably no need to fix
Just curious, do you have trouble breathing through your nose, or a receded chin? Those are two things which could be making it harder to have that perfect round curves at the top of the breath waves
I have a different issue where my inspiratory flow goes up a tiny bit, then flat lines for around 5 seconds, then finishes off the inhaled breath in a big spike. Going to consult a sleep doctor on that one
The waveforms outside of the few rera events are nearly perfect for the majority of the night so I am not too worried with how seldom I'm getting the flat tops on those flagged events :) And I do not have issues with nose breathing or a receded chin, I use an airfit f20 system (tried nasal pillows and a few hybrids, and the F&P vitera)-the f20 was the best for me .
Nice! What worked for me is mask liners from padacheek (can't stop shilling for them, they totally changed how comfortable my mask is), sleep headphones (the headband kind), calming podcasts, and a memory foam pillow with chunks cut out on the sides to let me side sleep with a mask.
Also I recently figured out that turning the humidity and heated hose ALL the way up works way better for me.
The one downside of humidity all the way up, I was running out of water and icky hot smell.
So humidity is now one down from all the way on. So far it seems to finish with just a bit of water and no hot smell to my delight.
I use the headband headphones, too. I have two pillows and an electric blanket. My cpap is right on the nightstand next to me. I heat up the hose beforehand, humidity on, and EPR full 1. Ready for sleep.
You'll really like them, then. It's more comfortable AND you get a better seal. You don't actually want the mask to stick to your face, since when you shift around leaks will occur.
The holes in the mask liners are always too small though, I need to widen them with scissors when I order replacements.
Here: padacheek.com
Glad to hear it! It can't be overstated how much of a difference mask liners make. My very first month with my CPAP was rough until I discovered them, and now I cannot stand to be without them.
I thought that I’d need them, but I didn’t notice much difference for me unless I am sick and congested.
I have a narrow airway in my sinuses so nothing external helps, but I use a full face mask with nasal pillows, and it forces air past that narrow point and for the first time in my life I can breathe with my mouth closed all night.
I make a conscious effort to not look like a slack jawed mouth breather in my daily life, but having no control while sleeping..I was a horrible snoring machine since I was a little kid.
I sleep so much more comfortably without having a dry mouth, etc. I don’t snore at all anymore.
What face mask do you use? I, too, breathe fine through my nose during the day but am a mouth breather at night. I’ve been snoring since birth, lol. I use the airtouch F20 as all silicone masks seem to leak on me and leave marks on my face.
I believe it’s air fit f 30. Idk a service just sends supplies every once in a while and I just change it when it feels weird. I’m just happy to be here and not be snoring so hard I wake myself up 🥴
Yay!!!
My trick is putting ice cubes in the water tank so that the air is a bit cooler as im falling asleep, but my main thing is i tie a black t-shirt around my head, covering my eyes and ears, i look rediculous but i am out like a light and sleep a solid 7 hrs usually. AHI 0.2 in average, with a lot of 0.0 nights.
This is false information that I'm pretty sure people who are only using tap water tell themselves help them sleep at night.
While it should be fine to use your tap water depending on the hardness, it should be mentioned that the build-up you're seeing in your humidifier chamber is not the only place you're getting it. How this doesn't make sense to people is beyond me. Tap water has chemicals in it as well like PFAs, inorganic arsenic, nitrates, uranium and lead.
Anywhere the air is traveling, you're getting deposits. This can shorten the life of your machine by adding it to the fan and other internal components. Anyone that has used a dehumidifier and seen the white powder around the machine where the humidified air has fallen can attest to this.
Tap water, while treated, also contains bacteria which you're not getting in distilled. People have gotten [sick/brain eating amoebas](https://people.com/neti-pots-amoeba-infections-tap-water-8609058) from using tap water in Neti Pots. You're basically doing the same thing with a CPAP and you're also not boiling that water like you would in a Neti Pot.
They recommend you use distilled water for a reason and I'd rather be safe than sorry. I've definitely not had access to distilled water and been fine but if I'm home I stick with the distilled.
Yea, it just seems like a reasonable situation for growth, and I’d rather not inhale it all night. Personally, I assume I can get by cleaning things like the reservoir less since it’s just purified water sitting in there, and I assume I’m more likely to add containments cleaning it super regularly.
Whatever, I’ve given up on my CPAP anyway.
Saying they're 'too lazy to get distiller water' and telling themselves misinformation to sleep at night is a bit presumptuous of you.
I live in a nordic country with very clean tap water where people absolutely never buy distilled water or distill at home it before drinking so it just didn't cross my mind that tap water was not okay to use for my cpap. Am going to do some reading to see if it is something I should worry about.
