Re: Cpap - and Darlene

[Guest guest]

Darlene-

Changing out the cpap for a bipap sounds like the proper thing to do

when feeling like you are struggling for air. I've read it in

previous posts on cpaptalk.com, and just couldn't focus my mind on it

(maybe fibro fog?). Glad you have found the answer and are now

receiving proper treatment.

-

Great that you had a better night with the new mask. You do

understand that I'm not a physician and cannot give medical

recommendations. However, the people who actually use the cpap/bipap

machines know so much more about it than the physicians prescribing

them, IMHO, that they seem to suss through problems much better than

the physicians on many occasions. I'm still not sure that the mask is

the only problem though. With the kind of weight loss you've achieved

(congrats!), I really would think you should have a new sleep study,

or at the least, a night with an auto machine to find where

your 'sweet spot' is, pressure-wise. How long have you had the

current machine? How long since the last sleep study? Was that sleep

study done before you lost all that weight? What medication changes

have you been given? Does your current physician who handles your OSA

know all medication and medical condition updates, and about the

weight loss and cpap problems you're having?

Oh, forgot your question. The nasal pillows...now I remember. They

are little pillows that fit up against your nostrils, delivering your

cpap therapy air right into your nostrils, bypassing the mouth. If

you are not a mouth breather, they can be very comfortable. I used to

be a mouth breather, but have gradually trained myself not to. Take a

look at a couple of popular nasal pillow masks - the ResMed Mirage

Swift, Respironics ComfortLife Nasal Mask, Infinity Direct Nasal

Mask, TeleFlex Bravo, Puritan Bennet Breeze, Fisher & Paykel Opus,

and the Respironics Optilife (my mask of choice, traded a lightly

used mask for the lightly-used OptiLife).

On the nasal pillows. the way I got used to the pillows was from

wearing the Hybrid, which has nasal pillows, but also is a full-face

style mask with all the sizes of both the face seal and the pillows

for a truly custom fit. I love it too. But, with many of the nasal

pillow interfaces, they are so minimal that one can wear their

eyeglasses, watch TV, read, whatever, which is wonderful. All masks

seem to have problems, so the best thing to do is look at what seems

like it might be comfortable and then hit the cpaptalk.com board and

look for the work-arounds to tweak them. I had a chinstrap with my

Swift initially, but now I do not need one. Oh, and please look into

getting some Padacheeks for whatever mask you are using, as those

soft strap covers feel so comfortable and help reduce or eliminate

strap marks. They also help make my Optilife fit my face better, and

stay in place well. With my Optilife, I can sleep on either side, or

back, without any problem. Not so easy with the Swift. With the

Swift, the hose comes out the side of the interface. With the Opti,

it comes out center bottom, so can easily roll side to side on your

face and remain in place.

Hope to catch you online at cpaptalk.com.

Girlsaylor

> ,

> I'm going to chime in here too since I have OSA. I used to have a

> cpap machine until I started waking up gasping for breath and

feeling

> as though I was choking. I told my doctor and he swapped me into a

> bipap machine (or bi-level machine). What that does is lower the

air

> on exhales so you are actually getting rid of the old air in your

> lungs. Since getting the bi-pap, those episodes have stopped for

me.

> Also, I had to switch from a nasal mask to nasal pillows, which are

> not for everyone, but they are working for me!

>

> Darlene