Alternatives to CPAP

[Gizmo100]

I am a huge proponent of exercise, and it's never too late to start. Anything you do in the way of aerobic exercise or weight bearing exercise will make a significant difference in your overall general health and mobility. Dozens of studies have been made with participants in their 80's, and after 4-6 weeks of minimal exercise, all reported better mobility and over all general health. 

I have a buddy that was using a CPAP and was on diabetic and blood pressure meds. He got mad, changed his diet and started a regular exercise program. Not excessive, just regular.  When I saw him again he had lost 50 pounds, and his doctor had just taken him off of the meds.  He quit the CPAP 2 months prior. He will be 70 in a few months, and feels way better than he had in years.  I am a believer.

  Any exercise is better than none....I used to encourage O2 PT. to flex their hands and/or arms during TV commercials. You have to start somewhere.

[Lowell]

OK, I've been using a CPAP for 30 days now, and I'm not sure it is doing anything for me. Although I'm getting good scores on the CPAP phone apt, I certainly don't sleep any better.  I'm using the full mask and it leaves me with a red face in the mornings. Maybe, I still haven't got used to it.

[Tom]

Lowell, how do you know you don't sleep any better? Were you diagnosed wigh sleep apnea or some othef sleep disorder? At a follow up, the sleep doc will analyze the data on the CPAP memory card and let you know what he sees.

[Lowell]

Tom, I was diagnosed with sleep apnea. The sleep lab said I stopped breathing 45 times in one hour. According to the CPAP apt on my phone, I average about 2-4 apnea/hr. with the machine.  But I feel less rested than I did before I started with the CPAP machine and it takes me a long, long time to get to sleep while wearing the mask. I have an appointment with the doc in two weeks.

[donn]

First try DW had was a disaster.  Mainly because she simply refused to accept it.  She fought for two more years getting between 2 and 3 hours sleep a night  always in a foul mood, well you get the point.  I finally convinced her to get another one.  She has had it now for several months.  Now she sleeps 5-6 hours a night with no wake ups.  She did go through 4 different masks before she found one that works with her face.  She still complains, but she is way more pleasant to be around.  You can fight it all you want, but if you have the problem there is little that can be done except using a CPAP, BPAP or what ever your DR recomends.

[Tom]

Aye donn, the choice of mask makes a big difference. My wife and I were both unhappy with my first CPAP machine and mask. They sat in the closet unused for a number of years. When I eventually went back through the process - sleep study, new machine and nose pillows instead of full mask, Chris kept checking on me in the night because she'd never seen/heard me sleep so soundly.

I know the next day if I slept well, because I'm not tired and don't want to fall asleep.

Lowell, you might just need to try different styles and sizes of masks.

[Gizmo100]

Tom, I was diagnosed with sleep apnea. The sleep lab said I stopped breathing 45 times in one hour. According to the CPAP apt on my phone, I average about 2-4 apnea/hr. with the machine.  But I feel less rested than I did before I started with the CPAP machine and it takes me a long, long time to get to sleep while wearing the mask. I have an appointment with the doc in two weeks.

Lowell,
 I would start making notes of the issues you are having using the CPAP. When you get to the DR. go over each issue to find a working solution. There are a lot different styles of mask that may work better. You may also have pressure setting that needs to be adjusted.

I will caution you not to stop using the CPAP. Forty five time's/ hour is a very high number.

[catblaster]

     Dont give up on it, there are a lot of things that can be adjusted to make it work. I started with a full face mask which didnt work at all, then a partial and now I'm using nasal pillows and even those have to be the right ones or it irritates me into waking up.  Hang in there, it will get right.

[Lowell]

Ok, Thanks for the encouragement.  My son loaned me his old nose pillows . I like the way they feel but I felt like I wasn't getting as much air. I'll see if I can get some other masks or nose pillows to try.

[Tom]

Lowell,

When you first start using the nasal pillows, you may have a tendency to leave your mouth open. That results in the air going in through your nose and out through your mouth, defeating the object. It may take a little practice to keep your mouth closed.