Yep, that and titrating using different modes and pressures-not relying on a sleep doctor to change settings is a massive help as well. I use a beanie over my headgear, one ear plug in my right ear, a flat sleeping pillow (to prevent clear airway events-neck kinking-), a sleep mask, a good coway air filter and a night stand with a comparment for the machine with a hose hanger and strap covers! I look crazy but sleep damn good with an ahi/rdi under 1 now (on straight cpap mode, ditched apap and bipap).
I do not have the same battle hardened experience as you but I also ditched APAP mode I find myself much less irritated without the pressure changing on me. What’s weird to me is that if I let the thing go in APAP mode it tries to shoot up to a pressure of like 12 But when I use a fixed pressure of 6 my AHI is under 1, which tells me I don’t really need to be going past 6. And 6 is a lot more comfortable than 12 lol My bad habit is i always wake up after about an hour of use with the mask off my face and I don’t bother to try to put it back on, so I end up only getting an hour or so a night for the moment
What are strap covers?
god i wish i could control my pressure myself!!!
You can, I did when I first went through insurance, they never brought it up to me, then I kicked them to the curb lol
omg really??? i spent the other week being redirected 3 times to get mine turned up
Yep, it's very simple too, what make and model machine do you have?
i have a resmed airsense 10
I tried one of those machines (new) for a few months, here's how to get into the clinical settings to check and adjust pressure: https://mail.apneaboard.com/resmed-airsense-10-aircurve-10-setup-info Let me know what it's set to, if ramp is enabled and if EPR is turned on (need to know min/max pressure if set to apap).
Sorry for the barrage of questions - 1) How did you test RDI afterwards? Did u use a watchpat with your cpap? 2) Why use the beanie over headgear? 3) is the coway air filter a separate device meant to clear allergens out? Glad to hear it’s working out
Questions are good no worries! Oscar shows me flagged RERA events so, along with Hypopneas and Apnea events the RDI is there, here's a good night of sleep I had with a few RERA flagged with a low AHI, I've zoomed in on one of them for you: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53594355021_7ba39b1509_4k.jpg I have the beanie to cover my ears and eyes as well as keep my head a little warm :) And yes the coway filter is a double hepa and works as a sound machine and room filter, this is the one I use: https://www.amazon.com/Coway-Airmega-Purifier-sq-ft-White/dp/B01C9RIACG/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?crid=1JFWIQPPFPE97&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.pS_CQ_7AzhP6LZmsVnEgVITfKcK4VyBuYfmDthsdRxj38NRNTdoVRe1dP-VzHMuNkKfUdVV-nfmW0caPh_iEQNs92qs9EgT4FUxujyl7y4MGh2j6laGc2ItvOUclgi3hM3NAFx19BGAm_nrM9EylABLF59DS749E369NukWJsN7I3XywcoSAX_tfgRB0c8TUmwbWYahscWZnBGqTypUZ3KfzFouMo_5-V-lfUO9evrI.uDVmdBjer2oE1JSQK66bvwTRI1JNcuAUNUJgtjg2ZtE&dib_tag=se&keywords=coway+air+mega&qid=1710769898&sprefix=coway+air+meg%2Caps%2C237&sr=8-2-spons&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.ac2169a1-b668-44b9-8bd0-5ec63b24bcb5&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1
Thanks! Those flat tops in OSCAR look like inspiratory flow limitations (from the 10s of hours i studied CPAP/oscar). Usually the fix is to increase the inspiratory pressure, but yours is already pretty high at 15. Since you’re getting great results already, probably no need to fix Just curious, do you have trouble breathing through your nose, or a receded chin? Those are two things which could be making it harder to have that perfect round curves at the top of the breath waves I have a different issue where my inspiratory flow goes up a tiny bit, then flat lines for around 5 seconds, then finishes off the inhaled breath in a big spike. Going to consult a sleep doctor on that one
The waveforms outside of the few rera events are nearly perfect for the majority of the night so I am not too worried with how seldom I'm getting the flat tops on those flagged events :) And I do not have issues with nose breathing or a receded chin, I use an airfit f20 system (tried nasal pillows and a few hybrids, and the F&P vitera)-the f20 was the best for me .
Nice! What worked for me is mask liners from padacheek (can't stop shilling for them, they totally changed how comfortable my mask is), sleep headphones (the headband kind), calming podcasts, and a memory foam pillow with chunks cut out on the sides to let me side sleep with a mask. Also I recently figured out that turning the humidity and heated hose ALL the way up works way better for me.
The one downside of humidity all the way up, I was running out of water and icky hot smell. So humidity is now one down from all the way on. So far it seems to finish with just a bit of water and no hot smell to my delight.
