Cpap / sleep apnea thread

[cap’nboldenone]

It's weird: No one knows whether they have sleep apnea before the sleep study. People can snore super loudly and not have it. My wife (now ex-wife) was quite confident I didn't have sleep apnea. I had (and have) severe sleep apnea even after losing 50 pounds of weight using weight loss drugs.

Snoring can go either way, but if someone tells you that it sounds like you’re choking in your sleep then you probably have it.

 

[Liter O' Test]

just got the nasal mask, hope it doesnt make my nostrils bigger , wondering if thats what happened to mike isreatel

 

[crtx]

I have a mild case and have bought probably 3k worth of masks and still cant find one that I can sleep throughout the night with, It seems to help when I can use it but i finally gave up.

really? $3K is alot of masks bro. you probably have purchased each type, brand and model now.

what is the problem? is your device set-up correctly. aint always about the masks.

 

[keengkong]

really? $3K is alot of masks bro. you probably have purchased each type, brand and model now.

what is the problem? is your device set-up correctly. aint always about the masks.

Getting the right mask is very important.

 

[007R]

This is my mask

 

[crtx]

Getting the right mask is very important.

only went through 3 different types with sleep specialist.
thought i was a mouth breather = wrong i was choking for air so full face didn't suite me. didn't like the elephant look.
2nd was the nasal pillows with air hose side of face = was heaps better but i side sleep sometimes pillows moved.
3rd and lastly the one i use daily is the resmed p30i. i actually am a nose sleeper breather with the adequate air.

next issues for me was the air pressure on exhale once that was sorted amd ramp times haven't touch the cpap settings since. i normally sleep and literally do not move the vaccum that gets created forces my tongue up to roof and jaw shut automatically.

cpap game changer i wasn't crazy bad 32 ahi but still needed it. i run the lowenstien prisma 20a.

 

[Liter O' Test]

only went through 3 different types with sleep specialist.
thought i was a mouth breather = wrong i was choking for air so full face didn't suite me. didn't like the elephant look.
2nd was the nasal pillows with air hose side of face = was heaps better but i side sleep sometimes pillows moved.
3rd and lastly the one i use daily is the resmed p30i. i actually am a nose sleeper breather with the adequate air.

next issues for me was the air pressure on exhale once that was sorted amd ramp times haven't touch the cpap settings since. i normally sleep and literally do not move the vaccum that gets created forces my tongue up to roof and jaw shut automatically.

cpap game changer i wasn't crazy bad 32 ahi but still needed it. i run the lowenstien prisma 20a.

i have the p30i but i think it the airflow gets restricted when i sleep on my side or it just comes off

 

[HeatherSwanson]

Finally got around to getting a sleep study, turns out I had severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea with ~33 events per hour

The VA gave me a Resmed Airsense 10. The lady at the clinic asked me if I breath through my mouth when I sleep and I answered yes because every morning when I wake up, my mouth feels like the fucking Sahara. Probably not helped by my deviated septum which I'm sure was aggravated some years back by breaking my nose on a parachute jump. So due to the mouth breathing I got the full face mask instead of the nose pillow. I'm only a couple nights in so far but my questions are these

-How long did it take for you to get used to? I'm a side sleeper and if I try to fall asleep with the mask on on my side I wake up a few hours later with the mask on the floor and no memory of having taken it off. If I've slept a couple hours a night these past few nights I'd be surprised.

-What mask do you use? Nose pillow or full face?

-And the last, how did it impact your sleep quality and quality of life?

Took me about 2 weeks to get used to the fighter jet mask forcing air into my upper face hole.

I slowly got used to the feeling of being refreshed after sleep, a new experience, which offset the desire to bootfuck the $3000 Panasonic cpap off the 2nd story deck into the neighbors yard.

I look weathered as fuck for my age, with people often thinking I'm 10-15 years older than I am. I just don't have huge bags under my eyes now and roll out of bed like the terminator without the groggy 30 minuet stumble around I used to have.

After coming to terms with it being apart of my night time anatomy, I put the box in the upper drawer of the night stand. Then I got a longer hose and hung it off one of the metal loops on the headboard. I was less pissed off at it.

Pro tip - keep the machine clean, really clean, make sure the water if full every night, sometimes for some reason I'll suck the tank dry.

Overall experience 7/10

 

[thestruggle]

I did a sleep apnea test and I was diagnosed with mild OSA. That is, AHI 13.4 /h. Higher than 15, and I would be given a CPAP.

With this mild thing, I still suffer and wake up a lot. With 33 events per hour, pooh, man, I hope you can get some rest after getting a cpap.

