CPAP first time user - your experience please, 4G etc

[secondtry]

I picked up a Resmed CPAP machine with a nasal only mask yesterday from our local Guildford (Surrey) NHS hospital to hopefully remove my mild sleep apnoea and stop me waking around 3 times every night.

Any comments on member's experience would be appreciated. In particular before I start, do members think it wise to be linked up by 4G Airview to the hospital. No real knowledge but concerned these radio waves might contribute to an AF issue on their own or indeed whether they can be switched off?

[CDreamer]

I have been using CPAP for 10 years now. YES - link up to the hospital - you are already bathing in EMF’s & 4G & 5G radio waves whether you like it or not unless you are living in isolation miles away from other forms of civilisation. Has absolutely no affect on AF for me but I do try to do some ‘grounding’ every day - bare feet on natural earth or concrete or brick.

It is essential the clinic can monitor your use and any potential problems. There should be good back up advice and contact numbers for you?

When I first wore CPAP the clinic held a masterclass on how to use + several 1:1 follow up sessions. We were told to first get used to the mask. Wear it around the house for a few hours a day. Don’t expect to be able to wear it all of the time, first off as it takes time for your body to adjust. Is it fixed pressure or variable (air sense model?). If it is fixed pressure then ensure you know what that is so that you can ask for that to be lowered if you cannot tolerate the pressure.

It may take you 6-8 weeks to adjust so that you can tolerate it for the whole night - first week you may do well for 1-2 hours - the more your persist - the longer you can wear it for and the more you will benefit.

Getting the fit of the mask right and be prepared for the odd leak and needing to adjust the straps. If a nasal mask, unless you tape up your mouth you will lose the benefit and end up with an impossibly dry mouth! I like the ‘O’ Tape - expensive but works really well as it allow you to open your mouth slightly.

I cannot tell you just how much I have benefitted from the use of CPAP and believe it has literally saved me from hospitalisation on more than one occasion, especially when I had COVID.

Don’t hesitate to PM me if you have any questions and do go onto the ResMed site and look at their videos - they are much more helpful than the literature that comes with the machine.

Best wishes and good luck

[secondtry in reply to CDreamer]

Thanks so much CDreamer, some great tips there and encouragement. I am pleased to say I have the variable air sense model.

Pleased it worked so well for you!

[BobD Volunteer]

My PM is linked to a wifi dongle that is linked to hospital, your phone emits emf all the time and unless you sleep in Faraday cage you are swimming in the stuff all the time so one more won't make any difference.

[secondtry in reply to BobD]

Thanks Bob,I thought that might be the case.

[Threecats]

Hi Secondtry

Glad you’ve been given a machine this time. I can’t add very much to the excellent advice CDreamer has given you.

The only thing I would say is that, when they gave me my machine it was set to auto titrate with the pressure able to vary between 5 - 20. That didn’t work for me at all and in fact caused me to give up on it first time round. Unfortunately, I was given mine during lockdown, so I didn’t receive the excellent support CDreamer received.

When I had another go with my own machine, some months later, I learned how to adjust the pressure myself and so started low on a fixed pressure and gradually increased to a therapeutic level over 6 weeks or so, allowing myself time to adjust along the way. You may not have a problem but if you do, it would be worth trying that method. Two YouTube channels : CPAP Reviews and The Lanky Lefty27 have very useful videos on using CPAP and overcoming some of the more common problems that can be encountered.

I also use a software program called OSCAR (Open Source CPAP Analysis Reporter) which is free to download and use. I upload the sd card data from my CPAP machine to OSCAR. That shows far more information, in graph form, of your night’s sleep and what apneas/hypopneas you had etc, as Resmed software is notorious for not reporting all the events you may be having when it calculates your nightly AHI value (apnoea/hypopnea index). They tend to understate the number, so I use OSCAR to show me if I need to increase the pressure, keep an eye on mask leaks etc.

Sorry, could bore for England on this topic😀Good luck with it and let us know how you get on. TC

[secondtry in reply to Threecats]

Thanks so much Threecats,not boring at all, very useful for a novice to know. Fortunately, my machine is not auto titrate. It will be interesting to find out how it goes, even if it only rules out SA as the cause of my frequent awakening in the night that will be a result!

[Threecats in reply to secondtry]

Fingers crossed that it helps you with that problem.