CPAP Technology Marches On

[billroper]

I'm still getting used to the new CPAP. It's got a feature that causes it to pause the blowing when you exhale to make it easier to exhale. No back pressure, right? Unfortunately, this made me nuts within an hour, so I dialed it back to the minimum setting. That was much better. It still makes a different noise than the old CPAP, but I'll get used to that.

I haven't been able to use the new mask, because the flap smells of mildew, even after washing it. Since I'm rather allergic to mildew, I've decided not to spend the night breathing it. I've got a call in to the supplier to see about exchanging the mask when daisy_knotwise goes back to get her new CPAP unit tomorrow.

The most entertaining thing about the new unit is that I don't have to hit the switch to start it. I put on the mask and inhale through my nose. The sensors detect the pressure change and start blowing automatically.

I still have to switch it off -- although there's a setting that would make it shut itself off too if it detected that I'd removed the mask! But that's something I'll think about later. :)

Comments

[shsilver.livejournal.com]

Sounds a lot like the one I have. My problem is that when my allergies bother me (about 90% of the time) it feels like I'm suffocating when using it.

[carolf.livejournal.com]

Does the mask have two small plastic plugs that cover the two small holes, one on each side of the hose?

If so, you can lift them, either one or both. This lets your exhaled breath leave the mask sooner, cutting down on the carbon dioxide build-up.

No one mentioned it to me -- I found it out on my own.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

The last time I had a sleep study, all I wanted was an increase in pressure. The techs decided that, at some point in the night, I was responding well to BIPAP, which is what it sounds like you have.

I used it twice. The pressure fluctuation was literally distracting me awake with every single breath.

I eventually had it recalibrated so that the exhaling pressure was the same as the inhaling pressure, effectively making it a CPAP.

[carolf.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. On mine, the control that sets the machine to start once I don the mask is the same control that shuts the machine down if I remove the mask. It didn't take two different settings.

[ladyrutile.livejournal.com]

When I got my new mask, I complained to the tech of the smell. He explained that it was not mildew, but the scent of the material the mask is made of. Since I am allergic to mildew, also, I figured that if he was wrong, one night's use would demonstrate that. In my case, he wasn't wrong; over the next week the smell dissipated and I never had a reaction.

With the fall & winter rains already starting in Seattle, I'm back on Claritin. It does a lovely job of limiting that suffocating feeling when your allergies kick in.

cpap

[(Anonymous)]

I just got my cpap machine today, having been thru the overnight sleep study last week. I can hardly stand the thought of having to put this thing on in front of my husband or having to actually try to sleep with it on. I am very depressed right now.

Re: cpap

[billroper]

Don't be depressed by it -- to some extent, the CPAP is a cure for depression. There's nothing that improves one's disposition like getting a good night's sleep.

And a CPAP mask is certainly no worse than the classic "my wife is going to bed in a face mask and curlers" look that you see in the movies.