Also consider this new thing I was also not given access to:
Inspire Upper Airway Stimulation – P130008/S090

Finally got around to getting a sleep study, turns out I had severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea with ~33 events per hour

The VA gave me a Resmed Airsense 10. The lady at the clinic asked me if I breath through my mouth when I sleep and I answered yes because every morning when I wake up, my mouth feels like the fucking Sahara. Probably not helped by my deviated septum which I'm sure was aggravated some years back by breaking my nose on a parachute jump. So due to the mouth breathing I got the full face mask instead of the nose pillow. I'm only a couple nights in so far but my questions are these

-How long did it take for you to get used to? I'm a side sleeper and if I try to fall asleep with the mask on on my side I wake up a few hours later with the mask on the floor and no memory of having taken it off. If I've slept a couple hours a night these past few nights I'd be surprised.

-What mask do you use? Nose pillow or full face?

-And the last, how did it impact your sleep quality and quality of life?

 

[OldGHGuy]

I did a sleep apnea test and I was diagnosed with mild OSA. That is, AHI 13.4 /h. Higher than 15, and I would be given a CPAP.

With this mild thing, I still suffer and wake up a lot. With 33 events per hour, pooh, man, I hope you can get some rest after getting a cpap.

Also consider this new thing I was also not given access to:
Inspire Upper Airway Stimulation – P130008/S090

Interesting. Mine was also in that same range but I was told anything over 5 warrants a CPAP and I was prescribed one

 

[keengkong]

 

[keengkong]

View attachment 350586

I tested twice. The first time I had an AHI of 40. About eight months later, I tested again. This time my AHI was 70. That was 14 years ago. I've been using CPAP since shortly after the first sleep study. My sleep apnea is rated as severe.

 

[dallascowboys01]

really? $3K is alot of masks bro. you probably have purchased each type, brand and model now.

what is the problem? is your device set-up correctly. aint always about the masks.

That aint no lie, i have a damn box full of them! every frickin major brand and the issue is always the same, like the f20 is good but it leaks, f40 and others i have tried mess with my nose. The p20 i cant stand things in my nose and the n30i is the closest i have found that works but it and the dreamwear seem to come off in the middle of the night. I have tried the full faces, the bleep and a crap ton more lol but in the end, they always keep me up or keep me from falling a sleep.

 

[RockyP]

it's been mentioned in this thread but I can't stress enough how important mask fitment is - it's really "it" - when I first got my cpap I was so frustrated with the awful fitment of the mask that I returned the machine to the home health company and said fuck it - that was an enormous mistake. It took almost half a year to get it back (and in the interim I got a full in-hospital sleep study and found out that I was one of the ~ 15% of people who did not tolerate the auto CPAP setting, which is what the machines come as from the factory). So once i got my settings fixed and the mask fitted properly, it changed everything. Between insurance approval, long wait times for the in house sleep study, and getting the machine back, it was one of the worst experiences of my life. My baseline OSA was very severe and I can't function / sleep without it now.

I urge anyone struggling with similar issues to keep plugging away until the masks are fitted correctly and your CPAP is working for you. Every single person on HRT / PED's should get a sleep study and use a CPAP. It's as essential as anything else you do for your body. Even if you're not "big" / fat / huge (muscular), you have no idea what the soft tissues of your palate are doing when you're sleeping. My PCP is about 150 lbs soaking wet and he has severe OSA also. You can't tell by snoring, etc. Just get the test and find out.

Added bonus: You'll be able to run higher dosages of gear if you get your OSA fixed...

 

[Photon]

I have a mild case and have bought probably 3k worth of masks and still cant find one that I can sleep throughout the night with, It seems to help when I can use it but i finally gave up.

If you're in the US most mask manufacturers will allow you to return them for up to 30days, as long as you pay for return shipping.

 

[dallascowboys01]

If you're in the US most mask manufacturers will allow you to return them for up to 30days, as long as you pay for return shipping.

I found that out a little too late!

 

[sliderke]

I went to my annual cepap appointment today. Always had a nose mask which worked fine in the beginning.
Because my nose still gets clogged a lot after my sinus operation they gave me a full mask now since I can not breath otherwise. Curious how this is gonna feel.

The lung doctor also said that I need to contact my nose throat ears doctor (don’t know how you guys call that in the us) has too look into biological medicinesfor my sinus polyps. They seem to work better than a new operation. They are some
Sort of protein medicine that attach somewhere in your body and direcrly
Support the immune system. Gonna have to sort out if there is no conflict with aas.

 

[keengkong]

I went to my annual cepap appointment today. Always had a nose mask which worked fine in the beginning.
Because my nose still gets clogged a lot after my sinus operation they gave me a full mask now since I can not breath otherwise. Curious how this is gonna feel.

The lung doctor also said that I need to contact my nose throat ears doctor (don’t know how you guys call that in the us) has too look into biological medicinesfor my sinus polyps. They seem to work better than a new operation. They are some
Sort of protein medicine that attach somewhere in your body and direcrly
Support the immune system. Gonna have to sort out if there is no conflict with aas.

The term for that type of doctor in the US is ENT, which are the initials for ear, nose, and throat. The more formal term is otolaryngologist.

The only masks that work for me are the full face masks.

Good luck with the nasal polyps.