DH got a BPap Machine

I know a lot of our LW's were on CPap machines before WLS.  How long did it take you to get use to it?  Were you a mouth breather and had a full face mask or used a nasal and a chin guard?  Did you get super dry?

DH has really been struggling.  He says if he moves his head at all or rolls to his side because air leaks out.  His mouth is super dry.  A couple of nights ago he said his cheeks were sunkin in and he couldn't swallow.  They told us to get a humidifier and turn the machine humidity down to 3 and it did help some but his throat and gums were still dry. 

Right now he has a full face mask but they are ordering him the nasal and chin strap. 

He finally got up to 5 hours last night.  He is complaining about how tired he is.  I told him it's not going to work over night and it's definitely not going to work if he doesn't use it all night.

I'm getting very little sleep. Even when he is using it I still hear him stop breathing a lot through the night.

I just had a cpac.  It took me a while to come up with a head gear that worked for me but then I would use it all night, every night.  Mine had a little water tank so it was using humid water and I didn't dry out.  My DH is on oxygen at night but it is just a little nasal cannula so it doesn't interfere with his sleeping but the machine is very noisy.  I can sleep through that but he also wants the house much warmer than I do and I have mentioned going to sleep in the spare room so I can open a window.

If it isn't one thing, it is another.

Hope he figures it out soon.  Sleep is such a wonderful thing.

His has a water tank too.  I just figured they all do.  It's really quite.  So quite I can still hear DH stop breathing.

His mask is likely not strapped tightly enough. I am a mouth breather and have a full face mask. When I went for my titration after having the CPAP for a few days that was exactly my complaint to the sleep tech. She tightened my straps an astonishing amount and it worked really well. I have to tighten the straps a lot, in fact I have a red nose in the mornings. Keep in mind that the straps can stretch or the face change if he loses weight too so their position is not set in stone. I have to periodically tighten them. But it is SO worth it! If you can still hear him stop breathing then possibly the CPAP is not being effective? The idea is to create a tight enough seal so that when your muscles relax when you're sleeping you don't get leaks. Those can be really annoying and I terfere a lot with both you and your hubby's rest. 

I have to play with my humidity level to avoid severe dry mouth. It depends on the room temp, air humidity, etc. Generally in the winter I have to set it higher; it's at 5.5 out of 6 right now. The summer setting is usually 4-4.5. 

I was unusual I think because I took to it right away. That being said, I was very very tired with severe apnea that was undiagnosed for many years. One of my strategies in the beginning was to wait until I was so sleepy I couldn't stay awake any more, then put the mask on and conk out. 

Mine was hard to use in the beginning.  The one that was given to me initially by the drs office was generic.  At another CPAP users recommendation I went to see an organization that did fittings and what a difference.  Night and day.  They fit the size to my face, tested different models, nose pillows, 1/2 mask, 3/4 mas****il they found one that felt not only not to bad but didn't bother me at all.  I actually liked the difference in the way I felt from wearing it.

Good Luck to your DH!