British Snoring & Sleep Apnoea Association

hi, after mentioning in passing to my GP that i have problems with snoring, i was offered a hospital app within 3 months. i was then offered a further app with a consultant another 3 month later, where i received my CPAP. think the NHS worked really well here, as was expecting to wait for ages.
however, i am still struggling to get used to the machine, and cant get comfortable with the mask. is there really no alternative to the nasal mask? i do feel better using CPAP, and will continue using it, but always have an air escape if i lie on my side (most comfortable position). also, when i was assessed, i was found to have average of 65 wakes per hour, is that about average for other apnea sufferers? my CPAP is set at 12.6, again, is that average?
finally, a long term dream of mine is to take a long distance train trip (sad, I know!) how portable is CPAP, and what if there is no electricity supply?
thanks in advance

Hello.
I've been on CPAP for over 14 months now and i still have some trouble with it.
I find that air leaks are common as i use a full face mask and get a load of leaks around the mouth area (it's worse if i don't trim my beard) and round my nose area.
The best way i have found to stop the leaks is to reduce the amount of contact that the mask has with the bed / pillows. i have taken to sleeping on the edge of the bed so that the mask / tube is hanging over the side.
i have seen a pillow that you can get which has a chunk missing from the side so that the mask / tube can fit into that gap and still support your head.

I'm not sure what is common when it comes to the number of wakes that you should have or what the pressures are, my pressue is 9.6.

I travel all about the country in my car and find that the cpap machine is very easy to carry in it's bag, i would recommend that you carry an extention lead with you as you will soon find that the majority of hotel rooms don't have a plug socket near the bed.

With regards the lack of electricity i've no real idea what to do, i presume you can get some sort of generator pack that you could use (you can get them from halfords etc ) but that's going to result in more weight to carry about with you and you will need to charge it up at some point so i can't really help.

I just went to europe and found that these work on any voltage and regulate them selves. I havea a remstar and used it in italy frannce and you can also use then with 12 volt with an adapter. n8