Posted by Pamela on April 07, 2002 at 12:40:07:

I was diagnosed with sleep apnea 5 mos. ago with an RDI of 41. I was given a Cpap remstar plus with the pressure set at 9 cm and a generic nasal mask. Two days after I started using it I knew the mask wasn’t going to work so I went searching on the internet and found out about the Breeze. Got that and it has worked very well. I began to feel better, but I continued to take the breeze off at night in my sleep – don’t know how long it was off. Realized that it was probably because of dryness so bought a heated humidifier and the insulation for the hoses. That helped a lot – no more bloody noses. Still taking the breeze off at night though. Was having dry mouth and so started using a chinstrap and that stopped the mouth breathing. Had a follow up visit with Dr. and he raised my pressure to 11 cm. I began to have air in my stomach that was waking me up. Also, I realized that although the heated humidifier was helping with dryness that I was congested. So, I elevated the head of my bed 8 inches. That took care of the congestion, but not the air in my stomach – lots of cramps, gas and burping. I am still taking the breeze off at night - not every night, but usually 3 or 4 nights out of 7 and still experiencing EDS. I have also tried auto suggestion to try to keep it on and it hasn’t worked.

When I take the breeze off sometimes I am aware that I’m doing it and I feel like I’m not getting enough air. I told the Dr. that and asked him about switching to an autopap. The first time that I brought it up to him he said no because the insurance won’t pay for it. The second time that I brought it up after trying more solutions he said that the autopap technology is not very good and that he never prescribes them. He said that he thought that I might need a re-titration and that might I might need a Bi-level. My sense is that I’m not getting enough air at certain times at night and that an autopap could make adjustments for that without my having to have a higher pressure all the time with either a straight cpap or a bi-level. In reading through many posts on this site, I have read about how the autopap has helped a lot of folks. I would also like to have the night feedback that the autopap could give me. I don’t think that I’m mouth breathing anymore, but I don’t know and the autopap could give me feedback about that too.

Thank you,
Pamela

Follow Ups:

• Re: Taking the mask - question Pamela 18:29 4/07/02 (0)
• Re: Taking the mask - rest of message Pamela 16:54 4/07/02 (0)

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