[BernieD]

Lowell
My first CPAP machine, with a nose/mouth mask, taught me to sleep on my back with my mouth closed. My last year or so with that machine I switched to a pillow mask which I found more comfortable. With my new ResMed auto machine and the same pillow mask, I am sleeping even better and longer (confirmed by my daily feedback and Fitbit .) You do need to use the right size pillow mask (using someone else's is definitely not recommended) and have the straps on properly and tight enough. My daily report tells me if the mask is fitted right (amount of air leakage) and number of apnea incidents. I now sleep straight thru nearly every nite.

[Lowell]

I also have a ResMed auto machine.  I may have to go back to the place that fitted my machine as see if I can get a set of my own nose pillows.  Thanks for for all the comments folks.  And Tom is right about me letting my mouth open. I've tried a strap(head band) to help keep it closed but didn't have too much luck with that.

[judway]

SleepyHead is a free program available on the internet which can be downloaded and installed to read the memory chip located in your CPAP machine. It will give you how you have sleeped. My doctor never asks for the chip, so this is a way of finding out how your CPAP system has been working.

[Tom]

Thanks Wayne. That will provide info between my sleep doc visits.

[Gizmo100]

SleepyHead is a free program available on the internet which can be downloaded and installed to read the memory chip located in your CPAP machine. It will give you how you have sleeped. My doctor never asks for the chip, so this is a way of finding out how your CPAP system has been working.

Depending on the age of the CPAP
 The CPAP's put out for the last few years do store the data for daily use but upload once a day though the cell towers to a company that processes and make a report to verify usage. The DME company can also send changes to the pressure setting of the CPAP as ordered by the doctor.

[Lowell]

ResMed has a phone apt called MyAir that is free to download.  When you register on MyAir, you enter the SN of your device. It tells you how many hours you used the device the day before, how many times you removed the mask, if you had air leaks, and the number hour of sleep apnea/Hour you experienced the previous night and provides a history.

I can't figure out how it knows how many sleep apneas one experiences. I've stopped breathing as long as I could hold it to see if the CPAP machine would do anything but couldn't detect that it did.

[BernieD]

I can't figure out how it knows how many sleep apneas one experiences. I've stopped breathing as long as I could hold it to see if the CPAP machine would do anything but couldn't detect that it did.

Lowell
It doesn't report individual apneas. It measures your breathing throughout the nite and every time you stop breathing for 10(?) seconds or more it marks an incident. When it generates a report the next morning you only get an average number of incidents/hour over the time you were wearing the mask.

[Lowell]

My question is, How does the CPAP reduce the number of sleep apneas one would experience. I understand that it puts a slightly higher air pressure into your nose but how does that make one breath more often?  It obviously works its magic somehow if I've dropped from 45 sleep apneas/hr as reported by sleep lab to 2-3/hr as reported by CPAP phone apt.  I just can't figure out how.

[Tom]

Lowell, the CPAP machine doesn't make you breath more often; It delivers air at a pressure prescribed by your doc, which keeps the airway open, thus preventing apnea events.

An apnea event is when the airway closes, preventing you from breathing, until the brain says "wake up and start breathing". With 'normal breathing' restored, you fall asleep again until the airway is closed again, and the cycle repeats.

[OBX]

Are any of you using So Clean and if so what do you think?

[Tom]

There was a recent discussion on that subject. Some use SoClean, some use an alternative sanitizer, and some only rinse the hose and mask. See here.

[Lowell]

I saw this on Facebook today touted as an alternative to CPAP:

https://www.inspiresleep.com/what-is-inspire-therapy/how-inspire-therapy-works/

[packnrat]

sad i am forced to use the C-crap device.
just because i have a fat neck. and snore. i have always been a very rough sleeper. now the feds want proof i am using it. every part of my life is under the overwatch eye of the feds.
never has improved my sleep or rest.

[BernieD]

now the feds want proof i am using it. every part of my life is under the overwatch eye of the feds.
never has improved my sleep or rest.

I don't think the fed give a damn about whether you are using it except that if they are going to pay for it under Medicare they want to make sure that you are using it. If you want them to pay for it, you have to show that you are using it, if you don't want to tell the feds, pay for it yourself.