Friday, October 28, 2005
CPAP’S Here & I’ve Just Awakened from a Most Restful Sleep!
I was at the door as the UPS deliveryman carried the box up the walkway about 3:00 this afternoon. I had the box open and CPAP set up within 10 minutes. I had the most restful sleep it seems that I have had in years. Thank God! And thank each of you for your support during these sleepless 12 days!
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I'm sooo glad. Have a restful weekend.
ReplyDeleteThank God. You poor thing.
ReplyDeleteI'm happy you finally have it and can sleep. I hope you sleep all day today!
ReplyDeleteThanks sonson, Thomas, SFG, and Abby. I am actually beginning to feel human again.
ReplyDeleteokay, so this is interesting to me---what CPAP machine do you have? I've been dealing with one for almost a year and I rarely have a good night's sleep. If I use my machine/mask, I wake up frequently/often but my quality of sleep is better. If I don't use my machine/mask, I don't wake up at all but my sleep quality is a joke. I've recently had a cold for about a week or so and haven't used it. As a result, I'm exceedingly sleep-deprived and a little psychotic. I'm planning on trying a different mask (the reason I wake up so often is that I can feel air leaking through it, or imagine that I do). Anyway, I would be curious to know how you've had such fantastic luck.
ReplyDeleteJay Are: Thanks for the visit. I hope I can answer your questions about CPAP.
ReplyDeleteThe CPAP that just arrived is a REMstar™ lite. It was described at the website where I purchased it as “as portable model designed for easy transport.” What turned me on to it was that it cost less than a third of what I paid for the CPAP that it is replacing, REMstar™ Pro. When it arrived, I realized that the two are virtually the same machine; the difference is the lite does have all of the bells and whistles—digital, monitoring and readout, for example—as the Pro.
I have been using CPAPs for about 15 or 16 years. As the period between my Pro locking up and the arrival of the lite indicates, I have become dependent upon it and cannot sleep without it.
I want to suggest that you do awaken when you don’t use your CPAP, but you are unaware of it. Each time you stop breathing, your brain awaken you enough to get you breathing again. That accounts for the feelings of sleep deprivation when you don’t use the machine.
It has been my experience that the design of the mask is more important than the machine itself. I think that I have had seven or eight different masks, of various designs and costs running from less than $50.00 to over $300.00. Selecting a CPAP mask is a lot like buying cereal. As you walk up and down the grocery isle there are so many to choose, even the same such as Corn Flakes, that unless you have found a favorite, you don’t know which one to buy.
Many people I know are intimidated by the masks. One I owned was like getting in to the helmet of an outer space suit. I hated it, but it’s the one the insurance company would pay for so I used it until it broke. And all of them eventually broke, usually at the point where the plastic that holds the straps connects with the nose piece.
Some masks are designed with “quick releases” to get the mask off fast. That was important for me when I first began using a CPAP. I would sometimes awaken feeling trapped in the mask—or, awaken because the CPAP had stopped running and I couldn’t breath. Now I find that the simply the design of the mask and headgear the better. I also find that Velcro straps are much better than plastic locking pieces, which seem to break quickly.
The mask I selected for this new CPAP was the least complicated and least expensive that the site offered. It isn’t as complex as the space helmet type, is comfortable to wear, and with Velcro straps is easy to adjust and release. A description of the mask I purchased is at http://www.cpap.com/productpage/comfortclassic-mask-headgear-respironics.html
Yes, air is probably leaking from the mask. The rubber nose piece eventually wears out, making the fit less secure and/or small tears develop in it that allows air to escape.
“Fantastic luck?” Who, me?
Wow...thanks for all that great information. I know that when I'm "sleeping" all night without my mask, I'm not really sleeping but waking up and not realizing it. Some nights that's almost preferable to waking up every two hours, adjusting my mask, messing with this and that....My machine is RedMed S7 elite, whatever that might mean. I think the machine I have is probably sufficient---like you said, it's more the mask that's the issue. I think I'm going to try for the mask that moves with you, apparently doesn't leak or not as much. The one I use now has velcro and quick release, both features that are vital.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate all the info. Hope that you have many more nights and years of excellent sleep---we can't do without it. It's amazing what lack of sleep does to the brain and the body. Scary stuff.....