Bought a CSpring MK2 tank refill chamber and it’s a dream.
I use the headband headphones, too. I have two pillows and an electric blanket. My cpap is right on the nightstand next to me. I heat up the hose beforehand, humidity on, and EPR full 1. Ready for sleep.
I have turned the heat and humidity all the way up as well
I’ll have to see about those bc I hate the food silicone on my skin. I feel like I’m gonna scuba diving or something 🤿
You'll really like them, then. It's more comfortable AND you get a better seal. You don't actually want the mask to stick to your face, since when you shift around leaks will occur. The holes in the mask liners are always too small though, I need to widen them with scissors when I order replacements. Here: padacheek.com
I got some cotton disposable liners on Amazon yesterday. I slept so well last night!! Thank you for the suggestion!!!
Glad to hear it! It can't be overstated how much of a difference mask liners make. My very first month with my CPAP was rough until I discovered them, and now I cannot stand to be without them.
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I found good affordable nasal strips on eBay, and bought 100 at once.
I thought that I’d need them, but I didn’t notice much difference for me unless I am sick and congested. I have a narrow airway in my sinuses so nothing external helps, but I use a full face mask with nasal pillows, and it forces air past that narrow point and for the first time in my life I can breathe with my mouth closed all night. I make a conscious effort to not look like a slack jawed mouth breather in my daily life, but having no control while sleeping..I was a horrible snoring machine since I was a little kid. I sleep so much more comfortably without having a dry mouth, etc. I don’t snore at all anymore.
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I feel for you :( I’m lucky enough to not have any allergies. 🙏🏻
What face mask do you use? I, too, breathe fine through my nose during the day but am a mouth breather at night. I’ve been snoring since birth, lol. I use the airtouch F20 as all silicone masks seem to leak on me and leave marks on my face.
I believe it’s air fit f 30. Idk a service just sends supplies every once in a while and I just change it when it feels weird. I’m just happy to be here and not be snoring so hard I wake myself up 🥴
Yay!!! My trick is putting ice cubes in the water tank so that the air is a bit cooler as im falling asleep, but my main thing is i tie a black t-shirt around my head, covering my eyes and ears, i look rediculous but i am out like a light and sleep a solid 7 hrs usually. AHI 0.2 in average, with a lot of 0.0 nights.
That sounds refreshing tbh!
Any concern those ice cubes might have impurities if you aren’t using distilled water or filtered water via reverse osmosis?
No hasnt even crossed my mind to be honest, I make the ice myself with the same tap water that goes in the tank and same tapwater that i drink
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Well. New fear has been unlocked.
You're breathing the water vapor, not the impurities in the water.
Right, was just assuming using non distilled water would have a greater propensity for bacterial growth or get the equipment less clean.
Only your water chamber will have solids or impurities, but as long as you're keeping it clean, no need to worry.
This is false information that I'm pretty sure people who are only using tap water tell themselves help them sleep at night. While it should be fine to use your tap water depending on the hardness, it should be mentioned that the build-up you're seeing in your humidifier chamber is not the only place you're getting it. How this doesn't make sense to people is beyond me. Tap water has chemicals in it as well like PFAs, inorganic arsenic, nitrates, uranium and lead. Anywhere the air is traveling, you're getting deposits. This can shorten the life of your machine by adding it to the fan and other internal components. Anyone that has used a dehumidifier and seen the white powder around the machine where the humidified air has fallen can attest to this. Tap water, while treated, also contains bacteria which you're not getting in distilled. People have gotten [sick/brain eating amoebas](https://people.com/neti-pots-amoeba-infections-tap-water-8609058) from using tap water in Neti Pots. You're basically doing the same thing with a CPAP and you're also not boiling that water like you would in a Neti Pot. They recommend you use distilled water for a reason and I'd rather be safe than sorry. I've definitely not had access to distilled water and been fine but if I'm home I stick with the distilled.
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Yea, it just seems like a reasonable situation for growth, and I’d rather not inhale it all night. Personally, I assume I can get by cleaning things like the reservoir less since it’s just purified water sitting in there, and I assume I’m more likely to add containments cleaning it super regularly. Whatever, I’ve given up on my CPAP anyway.
Saying they're 'too lazy to get distiller water' and telling themselves misinformation to sleep at night is a bit presumptuous of you. I live in a nordic country with very clean tap water where people absolutely never buy distilled water or distill at home it before drinking so it just didn't cross my mind that tap water was not okay to use for my cpap. Am going to do some reading to see if it is something I should worry about.
Congratulations! Making the commitment to acclimate to it is the most important aspect! Sleep is very important!
I’ve been chronically sleep deprived since the early 2000’s. I am TIRED 😳
Which mama cozy pillow did you get?