CPAP continued

[outsdr]

So. Second night with the CPAP machine was interesting. I like the sound it makes, to be honest. It's soothing. And the mask is not uncomfortable. Well, at least it is not at first.

The mask is a ResMed Swift FX Nasal Pillows System. It has two pillowy cones that go against my nostrils, a strap that goes over the top of my head, and one that goes around my head. The air hose hags from the pillowy nasally part. It doesn't really inhibit my sleeping.


However, I imagine I look like this.

I noticed that first night that in the morning, my nose felt a little bruised. This faded quickly, so I didn't really think much more about it. Last night, I woke up at 4 because my nose was hurting so badly. Again, the bruised feeling. The strap over the top of my head had pulled back and the mask was pulled up VERY hard against my nose. I ended up taking the mask off for the rest of the night, and then waking up every 15 minutes after that, very aware of changes in my breathing.

My afternoon nap before coming to work tonight went much the same way, with an added annoying twist. As soon as I turned on the machine, I felt my nasal cavity inflate, like it did previously, except this time, it was a little painful. By the time my searingly painful bruised nose woke me up 2 hours later, I also had a raging sinus headache to go with it.

I can't necessarily say this was the fault of the machine, of course- Old West America is essentially on fire right now, and there's a lot of smoke in the air here.

In the video, the first two plumes of smoke cross over the Wind River mountain range and continue across where I live on the other side.

(I may not have identified the area correctly, but it looks right, and even if that isn't the right area, it is the exact same situation.)

Anyway, it's really smokey here (thanks asia_sky for the video!) It didn't help that one of the old, historic buildings in town burnt to the ground last night, and the heavy, creosote-laden smoke from that fire is still coating everything. So, while the mask may not have caused the sinus headache, it certainly made it worse.

All this adds up to me wondering if I'm better off without it. I don't want to give up yet though, especially before I've had another O2 levels test during the night, to see if it is helping me. While I'm not feeling any better in the morning yet, that doesn't mean I won't. I also wonder if the mask is too small. The guy who sent it to me is significantly smaller than I am.

The two of us 20 years ago. I haven't gotten any smaller. ETA: I am the guy on the left. In my kneel-before-Zod phase.

And I may need a new MRI done of my neck, as my doctor is also concerned about my sudden need for large amounts of Neurontin. On a bad day, I was taking 2700 mgs. That's too much. I just hate to go in for another MRI, when I just finished paying off the majority of my medical bills. But, I also don't want to let it go on if there's something wrong.

My sinuses still hurt. I'll try the mask again when I go home; but if it still hurts, I'm holding off until I can talk to the doc about a bigger mask. And I welcome any advice from those with experience with such things.

Comments

[dreamer-easy.livejournal.com]

CPAP can be a nuisance sometimes, but it's certainly not supposed to hurt! I use a mask which covers my nose (but not my mouth) - that might be a more comfy option for you.

It does take some weeks to get used to the whole shebang - not just to tolerate it, but to get the hang of making little adjustments and things. After a couple of years with mine, I can adjust it without even waking up. By now I'm so used to it that it's not unusual for me to wake up thinking "Oh no, I'm not wearing my mask!", only to realise I am.

[outsdr.livejournal.com]

I've gotten used to wearing it, really. The hose gets in the way still, but not too badly. I probably need to find a more permanent place for the pump, however- it's just sort of shoved on my dresser right now, but I think it's going to stay.

The sinus problem was a real sinus problem due to the smoke, and that cleared up.

What's been happening lately is that the inside of my nose has started to burn. (An irritated burn, not a flaming- or sunburn-type of burn). This also seems to happen when the pump REALLY ramps up the output, for some reason. I don't know if the guy before me had some weird time-delay super-air blast programmed into the machine, or if I just get overly sensitive to it at times.

I turned down the humidifier, and the machine also has a 'gentle' setting that slowly increases the air, allowing the user to fall asleep more easily, but it's a button i can easily reach and that helps.

Jinx deciding he needs to headbutt the mask and rub against it in the night helps nothing, of course.

[dreamer-easy.livejournal.com]

I'm quite puzzled by your Explodo-CPAP - the thing it seems to be doing where it waits until you're comfortably asleep and then suddenly jumps up to full blow! Mine is set to ramp up to optimal pressure over about fifteen minutes, then sit there. I sometimes test my mask is snug by turning my machine on full boar (10 mmHg IIRC) , and that's pretty uncomfortable, but not actually painful. Have you noticed what pressure yours is pumping out when you're forced to denose it?

[outsdr.livejournal.com]

You're exactly right - it seems to just continually build pressure until I wake up and reset it. I'll give it a go tonight and see if I can notice (or even see) where the pressure read out is and what it says.

[dreamer-easy.livejournal.com]

PS Jon's advice is to stick it up your nose (and not, say, in your ears). 'Tis to laugh. :)

[outsdr.livejournal.com]

:P