CPAP machines

[Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933]

There is a thread over on the wire that got me to thinking.  CPAP was invented in 1980.  How did people camp before then?  Were thousands dying in the forests?  Did Augustus Caesar die because he did not have a CPAP?  Is CPAP sort of like Ritalin?  I.e., the cure-all for all childhood behavior problems is to drug them and anyone that burps at night is prescribed a CPAP machine?

[sassnetguy50]

Many things happened.

Got elbowed by the wife, snored, woke up gasping for air, died in their sleep, woke up unrested days on end eventually made a fatal mistake...

[DeaconKC]

I have used a CPAP for almost 25 years. Severely bad sleep apnea and this allows me to rest and my wife to sleep in the same bed! They do help a real problem.

[Singin' Sue 71615]

Larsen...just be glad you don't need one.

I personally don't want to have to use one...but glad there is a solution should the need arise.

[Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933]

I have been recommended to get one (and declined) and know they help a lot of people.  The point being that if you are going camping for a few days being away from a CPAP might be inconvenient but it was done for thousands of years without thousands dying in their sleeping bags and a modern tough guy cowboy ought to be able to survive without one for a few days.

[Singin' Sue 71615]

2 minutes ago, Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933 said:

I have been recommended to get one (and declined) and know they help a lot of people.  The point being that if you are going camping for a few days being away from a CPAP might be inconvenient but it was done for thousands of years without thousands dying in their sleeping bags and a modern tough guy cowboy ought to be able to survive without one for a few days.

Right. I get that. I know some that go without for a few days. I know several that can NOT function the next day without sleeing with one.

Several others that share a bed, and their female counterpart demand they use them.

[Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933]

I know people that cannot function without coffee in the morning.

[Singin' Sue 71615]

4 minutes ago, Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933 said:

I know people that cannot function without coffee in the morning.

You know ME well

[J-BAR #18287]

If a person with sleep apnea doesn’t use a CPAP, they will become sleep deprived.  Drowsiness while driving, increased blood pressure, just not as mentally acute during the day... those things show up over time.  A few days camping probably would not be significant, except for the companions who would be kept awake by the snoring.
 

I had acid stomach reflux while sleeping before I started using a CPAP.  I would wake up at night gagging and choking.  None since using a CPAP.  I love mine.

[Gateway Kid SASS# 70038 Life]

1 hour ago, Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933 said:

I have been recommended to get one (and declined) and know they help a lot of people.  The point being that if you are going camping for a few days being away from a CPAP might be inconvenient but it was done for thousands of years without thousands dying in their sleeping bags and a modern tough guy cowboy ought to be able to survive without one for a few days.

I have been using CPAP since 2001. My machines have accompanied me to tons of CAS events, innumerable camping trips including rafting the Grand Canyon (12 volt battery), to Africa and Israel (220), hotels across the country and Alaska (110). Plus plenty of other away from home activities.

Point is if my machine can't go, I don't go.

Regards

   

Gateway Kid

[Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967]

According my doctor, going without a day or two while camping will likely be okay, but the effects of apnea are cumulative - long term, you're going to have damage.  Conversely, a woman I worked with had a brother found quite dead one morning - his mask on the pillow next to him.  Seems he had a habit of popping it off in his sleep.

 

Something over fifteen years ago I was tested.  Not a bit inconvenient; Kaiser simply sent me home with a "glove" to wear to bed for one night.  Said glove incorporated all sorts of sensors that captured vital information and was downloaded the next day.  FAR better than friends had to endure at so-called "sleep centers," where they were wired up and tried to sleep in an uncomfortable, institutional bed.

 

                                                     

 

 

Anyway, when I reported back to my doctor, he accessed my file on his computer terminal.  When he looked at my screen, his eyes widened and he blurted out "Oh, MY!"

 

That got my attention.  Uh... what's up, Doc?  

 

His response?

 

"Oh, WOW!  You've got it BAD!!

 

"When you're sleeping, your blood oxygen drops to about what it would be if you were at the top of Everest!"

 

He expedited my fitting for a CPAP machine... and I just love the darned thing.  As someone else once pointed out here in the Saloon, four hours of sleep with it beats eight hours without!  

 

 

 

 

[Buckshot Bear]

Love CPAP, been on one for 25+ years, changed mine and my wife's life.

