British Snoring & Sleep Apnoea Association

My hubby was diagnosed on the basis of his Epworth score and a home sleep study, but was given an APAP machine so the machine sorts itself out!

I always find it amazing that people get a machine on the basis of a home test.
How can they set up a machine on this basis?
Yes, I know there are APAP machines, but surely a home test should be only the first stage to check the possibility you have OSA and further tests required.

As for going to the loo, does your nose choke up as soon as the machine stops?
If not leave the mask on and remove the hose from the humidifier/machine and put the hose over your shoulder.
Hose weight.
Try suspending your hose pipe above your bed head or a stand to just take the weight off. It can be tied and an elastic band or stretchy used for a bit off give.
Do not put the elastic band directly one to the hose as it may cut the hose. A metal or plastic ring larger than the hose so the hose can slide through if it needs to is best, bit a bit of experimenting may be needed to suit your own needs.

Thank you Alsacienne you are certainly a mind of information and a great support that I really appreciate. I have an appointment next week at the clinic so I will ask about allergies then. I will also try putting the mask on laid down as that does make perfect sense.

I have to say (very naughtily) that I didn't use my CPAP last night. For some reason I couldn't get my asthma to calm down enough that I needed to be able to breath deeper than I can through my nose, I was very Ventolin dependent all evening (I am needing my ventolin a lot more since the CPAP arrived too so I must discuss that at the clinic because I would have expected that to be the other way round too. I don't think this weather is helping, being lovely one minute and lousy the next, the pollen and other irritants are rife. Anyway, so much to say I slept like a baby and feel very refreshed this morning (think it should be other way round where using CPAP gives the best morning feeling, but hey!) so with recharged batteries and hopefully easier breathing I will resume use tonight. I am definitely not giving up and I am trying so hard to make it work for me with a nasal mask as anything bigger is just a no no for me.

Many, many thanks again. I really hope that my discussions on here become more positive soon as I really do whinge a lot lately!

Sorry I can't help with this one, but don't forget that you're getting more air than you used to before you had the machine to help you keep the airway open and it might be linked to this .... some of us burp or fart more, you seem to meet the air halfway



I can relate to this ... but I think that what's happening is that you are clenching your teeth when you're asleep and this is what's leading to the pain. I've done it and can't stop it before I wake with pain and nothing to see for it! I have tried just to tell myself that it happens and that the pain will go away (perhaps 3 or 4 hours later, but it DOES go!) and to try to relax when I'm going to sleep. Putting my tongue so it touches the roof of my mouth behind my top teeth sometimes helps!



The clue to solving this one is that you fitted your mask when sitting up ... which is only logical but doesn't help!! Lie down with the machine OFF, adjust your mask by pulling the straps GENTLY and both at the same time so that the mask just lies gently on your face. Then put the machine on. It should sit like a hovercraft's skirt on the sea, so you can turn without it losing contact with your face. A gentle contact is what's required. Try it again and if you still have a problem let us know.



You are not alone in your noctural visits to the loo!! Have you discussed with your sleep tech if you might be allergic to the material used to construct the mask? Might a topical decongestant help? I hope other members might suggest other ways to help you with this. Sorry I can't really suggest anything because I don't live in the UK and don't know what's available. I would think that this site might offer some product ... have a look at their shop or ask Dan the administrator by pm.

Hi Kazzie,

I sympathise with with you, its kind of ironic that you are struggling since you have started CPAP, I believe I am struggling because I dont have CPAP, not diagnosed yet, Sleep Study done but I slept great for that !.
I hope things settle down for you and you start to reap some benefits.

Mike

Thank you Headthrob, for your reply to both this and my journal, I really appreciate your support. I have never heard of that hiccups remedy, I will give it a try when I have a person B around. I don't (generally speaking) have a problem getting rid of the hiccups I am just really down at the frequency that I get them. Is that a commonly shared side effect of fellow CPAP users?

I hope that you are doing well as a newbie and please feel free to throw any advice to me that you've got or had yourself.

