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Tuesday, December 23, 2025
And we'll see how this goes
Today, wound up with the CPAP. Two weeks- barring problems with fit and such- and we'll see how I settle in with it.
12 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Best of luck. When I first had to start using one 11 years ago I dreaded it. It took a while to get used to not sneaking a little midnight kiss because of the full face mask, but I will tell you it's changed my life for the better. I sleep all the way through the night except for the damn old man bladder I seem to be finding now that I'm 66, but I sleep so hard and so well I don't want or need a nap.
Stick with it. My wife wears one and after several weeks of adjusting, both her and the service folks, she sleeps much better. Stock up on distilled water and white vinegar. Thanks for the always enjoyable blog!
I just started about a year ago. I went to the doc after a 10 year absence and had a BP of 220/95. He put me on 5 different meds and it came down a bit, so I suggested a sleep study. In the 5 hours I had the machine on I stopped breathing 250 times. I bought my own CPAP to avoid the monitoring bullshit, and haven't felt better. I was starting to lose my cognitive ability and would get up in the morning, drink two cups of coffee, and fall asleep in the chair before getting it under control. Blood tests showed I had polycithyemia, an abnormally high number of red blood cells caused by the hypoxia during the night with a blood oxygen level in the low 80s. It took three months of normal oxygen levels to clear that up. Now I'm on my way toward weaning my self off the BP meds and hope to have those gone in a couple of months. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!
Soak the water container in a 3 to 1 ratio of water and white vinegar weekly to clean and sanitize (doesn't leave a residue when rinsed off). She uses soapy water to clean the tubes on the same schedule.
I've been using one for more than 20 years, and my advice, once you've gotten used to it and decide to stick with it, is to keep some spares on hand.
I don't change my mask as often as is recommended, but bedtime or the middle of the night is not when you want to deal with a separated seal between the soft and hard parts of the mask. I've found athletic tape can work, but the mask has to be pretty clean.
I had to replace the hose once, I presume due to restless sleeping loosening the friction fit where the mask adapter fits in. A zip tie worked well for me as a temporary fix.
Similarly, I've had to replace the mask frame, probably from a combination of tossing and turning and tightening the straps too much, which caused one of the arms to tear. That happened in slow motion - I first realized i wasn't getting a good seal, but didn't know what the problem was until I realized that one of the arms moved more than it should. I didn't see the tear until I moved the "sleeves" that the mask frame came with that fit over the arms. Similarly, after several years, and again, probably due to overtightening early on, I had to replace the straps.
Another note about white vinegar - I don't take distilled water with me when I go on trips, and vinegar is good at removing scale from hard water.
12 comments:
Best of luck. When I first had to start using one 11 years ago I dreaded it. It took a while to get used to not sneaking a little midnight kiss because of the full face mask, but I will tell you it's changed my life for the better. I sleep all the way through the night except for the damn old man bladder I seem to be finding now that I'm 66, but I sleep so hard and so well I don't want or need a nap.
ive had a cap for 26 years, struggle at first but keep it going, devices have evolved and you'll be happy withe the results
Still kinda hate mine but I sleep so much better.
Good Luck!
One of the best things I ever did. Sleep so much better!
Stick with it. My wife wears one and after several weeks of adjusting, both her and the service folks, she sleeps much better. Stock up on distilled water and white vinegar. Thanks for the always enjoyable blog!
I just started about a year ago. I went to the doc after a 10 year absence and had a BP of 220/95.
He put me on 5 different meds and it came down a bit, so I suggested a sleep study. In the 5 hours I had the machine on I stopped breathing 250 times. I bought my own CPAP to avoid the monitoring bullshit, and haven't felt better. I was starting to lose my cognitive ability and would get up in the morning, drink two cups of coffee, and fall asleep in the chair before getting it under control. Blood tests showed I had polycithyemia, an abnormally high number of red blood cells caused by the hypoxia during the night with a blood oxygen level in the low 80s. It took three months of normal oxygen levels to clear that up. Now I'm on my way toward weaning my self off the BP meds and hope to have those gone in a couple of months.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it!
Three years for me, I miss just being able to drop off in a chair or have an afternoon nap on a couch, but it does make a difference.
Distilled water I know about, white vinegar?
Soak the water container in a 3 to 1 ratio of water and white vinegar weekly to clean and sanitize (doesn't leave a residue when rinsed off). She uses soapy water to clean the tubes on the same schedule.
Thanks for vinegar advice. Speaking of advice, NEVER put eucalyptus in plastic water chambers. It causes water chamber to crack.
I've been using one for more than 20 years, and my advice, once you've gotten used to it and decide to stick with it, is to keep some spares on hand.
I don't change my mask as often as is recommended, but bedtime or the middle of the night is not when you want to deal with a separated seal between the soft and hard parts of the mask. I've found athletic tape can work, but the mask has to be pretty clean.
I had to replace the hose once, I presume due to restless sleeping loosening the friction fit where the mask adapter fits in. A zip tie worked well for me as a temporary fix.
Similarly, I've had to replace the mask frame, probably from a combination of tossing and turning and tightening the straps too much, which caused one of the arms to tear. That happened in slow motion - I first realized i wasn't getting a good seal, but didn't know what the problem was until I realized that one of the arms moved more than it should. I didn't see the tear until I moved the "sleeves" that the mask frame came with that fit over the arms. Similarly, after several years, and again, probably due to overtightening early on, I had to replace the straps.
Another note about white vinegar - I don't take distilled water with me when I go on trips, and vinegar is good at removing scale from hard water.
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