 

Been through an evolution of different Resmed CPAP machines, first one was like being strapped to a Hoover.....only it was louder!

 

Current one is so quiet and unobtrusive you don't even know that its on.

[Sedalia Dave]

I finished my home sleep study last weekend. Wore a cigarette pack sized case on my chest with an O2 sat monitor on one finger and an oxygen cannulas to monitor my breathing. Hopefully I'll know next week what the results are.

 

I have always snored but the last couple of years it has been getting louder and louder. Some nights the wife wakes me up two or three times to get me to stop. lately she says I stop breathing for extended periods. At her insistence I talked to the Dr and he set up the home study.

 

My stepson has used one for several years. It uses 12 VDC so he can take it anywhere. Like everyone else that has one he loves his as he is not longer tired all the time.  I suspect I'll be on one as well. 

[Buckshot Bear]

9 minutes ago, Sedalia Dave said:

I finished my home sleep study last weekend. Wore a cigarette pack sized case on my chest with an O2 sat monitor on one finger and an oxygen cannulas to monitor my breathing. Hopefully I'll know next week what the results are.

 

I have always snored but the last couple of years it has been getting louder and louder. Some nights the wife wakes me up two or three times to get me to stop. lately she says I stop breathing for extended periods. At her insistence I talked to the Dr and he set up the home study.

 

My stepson has used one for several years. It uses 12 VDC so he can take it anywhere. Like everyone else that has one he loves his as he is not longer tired all the time.  I suspect I'll be on one as well. 

 

Seriously don't sweat it if you have to use CPAP, its life changing. I honestly wouldn't enjoy going to sleep without it now.

[Sedalia Dave]

1 hour ago, Buckshot Bear said:

 

Seriously don't sweat it if you have to use CPAP, its life changing. I honestly wouldn't enjoy going to sleep without it now.

 

Thanks. My concern is that I am a side sleeper and usually change sides several times a night. 

[Buckshot Bear]

2 minutes ago, Sedalia Dave said:

 

Thanks. My concern is that I am a side sleeper and usually change sides several times a night. 

 

Don't have any concerns, I'm a side sleeper. You won't even know its there turning over.

[DeaconKC]

11 hours ago, Sedalia Dave said:

 

Thanks. My concern is that I am a side sleeper and usually change sides several times a night. 

I too, am a side sleeper, you will find out you acclimate quickly. Plus be prepared to try a couple different masks. It really does help a lot.

[Yul Lose]

19 hours ago, Buckshot Bear said:

Love CPAP, been on one for 25+ years, changed mine and my wife's life.

 

Been through an evolution of different Resmed CPAP machines, first one was like being strapped to a Hoover.....only it was louder!

 

Current one is so quiet and unobtrusive you don't even know that its on.

I just got the call that I’ve been approved for one. Which machine does everyone recommend that is quiet and runs on 12 volts? I boondock a lot in my little trailer.

[Cholla]

9 minutes ago, Yul Lose said:

I just got the call that I’ve been approved for one. Which machine does everyone recommend that is quiet and runs on 12 volts? I boondock a lot in my little trailer.

My wife's is quiet as a mouse. They have come a long way in the last 20 years. We powered her CPAP for two days using the cabin batteries and most likly could have gone longer. A 200w solar panel charger would do wonders for keeping up on the charge.

[Gateway Kid SASS# 70038 Life]

11 minutes ago, Yul Lose said:

I just got the call that I’ve been approved for one. Which machine does everyone recommend that is quiet and runs on 12 volts? I boondock a lot in my little trailer.

Mine is a Resmed Airsense 10 autoset.

compared to my first one of 20 years ago this one is so quiet that the first few nights my wife got up to be sure it was on.

Multi voltage with its 12 volt adapter it has been in the boonies, international with various plugs in 220, down the Colorado River (not water proof though) and all over the country.

Liked it so much I bought a second out of pocket to keep in the 5th Wheel.

Did I mention I Love it!

Regards

   

Gateway Kid

[Widder, SASS #59054]

I use one... every night.    Please don't minimize their importance to those of us who 

live by one.