Many , many thanks and best wishes

Uncanny, I just replied to one of your other posts! Sorry to hear that you're having a bad time with your equipment and I wish I could offer more help but I am a newbie when it comes to this too.

I can offer a cure to hiccups though. I have found that the method described here has cured 99.9% of people I have used it on and I am quite surprised it isn't more commonly known as it works brilliantly.

You will need two people to do this, Person A is the person with hiccups and Person B is the non-hiccup person. Person A needs to put their little fingers in each of their ears, not too far but far enough to plug it up as much as possible and you get that muted sound when everything sounds far away and echoing. Person B now needs to get a large glass of cold water and bring this up to the lips of Person A, now Person B slowly pours the water into the mouth of Person A and Person A must try to drink as much as they can. Person B needs to pour this at a steady rate but not too fast as it will get very messy!Once the glass is empty, Person A can relax and be hiccup free

There is a bit of science behind this but I won't go into details unless someone wants to?

Next time you see someone with hiccups, try this method, I have only had it fail on me once.

I have had 10 days with the CPAP machine and thought I'd have turned a corner by now but it's getting worse. I am tolerating the mask better and with the humidifier I am not getting as dry but there is still some dryness. My humidifier is on 3.5 which appears to be the best I can do with it (3 is too dry and 4 drowns me lol)

1. Has anyone else found they have a really high frequency of hiccups through the daytime? They are driving me crackers and it's not something that ever happened like this before and now it's been going on for over a week. People that I see and speak to regularly have started to comment on them now as I seem to every them most of the time.

2. Also, my teeth are killing me. I can't bite on anything with my front teeth now as they feel sore and have slightly loosened. My mask is not too tight as I have loosened that to as much as I can without creating leaks. (Zest Nasal Mask)

3. I get my mask fitting fine while sat up but as soon as I lay down it feels like a ton weight on my face. I find comfort if I hold/support it with my hand where the hose connects but of course as soon as I fall asleep I let go and it wakes me up after about an hour.

4. I can't get up in the night for the loo or anything because I only get one go at wearing the mask. What I mean is that my nose is fien through the day and bedtime but once I've had the mask on it bungs up and my nostrils swell so i can't breath if I put it back on again when I've taken it off. It's weird because if I leave it alone then I can cope but if I take it off my nose reacts straight away and there's no hope of getting it back on and being able to breath.

I've said on here before, that I didn't suffer symptoms of this condition prior to diagnosis. It was found purely by accident. I answered some questions about sleeping in the daytime (Epworth Test) which scored enough to do a sleep test and so here I am. I have read lots of your stories and really empathise with those of you who sound like your lives were a nightmare and then transformed by CPAP. My life has been transformed alright, but detrimentally. I am more tired now than each time I had a new baby in the house. I am now at the stage that a lot seem to describe prior to CPAP, I am struggling to get through my day, I am tired and purposely napping. Before CPAP I would 'nod off' if I sat down on the settee for lunch, but not if I sat at the table. I always nod off on a car journey of more than 30 minutes (as a passenger of course) and I always have done. My parents used to put me in the car and drive round the block to lull me to sleep as a baby/toddler. I have always snored and come from a long line of mouth breathing snorers. I had my adenoids removed when I was 9 years old to try and stop it but it didn't! I never felt physically tired before and yes I admit to nodding off but always in appropraite places and I never felt the need to purposely nap to get through my day.

I realise that I am very lucky that I wasn't affected before and I also realise the need to treat this. I feel held over a barrel that if I don't use my CPAP then I can't legally drive my car. I have my next appointment at the clinic to have readings taken from machine, next week and was advised when my machine was issued that I shouldn't drive until after that appointment, which I have adhered to.

My sleep test was an 'at home' one and I am wondering if there is any discrepancy with the results. I find it really hard to believe that if my body needed this therapy then I would benefit from it even if in a small way but this is a living hell now. I know it's only been 10 days and I have got my usage up to average of 6 hours but like I said, it is a very wakeful 6 hours. Will the readings show how much I wake up?

I am trying really hard to perservere but my limits are being tested