My wife uses one, she noticed a difference the first night. But sometimes it ramps up too much and "fart" so she wakes up and turns the machine off and back on and it starts the cycle over.
I do think they have the final air flow set too high but it works.
Same with my wife. She said she didn't realize how much rest she was missing. Because of the 'fart' we had our daughter extend the ramp time and to lower the end pressure. Longer ramp time will allow a person to fall asleep before reaching full set pressure. There are a variety of mask styles but with each one you must keep a certain amount of tension on the straps to keep it from leaking. You can comfortably tighten them just so much. The BiPAP we now have is much better and usually only begins to leak if she happens to push it to one side in her sleep. It's also very very quiet.
Just acquiring and using a CPAP or BiPAP isn't always the solution. If it were, they wouldn't be programmable.
I have a RESMED also, but a different model. The old one I had we didn't need a noisemaker for my wife to go to sleep with. With this new CPAP it is very quiet. I very much prefer the nose pillow type of mask. The old triangular ones leak badly around the nose area for me.
I cannot stand to have my CPAP ramp up. I feel like I am being restricted if it ramps up. So I just start at the normal setting. Everyone needs to have it set up for how they like it.
The nose pillow style mask probably works for a large number of people, but for someone who's a mouth breather, it will ride up onto the lower lip and sometimes into the mouth so it breaks the seal. There is a triangular shaped version with a chin strap that attempts to hold the mouth closed. The problem is that all these masks are expensive and experimenting to find which one works can consume lots and lots of Fiero or beer money.
I have had several different suppliers and they all had one thing in common. I could try any mask out for a month and if it didn't work out I could bring it back and they would let me try another one. All without any extra charge.
I have had several different suppliers and they all had one thing in common. I could try any mask out for a month and if it didn't work out I could bring it back and they would let me try another one. All without any extra charge.
Since my wife's machines were acquired in part through her insurance, they don't allow that. Once a mask has been used by someone, it can't be sold to someone else. She can get a free replacement every 6 months, though. Just to purchase a replacement gel seal to go on a mask can be $30 or more each and privately buying masks are usually more than $100 each.
Heh, so I can eat a lifetime total of 130 hits of acid and survive it, but I can't supply extra oxygen to myself while I sleep. What a crazy world...
You kept track? Only 130?
Anyhow, you know I wont try to make you feel bad.. but Charlie SENT me his CPAP to see if I could stand it, and I could not. Sent it back (thanks again, Fierofool, for trying..) That was when I decided to do the weight loss in earnest.. I could not sleep and I was dead tired all day.
Don, there's only one right answer here and its NOT reprogramming a CPAP.
Since my wife's machines were acquired in part through her insurance, they don't allow that. Once a mask has been used by someone, it can't be sold to someone else. She can get a free replacement every 6 months, though. Just to purchase a replacement gel seal to go on a mask can be $30 or more each and privately buying masks are usually more than $100 each.
Depending on what kind of insurance you have you may want to check out some online retailers. I personally use cpap.com I have a high deductible policy so all of my cpap supplies (machine, masks and supplies are out of pocket) I can get my supplies for half what a local place would charge me, including shipping.
ps small thread derail. When I started buying my supplies online I had no health insurance and my mask broke. I called every single durable medical supplier in my area and half of them would not even give me a price, and acted like they didn't even want to sell me anything without insurance (even though I had a prescription) The ones that would give me a price were around $150 for a basic nasal mask without headgear (another $25) I was able to purchase the same mask online for about $70 with headgear and shipping.
[This message has been edited by gtjoe (edited 06-30-2014).]
After some extensive research, I tend to agree. The risk is too great to justify the reward.
Losing weight is a long protracted event. If you can afford it, at least get a physical to be sure there's not some other underlying cause in addition to weight. Like I said, my wife was already on 24 hour oxygen and was being erroneously treated with high dosages of prednisone (a steroid) for rheumatoid of the lungs. It caused tremendous weight gain which caused congestive heart failure. While in the hospital for that, they discovered the real cause of her breathing problems. At that time they said she only had about 6 months to live had she not been correctly diagnosed.
The correct diagnosis and treatment coupled with oxygen therapy and her CPAP has given her another 7 1/2 years.
For those on CPAP or their spouse, so there is no more midnight booty feel turn to some brown chicken brown cow anymore?
Meh... you just take off the cpap mask first! lol Although I do have to say it does cut down on being intimate and cuddly in bed unless you start out that way first then put on the mask when you're done...There is also the problem of having cold air blown down your neck!! Which can be handy if you're having hot flashes!! It also is nice when your spouse snores loudly since that pretty much quits... and you finally get some sleep!
