# Tell me about your CPAP/APAP setup **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 19, 2011, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-your-cpap-apap-setup/586078 "2011-06-19T23:48:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-your-cpap-apap-setup/586078/41 "2011-08-15T23:50:15Z")
> [@ducati](#): > > .. > Years ago, a friend gave me a CPAP machine and explained its purpose and use. I couldn’t use it because A) I can never breathe through my nose, and B) I can’t stand this [thing](http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ksifm5Y4R31qa1o5zo1_400.jpg)strapped to my face… Well, jeeze, of course you couldn’t sleep with that on your face. More modern masks don’t cover the eyes and have fewer legs (and as a side benefit, the part they eliminate is the part that chews on your eyeballs, so it’s more comfortable there, too) ;). However - if your friend gave you the machine, it would not have been correctly adjusted for you so even if you COULD tolerate it, it might do more harm than good. Really, you need a formal study to see a) if you have apnea, and b) what setting is needed to control it. As Nars Glinley noted, the masks are a lot less obtrusive (he and I have the same model - hey! we’re mask-buddies!!! :D). Data point on the surgery: **Typo Knig** and I have both had surgery for deviated septum / turbinates. Until mine, I had no idea why ANYONE would bother with Afrin - I mean, it’s not like you need that nose to breathe, right? I had literally never been able to breathe through mine. Then I had the surgery… and wow. That thing really allows passage of air??? My asthma improved somewhat also. Of course it wasn’t an unmixed blessing - I was commuting by Metro at that point and all of a sudden I could smell stuff I’d been spared from before :eek::p. My apnea did not improve - this was many years back and I’d not been formally diagnosed, but I was aware of nighttime breath-holding. Typo Knig’s snoring didn’t improve after his surgery - in fact it was much worse a few years later. Admittedly, he gained some weight and also got older during that time, both factors in worsening apnea. However, I do think that making sure the nose works properly is a necessary first step. If nothing else, I think CPAP titration readings will be screwed up, and it would be harder to get a mask working properly. So - see how you do once things have fully healed. Then do consider a sleep study if you’re not feeling enough better. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-your-cpap-apap-setup/586078/42 "2011-08-15T23:53:26Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > Bumpdate! I’ve been on CPAP for a month now. I’m doing better with it since I switched masks. I was on the Mirage FX nasal mask and have switched to the Swift FX nasal pillow. Apparently Resmed tries to make all of their mask names sound like airplanes. With the Mirage, I struggled with leaks all night long. Plus, as a habitual nose rubber, it was just too intrusive. I’ve been on the Swift FX for about 2 weeks now. It’s pretty comfortable and doesn’t leak. I’ll probably end up sticking with it. > > The bad news is that according to my Rescan software, I’m still averaging between 25 and 50 central apneas per hour. That’s bad but not nearly as bad as the 100+ that I was having before, many of them obstructives. To see if this can be fixed, I have to do another study with my mask where the pressure can be increased until I stop apnaeing (?). Oh boy. Ouch. Sounds like they haven’t gotten your setting quite right yet! They did the titration during the same session as your original study, right? Possibly you didn’t sleep enough, or soundly enough, after they masked you up. Personally this is one of the reasons I insisted on an auto-titrating machine - I didn’t trust the data they got. Though of course my readings have been right in the middle of the range, so it seems they did get it right :). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-your-cpap-apap-setup/586078.md?page=2)