I totally have gone through the same thing. What pressure is yours set to? There should also be a level at which you can set the humidification and I always have mine set to 3.5. If you go higher it is too swampy.

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I like it swampy.

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swampy is good when it's related to (g'd help me) booty bopping [grin]

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I have the Humidifier (water cooker) set to 3.0 it has a 1..4 range and most times that setting is OK - that is, If I remember to turn the cooker on! Anything higher then 3.0 and the chamber runs out of water before the morning ~ 5 to 6 hours. I tend to go to bed around 1 to 2AM and wake up around 7 to 8AM. Any setting lower then 3.0, unless its humid where I'm sleeping, and I dry out and get a stuffed up head.

My test says that my pressure should be 20/16 inches H2O - I use something like 22.0 / 17.0 because of the bacterial filter that I have on my machine.

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Yup! Works great!
I've got the grey one with the robots ;)

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My cpap has a heated humidifier built into it. LOVE it. I turn it up all the way because I always get cotton mouth at night. I'm not liking my face mask tho. When my insurance will buy me another mask I'm gonna try the mask that has the air tubes going up the nostrils and that tube going up to the top of the head. Maybe that one wont leave marks on my face in the morning either.

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I use this..and I like it

..quiet and no air blows in your eyes



This one works equally well...and you dont have to have it go over the top of your head ..I keep it loose...

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I think I like the 2nd one. Thanks Tone. I did'nt know there was a cpap.com

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This machine has a heated humidifier attached to the front, which I tried for a few nights when I got it and then returned to using the external one.

There are a few reasons I like the external humidifier:

• the internal humidifier runs out of water about 1/2 way through the night when its turned up high enough for my comfort and doesn't seem to go high enough for my comfort.
  
• ease of filling - fill at the bedside using a small funnel or remove the chamber and fill elsewhere. The internal one slides out of the machine and the top snaps off (or you turn it on the side - I don't actually remember. :(
  
• inexpensive replacement chambers ~$15.00 ea.
  
• the ability to use a HPEA bacterial filter after the machine and before the humidity is introduced - keeping the filter DRY.
  

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Is this in ADDITION to the humidifier that most of the newer cpap units alreay come with...or is this for units that have no humidifier at all?

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Yuppers - more like in place of the humidifier that came with the machine.

My first machine had no provisions for a humidifier so I purchased the heated humidifier from CPAP.com to replace the unheated passover humidifier which never seemed to give enough humidity.

My current machine has a built in humidifier... which I didn't ask the DME provider for... and it doesn't work all that well.

When the humidity is very low in the apartment (and the heated humidifier runs out of water before morning) I've had decent success with attaching an extra (unheated) humidifier chamber after the machine and before the heated humidifier which seems to help.

Like this:
[machine w/humidifier turned off and dry][valve][HEPA filter]-[humidifier hose 1.5']-[cool chamber]-[humidifier hose 1.5']-[heated humidifier chamber]---[hose to mask(with hose cozy)]---[mask]


My regular configuration:
[machine w/humidifier turned off and dry][valve][HEPA filter]-[humidifier hose 1.5']-[heated humidifier chamber]---[hose to mask(with hose cozy)]---[mask]

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it's always the simple things that get you

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[hug]
Hi!
true, very true.

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toss some plastic eggs in the tank to knock around in the bubbles, (BladeRunner)

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[giggle]

Edited at 2008-02-09 04:14 am (UTC)

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Do you know of a place where you can get a replacement mask cheap?

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take a look at cpap.com - seems reasonably priced when compared against my DME provider.

google for CPAP and have a look around.

good luck!

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Cool... thanks, man.

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n.p.

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I was told just this week that I will be getting a CPAP. Sometime next week, I'll meet with the company that dispenses the mask. I'm not sure what to expect.

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I suspect that you will sleep better to much better.

Did you have an instrumented sleep test - lots of wires and sensors, etc During the instrumented test they wake you up and connect you to a CPAP machine to determine the pressures that you will need set in your home machine. If so, when you woke after the tests - discounting the wires, strange surroundings, etc, of course - did you feel refreshed and awake? I did and then went home to Dave and we had very good sex ;-)

I found that by keeping a positive attitude towards my mask and machine I got used to it within a week or so and have been quite dependent on it since. There have only been a handful of times that I've had to sleep without my machine since 8/8/05 and I can't imagine doing without it.

I did have an odd dream or two the during the first couple of nights with the mask, but they quickly ceased as I got used to the mask and the bedtime ritual.

If you sleep on your back or side you shouldn't have any trouble acclimating to a mask. I used to sleep on my sides and on my stomach and have had to give up sleeping on my stomach because the head position necessary for stomach sleeping prevents the mask from sealing properly.

I've heard from other folks with sleep apnea, that they too, grind their teeth during the night. Do you happen to grind your teeth? It seems that I grind my teeth during the night to the point of breaking little chunks off from time to time. I told my dentist about it and he took impressions and made me a "night guard", which is kind of similar to a sports mouth guard, but with a much lower profile and custom fitted to your teeth.

Good Luck with your machine!
Do let me know how you make out.

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