The Saga of the CPAP continues!!!

Hey, Guys: Well, if any of you have been reading this, my CPAP saga continues.   This time, it's mostly a turn for the better, or possibly even a big improvement. Since I flunked my CPAP test, the doctor gave me an Auto-pap machine for a month at home to try to get used to. The home medical equipment place brought it out to me.  I had a little bit of a panic at first.  However, I then had a MAJOR breakthrough. I tried a nasal pillow instead of a full face mask.  As soon as it  "sealed" around my nose, the WIND TUNNEL effect which gave my such a problem at my titration study INSTANTLY disappeared. So, I experimented a little, and found out the problem I was having wasn't anything to do with machine or with me, but simply a POOR SEAL on the face mask which  prevented the machine from building up pressure, resulting in the wind-tunnel effect, which is what made me panic.  I can turn the "wind tunnel" on and off by opening and closing the little end cap on the side of the nasal pillow mask.  Believe me, I will be keeping it closed at all times!  I hate that "wind tunnel" effect!  A little piece of scotch tape would solve my problem with this mask! My biggest gripe about the whole ordeal:  I hate to be critical, but DON"T YOU THINK THE SLEEP TECHNICIAN SHOULD HAVE KNOWN THAT THIS WAS THE PROBLEM?  It seems to me from lurking on some of the sleep apnea boards and sites that "mask leakage" is something basic -- it seems to be very important to get a proper fit on your mask, which I assumed I was given by the tech. Well, I'm not going to dwell on that part.  I am going to make me best effort to use the da**ed thing as much as possible, so I can get this over with and GET A SURGERY DATE! One other bummer, but actually a mixed blessing:  I found out that my insurance DOES NOT cover durable medical equipment, because it is "prescription" and I don't have prescription coverage. However, this also means that I don't have to meet any insurance company useage requirements, which I hear can be problematic, and I also don't have to accept the most stripped-down, basic model of cpap that the insurance would probably want to provide. ONE LAST QUESTION FOR THOSE WHO USE A CPAP:  When I had my titration study, and again today after trying the auto-pap for a few hours, I seemed to have gotten a lot of gas and sort of a "heartburn" feeling in my stomach.  IS THIS NORMAL?  Is this a side-effect of the machine, or just me because I'm stressed?  I'll be taking pepcid, gas-x, and alka-mints tonight to be safe. Thanks! Danny

Glad to hear your getting your issues solved with the CPAP. I loved mine after I got used to it and yes, I would think that would be a common bit of knowledge about the seal on your mask. My tech came in a woke me up twice cause I moved around enough  that I slipped my mask and she wasn't getting good readings. I've been fortunate in that since about 2 weeks after the surgery I haven't needed it at all. Although I am thinking of giving it to the wife to see if it would quite her down now.   As far as the gas problem I actually had the opposite thing happen. I used to wake up ALOT because of acid reflux and heart burn before the CPAP arrived. I noticed after about 3 weeks of using it that I wasn't having any more attacks of any kind and hadn't for a while but it never occured to me til that point cause I was sleeping so much better. Maybe just an adjustment period to the machine?  Good luck..............Bill

having been on cipap for fifteen years, Ill share some history, gerd so bad it caused the need for bipap, caused the sleep apnea and the weght gain in that order, followed by A fib. Along the way diabetus 2. the body, chemistry much like the emmision controls on a car measures the blood gases and become accostomed to your levels of 02 vs c0 level and reg your breathing ,heart rate

Danny, Just make sure that you don't cover the exit for the Co2. Randy