I am a long time diagnosed sufferer but mostly untreated since.  I have to say I am soooo frustrated right now and this place, since I have found it has been the place of answers and understanding.  
I was diagnosed with moderate OSA in 2001 and received excellent attention from my DME resp. tech but then I transferred (my job) and got one call from the new local DME but due to the very tight finances and my frame of mind, not to mention the persistence of a resp tech like I had back home I fell away from my CPAP, that lasted about a year and a half.  Well after I transferred once again to where I am right now I have been trying to "be a good girl".  I tried for a year to find a covered provider here to replace my "dry rotted" mask and finally decided I couldn't take it anymore and just purchased one on my own (same exact mask that I had since that was all I knew).  I used it diligently every night but not all night (during the night with no recollection of doing it I would take it off, I would wake up in the morning and my machine was off and my mask was neatly placed on top of my machine).  That mask only lasted about 5 months and broke, so again I was without a mask or DME.  I FINALLY found a provider through someone at work, made my appointment and went in and got the new comfort curve nasal mask.  Once I got used to it, the first night was like being in a wind tunnel    But once I figured out how to wear it properly    it was great!!!  For a whole week I have actually woke up every morning with it on---case solved right?  I am STILL exhausted!!!  I thought just give it time, I have never had as much compliance as I have had for the last 9 days but then last night I put on my mask and not to long in I felt like I was suffocating and I have never had that with CPAP.  It scared the he double toothpicks out of me.  I ripped it off and remembered I had forgot (brain fog) to change my filters lately, so I got up and did that (they were filthy), checked out the machine, everything seems to be fine but still felt like I wasn't getting enough air and thought my machine had a different sound to it.  Now at this point I don't know if I am paranoid from the initial feeling of suffocation or if I should get my machine checked out.  Am I still tired from "catching up" on good sleep or is something wrong with my CPAP or has something changed with my Apnea???  To many questions for my tired brain to contemplate.  All I can think of is all of the $$$ between the machine and another sleep study.  Should I start with just having my machine checked at the new DME place or would that be a waste of time because they can't do anything to them?
Anyhow that's a long winded (kind of ironic considering I am short on wind/breath lately) way around to the question at the end.

Hi Droopy,

You may be panicking a little so here is what I would do.  When you feel like you are not getting enough air do two things, but don't take your mask off.

1.  If you use the ramp feature and don't like the out-of-air feeling, turn it off.
If you don't use the ramp, look at your CPAP and make sure the ramp feature isn't on.  I don't use the ramp, but occassionally hit the ramp button and am only getting 1/3 the air I'm use to.  

2.  Pull the mask away from your face a bit and you will feel that the air is really whizzing by.  Lay there, try to relax and be calm and most importantly, breath normally telling yourself that your CPAP is doing its job for you and that everything is OK.

Vicki


_________________
That which does not kill you makes you stronger-Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich must of had apnea.

Thanks Vicki--That had never happened to me before so it did freak me out a bit, I have always welcomed the use of it, never had issues with the air being overpowering and don't use my ramp at all because I don't seem to get enough air.  Once I got a good look at my filter in the light I'm surprised I was getting any air and I think I have come to the conclusion that I was just paranoid as far as the machine sound goes.  I started feeling a little congested last evening and used my nasal spray and last night I had no problems like that.  This afternoon I feel like the guy in the commercial where his head is a big nose so I think my incident was from my sinuses giving me a heads up instead of the machine malfunctioning.  I just assumed with the age of it that it was giving up on me, I don't know how long those things last but I have had it for about 4 years now and since I did just put some money into accessories with the idea of being a loyal CPAP user and finally finding a mask that survives the night, that it would only figure that it would go out.  Do these things have to be "serviced" or anything?

I would add to Vicki's great advice, that if your machine is 4 years old, it doesn't hurt to have it checked for proper calibration and adjust it if it has migrated. Did your move involve an altitude change, some machines need to be reset for appropriate altitude.  Also check that the hoses are not leaking, just pass your hand along them as it is running, feeling for escaping air.
  If it has been four years since your sleep study, has your weight, health or medications changed?  If so, you might be due for a new sleep study, as our pressure needs can change over time.

Okie wrote:

I would add to Vicki's great advice, that if your machine is 4 years old, it doesn't hurt to have it checked for proper calibration and adjust it if it has migrated. Did your move involve an altitude change, some machines need to be reset for appropriate altitude.  Also check that the hoses are not leaking, just pass your hand along them as it is running, feeling for escaping air.
  If it has been four years since your sleep study, has your weight, health or medications changed?  If so, you might be due for a new sleep study, as our pressure needs can change over time.

I often wondered if the machine needed "serviced" like you would a vehicle.  But neither my old or my new DME has said anything about my machine.  When I turn it on each night, the setting (8) shows on the display, does that mean it's still good or would it say that even if it "migrated"?  As far as the moves go it was from North central, to northwest to Northeast Ohio, it looks like a matter of a few hundred feet elevation on the map, don't know if that's enough to make any difference.  And the tubing is new with the mask although I do check it frequently because I never know when the cats will "mistake" my hoses for a scratch or chew toy.  My weight is just as bad now as it was then and I am off of a medication that I was on at the time of diagnosis.  And the only new thing about my health since then is that I have been told I have arthritis.  That reminds me of a question that seems perfectly logical in my non-medical mind that the doctors I have asked seem to find amusing and blow off, maybe I can get a little more of an understanding in here.  I was diagnosed 10 years ago with GERD, it caused erosions in my esophogus, I had several scopes and other tests over a few years and eventually had surgery to repair it (all before finding out I had OSA), I now have swallowing difficulties that required yet more tests (they thought it was related to the surgery) after several tests they came to the conclusion that it was caused by the arthritis in my neck protruding into the back of my throat narrowing the opening possibly causing the food/liquids to go down "the wrong tube".  Now in my "pea brain" it seems that OSA is caused by a problem in the airway path and the arthritis is effecting that area that it could be all related somehow and that if they could correct the "protrusion" it could solve the swallowing and OSA.  Granted I am over weight but in no way obese but my inital exam prior to the sleep study noted a "large girth neck" and I have the arthrtis issue, not to mention what did all of those scopes/tubes down my throat over the years to figure out that I had what I was to young to have do to the airway?  Anyhow just a thought, thanks for listening and any thoughts you may have.

---Tammy---

Just because the machine displays "8" doesn't mean its providing 8 cm/h20.  Its part mechanical, and anything mechanical might "drift" a bit.  (same reason speedometers may not read correctly, or ovens might not cook at the right temperature)  Your DME should be able to verify with a manometer ( a gauge that measures the output of your cpap) and make sure that it is up to snuff...