 

..........Widder

 

[Cholla]

My wife uses a CPAP. I begged her to see a doctor three years ago because she was stopping breathing so many times it was scary. When she was tested two years ago she was waking up something along the lines of 120 times an hour. It got so bad she would be talking and stop. I would look over and she would have her head on her chest, asleep. She dropped her cell phone enough from falling asleep that the screen is now cracked. Just before she got her CPAP, she was falling asleep while driving! The main issue is that she has a silicone allergy and almost all of the CPAP masks are silicone. The doctor out here found her a cloth-lined mask. She is a totally different person now. She calls the decades of her lack of sleep her fuzzy years. Now, after seeing how she was and seeing how she is, she will never go back. Like the Gateway Kid says, if the CPAP doesn't go, she doesn't go. She used to weigh 140-150 back in her singing days and looked great. During the last decade she kept gaining to a point that she refused to tell me her weight. Now, she has lost 60 pounds and plans on loosing another 30-40. To add to this, my friend's wife died from sleep apnea.

It's kind of like, you don't know how bad you feel until you don't feel that way anymore.

[Buckshot Bear]

3 hours ago, Yul Lose said:

I just got the call that I’ve been approved for one. Which machine does everyone recommend that is quiet and runs on 12 volts? I boondock a lot in my little trailer.

 

My latest one is a Resmed Airsense 10 autoset. and it's so quiet you don't know its on. I use a nasal pillow mask and it super comfortable.

[J-BAR #18287]

11 minutes ago, Buckshot Bear said:

 

My latest one is a Resmed Airsense 10 autoset. and it's so quiet you don't know its on. I use a nasal pillow mask and it super comfortable.

This.

[Big Sage, SASS #49891 Life]

I have used one for 2 years now and feel a lot better. I was tired all the time and just couldn't seem to wake up feeling rested. I also stopped breathing lots. My oxygen level was getting down into the 50's which is really dangerous and can lead to death. I have lost 45# and feel great. My Dr says later this fall they will do another test and there is a chance the weight loss could help and I might not need it. Time will tell. I have not used mine for as long as 6 days (during a wilderness, horseback elk hunting trip) and did fine.

[Hells Comin]

Yeah and some of us aren't on Ritalin anymore Larson. I love my CAPA now only if I didn't have to get up every 2 hours to pee !

[Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933]

Between the Ritalin and getting up to pee every two hours you are kinda perky for an old guy.

[Pat Riot]

21 hours ago, Sedalia Dave said:

 

Thanks. My concern is that I am a side sleeper and usually change sides several times a night. 

I was a side sleeper until I jacked my back up and my hip bugs me so I sleep on my back with my feet elevated. It really helps my back, but, enough about that. I have had a Bi-PAP since 2014. I love it. The trick is to try masks on until you get a mask that you think you can live with then tell the tech your taking them all home with you for testing. Don’t let some tightassed tech go cheap on you. It’s your machine and your health. Screw them! They all seem over educated underachievers with a fair dose of Scottish (tightwad) blood….you’ll see. Anyway, try different tensions on the masks. Also, get yourself a good pillow. I prefer a “D” Core pillow for my neck. I tried those CPAP pillows. They seem like these same techs designed them just before free lunches arrived from the Pharmaceutical sales women. 
Anyway, don’t be afraid to be a pain in the arse to get what you need to sleep comfortably. 
 

I won’t travel without my BiPAP. I actually sleep well and can’t imagine not having my machine. 
 

Oh, one other thing. Be careful with the humidity settings on your machine. If you live in a humid area set it low or you’ll wake up with a snoot full of water. And change your filters. Set a calendar on your phone for that. 
 

Good luck. It’s going to suck at first but you’ll figure it out. 

[Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967]

42 minutes ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

 Don’t let some tightassed tech go cheap on you. It’s your machine and your health. Screw them! They all seem over educated underachievers with a fair dose of Scottish (tightwad) blood….you’ll see.

 

 

I'm inclined to agree.  I had a tech insist that I had to lose my beard:

 

"Your mask leaks.  It won't seal with those whiskers.  You have to shave."

 

"Uh... my mask doesn't leak, beyond the engineered perforations."

 

"Yes it does.  I can see it on the readouts - sometimes it leaks a lot."

 

"Actually, it does not leak.  Maybe what you're seeing on your 'readouts' is when I pop it off to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night."

 

"No.  I can tell the difference on my readouts.  It leaks.  You have to shave."

 

"Okay... tell ya what - I have my machine and mask right here.  Let me just put it on and show you that it doesn't leak."

