Re learning to use CPAP

[grahame151]

I was using a full face CPAP, took me a while to get used to it, several months when I was diagnosed with poly myalgia rheumatica PMR, which affected my shoulders and for about 6 weeks I couldn't use my mask. Now that's under control I am having problems re learning how to use my mask and I just can't get it right. Seldom more than 1 hr or 1½ hrs sleep and then I want to rip it off.

[Ian1967]

Hi grahame151, are you still using a Full Face mask? I can highly recommend the ResMed AirFit F20, it’s very comfortable and you don’t have any straps on your forehead like you do with most other Full Face masks.

I’ve been using BiPAP for nearly four years now to treat my Co2 retention and mostly with the AirFit F20 and generally use it for 9.5 hours a day made of 2.5 hours in the afternoon and 7 hours at bedtime, I do wake up a couple times in the night and maybe to use the toilet, but I always get back to sleep.

I hope I have been some help.

Ian.

[grahame151 in reply to Ian1967]

Hi Ian - No I haven't been given the F20 but have got the F30 but as yet I can't get used it. It does work for me sitting but not lying down, however I am keeping hold of it and will persevere. I had gotten used to the F30 and had good scores with it on their website, ResMed. I just find it puzzling that having got used to it once I am having this much difficulty getting used to it again. My sleep is really poor at the moment, seldom more than 2 hrs at a time, so I go downstairs and make a drink, hot choc and very often doze in the chair for couple of hours, then back to bed. Consequently I feel like a zombie for a few hours, lack of sleep is a real bugbear as it affects so many things and of course its cumulative. As Churchill is alleged to have said KBO.

[Patk1 in reply to Ian1967]

What's it like and does it go over yr mouth? X

[grahame151 in reply to Patk1]

Yes the F10 goes over mouth and nose and the F30 covers your mouth and finishes under your nose. they are odd but sticking at it makes it easier, take that on trust. It becomes the norm quite quickly when I think back. I suppose when I saw it initially I was quite relived, I expected something bigger, harder and more rigid and its nothing like that. Just take it one day at a time and you'll be ok. Honest

[Patk1 in reply to grahame151]

Yes i have type 2 advanced respiratory failure so been on bipap niv for few years now.mines the masks theyve always given me ill have to check model.ive most probs with my chronic rhinosinusitis with face pain& neck probs.im sure a different massk+straps wld help.thanku x

[Ian1967]

Hi grahame151. I've also tried F30 and couldn't really get used to it, it irritates my nostrils where the mask touches my nose, I also had similar problems with the Philips Resprionics Dreamwear Full Face mask and found both masks difficult to get a good seal with.

I find the F20 very comfortable once set up properly for your comfort and fit, and you can also get memory foam cushions for the F20 which are very comfortable, but be aware I don't think the NHS will supply you with the F20 memory foam cushions, you have buy them from ResMed or elsewhere, but you get them VAT free from ResMed in the UK.

Ian.

[grahame151 in reply to Ian1967]

It sounds like the F20 & F10 are very similar, I presume the F20 is a newer model, that's interesting about the memory foam cushions, I'll remember that - thanks. The fit is a strange one, I can get a 100 score one night then the next lose 20 points for mask leak yet be unaware of it! Normally when its leaking I feel the air blowing across my eyes.

[Ian1967 in reply to grahame151]

Yes the F20 is the upgraded version of the F10, it has magnet technology for the straps and a much better vent the same is used on F30, the F20 cushions are also much better than F10.

Ian.

[Hellodolly]

Hi GrahamYou have my sympathy. I’m on my third mask and it has pillows which jam into the nostrils and can irritate them. I think mine is the p10. Getting used to a new mask takes time and I have definitely been in that situation of thinking that the insomnia caused by the mask is worse than the original problem being treated. Except that the sleep clinic say that my oxygen goes so low at night without it that I must persevere. I feel very strange after those nights with so little sleep.

As you say, when you are on a roll with cpap it can feel really good, and that has definitely kept me going. I have noticed that when I am sleeping badly anyway I seem to have more problems with it.

I got two masks from the hospital, but this third one I bought myself.

Good luck and feel free to pm - we should set up a cpap support group!

[grahame151 in reply to Hellodolly]

That's a great idea - certainly up for that and i have used zoom for our local Breathe Easy group so that would work for a new group.

[Shrimpy-13-22-25]

Hi graham, yes, CPAP takes some getting used to again. By the time I had a mask to fit comfortably the straps were made of a different material that irritated my skin. Not on one at moment as a chest consultant took my off. I used it for my EDAC, basically I have a floppy trachea than closes 70+ when I cough, and CPAP is the only help there is.

[Mrbojangles]

Same here Graham!Just couldn’t cope with the CPAP and decided sleeping with 1ltr oxygen was more effective.

I also now place a second, softer pillow under my main one and find that too helps.

Stay safe..👍

[grahame151 in reply to Mrbojangles]

My pillow is the other way round, soft on top but every so often it feels hard and I just cannot get comfortable!