 

"No.  I do not have to check your mask - I told you, I can see it on the readout and you have to lose the whiskers!"

 

I ended the discussion and left before I gave her my opinion of her technical abilities, attitude, hair-do, and taste in shoes.  

 

I still have the whiskers and my mask still does not leak.
 

[Pat Riot]

6 hours ago, Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967 said:

 

I'm inclined to agree.  I had a tech insist that I had to lose my beard:

 

"Your mask leaks.  It won't seal with those whiskers.  You have to shave."

 

"Uh... my mask doesn't leak, beyond the engineered perforations."

 

"Yes it does.  I can see it on the readouts - sometimes it leaks a lot."

 

"Actually, it does not leak.  Maybe what you're seeing on your 'readouts' is when I pop it off to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night."

 

"No.  I can tell the difference on my readouts.  It leaks.  You have to shave."

 

"Okay... tell ya what - I have my machine and mask right here.  Let me just put it on and show you that it doesn't leak."

 

"No.  I do not have to check your mask - I told you, I can see it on the readout and you have to lose the whiskers!"

 

I ended the discussion and left before I gave her my opinion of her technical abilities, attitude, hair-do, and taste in shoes.  

 

I still have the whiskers and my mask still does not leak.
 

Wow! Deja Vu…only my pulmonologist was badgering me. 

I had the same “discussion” when I grew a beard in Oregon. I have a beard and mustache now. 

I actually shave my mustache under my nose about 1/4” down so the bottom of my nose mask seals. You can’t even tell I do that, but it works. 
 

The funny thing is, she countered with “Them you must be opening your mouth so you’re still going to have to shave and wear a chin strap to keep your mouth shut. 
I said “Okay”.

That shut her up. She gave me a chin strap. 
At my next appointment two months later I showed up with my machine and my beard intact. 
She said “I thought we agree you’d shave your beard.”

I said “What’s this ‘WE’ stuff? Lady, I am not your husband. Do not talk to me as if I am…poor guy.”

THAT got a raised eyebrow. 
 

I did shave my beard that summer, but not for her and her cackling. 

[Sedalia Dave]

My wife bought me a water pillow a few years ago and boy do I love it. Conforms perfectly to my arm so it no longer goes to sleep. Don't wake up with a sore neck either and no more buying a pillow every 6 to 9 months. 

 

My wife doesn't like it because it weights about 9 pounds which is its only real drawback. 

 

Mediflow Water Pillow Memory Foam re-Invented with Waterbase Technology

[Imis Twohofon,SASS # 46646]

If I go more than a couple of nights without my CPAP everybody around me will know it. It helps me sleep and keeps y'all safer. I do hate the hose but that is part of the machine.

 

Imis

[Pat Riot]

2 hours ago, Sedalia Dave said:

My wife bought me a water pillow a few years ago and boy do I love it. Conforms perfectly to my arm so it no longer goes to sleep. Don't wake up with a sore neck either and no more buying a pillow every 6 to 9 months. 

 

My wife doesn't like it because it weights about 9 pounds which is its only real drawback. 

 

Mediflow Water Pillow Memory Foam re-Invented with Waterbase Technology

Thank you Dave. I may have to try that pillow out. I added it to my Amazon Wish List.

[Sedalia Dave]

2 hours ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

Thank you Dave. I may have to try that pillow out. I added it to my Amazon Wish List.

 

You adjust how much support it provides by adding/removing water. I started out with the max amount and liked it so I never tried using less. 

[Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967]

Brings to mind why I was first tested....

 

A standard check-up visit with my doc ended with his usual question, "is there anything else you'd like to bring up?"  (I never really figgered out what he was fishing for, but what the heck...)

 

I replied, "Well, Doc, there's this 'sleep apnea' thing we keep hearing about."

 

"Hm.  And what makes you think you might have sleep apnea?"

 

"Uh... crawling out of my tent early in the morning, and being startled by a bleary-eyed Scoutmaster sitting on an upended bucket waiting for me.  'It isn't your snoring that kept me awake - it's when you keep STOP snoring!  I kept waiting to see if you'd start up again so I could tell you were breathing!'"

 

His eyebrows went up (he did that a lot with me over the years), and he sent me directly off to the sleep clinic.  "Go now!" 

 

BTW - he was an Assistant Scoutmaster hisownself.  I miss that guy; he retired and moved to San Diego.